The CIA and the Nazi War Criminals

[Tim Gratz]

An interesting item from the Feb 2, 2005 "New York Times".

The CIA is refusing to turn over to a Congressional working group all documents in its possession related to its relationships with Nazi war criminals. The group had a broad legislative mandate to make public all classified documents relating to the war criminals. Sen. Mike DeWine (D of Ohio) the principal sponsor of the legislation called the position of the CIA "ridiculous". (The dispute was apparently first brought to attention in Sunday's New York Times but I missed that article.)

Stay tuned for future developments.

[John Simkin]

An interesting item from the Feb 2, 2005 "New York Times".

The CIA is refusing to turn over to a Congressional working group all documents in its possession related to its relationships with Nazi war criminals.  The group had a broad legislative mandate to make public all classified documents relating to the war criminals.  Sen. Mike DeWine (D of Ohio) the principal sponsor of the legislation called the position of the CIA "ridiculous".  (The dispute was apparently first brought to attention in Sunday's New York Times but I missed that article.)

Stay tuned for future developments.

This project was started by Frank Wisner, head of the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). It was called Operation Bloodstone. This included recruiting former German officers and diplomats who could be used in the covert war against the Soviet Union. This included former members of the Nazi Party such as Gustav Hilger and Hans von Bittenfield. Later, John Loftus, a prosecutor with the Office of Special Investigations at the U.S. Justice Department, accused Wisner of methodically recruiting Nazi war criminals. As one of the agents involved in Operation Bloodstone, Harry Rositzke, pointed out, Wisner was willing to use anyone "as long as he was anti-communist".

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKwisner.htm

[Jim Root]

The use of Germans in support of Allied military actions was not something that suddenly began with the Cold War. For example, the "Iron Cross Mission" was an OSS operation that culled the POW camps for captured German soldiers that would be willing to fight against Hitler. The mission was planned to kill Hitler using former German troops to penetrate into his Bavaian retreat. Led by Aaron Bank the mission was aborted only by the end of the war.

Two hundred German rocket scientist, led by Von Braun, were captured by the US Army and taken to Redstone Arsenal where they became the core of the Army Missile Program (that was later nationalized into NASA). Although most became US citizens one could argue that they were War Criminals who earned their freedom by working for the United States.

This subject has been of interest to me because the massive job of returning former Germans (and other displaced persons) to their homes allowed for the gathering of a great deal of intelligence information that could be used by the govenments of the nations that defeated the Axis powers in future years. Colonel Edwin A. Walker would be called upon to relocate some 300,000 German troops that surrendered in Norway. This exchange was done in a very unique manner that allowed this large number of troops to return to Germany with dignity. The Norwegian experience also dealt with the return of a large number of Soviet troops to Russia, after interviews with intelligence personel.

This was not Walker's first experience in dealing with the processing of large masses of people nor would it be his last. During the days of the CCC, in the early years of the Roosevelt administration, Walker was trained to and reviewed the qualifacations of a myriad of young workers that were then assigned jobs based upon their abilities. Walker would again use his skills in Korea where he processed Chinese and North Korean prisoneers before the POW exchange (that Maxwell Taylor got so much credit for) took place.

Jim Root

[Shanet Clark]

John, this is the first I have heard of that program name BLOODSTONE.

Documents I have seen over the years name the program to

review German scientists and patented technology in the occupied

zones immediately after the war.

OPERATION PAPERCLIP, OPERATION DUSTBIN and OPERATION ASHCAN

were the sweep up operations. German intelligence, chemical, engineers,

petroleum and natural gas scientists, aeronautics and other trained

Nazi era Germans were EXPEDITED out of Germany, sent to the United

States and Canada and often enrolled in CORPORATE and INSTITUTIONAL

cover jobs, for instance GULF OIL, TEXACO And DUPONT are known to have

given cover to these former Germans whether on US soil or overseas.

Of course this ties into the military rocketry programs, German IG FARBEN

chemical conglomerate's post war emergence....

BO GRITZ stated a high number (20,000) for the number of old Nazis the

CIA joint agency program brought into the PROGRAM.

US ARMY historical works held the number to be near 750.

I would be curious to find out the final number of old Nazis on the CIA payroll.

It may be closer to Bo Gritz number than the old Pentagon claim...

[Shanet Clark]

According to common narratives, Operation PAPERCLIP worked this way:

US Army Intelligence, engineers and science advisors would decide

that an individual, site or patent file belonged in Operation DUSTBIN or ASHCAN.

Then that individual, when reviewed by the US ALLIED forces for de-Nazification

and classification, carried his file--with a prominent steel paperclip on the file.

Without saying a word, and without explicit written instructions, the ALLIED

security forces interviewing the old Nazi would expedite the process and expunge

the security risk findings, all because of the Paperclip.

Whisked in and out, despite any political war crime suspicions, you see....

The recent record releases have resulted in an OAH booklet on the PROGRAM,

when I get the order information for this book I will post it.

This material is found (in often explicit language)

in the US ARMY historical series and appendixes.

BLOODSTONE itself may be a slightly later program,

the actual operational plans for using the old Nazis under their covers in the 1950's.

It is interesting that Gordon Liddy titled his 1972 burglary, extortion and kidnapping plans

GEMSTONE, TOPAZ and DIAMOND HEAD...

LIDDY may have subconsciously been referencing these older contemporaries of his.

I don't have a lot of PAPERCLIP ASHCAN DUSTBIN material at hand,

but Lucien Clay, John McCone and possibly McCloy were involved in this effort, with Frank Wisner and Allen Dulles...

of course, they were under cover still in '63,

and others suspects from 11/63 will probably turn up if you look into OPERATION PAPERCLIP/BLOODSTONE...

The name BLOODSTONE is possibly some kind of reference to the phrase:

"One cannot squeeze blood from a stone..."

(i.e. that one can get valuable information from the old Nazis in bombed-out Berlin)

Edited February 6, 2005 by Shanet Clark

[Tim Gratz]

I understand from Sunday's "New York Times" that the CIA has now agreed to turn over all of its documents relating to its involvement with Nazis (whether designated "war criminals" or not). Should make some interesting reading.

[John Simkin]

John, this is the first I have heard of that program name BLOODSTONE.

Operation Bloodstone is covered in Evan Thomas's excellent book, The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA (1995).

One of those recruited under this program was James Kronthal. A former Nazi Party member and close friend of Herman Goering, he had during the war been caught by the German authorities in a homosexual act with an underage German boy. After Kronthal joined the CIA the KGB discovered this and blackmailed him into spying for the Soviets.

Sheffield Edwards was asked to investigate Kronthal in 1953 after he had received a tip off that he was one of several CIA agents who were homosexual. (They were concerned that Joseph McCarthy would find out about this.) Kronthal was interviewed by Edwards and Dulles. It is not known if he confessed to being a double-agent but that night he committed suicide. This incident is covered in Joseph Trento's book, The Secret History of the CIA.