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 - In a jungle of secret services
EMIL HOFFMAN AND HIS CIRCLES Ion Antonescu19 and is said to have worked as an advisor to him. His years in Bucharest seem to be important in terms of his collaboration with the secret services, as information received by Hungarian counterintelligence from their Soviet counterpart suggested that the industrialist employing Hoffmann in Bucharest in the late 1930s was none other than Ernst Kroner, an undercover agent of the German intelligence agency who was probably assigned Hoffmanns secret service training.20 As a press attaché, Hoffmanns main task was to gather information for the Reich. At the time, he worked for German intelligence in close cooperation with Würzinger Willibald, the German press attaché in Sofia.21 According to the information of the East German Ministry for State Security (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, Stasi), Willibald was the resident officer of Hitler s secret service in the Balkans22 during the war, although this could not be proven after 1945, so he escaped trial. 19 Ion Antonescu (1882-1946), Romanian army officer, Romania’s pro-German dictator from 1940 to 1944. Pursuant to the Second Vienna Award, neighbouring countries had major territories returned from Romania in 1940, consequently, King Charles Il’s popularity was dwindling. To avoid an uprising, he suspended the constitution and assigned Antonescu, an ardent supporter of Hitler, to lead the country. Under his leadership, Romania entered the war supporting the Axis powers and became the staunchest ally of the Third Reich. In August 1944, when the Red Army crossed the Romanian border, the powers behind the new sovereign, Michael, had Antonescu arrested, joined forces with the Allies and declared war against Germany. After the war, Antonescu was brought to court and executed as a war criminal. 20 ÁBTL 3.1.5 0-12344/5 p. 19 Executive report, 4 March 1963 21 ÁBTL 3.1.5 0-12344/5 p. 17 Executive report, 4 March 1963 22 A resident officer was an undercover member of the secret service staff. In the given area or country, they would manage and coordinate the persons in the operational network, who maintained contact with the intelligence organisation using them through the resident officer. 23 Selvage 2014, p. 117 By his own admission, Hoffmann was beginning to doubt the war in around 1942 and, with help from his friend Carl Marcus, he contacted Kurt Jahnke, a former officer of German intelligence, who was negotiating with the Allies.23 It is hard to tell how truthful this subsequent claim was, and how much of it was possibly just about exonerating himself, although Hungarian military intelligence arrived at the same conclusion given his activities later in Budapest. 17
