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LA DUNT A 1) PLD Ei Aterogated @ Briton says Russians dpi Abolt BONN, July 4-An East-West apy mystery linking Dr. Otto ‘oha, former West German “Countecgapionnge chief, te TAR Chisy athe one-time British Secret Services official who worked for the Russians ior 30 years, has come to light. _ The mystery originated two decades ago in the abortive July 20 plot of the German resistance movement to assassi- nate, Hitler, and in the attitewle ot the ‘Russians toward that plotf ‘Dr:-Joha had been a- key! mejaber of the conspiracy. in 1954, on the 10th anniver- sary of the plot, Dr. John went from West-Berlin to East Berlin ~by his own account after being drugged by 2 Soviet agent, by other accounts as a defector. .He escaped to the West in December, 1955, and was charged with treason and held for 32 months. He has been struggling for full rehabilitation ever since./ This week he presented a copy’ of his soon-to-be-published 4u- tobiography; “Y" Canie” Home! a description of the 1951-54 perod, However, Dr. John maintains that throughout his 18 months behind the Iron Curtain his in- terrogators never once asked him for details about his work as head of West Germany's counterespionage Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Ratner, he writes, the only sub-! ject of interest to his chief interragator was Dr. John's for- mer connection with the Brit- ish Secret Service. Escaped to Lisbon tn 144 Br. John discloses that after his escape to Lisbon in the summer of 1944 aboard a plane of Lufthansa—-of which he was the chief of the legal depart- meni—he began to work for British intelligence. He supplied Londen mainly with reports: about the size and quality of the German resistance move- ment. His chief at the time was Kim Philby. According to his autobiogra- phy, Philby dismissed Dr. John's Lisbon reports as “lacking credibility” and refused to pass them on to higher officials. This has been confirmed by, Hugh Trevor-Roper, the British histerian who worked with} Philby at the time. still pending and it Is expected Dr. John surmises now that. the Soviet intelligence service, reflecting Statin’s fear of a pos- sible alliance between the Brit-, ish and a potentially success. j ful anti-Hitler conspiracy, was determined to block the slight. est step in that direction. He asserts that his Soviet Twice,” to the federal Parlia-| captors wanted ta test him on ment’s library. Was He Double Agent? the subject of the British Secret Service and its relations with the anti-Hitler resistance to, He concludes his 376-page{determine whether Philby was story with the thesis that So viet agents kidnapped him sole- loyal. The author's treason cas is still pending andit is expected * da determine whether Kimlthat- his book will play a rele’ Philby was not, after all, a{in his appeal to the Suprete, double agent betraying the Rus-|Court in Karisruhe later this’ sians to the British. Philby had been dismissed from his senior post in the British Secret Intelligence Serv-| ~ jce in 195] on suspicion of warking for Moscow. But he| was given £4,000 in severance pay and, afer lengthy interro-; pation in 1952, lef. alone. The West Gernan points out thet Philby, in fis 1968 book, “My Secret War," admitted that the Sovit intelligence service did not resume contact With him after his dismissal month. Tere oes Hc eng” ed BY * ra , wale “18 pee cota PEOUEST T ER ies os “ “L Cerey Copy SENT AC Brew? a} ae “The Evening Star (Washington) “People's World VeLlodaen Mohr Bishop. Casper Conrad Rosen The Washington Post Times Herald The Washington Daily News The Sunday Star (Washington) Daily News {New York) Sunday News (New York} New York Post . : The New York Times 4] a Ht The Sun (Baltimore? The Daily World The New Leader The Wall Street Joumaj The National Observer Examiner (Washington) Gs h~f& *. Callahan —. Felt ..——— Gale Sullivan teen re + . urtil 1954, at a time when . the Russians had already com- . pleted interrogation of Dr. John. Drilby, who wrote his own book it: the Soviet Union. whers, he do Yeern the Gri iy “NOT RECORDED DED "7 a ] l aug 14 1469 bey moo tt Aa