RichardQ Loc: Colorado

In early 1945, a top-secret, unauthorized plot was developed in Washington to gradually bring some 1,700 "elite" Nazi scientists and technicians to America while concealing their hideous histories of gruesome war crimes.

Why? So their advanced knowledge in rocketry, missiles, aeronautics, bionics and chemical warfare could help the U.S. prepare for an anticipated future war with Soviet Russia. The Pentagon plotters were U.S. military intelligence officers who believed their deception was necessary for our national security.

Similar programs were initiated by Britain, France and Russia.

The secret project was first known as Operation Overcast, but was changed to Operation Paperclip in 1946. It remained classified as top secret for decades before it was exposed by investigative reporter Linda Hunt in March, 1985.

When President Harry Truman approved the temporary immigration of the first German scientists in 1945, he was not told of their war crimes histories. He specifically prohibited the entry of "any members of the Nazi Party or ardent supporters of Naziism." That probably amused the plotters.

Many, if not most, German scientists had been Nazi Party members as well as ardent Nazis in the infamous SS Corps. By mid-1945, they were postwar fugitives hiding in Occupied Germany and hunted by American, British, Russian, French - and German - prosecutors.

Their documented crimes iincluded mass murder, torture (in the guise of "experiments"), enslavement, starvation, and prolonged forced labor, all justified by the Nazi "MasterRace" theories. The breathtaking scale of their inhumanity qualified them for the gallows, several times over -- but their technical wizardry was more important to the Paperclip plotters.

The Pentagon underwent a schizophrenic split. Army prosecutors in Nuremberg feverishly searched for the same criminal scientists who were being recruited secretly by combined Army and Navy intelligence units in Washington. All with the blessings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Army prosecutors operated under the authority of the International War Crimes Tribunal Charter. The U.S. Intelligence recruiters were managed by the Pentagon's small but powerful Combined Intelligence Objectives Subcommittee (CIOS).

The mediator between these two opposing camps was John J. McCloy, assistant secretary of war and chairman of the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee (SWNCC). He saw no conflict in his assignment. To his mind, the Nazi scientists were not war criminals because they were useful to America. Besides, he was determined to prevent the Russians from getting these "rare minds."

In the U.S. Zone of Occupied Germany, the Army's Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC), together with Military Government, had the task of finding, shielding and interrogating the designated Nazi scientists. Some were already on trial in German courts, but Military Government intervened, and they "disappeared" into Paperclip.

The chosen Nazis were secretly assembled in Bavaria for interrogation. They proudly described their unethical (often deadly) operations, which often pleased the American scientists, since such criminal experiments yielded valuable data using methods prohibited back home.

Their interrogators recorded all the crimes and then assessed their characters, compiling an incriminating secret dossier for each man. That file followed each scientist for the rest of his American career, but the contents were later changed with forgeries when necessary.

The Pentagon offered short-term employment contracts. In one case, an entire Nazi group of doctors remained in Heidelberg and secretly continued their work as the "AAF Aero Medical Center" under U.S. supervision for two years. Hitler's portraits were replaced with President Truman.

Eventually, small groups of scientists and technicians were shipped to various U.S. ports of entry. No visa, No passports. No questions. In time they were joined by their families.

The War Department's Bureau of Public Relations issued a muted, three-paragraph press release datelined October 1, 1945, and headlined, "Outstanding German Scientists Being Brought to U.S."

The third paragraph played with the truth: "Throughout their temporary stay in the United States these German scientists and technical experts will be utilized for appropriate military projects of the Army and Navy." No mention of "Nazis."

No cries of public outrage. Americans were distracted, preparing for their first postwar Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. And the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal was headline news.

But a year later, the situation was different, as I'll report in Part 2. Please stay tuned.

Heidelberg, 1946: Nazi doctors hired by U.S. Army for weapons research


1945: Victims of Nazi medical research in Dachau

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks for another report.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

This is stuff that really needs to be made aware to a new generation. And you're playing your part.

Thanks.

Tikva Loc: Waukesha, WI

Thank you for bringing all of this to light for this generation. I'm afraid they are not learning about the atrocities of the past. This whole history must not be forgotten, or as stated elsewhere, it will be repeated.

Albert - NZ

Why does'nt War Criminals apply to the winner of a war? I would say that Harry Truman would have been on top of the list. Deny it?

richosob Loc: Lambertville, MI

Have been looking forward to more of your posts, this one made me upset. These disgusting human beings should have hung with the rest of that lot. You wouldn't have to worry about the Russians getting them. Don't know how any of the Americans responsible for this could sleep at night. I want to thank you for these posts, sometimes there not what one wants to read but it must be put out there.

Rich

Leica User Loc: Western North Carolina

Certainly cannot deny that YOU are an imbecile, after reading that insane comment.

exakta56 Loc: Orford,New Hampshire

Calling Albert-NZ an imbecile is uncalled for. He raises once again the notion that to the victor go the spoils. We won and established an unprecedented set of laws at the Nuremberg Trials. If these same laws were to have been applied to us by the Germans [assuming that they had won] Truman would have possible been hanged.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

Sirsnapalot Loc: Hammond, Louisiana

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

Thanks Richard I was aware of Paperclip, but not the gory back story of the actual operation.

SonyBug

Nah, I don't think so. Most Americans, even in combat, have a sense of ethics. We may kill someone, but it is not acceptable to torture them first. And don't reply with exceptions, because we all know that there are some. I refer to the majority, not a small sub-group. When I went into the Army in 1958 we spent many hours on acceptable conduct in combat.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Thank you Richard, for the very revealing report.
Mark

Shel Loc: Lecanto FL

Richard: Thank you for the report. I would like to print it and send it to friends, if that is OK with you.

blacks2 Loc: SF. Bay area

Amazing history, I am amazed by your knowledge Richard. Where does Werner von Braun fit into this?