12 Facts About Otto John

Otto John was a German lawyer and intelligence official.

Otto John earned a doctorate of law from the University of Marburg.

Otto John was involved in the plot of 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler, for which his brother, Hans, was executed.

Otto John worked for the BBC German Language Service and in black propaganda at The Rookery, in the village of Aspley Guise, in Milton Keynes England, and towards the end of the war for Soldatensender Calais.

Otto John's appointment went against the will of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer but was supported by British officials.

Otto John reappeared three days later in East Berlin, stating that he had decided to move to East Germany and criticizing Adenauer's policies of remilitarisation and integration into the Western Bloc, which in his view hampered German reunification.

Otto John criticized the appointment of former Nazis to high offices, such as Theodor Oberlander and Reinhard Gehlen.

On 12 December 1955, Otto John defected to West Germany where he was instantly arrested.

Otto John now claimed that his move to East Berlin was not voluntary but that he was abducted by the KGB.

Otto John expressed bitterness about the fact that in the court that found him guilty, there were judges who had been on the bench during the Hitler era.

Otto John did not want to defect but considered after his kidnapping that he was irreparably compromised.

Otto John died in 1997, at an Innsbruck sanatorium, after years of trying to get rehabilitation for his treason conviction.