He was visited in prison on 22 January 1992 by a delegation from the ANC, who were seeking information regarding the SADF that might have assisted them in CODESA negotiations with the National Party government.Gerhardt was released in August 1992 following his application for release, political pressure in South Africa and an appeal by Russian premier Boris Yeltsin to South African President FW de Klerk when the latter visited Moscow after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.Former Minister of Defence, Magnus Malan said that the former spy’s release was a precondition to the restoration of diplomatic ties and the signing of a trade agreement between South Africa and the Russian Federation.Gerhardt moved to Basel, Switzerland, following in the footsteps of his Swiss wife Ruth Gerhardt, who was released in 1990 following a request from the Swiss government.Gerhardt was subsequently granted amnesty in 1999 by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and his rank of Rear Admiral restored.Researched by Peter Dickens, primary reference Wikipedia and the Imperial War MuseumEnter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.any is the motive, was it pure money, or as he claimed in his defence, was it his father’s strong pro Nazi standpoint and membership of the Ossewabrandwag during WW2 along with a fierce socialisation and upbringing in highly conservative Afrikaner Nationalist values that drove him at a young age to embrace Communism and the Anti-Apartheid struggle?He started his spying career in his late twenties, while still a junior naval officer, by offering his services to the South African Communist Party. Bram Fischer referred him to the Soviet embassy in London, where the “walk-in” was recruited into the GRU, the Soviet military intelligence branch, and instructed to continue his career in the South African military. Upon his return from training in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, he served as the naval liaison officer with the defence company that subsequently become Armscor.From 1972 to 1978, he was appointed as a senior Naval staff officer to the Chief of the SADF in Pretoria.
In this position, he had access to all the South African Naval intelligence reports from the Silvermine listening post near Cape Town,Gerhardt visited the USSR five times during his career, while his wife travelled with him twice in 1972 and 1976.Gerhardt's cover was finally blown by Soviet double agent Dieter Gerhardt was one of the imprisoned spies who was mooted for inclusion in a 1989 East-West prisoner exchange amongst a number of countries that did not materialise.Gerhardt moved to Basel, Switzerland, following in the footsteps of his Swiss wife Ruth Gerhardt, who was released in 1990 following a request from the Swiss government.He claimed that the United States and the Soviet Union met in 1978 to discuss South Africa's Bergman, R (7 April 2000).
According to Gerhardt, he recruited her shortly after they were married.
"The Spy Who Knew It All". School is still out in veteran circles as to reconciliation on Dieter Gerhardt, his actions selling British and South African Naval intelligence to the Soviet Union during the Cold War – many still grappling with the enormity of what he did and the damage it caused both the United Kingdom and, more specifically, South Africa.For those not familiar with South Africa’s biggest and most damaging military leak, Dieter Gerhardt reads like a John Le Carre novel – you just can’t make this stuff up.Dieter Gerhardt is a former Commodore in the South African Navy and commander of the strategic Simon’s Town naval dockyard. Gerhardt joined the South African Navy after his father successfully persuaded naval chief Hugo Biermann to take the troubled teenager under his wing to try to instill discipline in him; he graduated from the Naval Academy in Saldanha Bay in 1956, winning the Sword of Honour. London: Daily Mail.
"A Flash From the Past".Kalley, Jacqueline Audrey; Schoeman, Elna; Andor, Lydia Eve (1999). Shlykov, who did not know that the Gerhardts had been arrested, was also arrested on 25 January when he travelled to Zurich under the alias “Mikhail Nikolayev” for a pre-arranged meeting with Ruth Gerhardt. After building up a successful trucking empire, Dieter was assassinated by Kellerman in 1951. He started his spying career in his late twenties, … Published on September 19, 2018. Dieter Gerhardt Dieter Felix Gerhardt (born 1 November 1935) is a former Commodore in the South African Navy and commander of the strategic Simon's Town naval dockyard. After serving in the German army in WWI, he moved to America and founded the Gerhardt business. In this position he was able to access South African Army and Air Force’s secrets and plans regarding the South African Border War.
Upon his return from training in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, he served as the naval liaison officer with the defence company that subsequently become Later, he was appointed commander of the strategically important Simonstown naval dockyard. The characters in the 11 remaining chapters are the once rising star of the South African Navy, Dieter Gerhardt, who passed some really serious secrets to the then communist Soviet Union; Gerard Ludi, who infiltrated the South African Communist Party … She says Gerhardt eventually gave her an ultimatum to become a spy too, which she declined, forcing the couple’s separation. She divorced him in 1966 and moved to Ireland with her children, claiming that she lived in constant fear of the Soviet security services.