ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Biochemical Assassination Weaponsand when they were sealed, by climbing out the windows.Over time the holes and weak points in the Wall werefound and blocked. Those attempting to escape in lateryears faced many more hazards, and while some weresuccessful, many were wounded or killed in the attempt.BiochemicalAssassination Weapons❚ JUDYTH SASSOONThe fall of the Wall. The collapse of the Wall was an evengreater surprise than its construction, catching the EastGerman politicians and border guards unaware. In 1989,there had been growing unrest in the GDR, with a numberof mass demonstrations in East Berlin. A new refugeecrisis was also causing problems for the East Germanauthorities. The August, 1989, the opening of the Hungarianborder with Austria provided a new gateway to theWest. In just three days of September, 1989, over 13,000East Germans fled to the West via Hungary. The EastGerman authorities rushed through a number of stop-gapmeasures in an attempt to stem the flow of refugees,including the forced resignation of Honecker on October18, and giving amnesty to those who had attempted tocross the border illegally. However, the unrest continued,and the refugees still fled.Then on November 9, 1989, Politburo member GuenterSchabowski gave a television interview in which he announcedthat East Germans would be able to travel abroad.When a reporter asked when this would apply Schabowskiseemed unsure, but then said “immediately.” Within minutes,crowds gathered at the border demanding to cross,but the guards refused to let them pass without orders.The East German authorities had intended for the newtravel conditions to apply the next day, but in order toavoid violent confrontations, the border was opened. Hugecrowds crossed the border, and an impromptu celebrationerupted in both sides of Berlin. The Wall had been breached,and would not be closed again.❚ FURTHER READING:BOOKS:Hilton, Christopher. The Wall: The People’s Story. Stroud,Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 2001.Read, Anthony and David Fisher. Berlin: The Biography ofa City. London: Pimlico, 1994.Tusa, Ann. The Last Division: A History of Berlin 1945–1989.Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1997.ELECTRONIC:Berlin Wall Online. 2003.Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin .SEE ALSOBerlin AirliftBerlin TunnelCold War (1950–1972)Cold War (1972–1989): The Collapse of the Soviet UnionAssassination is usually defined as politically inspiredmurder. The term is probably derived from the Arabicword for hemp (Hashish), which was apparently used byHasan-ban-Sabah (c. 1034–1124) to induce motivation inhis followers. These “hashishins” or assassins were assignedto carry out political and other murders, usually atthe cost of their own lives. Thus, at the etymological level,there is already a connection between assassination andcompounds derived from nature.Biochemicals in the context of assassination involvemostly plant-derived drugs or toxins. They can be organiccompounds such as alkaloids, diterpenes, cardiacand cynogenic glycosides, nitro-containing compounds,oxalates, resins, certain proteins and amino acids. A selectionof these biochemicals were effectively used in assassinationattempts throughout history.The ancient civilizations of the Near East, Greece andRome developed the use of poisons in political homicideto a high degree of efficiency. In classical Rome, mushroompoisons were expertly administered by Agrippina(A.D.16– A.D. 59.), wife of Emperor Claudius and mother ofNero. She successfully disposed of several political rivals,including Marcus Silanus who was to succeed Claudius,and eventually Claudius himself. Agrippina probably employedthe properties of the amanita species, which containamanitin polypeptides that produce degenerativechanges in the liver, kidney, and cardiac muscles. In ancientEgypt, Queen Cleopatra in her search for a suitablesuicide compound became familiar with the properties ofhenbane (Hyoscyanus niger) and belladonna (Atropa belladonna),although she judged death by these plants to berapid, but painful. Cleopatra was also disappointed withStrychnos nux-vomita (a tree whose seeds yield strychnine).Strychnine causes stimulation of the central nervoussystem, produces generalized convulsions, and distortedfacial features at death. The latter did not suitCleopatra, who eventually settled for the bite of an asp(Egyptian cobra), which produced a more serene andprompt death worthy of a queen.Hemlock is another notorious biochemical used inpolitical murders. The hemlock plant contains coniine, analkaloid, and was used to execute the Greek philosopherSocrates (c.479 B.C.–399 B.C.). The drug causes progressivemotor paralysis extending upwards from the extremitiesuntil death results from respiratory failure. Some ofthe deadliest political poisons were concocted by thealchemists of the Middle Ages. La Cantrella was a secretassassination weapon used by Cesare Borgia (1476–1507)and Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519) to despatch their enemies.Even today, its exact composition is not known, but106 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security