TREATMENT OF GERMAN SCIENTISTS/LIVING CONDITIONS IN THE LENINGRAD AREA, USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500760043-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 3, 2003
• Sequence Number: 43
• Publication Date: May 22, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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SECRET
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY Germany/'USSR
I4
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SUBJECT Treatment of German Scientists, NO. OF PAGES 8
Living Conditions In the Leningrad
11r.oa TTecP
PLACE
ACQUIRED
fl
DATE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF INFORMATION
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DATE DISTR. '
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED' BELOW)
SUPPLEM
EPORT NOT TO
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMAON
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T~,e Soviet Military Administration SMA) Laboratory at Leuna
.e
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the SMA laboratory was established in order to
gather German scientists in preparation for their transfer to
the USSR. sent to the SMA laboratory in early September
1946 and all forcibly transferred to the USSR ten weeks
later. S.nce took almost five weeks to set up the laboratory,
the authorities could not have expected positive results before
departure. The entire laboratory was designated Me-24-C.
i=131 X I SEUFiE'I' T 7E X
DISTRIBUTION
FORM NO.
51-41F
OCT 1951
RETURN TO RECORDS CENTER
IMMEDIATELY AFTER USE
JOB i _ 33 BOX_
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"Me' was the symbol for Merseburg as "Len was used for
25X] Leverkusen; the figure referred to the building
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?3. The SMA laboratory was under the supervision of two Soviet
scientists: Rgabkov, an engineer and Zervyelski,. a._chemist,.both
of whom followed--us to Leningrad. There were three main divisiors
of this project, a-physical laboratory, a heavy water laboratory
and an analytical laboratory.
(a) The physical laboratory was under the direction of Dr
Franz Scheuer, a physicist, whcse chemical laboratory.
25X1 assistant was Harry K1emt_
25X1 Scheuer was to make measurements on
25X1 German rocket fuels, in particular to- testa ignition
times with oscillographe, viscosity at --60 C,
25X1 coagulation points and s ecificheat measurements.II
Scheuer L_Jmade the apparatus for
25X1 testing Phe ition delay time" on these rocket
fuels.
25X1 Scheuer made daily reports to the Soviet scientis
Servyelaki who later went to the GIPKh Institute in
25X1 Leningrad where he was In charge of the two labora-
25X1 tortes conducting research on ethylamines (Labora-
tories 579 and 604). While still working in Leuna,
2 5X1 Scheuer frequently visited the Siebel aircraft group
In. Halle an der Saale (Soviet Zone), who also did
research work on amines. Many of the Siebel scientists
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Schauer was sent to
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Moscow. n Leuna, in June 1951,
he said that he had done little practical research.
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(b) The following German scientists were employed in the
heavy water laboratories: Heinrich , Paul
Herold, Gel and . They were instructed to
make exact analyses and density measurements of heavy
water produced in those Leuna installations which still
existed after 1945. Their laboratory was in the
25X1 vicinityand under strict Soviet supervision.
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y
a o
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'I r-
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25X1 I in October 1. 46 this installation
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(e) A number of chemical specialists were employed at
2 5X1 the analytical laboratory: Gerhardt Gaeiseler,
Andreas Kleinert and some others
25X1 -. thi
1 b rate the amines an other roc e
r
Transfer to the USSR
lF, forty Leung Dshipped to the
USSR in October 1946 with Ofamilies and possessions. Thirty
scientists from other firms, mostly construction engineers,
were transported by separate trains on the same day.
following people from Leun.a:
25X1 Andreas Gemassmer, Gerhardt Luebecke, Ernst
25X1 Aainger Herold, Paul Otto, Ernst
Eckoldt, Hans von der. Horst, Dieter Peinze, Georg
25X1 Elm, Heinrich Jahrmann Pohl, Franz
Falkenberg Jochinke, 11e-1mut Scheuer, Franz
25X1 Froehlich Kaufmann, Ilermann Schmidt
Qeib . Koeterhon, Kurt Scholz, Walter
25X1 Geiseler, Gerhardt Lorenz, William Smeykal, Karl
Wyzeomirski, Ernst
'While crossing PolandOtranspo.rt was joined by four other
trains. The first two were occupied by aircraft specialists from.
25X1 3 nkere/Dessau and Halle a S (Siebel group). There was one train
from Jena (Zeiss) and one from Kiel and Berlin (Siemens) which
carried shipbuilders. It took us about five days to cross Poland.
The lines were jammed with trains carrying dismantled equipment.
(locomotives had frequent breakdowns and there was a great
shortage of coal, When stopped, the trains were often attacked by
bandits who broke into the baggage cars. There was no medical
25X1 service whatsoever until Moscow. Dr Smeykal was very
sick and had a severe attack of pneumonia. Efforts
25X1 were made to keep up Omorale by the distribution of cigarettes,
food, and canned goods.
5.. In Moscow, the various trains were broken up and the Leuna
employees were divided into three groups:
(a) The Leningrad group, which included: Drs Kaufmann,
25X1 Smeykal, Wyzsemi.rakl, Peirme, Eckoldt, Pohl, Geiseler,
von der Horst and engineers Otto and Scholz, Lorenz
25X1 group was also joined by some
constructors from Siemens and shipbuilders from Berlin
25X1 and Kiel. These people who were not from Leuna stayed
25X1 0 at Sestroretsk until about May 47 and were
then transferred to Oranienbaum, USSR.
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(b) The Moscow group, whin was given accomodations
somewhere outside of the city but assigned to an
inetitutr within Moscow. The only member of this
25X1 group wad Dr. Franz Scheuer.
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25X1 (c) The Ukraine group, lihich was also formed at Moscow.
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Activity in Sestroretsk
,I I, a Iormer =L&uuuc.L- i ~..????. ?? .--? ____ _'-
about 40 IN northwest of Lenings?ad. There were a number of small
25X1 swser cottages which served both as living quarters and offices.
25X1 It was evident that our arrival had not been expected as practi-
cally no preparations had been made. Most families were assigned
a single room in three-four room houses. There was a great deal
of ' shifting around and my family i a.r3 r.e:teik0c~~nta.ets with the Soviet: p n:irtlaticn were L -.3L-
25X'1 tremely limited, partieulax?l. after 191If.3 when the Soviets became
afraid to be seen talking II During the first two years
25X1 the school chit ren were quite embarrassing. They
25X1 ran e n us and shouted, "Hitler paged, or simply "Hitler?.
By the winter of 1950 such insults stopped. However, at the
GIPKh Institute in Leningrad, particularly in the workshops,
the Soviets became quite friendly and=even joked together
25X1 occasionally. }'kept for their reserve on -political matters,
they were 1Just like ordinary German wort,:er>,.
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25X1 15. children attended a special German school in Leningrad
(Spezial Schule No 1); all subjects were taught in German. The
25X1 text books were printed in Moscow.do not think these texts
were the same as those used in the soviet Zone since all the
25X1 material concerned Soviet life. For example, arithmetic
problems concerned distances between oiti.e3 In the USSR.
25X1 children had one hour of Russian daily and learned to speak the
language quite fluently. The school had about 90 pupils. The
very young were sent to the regular Soviet elementary schools in
Sestroretnk where all instruction was in Russian;
Departure
25X1 16. On 19 May 51 told that within three doya=would be sent
home with fo, other spec:iali.sta: I:ckol.dt, Geissler, Wyzsomirski
.25X1 and von der I ' rnt.lIhad been in poor health for some time,
apparently from mercury poisoning, and could no longer work as
25X1 before. Servieleki, a Soviet students protecated several times
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against=leav3ng but to no avail , The det~i>sion as to which
people were to be returned to Germany war; made in Moscow and no-
one knew about it. Major Sakharoroti had gone to Moscow and
on nis return he said, "Tomorrow you go".I had absolutely
children, were forced to sign a paper certify fig would
not tell anyone exactly where =worked or what done.
were onl to say that II worked in Leningrad. Further-
More) when took leave of the eople at the Institute, they
said they would all come visitEnin 1955 because then there
would no longer be any borders between Germany and Poland. The
Institute employees had said several times before, that the borders
would fall and that it ,uld be possible to travel without a pass.
This was said seriously,, not as a joke, and it seems to be almost
USSR
Trip Home
17.
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allowed rbatic:e Jaye in *hi.uh t:;) f al.--, IIbelorig3.ngs in
Sestroretsk. A special slen.pe=^ wa :~;;;= 1(.rted uus as were some
baggage cars for family , posae.as3.ora;.,. ':i+,.abrain mfrs very clean
and newly painted. They trip wai.f, ac3 Oca.r s
were hitched to frai. ,:ht' trainc,Dl~ t;bro-tigh Vilna, Minsk,
Brest (where=che aged : to, a German trn-ln), Viaraaw and Frankfurt/
Oder. Major Sakharorov and the (:hic:.f i,f? Dersonnel at the GIPISh
Institute, Klukov, accompaniedthin Jou:cney.
they both belonged to the I iDD, Thera a military guard
on the train an officer and thiree soldieris. Although no
~o~,cti %, aw ver
restrictions during the
little besides Woods and swamps.
the track wa.s much better than in 19116. In
some places it was is of in others double. At Brest =c anged
to the narrower gau e_when 0 transferred to the. German
train). From there traveled third class, one famil to a
compartment At Reppeii, the last station in Poland, were held
25X1 up for two days because Klukov had left the original
25X1 papers at Brest. a courier was sent to ge em.
25X1 There was one large sheet 'or e c pereon e_xaept for the children
who were listed with their mothera0 =firat reception was
given at Frankfurt/Oder greeted by a representative
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25X1 of the German Democratic Republic.
Arrival
18.
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From Frankfurt/Ode! =train was roi;..ted through Wittenberg to
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pickedp upLLby ya-buswhich took the l:zr t 50 1on to Leung. Dinner
was waiting and the next as.=,i ned a house. This
house was bet ear an the one ir_
Germany; it had steam heat. About a week I anofficial reception was given. A series of speeches was made by
Eckhardt, Director of the Leuna Plant, the Soviet manager of the
plant, representatives of the trade unions and b members of other
SED s onsored organizations. Eclrhardt promised many things and
gave many warnings. In fact, his speech cons s ed primarily of
warnings -- cautioning; not to do foolish things. Rather than
going West, he suggested et him know of our wishes and needs.
Dr Wyzeomiroki made a general answer for all of us.
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19. After this reception, invited to make speeches to the
Soviet Friendship Soc a an some other groups, but, for the
25X1 benefit of the shop groups,Owere ? interviewed over the factory
25X1 loudspeakers. At first this created considerable embarrassment
25X1 since the people id not know that had
25X1 signed a paper promising not to reveal sri thing
The interviewers, suspecting the cause ofl (reticence, quickly
25X1 changed their questions to ones more generi~ in scope. Some of
25X1 the questions asked concerneQ aith in the German Democratic
Republic and its leaders. Mos o the discussions were obviously
25X1 held for propaganda reasons rather than to inform the listeners.
E0 e
20. On returning to Leuna given my old job in the plant. II
25X1 in no financial difficulties becausc[had aecumulated Last ar :,
20 thousand in Leningrad which were transferred to a blocked
25X1 account in Leuna. Dr Eckoldt was the first who left for the West.
25X1. He went about the end of June. Then ?chastdt, Janke and Kosterhon
disappeared. The Soviets,.are very careful to hide facts concerning
25X1 those who escape as it Is unfavorable propaganda. Workers get
25X1 very suspicious when they hear that these scientists who have been
25X1 in the USSR are in such a hurry to go 'West. In October 1951
Dapproached several times by Soviet agente who wanted 0
25X1 find out -about the men who had disappeared butEwould no ink
of betraying=comrade a. Moreovero they kept asking if I
25X1 health permitted departure. became extremely worrie , fearing
25X1 that the Soviets wanted to s.back to the USSR in order to
25X1 help in setting up plants there. 8 Dec 51=escaped to Berlin.
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