Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor of West Germany after World War II, spied on his political opponents in the Social Democratic Party for a decade, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports today.
The Christian Democrat politician, chancellor from 1949 to 1963, was briefed by two informants, one of whom had links to the intelligence services. These people were “close” to the leading group of the Social Democrats (SPD).
These facts were revealed by the research of the historian Klaus Dietmar Henke, who re-emerged in the archives of the Cornad Adenauer Foundation.
Having the obsession that Communists in the German Democratic Republic could infiltrate West German politics, the chancellor had access to about 500 confidential reports from the SPD leadership documenting the party’s strategy and decisions. Sometimes they received the reports even on the day they were written.
Previous studies have shown that Adenauer spied on politicians, such as the later Chancellor, Social Democrat Willy Bradt, and also collected aggravating information about some of them. This is the first time it has been revealed that the party itself was targeted.
Adenauer died in 1967 and is considered the “father” of modern Germany and one of the pioneers of European construction.
Source: Capital
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