Wolfgang Lotz (6 January 1921 – 13 May 1993), who later adopted the Hebrew name Ze'ev Gur-Arie, was an Israeli spy in Egypt during the 1960s providing intelligence and conducting operations against Egyptian military scientists. He was arrested by Egypt in 1965, and subsequently repatriated to Israel in a prisoner exchange. Early life Wolfgang Lotz was born in Mannheim, Germany on January 6 1921 to a Jewish mother, Helene, and a non-Jewish Aryan German father, Hans. Hans Lotz was a theater director who worked alongside his wife, an actress. His parents were non-religious to the extent that Lotz's mother did not even care to have her son circumcised at birth, contrary to Jewish practice. This later proved to be advantageous in his career as a spy; the fact that Lotz had not been circumcised enabled him to convince others he was not Jewish. His parents divorced in 1931. In 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power. In 1937 Lotz and his mother emigrated to Palestine Mandate, where they settled in Tel Aviv. He adopted the Hebrew name Ze'ev Gur-Arie, and began to study at the agricultural school at Ben Shemen. In 1937 he joined the Haganah and engaged in a number of security duties. After the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Lotz was recruited into the British Army because of his knowledge of the German language. He was stationed in Egypt, where he joined an intelligence unit and mostly interrogated German POWs. After the war, he returned to Israel and was involved in smuggling weapons for the Haganah. In 1948 Lotz married an Israeli Jew, Rivka, and they had a son, Oded Gur-Arie. At the outbreak of the Independence War in 1948 Lotz joined the newly formed Israel Defense Forces and served with the rank of Captain. He took part in the battle around Latrun. At the end of the war in 1949, Lotz held the rank of major. During the Sinai War in 1956, when Israel, the United Kingdom, and France attacked Egypt, Lotz rose to the rank of Major and commanded an Infantry brigade. Spying career After the war, Lotz joined Aman. His superiors planned to send him to Egypt to gather intelligence on Gamal Abdel Nasser's armaments plans and plot targets for the next Israeli attack. Aman also hoped that because of Lotz's command of the German language and his Aryan appearance, he could infiltrate the