RichardQ Loc: Colorado

Special U.S. and British T Force units, accompanying combat troops, were authorized to detain "scientific and industrial personalities" for interrogation after invading Thuringia and Saxony in April, 1945, although that region was designated for eventual Russian occupation.

Reportedly, the War Department thought the expertise of those Germans might be useful in the ongoing Pacific war against Japan. American and British industries, however, were more interested in learning industrial and proprietary secrets from detainees -- through coercion, if necessary.

More than 1,500 German scientific "personalities" -- all civilians -- already were being held and interrogated in Camp "Overcast" near Versailles in France. And the T Forces in Thuringia were gearing up to detain yet another 1,500 civilian scientists, including many Nazis. Concerned, General Eisenhower requested some guidelines from Washington before Russia moved in.

The TOP SECRET response was a jaw-dropper.

The U.S. armies were ordered to withdraw by July 1, 1945. And they were ordered to "rescue" the targeted scientists and their families -- willing or not -- from the Soviets before the deadline. They were to be moved en masse by rail and truck to various locations in the U.S. and British Occupation Zones.

The shocked evacuees were uprooted in the last weeks of June 1945 with very little warning. Americans from T Force and CIC (Counter Intelligence Corps) appeared at their homes and presented them with this 24-hour notice in German:

"On orders of Military Government you are to report with your family and baggage as much as you can carry tomorrow Noon at 1300 Hours (22 June 1945) at the town square in (locality). There is no need to bring winter clothing. Easily carried possessions, such as family documents, jewelry, and the like should be taken along. You will be transported by motor vehicle to the nearest railway station. From there you will travel on to the West. Please tell the bearer of this letter how large your family is."

No pets or furniture allowed. Their homes were to be abandoned, as well as any vehicles, plus their libraries, files, research projects, bank accounts, pensions, tenure, etc. Some CIC men promised the evacuees that fully furnished houses were waiting for them in the U.S. Occupation Zone. Few evacuees believed them, but defiance was not an option.

The operation became known as "Overcast." There's no reliable count of the evacuees involved. The U.S. and Britain still officially assert the scientists went freely.

FIAT (Field Information Agency - Technical), a joint American-British military/civilian operation, was assigned to handle the hasty arrangements and monitor the evacuees. The scientists and their families traveled west in boxcar trains, reportedly 30 adults per car. Two children counted as one adult.

On June 21, 1945, the commanding general of the 12th Armored Division in the American Zone was ordered to prepare for 1,500 evacuees selected from 50 firms and three universities. When they arrived in Heidenheim, they were housed behind barbed wire and faced endless interrogations (both technical and political), often for months.

The largest single group (ca. 120, plus families) came from Zeiss. Within a year, the "Zeissianers" relocated to Oberkochen and were refitting empty factory buildings. By 1947 Zeiss employed 4,000. Their biggest customer: the U.S. military, which in 1945 ordered 3,400 special lenses for aerial photography.

Many other evacuees were not so lucky.

The vague plans to use German scientists to defeat Japan evaporated within six weeks, after Japan surrendered in August, 1945. Now surplus, these highly educated people were stranded. They were sidelined into small villages, provided with susistence funds, and required to check in twice weekly with FIAT and Military Government. The villagers usually despised them as outsiders.

JCS (Joint Chiefs of Staff) issued a directive mandating these scientists should be released "only after all interested agencies were satisfied that all desired intelligence information has been obtained from them." The "interested agencies" sometimes included peacetime competitors.

Without employment, and forbidden to return to their former homes, the detainees became non-persons. Depression and bitterness were rampant. Hope appeared eventually, for some at least. It was called Operation Paperclip. But that's another topic.
s

Crates of Zeiss equipment outside Jena factory - June 1945


Carl Zeiss Oberkochen in U,S.. Occupation Zone, ca. 1947

Mike D. Loc: Crowley County, CO.

Another piece of history without an agenda. I really enjoy these Richard.

BamaTexan Loc: Deep in the heart of Texas

Again, thank you sir!

RichardQ Loc: Colorado

Thanks for the feedback, Mike! Sorry that the spacing between these vignettes is so long, sometimes, but I'm not plagiarizing them from somebody else. These are all my sentences and my own comments. Digging up this details on this one was a bear. I got the impression the Army and the military/industrial complex are not eager to see it in print. It was kept under wraps here until about 2000, I believe. Of course, the Germans have been stewing about it for years, but the American press stayed away from it.

RichardQ Loc: Colorado

Thank you for the comment, BamaTexan! Glad to oblige.

Mike D. Loc: Crowley County, CO.

You are probably right. It's kind of like dirty laundry, you know it's there but is generally out of sight. :)

Keldon Loc: Yukon, B.C.

Those orders sound remarkably like the ones the Germans themselves served to the Jews, as they too were transported in boxcars and then interred behind barbed wire. A shameful part of history for the American and British governments. No wonder they attempted to keep it under wraps.

RichardQ Loc: Colorado

Thank you for your comments, Keldon. I certainly agree with your observation about the similarity of our actions to those of the Nazis. But i must remind you that our men had liberated a concentration camp just a few weeks earlier, and probably saw plenty of Nazi atrocities while crossing Germany between January and April, so they were not inclined to be friendly. In fact, during the discussions in Washington about how to treat postwar Germans, a significant number of U.S. citizens seriously proposed killing the entire population. President Roosevelt condemned the entire German people as equally guilty with the worst Nazis and endorsed Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau's proposal to eliminate all German industry and convert to a pastoral land. I served in Germany from December 1945 to 1948 and saw the gradual transformation of our tone during that time. Today we are the best of friends, thank God. But it is wise, I think, to remember how things were, so nobody ventures down those paths again.

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

They weren't treated very well, but it was wartime, and if they could be used to hurry along the defeat of Japan and save allied soldiers lives.. then I suppose it seemed the right decision at the time, As the saying goes "All's fair in love and war". Thanks for that Info Richard.

ken hubert Loc: Missouri

Great stories. Why don't you research and post a story about all the rapes that American GI'S did after the war was over?

richosob Loc: Lambertville, MI

RichardQ, thanks for another great story about what happened after the war. I'm not too proud of this one though, it seems these folks were just thrown out into the street and then forgotten.

Rich

JoAnneK01 Loc: Lahaina, Hawaii

I'm deeply pleased to read another of your vignettes. Your knowledge of the end to WWII and the time following in Europe is outstanding. Mahalo Richard and I do hope that you will continue writing. Waiting for the next chapter.

Treepusher Loc: Kingston, Massachusetts

Thanks for bringing this to light. After what the Nazis did to their captive populations, hard to feel very sorry for those complicit in the regime's operations, willingly or not.

MTG44 Loc: Corryton, Tennessee

Thanks again for a piece of history that I had no inkling of. Lets hope we have learned from it.

davefales Loc: Virginia

I always enjoy your reports, Richard. Thanks for sharing.