In any case,Waltraud was an enthusiastic companion who helped her new husband to cement their social standing by giving magnificent parties for the Germans in Cairo and the Egyptian VIPs. The champagne flowed freely and Waltraud did not fail to show the anti-Semitism that was enjoyed as much by the Germans as the Egyptians who attended. As for the actual espionage work: that was progressing at a grand pace.
Lotz was now persona grata in the echelons of Egyptian circles and could travel around the country without difficulty. Unlikely as it may sound, he even managed to take a tour of the secret Factory 333 with the base commander himself as his guide. Introduced as a friend of Egypt, he was able to make direct contact with the German scientists and glean valuable information on the progress of their work.
However, the nature of his mission soon changed after the spectacular firing of the four missiles in July 1962, which surprised the Israelis, and Lotz, who were otherwise aware of everything that was taking place. Much more serious were the revelations of the Austrian scientist, Yoklik,47 who worked for the Egyptians before defecting. It was he who told Mossad that Nasser planned to fill the warheads with radioactive material and even bacteriological germs. Against the advice of Prime Minister Ben-Gourion, who wanted above all to preserve good relations with Germany, the Mossad chief, Isser Harel, decided to strike back hard. This led to Operation Damocles, which resulted in many German scientists being targeted and even killed. Wolfgang Lotz was responsible for the Egyptian part of this offensive.
Firstly, Lotz was told that during the preparation for Operation Damocles, Isser Harel (who was head of the two major Israeli intelligence services: Mossad and Shin Bet), wanted him to be under his control and not that of the army's. Harel was victorious: Meir Amit, the head of the Aman, was not in a strong position and had to bow down. Lotz, the new Mossad agent, was asked by Harel for a list of the German scientists and their addresses. The mission was simple for the Israeli who was now freely mixing with these people on a regular basis. Knowing their addresses, the Mossad agents were able to send letter bombs, which were often posted from Germany.
The first package of books to be delivered killed five people at Factory 333 and caused heavy damage. But the Egyptians employed countermeasures: any packages arriving from abroad addressed to the scientists were now systematically x-rayed before being opened. Harel, who had no intention of abandoning his reign of terror, instead asked Lotz to post the letters himself, from Cairo. The mission was risky, but Lotz agreed and Mossad sent him explosives hidden in bars of soap.
During his extensive training in Israel, Lotz had learned how to booby-trap letters, including methods which had been used by other agencies around the world, as well as by Mossad. After receiving his instructions, he sent the booby-trapped packages accordingly. These methods were very efficient and panic soon spread among the German scientific community living in Cairo. In spite of the protection they received from the authorities, they still felt very vulnerable, especially as they also received letters containing very specific threats. These anonymous letters contained information about their work and their families, but above all, explicitly advised them to leave Egypt as soon as possible.
Gradually the frightened men, or at least those who were not wanted for war crimes, began to return to their homeland. Inevitably, the Egyptian secret services now knew that there was an Israeli spy in Cairo. It had to be someone who had infiltrated the German ex-pat community, as they clearly knew the men in it.
Steve Eytan
48
Dr Josef Eisig received the following missive: ‘You are blacklisted. We know that you are a specialist in aerospace research. It is out of concern for your wife, Ruth, your daughter, Inge, and your son, Peter, that we advise you to leave Egypt and return to Germany. The sooner you return, the better for your family.’
Signed:The Bayonets.
On 27 September, in spite of all the precautions taken by the Egyptians, a letter that had supposedly been x-rayed exploded when opened by Dr Kirmayer, another aerospace specialist. A few days later, another letter for a third German scientist exploded at the hands of a post office worker in Meadi.
To the great dismay of the Egyptians, who were no longer able to guarantee their safety, these repeated acts (even those that according to the postmark originated in Cairo), prompted many Germans to leave. At the end of September, Wolfgang Pilz, the chief rocket specialist, left Egypt with no though of return, accompanied by the unhappy Hannelore Wenda.
[The latter, Pilz's secretary, had been disfigured by the letter bomb and had lost her sight. Steve Eytan, incidentally, writes that Wolfgang Lotz was one of the most passionate Germans against the ‘Zionist terror campaign'.]
By undertaking this mission given to him by Mossad, Lotz had run the risk of being identified. Fortunately for him, however, the Egyptians failed to find him and Mossad asked him to move on to other things. After all, there were now hardly any German scientists left in Egypt and the best ones had already gone home. Operation Damocles was a great success for the Israelis.
As a war with Egypt seemed inevitable, the Cairo spy was thus entrusted with a new mission. He was asked to uncover the battle plans for the Egyptian Army and details of the military equipment that Moscow continued to send to Nasser. Thanks once again to his excellent relationship with the cream of the Egyptian Army, Lotz was well-suited for the task. Under the guise of a tourist, he was able to approach the military bases and after explaining his ‘connections', take a look around. This meant he was able to send Tel-Aviv highly reliable information.
The Israelis now had a comprehensive knowledge of the anti-aircraft installations and surface-to-air missiles that had been supplied by the Soviet Union. This information was
