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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsAfter World War II, U.S. intelligence worked with former German military and intelligence personnel to gather information on the Soviet Union. A central example was the Gehlen Organization, initially supported by U.S. Army intelligence and placed under CIA “trusteeship” in 1949. A broader government review also found cases of U.S. intelligence employing former Nazis and collaborators, as well as cases where agencies rejected or ended relationships.
The Gehlen Organization and the CIA
Reinhard Gehlen had led Fremde Heere Ost, the German Army section responsible for intelligence on the Soviet Union. In 1945, he surrendered to U.S. forces with intelligence files and personnel. U.S. Army intelligence supported his group in the early postwar years, when its knowledge of the Soviet Union and the Soviet-controlled zone was considered useful.
In July 1949, the U.S. Army asked the CIA to take responsibility for the organization. A CIA historical account describes this as a “trusteeship” lasting seven and a half years, followed by a transition to West German control and the organization’s development into the BND, West Germany’s foreign intelligence service.
The relationship connected the CIA to former Wehrmacht General Staff members and personnel from Nazi Germany’s intelligence services. Their backgrounds and wartime records varied. The CIA’s historical account also discusses organizational and counterintelligence problems; the relationship should not be treated as proof that every person involved was a convicted war criminal.
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A wider, uneven record
The Gehlen Organization was not the only postwar case. A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) review examined intelligence employment of former Nazis and Fascist collaborators, including individuals alleged to be war criminals. The report also identified cases in which agencies declined to use some people or ended relationships.
The GAO report summarized the distinction this way: “Although U.S. intelligence employed former Nazis and their Fascist collaborators, intelligence files showed that the use of some former Nazis and collaborators was eschewed.” It also described cases in which former Nazis were used to help locate other Nazis eligible for arrest. These examples do not establish one uniform policy or a single program covering every case.
Why U.S. intelligence worked with former German personnel
Early postwar U.S. intelligence priorities developed amid concern about Soviet conduct in occupied Eastern Europe. German military and intelligence personnel could offer information and experience relevant to understanding the Soviet Union. That context helps explain the demand for their knowledge, but it does not excuse individual records or show that decision-makers accepted every recruit’s past.
What the records can—and cannot—show
The CIA’s documentary history of its relationship with the Gehlen Organization draws on original agency records, but it selects from a much larger file collection. Some documents are sanitized, and some reproductions are difficult to read. It is not a complete roster of former Nazis or a resolution of every disputed case.
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The most careful conclusion is that U.S. intelligence made consequential but varied use of former German military and intelligence personnel and, in other cases, former Nazis and collaborators. The Gehlen Organization is a major documented example, not evidence that all relationships were the same or that all individuals had identical wartime roles.
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Did the CIA hire Nazis?
The CIA took responsibility for the Gehlen Organization in 1949, a group that included former German military and Nazi intelligence personnel. A GAO review also documented broader cases of U.S. intelligence employing former Nazis and collaborators, while noting that some were rejected or their relationships ended.
Why did U.S. intelligence work with former Nazis after World War II?
U.S. intelligence sought information about the Soviet Union during the early Cold War. Some former German personnel had relevant knowledge and experience, but the reasons for using them and the decisions about individual cases varied.
Was the Gehlen Organization the same as Operation Paperclip?
No. The sources summarized here document the Gehlen Organization’s intelligence relationship and broader intelligence employment cases. They do not establish that these were the same program as Operation Paperclip.
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How long did the CIA oversee the Gehlen Organization?
A CIA historical account says the CIA assumed responsibility in July 1949 and its trusteeship lasted seven and a half years, before the organization transitioned to West German control.
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