Wolfgang Vogel | Oversaw spy swaps, 82

Wolfgang Vogel, 82, the point man for spy swaps and prisoner exchanges between West and East Germany during the Cold War, died Thursday in Schliersee, Germany.

A lawyer by trade, Mr. Vogel made it a career of sorts as the main point of contact for the governments of the then-divided Germany when the two had few formal ties before reuniting in 1990. He gained acclaim for overseeing the exchange of KGB spy Rudolf J. Abel for Gary Powers in 1962, the U.S. pilot shot down over the Soviet Union in his U-2 spy plane in 1960.

He also oversaw the exchange of others involved in espionage or imprisoned in East Germany for those held in the West, including Jewish dissident Anatoly Scharansky.

Although Mr. Vogel's efforts were low profile, he was credited with helping more than 200,000 people leave East Germany so they could reunite with their families in West Germany. His reach inside the East German government was so extensive that when former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt wanted to visit the country, it was Mr. Vogel who helped arrange it. Schmidt later dubbed him "our mail man." - AP