Borvendég Zsuzsanna: Fabulous Spy Games. How international trade networks with the West developed after 1945 - A Magyarságkutató Intézet Kiadványai 24. (Budapest, 2021)
‘FABULOUS’ IN HUNGARY - Economic diplomacy
FABULOUS SPY GAMES Hoffmann knew Haller from the war, when their friendship started. Rademacher also had a Nazi record. After the war, he was one of the founders of the FDP and participated in national political life as chairman of the Hamburg branch of the party. As a member of the Federal Parliament, he was chairman of the transport committee from 1949 until 1957. During his visit to Hungary, he promised to use his position to seize the opportunities available to him to support the launch of air traffic between Budapest and West Germany.274 We have no information on Rademacher s steps exactly, but it seems certain he was successful, because a note from 1959 written by an official of the Air Traffic Directorate-General shows that an agreement was made with Hoffmanns help in 1957 to allow the aircraft of the Hungarian Air Traffic Company (Malév) to fly through West German airspace.275 In 1959, there was no direct air traffic between Budapest and West German cities as yet, so Hoffmann contacted the powerful people controlling Hungarian air traffic to start negotiations to conclude agreements between Lufthansa and Malév. In his proposal, Hamburg was indicated as the first airport between Hungarian and West German territories, but Hungarian officials were keener to start direct flights to Frankfurt instead.276 274 ÁBTL 3.1.5 0-12344/3, p. 21 Information report, 16 December 1958 275 ÁBTL 3.1.5. 0-12344/1 p. 51 Note for Comrade Rudolf Rónai, 8 April 1959 276 Hoffmann failed to achieve results in this respect, as Lufthansa’s direct flight to Budapest started only in September 1967, when Kiesinger was Chancellor. See: Horváth-Németh 1999, p. 140 277 ÁBTL 3.1.5. 0-12344/1-a 275/2 Note by the German unit, Central European Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 26 September 1956 Frankfurt’s privileged role can clearly be put down to the significant economic relations maintained by the trade office in Frankfurt, and this became important not only to Hungarian leaders but also German businessmen, who recognised the significance of the Hungarian mission to Frankfurt. To the knowledge of state security, Rademacher was the owner of one of the largest transportation firms in West Germany, so he had a personal interest in enhancing trade with the eastern countries. In 1956, he demanded in a public speech that the trade offices of the people s democracies in Frankfurt be granted consulship rights by the West German government.277 For the leaders of the 102
