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Gehlen, like Dulles, has a rather professorial air. Of medium height, with a square, leathery face, blue eyes, a high forehead, outsize ears and a thin brown mustache, Gehlen's manner is a courteous blend of wit and erudition, but he has a steely core of devotion to duty and to Germany. The victories and defeats of the Gehlen organization are seldom publicized. He is known to have been instrumental in virtually destroying the 1948 Czech spy ring in West Germany and in duping the Soviets for two years with a highly placed double agent. It was Gehlen who managed the remarkable feat of planting an agent in the Cabinet of East Germany's Red boss, Walter Ulbricht, and when the Communists finally caught on, spiriting him to safety in the West.
Gehlen's group numbers some 5,000 fulltime members and another 5,000 occasional employees, all of whom refer to him as "der Doktor." The organization operates on two fronts: it collects and evaluates intelligence largely from behind the Iron Curtain and detects foreign agents operating in West Germany, who may then be either won over, fed false information or arrested. Since 1951, Communist agents to the number of 1,799 have been jailed in West Germany and another 16,500 detected but unpunished—mostly people who confessed voluntarily or proved that they had been intimidated or had done no damage.
Double Trouble. Gehlen agents come in four categories: 1) those who penetrate the various Red parties and administrations; 2) those who live near important target areas or in close contact with important Communist personages and can therefore make continuing reports; 3) itinerant travelers trained to keep their eyes peeled for specific subjects of interest; 4) double agents, i.e., spies who are ostensibly working for the Communists but actually work for the West. Gehlen does not engage in such activities as sowing unrest in East Germany or attempting to stir up riots or sabotage. He thinks it futile and dangerous to encourage insurrection if it is not to be supported by military help from the West. Germans are proud of Gehlen's professional competence. When he was leaving for the U.S. early last month, West German Defense Minister Franz-Josef Strauss was jokingly asked if he planned to buy a U-2 spy plane in Washington. Cracked Strauss: "What would we do with it? Our man Gehlen does things better—and he has never been caught."