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The generalmajors also had before them this reference from 15 April 1952, written when Enke was a young police recruit: 'Character Appraisal. The calm manner revealed by Enke in most of his dealings is quite obviously only an apparent show, hiding a vivacious and impulsive character.'3

Generalmajors Coburger and Biichner also read this from 5 October 1964, one week after Enke had been sworn in as a Stasi agent. While the new officer was prepared to 'carry out tasks that may exceed normal working hours... Enke tends to deal exclusively with the theory and distance himself from practical activities... Sometimes, he also tends to adopt a certain stubbornness of manner whereby he is often not open-minded enough to confront criticism of his person or decisions.'4

Given these doubts, we are suprised that Enke was entrusted for so many years with such a sensitive, secret and costly operation as the search for the Amber Room.

On 30 May 1980 Enke was called to Stasi headquarters at Normannenstrasse in Berlin-Lichtenberg. A report of that meeting noted: 'Comrade Biichner opened the discussion with the statement that it was necessary to raise the research work on the art robberies in the Soviet Union to a national level and thereby the results of the researches carried out by Comrade Enke should be consolidated in one official dossier.' It was concluded that the Amber Room inquiry should 'take on a more political operative character' and Enke was 'obliged to place all material relevant to the case for operative evaluation'.5 Enke was told: 'All the above named material, accompanied by advice and annotations, must be delivered by L.30 p.m. on 4 June E980.' He had four and a half days to pack up his career.

Biichner called the meeting to a close. Taking into consideration increasing bouts of poor health, Enke was now 'granted sick-leave and will later be retired with a pension'. As he was shown the door, Biichner wished him 'much success in carrying out his new brief'.6 The official retirement date was set for 1 January 1981 but in the meantime there was much for Enke to do.

Enke was being edged out and the Ministry of Truth files before us confirm that the order for a new 'systematic approach' to the Amber Room investigation came from the highest level - Erich Mielke. The files do not explain why the Minister for State Security ordered a completely new inquiry, but it must have been connected with the humiliating discovery that the Stasi had squandered millions without even having had a passable shot at the prize.

Enke's Amber Room investigation was to be renamed 'Operation Puschkin' and would receive higher levels of funding and staffing, in the form of a 'Special Task Force' that would report directly to Generalmajor Neiber, Mielke's first deputy. Enke's former boss Oberst Seufert was the only man from the old team who would remain, assisted by his new aide Oberstleutant Bauer and liaison officers Hauptmann Rudolph and Oberleutnant Kiihn.7

While Enke's career was being deboned, he was sent home to his apartment in Berlin-Griinau. He was to remain on call, with a safe installed in his house, although the Secretariat envisaged an outflow of confidential material from the apartment rather than a continuation of the old days during which Paul Enke was left alone to stockpile documents for which there was only one index, in his head.

Enke was required to sign a form that stated 'today even more than hitherto our activities and results must be kept strictly secret and conspiratorial in order to avoid supplying arguments to our enemies that may lead to politically-hostile [sic] actions against the GDR and the Soviet Union'. We wonder if he had been indiscreet before as well as prone to bouts of fantasy.

In future, only Oberst Seufert and Oberst Stolze, head of the Nazi archives, would have access to the Amber Room files. Further, 'the previous permission of Seufert must be obtained if it becomes necessary to contact citizens of other countries'.8

Another significant player in the old