Werner Stiller’s spectacular defection to the West in 1979 inflicted one of the Cold War’s most serious blows to the Stasi.
At the time he was working as a case officer for the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance, the Stasi’s foreign intelligence division, where he was in charge of scientific espionage in the West.
We speak with Stiller’s son Andy, who although he was 11 months old at the time of his father’s defection, met his father in later life.
Also included is Scott Calonico, who is producing a documentary film with Andy, covering his father’s abandonment of his family and his country, as well as the story of a young man and his journey to discover the man who was his father, the spy…
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We welcome filmmaker Scott Calonico and Andy to our Cold War conversation…
Stasi report on Stiller’s theft of files
Status report on the events after Stiller’s escape
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