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OTP Hand USSR DDR
The image on the right shows a typical OTP booklet as it was used by agents
of the former Soviet Union (USSR)
and East-Germany (DDR) during the 1960s.
It was used by an agent for decoding encrypted instructions
that were sent via Numbers Stations
on the short wave radio bands as well
as for sending messages by means of a
spy radio transmitter
(often a Russian one).
The booklet consists of a stack of 50 very thin small pages,
each with a 60 five-digit groups, organised as 10 rows by 6 columns.
The pages are folded, perforated and then sewed together.
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Each time a page is needed, it has to be torn at the perforated edge.
For each new message, a fresh OTP sheet was used. If the message was longer
than one page, multiple OTP pages were used. If it was shorter, the rest of
the page was discared. After use, the page was destroyed.
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The pages of the booklet are sewed together and then glued inside an orange
carton cover that was then folded and closed with a wax seal in order to make
it tamper-evident.
In the booklet shown here, the page on top of the stack is numbered 19,
which means that the agent had already used it in the past to send or receive
at least 18 secret messages before he was caught.
The books were printed on very thin paper. This made it possible to make
them thinner and smaller, but also had the advantage of making it easier
to destroy (burn or eat) them after use.
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OTPs like this, were commonly used by secret agents for sending coded
messages to the Spy Centre\, using a
Russian spy radio set
like the R-353.
Most agents however, did not have a spy radio transmitter, but used the
OTP for decoding the secret instructions that were sent by control
via the mysterious Numbers Stations
on the short wave radio bands.
The OTP booklet shown here, was found in The Netherlands in the possession
of a Dutch citizen who worked as an agent for the
East-German Stasi (MfS).
Similar OTP booklets are held in the internal collection of the
Dutch Intelligence Agency AIVD.
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The OTP shown above, dates back to the days of the 1960s, when the
Cold War was at its height. Eastern Block spies,
and in particular spies from East-Germany (DDR),
often used OTPs for their messages,
as it was absolutely safe and could not be
broken by the western intelligence agencies.
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The major problem with OTPs however, is their distribution. A unique set
of OTP booklets needs to be issued and distributed to each individual spy
or agent abroad. As the OTP was destroyed immediately after use, sufficient
and timely supply of new OTPs had to be guaranteed.
OTPs were often smuggled into the country by using concealments
like the one shown in the image on the right. In this case a common
travel kit is cleverly converted into a concealment device by the East-German
secret service.
➤ More information
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OTP booklets, such as the one shown above,
have been captured during the Cold War by Western intelligence
agencies on a number of occassions. One documented example is the capture
of a Dutch man, who
acted as an East-German agent in The Netherlands, in 1969.
When he was finally exposed, the Dutch intelligence agency
BVD
(now: AIVD)
found a partly used OTP booklet in his home, along with a fully operational
R-353 spy radio set,
a burst encoder and cassettes
[1].
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Friday 28 August 2015. Last changed: Thursday, 07 December 2023 - 08:41 CET.
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