Borvendég Zsuzsanna: Fabulous Spy Games. How international trade networks with the West developed after 1945 - A Magyarságkutató Intézet Kiadványai 24. (Budapest, 2021)
EMIL HOFFMAN AND HIS CIRCLES - Atlas GmbH
EMIL HOFFMAN AND HIS CIRCLES Atlas GmbH Hoffmans activities become truly intriguing for us from 1949 onwards when he became engaged in trade between East and West. His movements and evolving social network attracted the attention of the secret services, of course, and he became a person of interest for the CIA at the time. The Americans harboured the suspicion that the Nazi press diplomat turned tradesman was working for the Soviet intelligence agency, and even assumed that he was transporting embargoed products into the Eastern Bloc via Scandinavia and Austria.36 We know that suspicions of his collaboration with the Soviets were not unfounded, although Hoffman consistently denied this. In his memoirs, he says he feared the CIA and Stasi most at the time, the former because he feared being forced into cooperating, and the latter for placing him under arrest.37 36 Selvage 2014, p. 119 37 Selvage 2014, p. 119 38 ÁBTL 3.1.5. O-12344/7-a p. 88 Executive report, 1 December 1961 39 CIA, FOIA, Special collection of Emil Hoffmann, 9 February 1954 https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/HOFFMANN%2C%20EMIL_0047.pdf (Downloaded on: 10 August 2019) 40 Greaves 2013, p. 262 He started his foreign trade activities representing a company walking a fine line among the opposing secret services of the Cold War, which hardly comes as a surprise in light of the above. Atlas GmbH was established in 1948 in Munich with American participation according to information held by the MNVK-2, with support from Mr Stone, head of the secret service of the U S military administration in Bavaria, to be precise.38 This agent of the US secret service was none other than Randolph K. Stone,39 a bureaucrat of the US counterintelligence agency, an officer for American counterintelligence and, according to a Canadian dissertation, the head of the local branch.40 Atlas was the pioneer among companies with staff from intelligence agencies from both opposing sides operating in the shadows. During the Cold War, foreign trade became the most favoured playing field for the secret 21
