THE directory of the West German government lists no Defense Ministry. But for four years, the equivalent of a small Defense Ministry has been working in Bonn, hidden discreetly behind the dirty red brick walls of an obscure building and an even obscurer and Teutonically confusing name: Office of the Federal Chancellor's Appointee for Questions Arising Out of the Increase in Allied Troops. For short, it is called Bureau Blank, after its boss, a deliberate, round-faced ex-union official named Theodor Blank.
Under Civilian Blank, a group of former German generals and colonels have carefully worked out plans, strategy, even some of the...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
