Arne Sejr (; 31 January 1922 – July 1998) was a member of the resistance and became involved in

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

activities after the War. One of these activities was the set-up of a private intelligence organization, "The Firm" (''Firmaet''), in 1948, involved in

PSYOPS Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...

against communist targets. One of these targets was the eavesdropping of leaders within the ''

Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti The Communist Party of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti, DKP) is a communist party in Denmark. The DKP was founded on 9 November 1919 as the Left-Socialist Party of Denmark (, VSP), through a merger of the Socialist Youth League (Denm ...

'' (DKP). The firm managed to bug the apartment of communist vice-chairman

Alfred Jensen Alfred Julio Jensen (11 December 1903 – 4 April 1981) was an abstract painter. His paintings are often characterized by grids of brightly colored triangles, circles or squares, painted in thick impasto. Conveying a complex web of ideas, often ...

for several years from the apartment below. Sejr's organization also produced "black letters," to stir up paranoia in the party. The DKP was further damaged by the defection of

Aksel Larsen Aksel Larsen (5 August 1897 – 10 January 1972) was a Danish politician who was chairman of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP) and chairman and founder of the Socialist People's Party. He is remembered today for his long service in the C ...

, who then formed his own political party in 1959, the ''

Socialistisk Folkeparti The Green Left ( da, Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF) is a democratic socialist political party in Denmark. It was formerly known in English as the Socialist People's Party, the literal translation of its Danish name. History 1959–1969 The SF ...

'' (SF). Larsen, who had become disillusioned with communism at that time, co-engineered his defection with the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

, with contacts established by a member of The Firm, which already enjoyed a working relationship with the CIA. Although The Firm was disbanded in 1963, its eavesdropping program was revealed at the end of 1975, by former prime minister

Jens Otto Krag Jens Otto Krag (; 15 September 1914 – 22 June 1978) was a Danish politician who served as prime minister of Denmark from 1962 to 1968 and from 1971 to 1972, and as leader of the Social Democrats from 1962 to 1972. He was president of the Nordi ...

References

Further reading