If it had not been for 15 minutes... Chapter 3

You are on Chapter 3. You can read chapter 2 here.

The Home Team

Continuing the explanation of the participants in our extraordinary story, here is a short summary of the good guys.

Ursula Michnowski ( my Mother )

My mother. At the time of our defection she was working as a waitress in the best hotel in Oberhof . Just as a little bit of background,  waiters and waitresses in East-Germany were real professions. People went to school and had to pass certain examinations. It was all very official. As a result you have some extremely professional service personnel in the better restaurants and hotels. Aside from the fact that this job did not have the same stigma as it's equivalent in the US, the tips that a waiter in our hotel earned put his income on par with a doctor. In the words of my mother "I was earning more than the General Manager who ran the hotel". To make things even more interesting, frequently these tips were in hard currency (Dollars, West-German Marks), which is impossible to get and allows a citizen of East-Germany to purchase Western goods in specially designated shops. Suffice it to say this was a good job.

Lt. Werner Stiller (aka Peter Fischer)

Werner is the key person in our defection scenario.  A professional agent  with the East-German Intelligence Service (STASI) he was a case officer directly in charge of 7 agents located across West-Germany, as well as Supervisor of approximately 35 employees.  The mission of the department Lt. Stiller worked for was high-technology espionage. Similar to industrial espionage but sponsored at the state level. Stillers recruits were primarily employed in the nuclear industry and supplied nuclear technology secrets to the East. Having graduated with a degree in Physics he was identified as a recruitment candidate by the Stasi and joined their ranks after the mandatory military service. At the time of this story, Stiller was approximately 5'10 and weighed roughly 180 pounds with a muscular build. On a personal level he was very charming when it suited him, and possessed an extremely good memory which helped him both professionally and on a personal level. He is one of those guys that could sell ice cubes to the eskimos.

Michael Michnowski (yours truly)

Actually that was my name back in those days. In 1981 we were resettled by the CIA (on request of the West-German Intelligence Service BND). Part of that resettlement included new identities.  At the time of our defection I was a 16 year old teenager who knew just about everything, as most 16 year olds do.

Herbert Kross

My uncle who had the wherewithal to jump the wall in Berlin before it became an official wall. My mother was supposed to join him, however,  pregnancy put a crimp in her plans. Herbert lives in a small village outside of Nuernberg. 

Unknown Courier

I wish I knew his name.  I'd like to thank him. All I know is that Mr. Horst H. or Heinz H. , as an agent/courier for the BND ,was one of those small wheels in a big operation that make all the difference in the success or failure of an undertaking. I will explain more about this person later in the story. His courage to go against the bureaucratic grain of the BND saved our lives.

The Staff of the West German Embassy in Warzaw, Poland

I am told that our defection was the first time since WWII that the diplomatic branche of the West-German government was involved in a under-cover operation. There were three men in particular to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. The diplomatic staff of the Embassy was put into quite an impossible position but came through for us.

Continue to chapter 4

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