Controversial organization incites unrest in the camp of its opposition

The psycho-concern sends out its spies
Deserter blows agent's cover
Operation Dustbin:
Wanted: incriminating material in the trash can

Suedwest Presse (Ulm/Neu Ulm, Germany), May 11, 1999
By Helmut Pusch and Peter Reichelt

Psycho-concerns like Scientology fear nothing more than the exposure of its dubious machinations. Those who make these revelations must be silenced or discredited. A wedge must be driven into the alliance against the [Scientology] organization, states the practical writings of Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard. Critics, Hubbard continues, are all criminal. In order to make that known, Scientology maintains its own secret service. In Germany this is called the "Department of Special Affairs" (DSA). When nothing incriminating can be found, then it is manufactured, say critics.

If that is not enough, Hubbard recommends the employment of agent provocateurs. Fantasies of a science fiction author? Not even close. The Scientologists have slipped at least one man in amongst the critics, and he has done his job successfully. The man who says this is 44-year-old Norman S., who himself has worked for DSA. He learned this coincidentally from internal memos which state what actions Scientology has taken against critics in the past years.

As an agent, S. was a supernumerary. In Fall 1992 he was recruited and got the assignment to research attorney Ingo Heinemann, a renowned critic of the Scientologists. Among the tips contained in Hubbard's books is searching through the victim's trash cans - and that is what S. did for the 30th time.

"We drove up right next to the can, opened the sliding door, got the trash can lightening quick, closed the sliding door and were off," he described the midnight operation. In a nearby woods, the trash was sorted. Not only carelessly thrown away documents such as letters or checks, but also medication packages and wine bottles - anything suited to put pressure on Heinemann was sent to a post office box in Hamburg. The rest was returned with the container back in front of Heinemann's house.

An Old Acquaintance

S., who has recently left Scientology, has now apologized for that to Heinemann. However, the man still has much more to tell, and that is what he has been doing - at the Constitutional Security agency which is observing Scientology, as well as at critics' like Heinemann. Very embarrassing for the latter group: they have been covering for a potentially successful Scientology spy for years now. S. learned the name of the undercover man who had the assignment to infiltrate the critics from Ralph Kleinicke, his DSA directing officer, and he knows this man well: Martin Beyer. S. brought him into Scientology himself. As early as 1989, Beyer had told him of his first assignment as an agent. In 1990, Beyer broke off contact: "We will not see or speak with each other for a long time," Beyer told him, reported Norman S.

Beyer had received a new assignment from the organization - the infiltration of the critics, superspy Kleinicke later told his apprentice, S. Beyer first appeared at Ingo Heinemann's Association for Intellectual and Psychical Freedom with the story that he wanted to leave Scientology. Accepted by Heinemann's association, Beyer started a tour throughout the various organizations which distribute information about Scientology and provide assistance for its victims.

In 1993, Beyer turned up at probably the best known Scientology critic, Renate Hartwig. Her book "Ich klage an," which had been on the best-seller lists for months by that time, had made "Scientology" a household word overnight. She had been declared by Scientology to be "Public Enemy Nr. 1." After lengthy hesitation, Renate Hartwig accepted Beyer's offer to work for her. Apparently he exploited his stay in the critic's house.

Later copies of bank statements appeared from the "Robin Direkt" association, the chairman of whom is Renate Hartwig. Even internal documents about Hartwig's children [appeared]. All of a sudden Scientologists started showing up at her relatives' and friends'. Prior to that, Beyer had questioned the Hartwig's son about family members and their friends.

Confidential details which Beyer knew about were suddenly also known by the Scientologists, and got back to Hartwig from people leaving Scientology. Conspicuously, years after Martin Beyer's stay in the Hartwig's house, all documents meant to shatter the credibility of the couple are dated 1993. And they have landed mainly in the laps of other critics.

A Deeper Rift

There is a simple reason for that. Among the critics today there is a deep rift. On the one side is the faction that gathers about Renate Hartwig, the successful best seller author. She is envied by the other, less successful critics because of her success. Besides that, in her book "Ich klage an," she accused critics who had been active for years of serious neglect. The reaction: Renate Hartwig was ostracized. Critical colleagues who greedily fell upon the allegedly incriminating documents included Ursula Caberta, the director of the Hamburg center for the observation of Scientology, and Renate Rennebach. The fact that these could only be stolen documents did not distract the ever-so-serious sect experts.

Back to 1993: Renate Hartwig had her suspicions and tried to talk about them to Martin Beyer. He, however, backed off, and used his membership in "Robin Direkt" as a ticket to another assistance organization, the "Article 4" association in Bochum.

There Beyer retained his pattern. He even appeared, as a representative of "Article 4," on one of the lists given out by SPD sect speaker Renate Rennebach to recommend competent spokesmen on the theme of Scientology and other psycho-groups. Until 1995. Then Renate Hartwig's third book, "Das Komplott und die Kumpane" ["The Conspiracy and the Companeros"] appeared.

One Scientology companero had an entire chapter devoted to him: Martin Beyer. The members of "Article 4" read this attentively, and put Beyer, who had also sent out dubious letters on Article 4 letterhead paper and created discontent in mercenary dealings, on the spot. Beyer kept his mouth shut and was expelled - nevertheless he remained on the Rennebach list as an individual person. And there Beyer remains today (as of April 20, 1999), even after ex-agent Norman S., who is categorized by Constitutional Security has extremely credible, has exposed the undercover man.

His work is done

"I will continue to speak with him," sect critic Ingo Heineman disregarded the revelation, said ex-agent Norman S. "He has not hurt anybody yet," countered Frank Sassenscheidt-Grote, the personal spokesman for Renate Rennebach. Not hurt anybody? The rift among the critics gives evidence to the contrary. That is where Beyer has done his work. Beyer has also apparently proven his success as an information collector. The latest example: in the Federal Office for Constitutional Security, the entire thing was still a closed matter, when out of the Scientology circles the name of a promising applicant for a key position in the federal office in the area of Scientology was heard: Frank Sassenscheidt-Grote, who maintains the recommendation list for Renate Rennebach.

All this wide-eyed innocence in the matter is brushing Renate Hartwig the wrong way: she is now demanding the resignation of Renate Rennebach as political sect speaker of the SPD.