Cold War Intrigue

After completing nearly ten years of musicological (historical) research on my dissertation, largely in East and West Germany, I mailed it back to my university in Texas, expecting to receive my doctorate in 1983 or '84. All course work, requirements, and examinations were completed. But the paranoid intelligence agerncies in Berlin intercepted it from the post office at Tempelhof AFB in Berlin, and I never saw it again. Unfortunately, the Graduate Dean refused to give me any time extension, so I ended up ABD (All but dissertation).

The paranoid intelligence people were doubtless looking for microdots in the music, a spy technique. I never got reimbursed by the government for the insured missing boxes, although I made many claims. This long spy story, of the CIA following me fruitlessly all over Europe and my meeting and becoming close friends with an East German agent, will be a future link. This story will also include a true story of harassment by the military in Berlin, who were convinced that the children and I were spies or else drug dealers! They refused to let me tell them why I had moved to Berlin. This included an attempt to make me leave as a "Persona non grata." But that was the Army. The Germans, on the other hand, were very nice and said, "Mrs. Shauck, we don't have ANYTHING against you, but we have to follow the orders of the military commander here in Berlin."

It should be made clear, I thought I was a part of the military community. I was a widow of an Air Force Major who had died what was ruled a service-connected death, and I had a permanent military ID card and DIC compensation from the VA. The Germans were always helpful and friendly. The Americans were paranoid, antagonistic and threatening. I was conducting my approved dissertation research in East Germany about the first great American pianist, William Mason (a later link).

Mason had lived with and studied with Liszt, who had only four students at that time. Mason is the only American who knew most of the "great Master musicians" in the 19th century, such as Liszt, Wagner, Brahms, and the like. I had letters from my University to prove this, and offered to show them. But the Military "Intelligence?" said, "We don't want to hear ANYTHING from you - we are conducting an investigation!" They were wasting the tax payer's money. This was during the cold war. I was secretly followed all over Europe by CIA and other secret agents, but I didn't know it at the time. I thought people were just being friendly and helpful when they would stop me and ask if they could help me find where I was going. The complete story will be a long link to come.

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