Ferenc Nagy-William Donovan correspondence regarding Permindex

[Ed Berger]

6 hours ago, Anthony Thorne said:

Ed, don't forget to pop some of those names into CIA Crest and see what's there. They have lots of useful documents, and it's often surprising what turns up.

That's good advice, Anthony—that's a resource I often find myself overlooking, despite its importance!

By the way, I really enjoyed your essay in Coup in Dallas. Found the passages about Texas Instruments dominating the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest particularly interesting. I went down a bit of a TI rabbit hole myself, looking at Empire Trust activities. 

[Anthony Thorne]

Thanks very much Ed. Nearly 10,000 words were taken out of that essay, just due to space reasons (Leslie and I agreed on the lift). Following the trail into the 70's and 80's opened up a few unusual doors that neither of us had anticipated. I probably also need to return to the essay and expand it, as a fair bit of new info has come up since then. 

Archive.org was also very useful for name searches, as it brought up either papers, or obscure books that I'd never heard of. Google Books was a last resort option for me occasionally too, and I had to drop by the State Library of Melbourne and Melbourne University to access books that weren't available anywhere else online.

[Ed Berger]

18 hours ago, Anthony Thorne said:

Thanks very much Ed. Nearly 10,000 words were taken out of that essay, just due to space reasons (Leslie and I agreed on the lift). Following the trail into the 70's and 80's opened up a few unusual doors that neither of us had anticipated. I probably also need to return to the essay and expand it, as a fair bit of new info has come up since then. 

Archive.org was also very useful for name searches, as it brought up either papers, or obscure books that I'd never heard of. Google Books was a last resort option for me occasionally too, and I had to drop by the State Library of Melbourne and Melbourne University to access books that weren't available anywhere else online.

Ah yeah, archive.org is such an awesome resource. Incredible breadth of information from so many unexpected sources. 

I hope you published the expanded cut of the essay! I'd very much like to read that. 

[Anthony Thorne]

Ed, the full version hasn't been published anywhere, but one or two other people (plus COUP co-author Leslie Sharp) have read it. I'm currently expanding it again, just ever so slightly. I'll keep you in the loop and send you a copy of the full version when it's ready. We're talking weeks, not days, but I'll have it ready eventually. Thanks for the kind words about it.

[John Kowalski]

On 1/15/2023 at 9:00 PM, Ed Berger said:

One part of this letter, really suggest that, far from being the supreme head of Permindex, Montreal lawyer Bloomfield has been the object of the Mantellos’ lack of personal respect.

Bloomfield was not Permindex's or CMC's leader.  I have read the Bloomfield archive and in one of his letters he refers to himself as representing shareholders.

Michele Metta wrote a book CMC the Italian Undercover CIA and Mossad Station and the Assassination of JFK. He has documents that show Bloomfield was representing shareholders.

 

[John Kowalski]

On 1/15/2023 at 12:41 AM, Ed Berger said:

A similar portrait emerged from the documents found in the Bloomfield archive. 

Where did you review them online or at the archives?

[Leslie Sharp]

Reviving this thread:

@Ed Berger or any who have followed Clay Shaw's alleged involvement in CMC (Centro Mondiale Commerciale) and or Permindex, I had not seen the attached document and relevant information prior to publication of Coup in Dallas. 

The memorandum released in 2023 identifies a Dr. Werner von Arx as president of the Swiss-based Permindex.  The official responsible for this March 1967 memo, John J. Shea, states: We believe that the CMC  and PERMINDEX are identical, respectively, with the World Trading [sic] Center and PERMIDEX [sic] mentioned in FBIS-37. Shea notes in item 4. OCR/FID file information lists Permindex as a Swiss real estate and property management firm and lists its management as follows: President — Dr. Werner von Arx. Other officials — Timothy Fales, Dr. Otto Wiesberg, Dr. Nikolaus Fischer, Randolph Vetter. (NOTE: Dr. Fischer joined the faculty of LSU where (if recent profiles are up to date) he remains a professor emeritus.)

https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/2023/104-10181-10116.pdf

Before moving to Dr. Arx, I would emphasize that Jean Pierre Lafitte, friend of James Angleton since the early 1950s through his association with FBN George Hunter White (and Sidney Gottlieb), I would note that under the alias Jean M. Martin, Pierre Lafitte had returned to New Orleans in 1967 to serve as The Chef of the Plimsoll Club located in Shaw's new iteration of the International Trade Mart a.k.a. World Trading Center.  Lafitte is alleged to have broken into Jim Garrisons offices with his good friend, James Phelan who had purportedly infiltrated the DA's efforts to indict Clay Shaw.  "alleged and purportedly" are applied her judiciously. 

@Fred Litwin
Would you now confirm or challenge the information provided in the Shea memo regarding the role of Dr. von Arx in Swiss-based Permindex? If you're aware that Dr. Werner von Arx was on record as president, have you ever elaborated on his role as an executive with Solothurn Waffen AG at the end of the war?

' . . . The Steyr-Solothurn Waffen AG was put on the “Statutory List” – the UK’s blacklist. This list, established in 1939 after the outbreak of war, included all the companies that the British supposed to support the German Reich and its allies. And for the Waffenfabrik Solothurn as a de facto German company a place on this list was unavoidable, so it was cut off from all lucrative markets in Europe. Through stock transfers and various letterbox companies it was tried to disguise the Waffenfabrik as a Swiss company. But without success, as so easily the authorities could not be fooled. Last but not least, a large order of more than 2,000 anti-tank guns for Italy failed as the country surrendered to the Allies in September 1943. Whether a payment for the 1,500 already delivered weapons was received is more than questionable. In 1944, the last weapon rolled off the line, then the production was finally stopped. . . .'

The full text here:
 

In May 1940, a major contract with the Netherlands for over 500 anti-tank guns with accessories failed because the Wehrmacht had already occupied the country before delivery. The end for the ailing company came in early 1942: The Steyr-Solothurn Waffen AG was put on the “Statutory List” – the UK’s blacklist. This list, established in 1939 after the outbreak of war, included all the companies that the British supposed to support the German Reich and its allies. And for the Waffenfabrik Solothurn as a de facto German company a place on this list was unavoidable, so it was cut off from all lucrative markets in Europe. Through stock transfers and various letterbox companies it was tried to disguise the Waffenfabrik as a Swiss company. But without success, as so easily the authorities could not be fooled. Last but not least, a large order of more than 2,000 anti-tank guns for Italy failed as the country surrendered to the Allies in September 1943. Whether a payment for the 1,500 already delivered weapons was received is more than questionable. In 1944, the last weapon rolled off the line, then the production was finally stopped.

Experimental version of the MP34 with a light-weight stock made of stamped sheet metal. (Military Museum, Prague)

Of the approximately 800 employees, only 200 could be kept; all others had to be dismissed. The toolmaking division was still in the development stage and too young, as it could compensate the loss of the weapons factory. The newly developed “small workshop tool set” proved to be too expensive and its sale was difficult. . . . 

 

In the context of trade negotiations of the Allies with Switzerland in February 1945 about the future after the war, it was decided to block all German assets in Switzerland. This meant the complete inability of the Waffenfabrik to act, and so the managers tried to make the best of a bad situation. Already on March 19, 1945 the “Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Solothurn AG” (machine tools factory) was founded and whose shares were now fully in Swiss hands. But once again, the authorities could not be fooled. The premises were the same and in the background the already well-known managers of the Waffenfabrik pulled the strings. In January 1946, the machine tools factory was put on the list of German companies.

According to the Washington Agreement, Switzerland was committed to the liquidation of German assets. This task was executed for both companies by the accredited notary of the machine tools factory, Dr. jur. Werner von Arx.