Breaking silence: James Jones believes Germany's role in illegal weapons proliferation in the 1980s has not been properly addressed.
If James Jones is to be believed, German intelligence operatives once tried to kill him. He claims to be a former rocket scientist who has been living in New Zealand under a new identity for 24 years.
He says he fled Germany because he feared for his life, after exposing what he believes was the illegal sale of military rocket technology to Iraq. He is writing a book about it.
He agreed to speak to the Listener because he wants to get his past off his chest. He also believes his homeland has a responsibility to own up to its betrayal. For various reasons, we have been unable to independently verify his claims. So here is his story. One day, it may appear in an even more detailed form.
Jones, 66, says he was born in Düsseldorf in 1955, as Gerhard Holger Duennebeil. These days, he lives in a modest house at Paraparaumu, where he has retired. He plays bridge and croquet and goes ballroom dancing with a friend. For a while, he owned a lawn mowing business, but eventually found it too physically demanding.
Before lawn mowing, he worked in various IT jobs. But before that, he was a rocket scientist.
“I designed my first rocket at 13 years," Duennebeil says. “I was a loner; I had bad double vision and couldn't play sport with the other boys. My father refused to let me build it. It was designed to fly to only 7.5m but I know now it would have exploded within 3m of lifting. It was to be powered by air pressure mixed with fuel.”
Bu hikaye New Zealand Listener dergisinin April 16 - 22, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye New Zealand Listener dergisinin April 16 - 22, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
A big noise
Scott Kara pays tribute to alternative rock figurehead Steve Albini.
Fiddling on the roof
After the doco recut by Peter Jackson, the original Let It Be returns as odd as ever.
Get with the pilgrim
Australian film-maker Bill Bennett thought turning his Camino de Santiago experience into a movie would be a good walk ruined. But he did it anyway.
The real queen of Bridgerton
Regency women would have a ball if they were transported from 'the Ton' to the present day, author Julia Quinn says.
Setting boundaries
A giant in the philosophy of gender seems unwilling to engage with alternative points of view or the reality of biological sex.
Affair of the heart
Miranda July's second novel, a wild ride through an unconventional relationship, is not for the faint-hearted.
A continent of no laws
A Kiwi investigative journalist has spent 21 years trying to get to the bottom of what many believe is the suspicious death of an Australian scientist in Antarctica.
I'm Jo Peck again
Four weeks after her 60th birthday, Jo Peck's husband of 25 years told her he was seeing someone else. In a new book, she details how shock and disbelief made way for happiness and contentment.
A mayor for everyone
The Far North's first Māori mayor is one of an emerging political generation bringing equity to the forefront. But a government reversal on Māori wards looms as a stumbling block.
We need to talk about dying
Whether by choice or weight of numbers, more of us will die at home in future. And with pressure to ease assisted dying restrictions, the gaps in community-based care need fixing - before time runs out.