Fugitives : A History of Nazi Mercenaries During the Cold War

Shrouded in government secrecy, clouded by myths and propaganda, the enigmatic tale of Nazi fugitives in the early Cold War has never been properly told—until now. In the aftermath of WWII, the victorious Allies vowed to hunt Nazi war criminals “to the ends of the earth.” Yet many slipped away to the four corners of the world or were shielded by the Western Allies in exchange for cooperation. Most prominently, Reinhard Gehlen, the founder of West Germany's foreign intelligence service, welcomed SS operatives into the fold. This shortsighted decision nearly brought his cherished service down, as the KGB found his Nazi operatives easy to turn, while judiciously exposing them to threaten the very legitimacy of the Bonn Government. However, Gehlen was hardly alone in the excessive importance he placed on the supposed capabilities of former Nazi agents; his American sponsors did much the same in the early years of the Cold War. Other Nazi fugitives became freelance arms traffickers, spies, and covert operators, playing a crucial role in the clandestine struggle between the superpowers. From posh German restaurants, smuggler-infested Yugoslav ports, Damascene safehouses, Egyptian country clubs, and fascist holdouts in Franco's Spain, Nazi spies created a chaotic network of influence and information. This network was tapped by both America and the USSR, as well as by the West German, French, and Israeli secret services. Indeed, just as Gehlen and his U.S sponsors attached excessive importance to Nazi agents, so too did almost all other state and non-state actors, adding a combustible ingredient to the Cold War covert struggle. Shrouded in government secrecy, clouded by myths and propaganda, the tangled and often paradoxical tale of these Nazi fugitives and operatives has never been properly told—until now. Unfortunately the author seems unaware of the influence of the breakaway Fourth Reich in US intelligence circles. "In the aftermath of WWII, the victorious Allies vowed to hunt Nazi war criminals "to the ends of the earth." Yet many slipped away to the four corners of the world or were shielded by the Western Allies in exchange for cooperation. Most prominently, Reinhard Gehlen, the founder of West Germany's foreign intelligence service, welcomed SS operatives into the fold. This shortsighted decision nearly brought his cherished service down, as the KGB found his Nazi operatives easy to turn, while judiciously exposing them to threaten the very legitimacy of the Bonn Government. However, Gehlen was hardly alone in the excessive importance he placed on the supposed capabilities of former Nazi agents; his American sponsors did much the same in the early years of the Cold War. Other Nazi fugitives became freelance arms traffickers, spies, and covert operators, playing a crucial role in the clandestine struggle between the superpowers. From posh German restaurants, smuggler-infested Yugoslav ports, Damascene safehouses, Egyptian country clubs, and fascist holdouts in Franco's Spain, Nazi spies created a chaotic network of influence and information. This network was tapped by both America and the USSR, as well as by the West German, French, and Israeli secret services. Indeed, just as Gehlen and his U.S sponsors attached excessive importance to Nazi agents, so too did almost all other state and non-state actors, adding a combustible ingredient to the Cold War covert struggle. Shrouded in government secrecy, clouded by myths and propaganda, the tangled and often paradoxical tale of these Nazi fugitives and operatives has never been properly told--until now."--Amazon.com Title Page Dedication Introduction Part I: Downfall and Resurgence Chapter 1: Misery Meadows Chapter 2: Out of the Rubbish Heap—Nazi Mercenaries After the Downfall Chapter 3: Beggars and Choosers—Gehlen and the CIA Chapter 4: Venetian Blindfolds and Red Scares Chapter 5: The Moscow Gambit—Operation Fireworks Chapter 6: Chess and Double Agents—The Strange Case of Ludwig Albert Part II: Fallout and Consequences Chapter 7: Fishing in Troubled Waters Chapter 8: The House on Rue Haddad Chapter 9: Orient Trading Company—The Neo-Nazi Third World Scheme Chapter 10: The Republic Strikes Back Chapter 11: Beisner Blown Away Chapter 12: An Enemy of My Enemy—Alois Brunner’s Plots Chapter 13: “A Punitive Attack”—Mossad Joins the Fray Chapter 14: Winter in Syria—The Downfall of OTRACO Chapter 15: Nazi Skeletons Unearthed—Gehlen’s Darkest Hour Part III: Aftershocks and Shadows Chapter 16: Operation Damocles—Mossad Chasing Shadows Chapter 17: A Willing Quarry and Nuclear Nightmares Chapter 18: Faustian Bargains—Nazis in the Service of the Jewish State Chapter 19: Catching Flies with Honey Chapter 20: Fade Away Epilogue: Ghosts in the Mirror—The Historical Significance of Nazi Mercenaries Photographs Acknowledgments About the Author List of Abbreviations Bibliography Notes Index Copyright