To: Minister for State Security Erich Milk

From: Colonel Ulrich Bront, Ministry for State Security

Regarding: Operation Casanova Progress

Date: 

April 9th 1972

Comrade Minister,

I am proud to report that Operation Casanova has already yielded positive results. As for the date of this report, we have confirmed that the wives of five NATO service members in West Berlin have been converted into agents as well as devout Communists.

The operatives we have infiltrated into nearby military facilities have made contact with the wives of these service members and hypnotized them once an opportunity presented itself. Our agents have noted that military wives who are dealing with marital issues seem to succumb to hypnosis quicker than those with a healthy marriage. Further investigation is ongoing.

One military spouse in a difficult marriage, Dana Maxwell, fell under Stasi control very quickly and the agent responsible wanted basic hypnotic suggestions regarding a desire to serve the Stasi as well as a desire to undergo further political indoctrination.

In order to provide evidence of our control over her, Frau Maxwell was instructed to take pictures of herself naked which she then provided to her handler. This order was given to eight other women under our control and their photos are in the Ministry's possession. We have begun distributing communist literature as well as supplemental propaganda. In return, we are being given a clear picture of the social fabric of the bases were these women life.

I must state that assessing the health of marriages among servicemen and their spouses at NATO instillations will be critical to our ability to cultivate informants. We must know which families are in a healthy place and which ones are problematic. I am somewhat hesitant to target mothers living on these bases as their children may expose them but we will not avoid them entirely.

If these favorable results persist, we may begin extending Operation Casanova to military spouses in the rest of West Germany.

I appreciate your feedback, Comrade Minister.