Abstract
After World War II ended in 1945, U.S. Army intelligence agencies, especially the Counter Intelligence Corps, recruited former Nazi officials, war crimes suspects, and war criminals to collect information on communist party and Soviet activities in Europe. While studies have examined individual cases, this article seeks to establish the historical context of the early Cold War that set the framework for this intelligence exploitation. It also weighs the intelligence value of the Army’s Nazi informants and reviews recruitment by other American and Allied intelligence services. Finally, it discusses the challenges of using ethical guidelines in recruiting secret agents, during the early Cold War and beyond.
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Cite this article
Thomas Boghardt, “Dirty Work? The Use of Nazi Informants by U.S. Army Intelligence in Postwar Europe,” The Journal of Military History 79, no. 2 (April 2015): 387–422.