“Aug. 22. German Government, with consent of Dr. Buenz, entrusted me with the handling of a certain investigation. Military attaché von Papen called at my office later and explained the nature of the work expected. (Beginning of Bureau’s services for Imperial German Government.)”
The “certain investigation” consisted in sending two men to Canada to spy on the Valcartier training camp where the first Canadian Expeditionary Force was being mobilized, and to report to the military attaché their state of readiness, in order that he might try some means of keeping them at home if it were not already too late. What von Papen had in mind was dynamiting the Welland Canal; it failed, but the case is of momentary interest to us here because it marked the beginning of a service on Koenig’s part which grew very fast and extended in many and diverse directions.
The Bureau was divided into three parts, the pier division, the special detail division, and the secret service division, or “Geheimdienst.” No one was allowed to forget that P. K. was head of all three. In his rules and regulations he records, among other gems, these:
“#2. In order to safeguard the secrets and affairs of the department prior to receiving a caller, hereafter my desk must be entirely cleared of all papers excepting those pertaining to the business in hand.
“#9. All persons related to me, however distant, will be barred from employment with the Bureau of Investigation. This does not apply to my wife.
“#6. It has been found detrimental to the discipline of the Office to invite direct employees of the Bureau to my residence or other place socially, or to accept their invitations, therefore this practice must cease. This ruling does not apply to agents of the Secret Service Division nor to direct employees if engaged with me on an operation which requires either social entertainment or travelling.”
He had an elaborate and complicated outlay of badges, shields and photographic identification cards for each operative, for which each operative stood the expense. His meticulous attention to detail, and the diligent caution which he observed at all times is indicated in a list of aliases which he set forth in the memorandum book. In 26 cases listed he used 26 different names—none of them his own. For example, in what he called “D-Case 250,” in dealing with an operative named “Sjurstadt” Koenig was known to Sjurstadt only as “Watson”; in D-Case 316, when he negotiated with his agent von Pilis (a propagandist who was later interned, by the way) Koenig was “Bode.” He devised a new name for himself for every new case, and sometimes used two or three names in dealing with different individuals in the same case. Naturally a man of as many identities as Koenig had to keep a record of who he was, and so his list of aliases furnished the government with an excellent catalogue of the pies in which he had his tough fingers. Each of his own employees in the Secret Service Division was known to him in three ways: by his Christian (or rather, his German) name, by a number, and by a special pair of initials. Thus Richard Emil Leyendecker, the art-woods dealer associated with him in the Welland Canal affair, was Secret Agent Number 6, known as “B. P.”; Otto Mottola, a member of the New York Police Department was Secret Agent Number 4, known as “A. S. (formerly A. M.).” The connections of the bureaus were mentioned in his reports by numbers, the Imperial German Embassy being 5000, von Papen being 7000, Boy-Ed 8000, and Dr. Heinrich Albert, the commercial attaché of the embassy, 9000.
SECRET SERVICE DIVISION.
List of Aliases Used by XXX.
| D-Cases. | ||
| Sjurstadt | #250 | Watson |
| Markow | #260 | von Wegener |
| Horn | #277 | Fischer |
| Portack | #279 | Westerberg |
| Berns | #306 | Werner |
| Scott | #309 | Werner |
| McIntyre | #311 | Bode |
| Miller | #314 | Reinhardt |
| Harre | #315 | Kaufmann |
| Kienzle | #316 | Wegener |
| Wiener | #316 | Wegener |
| von Pilis | #316 | Bode |
| Burns | #325 | Reinhardt |
| Stahl | #328 | Stemmler |
| Coleman | #335 | Schuster |
| Schleindl | #343 | Wöhler (Paul) |
| Leyendecker | #344 | Heyne |
| Feldheim | #357 | Winters |
| Warburg | #362 | Blohm |
| Van de Bund | #358 | Taylor |
| Lewis | #366 | Burg |
| Hammond | #357 | Decker (W.P.) |
| Uffelmann | #370 | Schwartz |
| Hirschland | #371 | Günther |
| Neuhaus | #371 | Günther |
| Ornstein | #371 | Günther |
| Witzel | #371 | Wöhler |
| Plochmann | #375 | Breitung |
| Archer | #289 | Mendez |
| Bettes | —— | Goebels |
| Reith | #382 | Brandt |
SECRET SERVICE DIVISION.