what happened to willy brandt?
Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm (December 18, 1913 – October 8, 1992) was a German politician, Chancellor of West Germany 1969 – 1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1964 – 1987. Around 1973, West German security organizations received information that one of Brandt’s personal assistants, Günter Guillaume, was a spy for the East German state. Brandt was asked to continue work as usual, and he agreed, even taking a private vacation with Guillaume. Guillaume was arrested on April 24, 1974, and the West German government blamed Brandt for having a spy in his party. At the same time, some revelations about Brandt’s private life (he had had some short-lived affairs with prostitutes) appeared in newspapers. Brandt contemplated suicide and even drafted a suicide note. He chose instead to accept responsibility for Guillaume, and resigned on May 7, 1974. Guillaume had been a spy for East Germany, supervised by Markus Wolf, head of the Main Intelligence Ad
