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 consistently the Bolshevik power was preparing to economically infiltrate capitalist countries once the war was over. The company had excellent relations with Soviet economic players. Reports by the Russian News Agency TASS show that Westerbarkey, as the Atlas co-owner, was invited to an international economic meeting in Moscow in April 1952.53 It is not so much the Soviet background that is interesting in the operation of Atlas, as it was aligned with the policy represented by Stalin after WWII. The leader of the Communist superpower was aiming to cooperate with the Western powers having already stated a month after Churchills 1946 speech in Fulton that another world war was not to be expected over the coming 20 to 30 years.54 Later on, we will see that the Soviet zone was not particularly averse to economic cooperation even after the Marshall Plan was announced. Cooperation was frozen only according to official propaganda. Further research is necessary to understand the behaviour of the western party, since in addition to the economic interests of the big firms, which is easy enough to understand, the secret service of the United States participated in efforts to improve economic cooperation. The military secret service represented by Stone supported the establishment of Atlas, and the intention of creating channels of penetration partially accounts for this, but not sufficiently, particularly in light of CIA sources: the searchable documents of the American intelligence agency show that its agents were trying to find out about the activities of the company that were against its interests, so they treated the Eastern relations behind the firm as opponents, and yet, they did support its establishment and business activities. It is even safe to say about Atlas that both parties, the Soviets and the Americans knew of each others presence, in fact they established the company jointly, which puts their cooperation beyond doubt. Does all the above indicate, then, that it was not only Stalin who was trying to cooperate but also the US administration, and that the policy of containment known as the Truman Doctrine was also to be understood as propaganda? This seems rather plausible as the commercial networks taking shape - and soon to be introduced - suggest that ensuring the movement of capital was important for both sides. 53 Szabad Nép, 4 April 1952, p. 5 54 Békés 2019, p.34. 25
