Beloved soigneur a spy?

by NE Observer on May 5, 2008 12:45 PM EDT Comment 7 comments

From cycling fans anonymous:

04 May 2008
Eule a Stasi spy?

German media is reporting that long-time T-Mobile soigneur Dieter "Eule" Ruthenberg, who was masseur to riders such as Ullrich and Zabel, is under suspicion of being a spy and informant for the Stasi, the notorious and hated East German secret police. Ruthenberg is said to have worked for the Stasi from 1976 to 1989. Ruthenberg is well-known to American cycling fans due to his prominent and compelling role in the Tour de France documentary Hell on Wheels. Apparently doping was hardly the only thing going on behind the scenes at T-Mobile.

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Is there a source on this?

Before we run with this kind of accusation...

"If writing too much about the classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on May 5, 2008 2:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Die Welt

Story here. Not exactly a tabloid pub.

That said, keep in mind that "Stasi spy" can encompass a really broad range of things. And keep in mind the context/era. Some obscene percentage of the population may have qualified under some definitions.

by Sui Juris on May 5, 2008 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

OK

The main column is a bit crowded at the moment, so I'll leave it in diaries, but this is an odd development.

"If writing too much about the classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on May 5, 2008 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have to hold out hope

that he wasn't, in the worst sense of the word - that would really be a bit crushing.

"Resistance Is Futile. You Will Be Assimilated!"

by Drew on May 5, 2008 2:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Anyone who gave

any information once under pressure was classified in Stasi/StB/KGB case files as an informer. Informer = spy, at least in most Slavic languages.

The 13-year window is sort of interesting, but that often only means that he said something in 1976 and they kept a file until 1989. Probably it means more than that, but, given Eule's circumstances in life, not much more. In Czechoslovakia (which I know well), the list of ex-informers contains many smart, modern people now working as heads of corporations, think tanks, pro-western political parties and NGOs, etc.

Just let the sad old gay guy have his peace.

by Mr 60 Percent on May 5, 2008 3:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not too surprising...

Given the reach of the Stasi in the DDR, it's hardly surprising that a soigneur to top level athletes would be recruited as an informer. He seems to have reported on a wide range of athletes' activity, including some stuff that was downright silly. According to die Welt's report, the national team stole large amounts of toilet paper at the '89 Worlds in France to sell when they returned to the DDR. This little incident made its way to the Stasi files. Apparently, he also informed on a colleague who was a lesbian, and another who had some sort of sexual thingy that I can't quite understand. Really, German on Mondays should be against the Geneva convention. Not surprisingly, he's denying everything and stuff.

Timothy Garten Ash has a great book on his Stasi file - he's a British academic who spent time in the DDR, and as a westerner, came under the scrutiny of the Stasi. The book's called, wait for it, The File

by gavia on May 5, 2008 3:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There was a piece on Jens Voigt

in Pro Cycling (Feb. 2006) in which he was asked if there weren't any negatives in his experience growing up in East Germany (he had been praising the East German sports system). He said, "'They say now that one in five people worked for the Stasi ... but I don't feel like any harm happened to me, that the system caused any harm. Imagine if I found out my best friend was spying on me, or something. I don't want to know -- I just don't want to know. It's over now.'"

One in five makes for a very different context.

As Gavia says, it would hardly be surprising that a soigneur to top athletes would have been recruited as an informer. And "recruited" wouldn't have meant being asked or given a choice. Nothing like "Please come to UCLA and not Kentucky."

by NE Observer on May 5, 2008 8:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs