April 1945 As Allied forces liberate Nazi concentration camps, the world gets its first glimpse of the horrors wrought by Adolf Hitler's regime at Nuremberg. The Allies prosecute leading Nazi officials for these crimes against humanity. Some of the most dangerous war criminals are brought to justice, but not all. There's a myth about Nazis, and that is a set as these horrible people committed these terrible crimes and then after 1945 simply disappeared. That simply isn't true.
The truth is, the thousands of former Nazis, some of whom committed atrocities, went to work for the United States government without the public's knowledge during the war. Their crimes ranged from overseeing slave labor camps to
sending orphans to their deaths. After the war, they were on the US payroll, either as scientists in America or as intelligence agents in Europe. The US government was willing to use mass murderers, was willing to protect them from justice, was willing to hide them their activities from the American people. Government documents declassified in the late 1990s indicate that many of the former Nazis spying for the US and Europe misrepresented and
fabricated intelligence. Some even worked as double agents for the Soviet Union. But some say this secret US strategy, even with its flaws, was the only way to win the Cold War. It is a duplicitous double game. And you have to do that sometimes to advance a a higher 'cause. It was U.S. policy to hire whomever could provide useful information, regardless of whether they were war criminal or not. How far did the US government go to cover up the wartime records
of these recruits? And nearly 60 years later, does the American public know the whole truth? They can claim that they turned over everything, but we have to trust the government. To believe that. It was a scandal. It was one of the great scandals of modern American intelligence history. Welcome. To the dark minded detective where we unravel the mysteries that lay within the intricate
labyrinth of the human psyche. I'm your guide, Mark, and today we embark on a journey into the shadows, exploring the igmatic realms of mind control, free will, and the age-old debate of nature versus nurture, and the pursuit of understanding, the depth of the human mind we dwell into the tales of covert. Experiments like the infamous MK Ultra where manipulation and trauma based mind control cast a chilling spell on unsuspecting subjects. What can we glean from these
dark chapters of history? What warnings do they hold for humanity? As we navigate through the twists and turns of the mind, we ponder the age-old question. Are people shaped by the events that unfold around them, or is there an innate essence guiding our destinies? The battles between nature and nurture echoes through the corridors of time, influencing who we are and who we become. But, dear listeners, our exploration goes beyond the
surface. We. Contemplate the concept of free will, dissecting the profound words of Aleister Crowley, who declared Do what thy wilt shall be the whole of the law. What does this mean for the choices we make? How does it resonate with the hidden influences that surround us? Join me in the suspenseful and persuasive journey as we unravel the threads that connect us to the shadows of our own minds.
The Dark Mind Detective beckons you to explore the mysteries that lay beneath the surface, inviting you to question, discover, and perhaps uncover the secrets that shape our essence of our existence. Some argue that certain traits associated with aggression or anti social behavior may have a genetic or biological basis. This perspective suggests that individuals may have an inherent predisposition that contributes
to their behavior. On the other hand, the nurture perspective emphasizes environmental influences such as upbringing, socialization, and life experiences. It suggests that individuals are shaped by their surroundings and relationships and external factors. Nature versus nurture. Nature refers to the influence of genetic factors, biological predispositions on human behavior. It encompasses traits such as characteristics that individuals inherit from their parents,
nurture. This relates to the impact of environmental factors, including upbringing, culture, education, social experiences on shaping an individual's behavior and personality. Of whatever people are born with evil tendencies or develop them due to environmental factors doesn't have a simple answer. It's likely a combination of both nature versus nurture. Genetic prepositions may interact with life experiences and surrounding influencing an
individual's choice in action. Ethical and philosophical discussion perspectives may vary. There isn't a universally green upon answer on the questions of the origins of evil. The book Programmed to Kill by Dave McGowan is what this series is based on. We are not even in the first chapter yet. We're still kind of exploring Dave's, Mcgowan's research and the introduction where he introduces the book with the introduction the Introductory of Mind control.
So I'm going to just kind of break down the first part of the introduction. So the chapter explores the This introduction explores a darker in a very disturbing world that you're not going to really find in most true crime books or media. I try my best to not to be the typical true crime genre. I kind of see myself as a true crime variety shows. I try to. Look at things from a multiple different perspectives and try
to have an open mind. So the concept of mind control is often associated with conspiracy theories. And in Hollywood, you know, Bourne Identity, Zoolander, The Manchurian Candidates, There's a couple different remakes. I found the shows quite entertaining and I found there there were great movies. And and it's kind of, I don't know, it's kind of a more of a fictionalized sensationalize.
What I truly believe mind control is, I think mind control can be a lot more subtle than we think or believe it is. So the concept of mind control is it's really the idea of disassociated states, including amnesia, fatigue, states, disassociation, identity disorder. As a key components of mind control, an example that he makes, I think that we all can relate to.
If if you do something over and over and over, like say you drive from work the same route every single day for years and years on end, there's times where you'll just get to your driveway and say, Oh my God, I don't remember driving. Or you know that times when you're tuned out, like there's times like for. I'll give another example where I'm like Netflix, I'm binging. On a Netflix series and it's almost like I stopped seeing the screen.
It's weird. You kind of snap out of it and then you're looking at the screen again. It's it's hard to explain, but that's kind of like a a disassociated state or if you're into a really fatigue state type of you know doing something in autopilot right. You don't quite remember time goes by you know you lose a sense of time, right? Or obviously being heavily drunk or on the on the. Under the influence of drugs is another easy way of disassociative states, right?
So one of the key components of of mind control is again the topic of amnesia Fatigue states. Disassociated states is is a key component to mind control. George Estrabrook, A psychologist hypnotist. Which I talk a little tiny bit about in the previous podcast on this mind control subject, Wrote a book and it's a basic methodology of mind control, emphasizing again dissociative States and success ability.
Like we see like these hypnotists doing these performances and it really what it is, is that it's like not everyone's accessible to it. And I studied hypnotherapy. My wife, actually my late wife reached, she was a clinical hypnotherapist. She went to school for that. So I do understand hypnotherapy quite well and it's really about suggestion, putting yourself in a relaxed mindset and you have
to be open to being hypnotized. It's very difficult to hypnotize an unwilling or unwitting suspect. Also discussed the historical context of mind control research, citing CIA sponsored studies and recruitment ends of social science luminaries, right. Paul Verdier, another a psychiatrist hypnotist, outlined the techniques for brainwashing, including the use of alcohol, drugs, isolation. And hypnosis.
So in a forced kind of trauma based mind control, definitely the use of drugs, alcohol would definitely make a person more malleable, right? So that would definitely by using these types of substances, you definitely can alter a person's consciousness. And then if you have full control over them and you're subjecting them to suggestions forcefully or subtly. It definitely will have a profound influence of that person.
So, for example, let's say this maliciously You slip LSD into someone's drink or a high dose of mescaline. And then you convince that person that they're having a nervous breakdown, they're completely going crazy and and and it's because of all the bad things they've done in their life. And this is really the this is really the consequence of that, right? You can really do a lot of damage to someone. And these things have been done, as this book has been pointed
out, right? O The Charter also gets into the realm, and this is where it gets a little bit more, where people will talk about the conspiratory realm. The vulnerability of children to dissociative states brought on with traumatic abuse is explored, linking mind control to satanic rituals. I will go into a deep dive into this. There's a lot of research on both sides that if were these were false memory implanted or did something happen, we will. I'm kind of neutral on this on
this aspect. I have a few. Thoughts about it, which I will disclose over time. But again, the vulnerability of children to dissociative states, Yes, children have a more active imagination. Their young minds are more malleable. You can tell them funny stories, you can tell them that Santa Claus exists and they believe it, right?
Because they're children, right? So someone doing malicious type of. To children like trauma, giving them substances, you could really profoundly shape a child's mind through abuse and trauma, and it would be a very effective way of traumatizing and controlling and reshaping those young children's minds. And then sometimes I truly believe that sometimes the satanic aspect of it is kind of like the best way to describe it is a theme.
That to make it scary right? So for example, let's say I really wanted to terrorize someone, man, woman or child right? And I start gang stalking them. So what I would do is I would hire a whole bunch of people that would leave them like say satanic notes or wear devil masks and peer in their windows and maybe put like 1/2 lit candle into their garden and make it look like some ritual was done there. Maybe.
Those people are not really Satanist, but they're using something that would frighten those people. And then when that person goes and reports that and says yes, someone in a devil mask was peering in my window. I found evidence of ritual stuff and stars and pentagrams, you know, in my garage or garden. You know, it it it, it kind of sets the stage, right? It it's a it's a a theme that would frighten a lot of people. Right.
Are they really Satanists? Are they using those types of imageries as a tool to scare someone? That could be debated. So as we move on, the chapter also notes the effort to discredit claims of ritual abuse, highlighting the false memory syndrome. That's a very controversial thing that deserves a show on its own and. We can really go down a rabbit hole with that particular topic just on that alone. You could do a whole series of podcasts on that, because that
was a huge thing. And it's also worth noting too, when I was a kid in 1980s, I'm probably older than the average listener. So in the 80s I was a huge metal fan. I love heavy metal. Metal was my favorite type of music and you know, a lot of times, you know, Mötley Crüe and Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, they had a lot of what Christians would consider very
Satanic elements. I looked at it as they were trying to sell records and and I looked at it as it was a cheeky way because it seemed to upset the parents. I didn't really think these band members were really like Satan worshippers. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. I didn't really care about that. I just enjoyed the music. But man, there was a witch hunt.
Like I remember they would have all these shows, all the there was like these evangelical Christian groups around in my neighborhood would have all these big meetings for parents and how this is influencing children and. This the Satanic Panic, so I actually saw it first hand, right? And with our my group of kids and stuff like that, we actually enjoyed it because it actually upset the parents and we just thought, how, you know, you stupid people, ha ha ha. It was kind of more of that
regard. I wasn't involved in any type of satanic stuff because I listened to heavy metal music. It didn't influence me one way or the other. But it was a huge thing. It was a huge big deal in the media and and some of it now when you look back it's quite
comical. When the Ozzy Osbourne was sued in court and the scientist came on the on the stand and saying that he puts in these secret messages and calling it a hyper sync and and when these kids listen to it they're going to go out and worship Satan or Baphomet and sacrifice the family's cat. And when Ozzy heard it, he had the. Perfect reply to it, he said. The only sink I know is the one I wash my face. And you think I'm some kind of scientist, right?
So there was some kind of ridiculousness to it and there was a lot of people that are who are very hyperbolic about it. And I saw it first hand. But there was a report, and this is this Commission by the UK Department of Health. This was in 2000 that concluded that satanic ritual abuse. It does take place and victims are not suffering from false memory syndrome. So we'll do more of a deep dive on this. It's I don't want anyone our tires to get stuck in the mud on this particular subject.
Sometimes I think some of these subjects are a bit of a red herring to distract people from the overall picture of what's going on here, So for again, like my example. Of if someone was being gang stalked and I hired people wearing scary black robes and devil masks and stuff like that, they it would distract. That it it's not just some asshole trying to torment them, but maybe they're being subjugated to a cult and maybe it would twist the investigation. Now on the lookout for some cult
that doesn't exist, right. So you get the idea. Hope hope that makes sense. So again, for the listeners, if you never heard it, MKULTRA. It refers to a top secret CIA program that was officially known as the CIA's Mind Control program. The name MKULTRA is a combination of abbreviation words for mind control. And ultra, which is the ultra part, is used to signify the
highest level of classification. The program was initiated in the 1950s and it was officially it was officially declassified in the 1970s. The purpose was to explore the possibility of mind control and behavioral modification, often through the use of drugs. Psychological torture and other unconventional methods. The program was an extensive and involved in experiments on both willing and unwitting subjects, including civilians, while MKULTRA itself. Does not have a direct ties to Nazis.
Some of its roots can be traced back to post World War 2 era when the US government became interested in research conducted by Nazi scientists, including those involved in mind control experiments. Operation Paper Clips is something that everyone should Google and do some research on. And if you want a better search engine, because I'm just saying for the listeners who if you're listening to my podcast, you're probably already interested in these types of subjects, I found
a really great search engine. It's an AI driven search engine. It's called Perplexity and it's much superior to Google. It basically you put anything in there and it pulls up everything. Articles, it's it's so much better than Google. Google's been. No, it's another subject hasn't been really good lately. I find it's it doesn't search very well anymore.
So again, that search engine is called Perplexity and please contact me. The easiest way to contact me is through my Instagram page, The Dark Mind Detective. If you're not a A member, please send me a request to join because my page is now private. But if you're cool, I'd be happy to send accept your request. So Perplexity is a great search
engine. If you put the search term of Operation Paper Clip, you'll be quite amazed of what went down O for example, Operation Aer CLI for example brought German scientists, engineers and intelligence officers to the United States. An some of their work may have influenced the development of MK Ultra. We'll definitely get more into this in the future. I want to give everyone just a kind of like a base
understanding of this program. And as time goes on we will get deeper and deeper and deeper in this because a rabbit hole goes very deep. My dear listeners, it's important to note that MK Ultra is controversial and has raised ethical concerns due to the nature of experiments conducted and the lack of informed consent that it that many of the subjects were involved. So in the last podcast, So I'm
in Canada, right? And Canada always has like this, likes to give the impression that you know, they're so noble and you know every the government here walks on water. So in the last podcast, they allowed the CIA to do horrific psychological and physical torture on patients in psychiatric centers in Montreal. That, and then again, it's worth noting we don't know the full extent of this program.
The only reason why we even know that this program existed is that they found all of the invoices for the this program that kind of laid out the whole program, which we only know 30% of the actual program. So it's very disturbing, extremely disturbing. So some of the key people that Dave McGowan mentions in his introduction Estra Brooks, a prominent psychologist, hypnotist he worked under contract of the American intelligence agencies.
His book, which is the the foundation and the methodology of mind control is called Hypnotism. Lee Harvey Oswald, which God we could do, we could probably do 100 episodes just on on him. But anyways, was mentioned as a potential mind control assassin central figure in the assassination of President John F Kennedy, Sheerhan Sheerhan. Another example of a potential mind control killer convicted of the assassination of Senator Robert F Kennedy.
Henry Lee Lucas referenced again as a potential mind control killer. And that is a rabbit hole. Trust me, we will be talking a lot about him in future episodes. But again, for people who've never heard of these people, I'm just wondering. This is kind of really an introduction. Using the metaphor of peeling an onion, we're going to go layer by layer by layer. Charlie Manson, one of my favorite controversial figures of all time.
And yes, I could probably do at least 20 episodes on Charlie Manson. So Charlie Manson also referenced as a potential mind control figure leading the Manson Family cult involving a series of very grisly murders I want to talk to. And this is another thing that it's important is the MK Ultra program, with its unethical and often harmful experiments, does serve as a cautionary tale for potential dangers of unchecked government actions and the
pursuit of scientific and intelligent objectives without proper ethical considerations. Here are some of the lessons and warnings that can be drawn from the MK Ultra program. And again, I want to emphasize ethical oversight is critical, so we also live in. This is just to digress for a second, is we live in a time of the rise of AI. AI is a very powerful tool. I use it for research. I think it's a great research tool, like that perplexity that
I mentioned. It's one of my kind of my cornerstones for researching subjects because I can put any subject in and I can pull a lot of information. So again, it like every tool it has great benefits and but it also has very ethical concerns too. So MK Ultra experiments were conducted without proper ethical oversights and informed consent. This lack of oversight led to severe consequences for individuals involved.
The warning is the emphasis. The critical importance of ethical oversight is needed for transparent and accountable process in scientific and intelligent research and the respect for human rights. The MK Ultra involved serious violations of human rights as individuals were subjected to experiments without their knowledge or consent. There must be a steadfast commitment into respecting human rights in any scientific and intelligence endeavor.
Individuals should never be treated as mere subjects and experimentations as Guinea pigs. Much of the MK Ultra program remains hidden for public knowledge and for years it was contribute contributing to a very lack of accountability. Like for example, the Canadians that were subjected to these horrific experiments, the CIA never accepted any accountability to the the Canadian patients that were subjected to monstrous and horrific experiments without
their consent or knowledge. MKULTRA underscores a need for transparency in government activity, especially involving potentially harmful experiments. The public has a right to know about activities that may impact their well-being. Inform consent is non negotiable. MK Ultra demonstrates the danger of conducting experiments without informed consent, exposing individuals to physical and psychological harm. Informed consent is a fundamental principle in ethical research.
Any deviation of this principle risk causing harm and it undermines the credibility of the research and long term consequences. The repercussions of the MK Ultra experiments, both on individual society, were long lasting. Lies were disrupted, were disrupted. Trust in institutions were eroded. Actions with potential long term consequences require careful consideration. The fallout from unethical experiments can extend far beyond the immediate time frame, impacting individuals and
communities for years. The exposure of MK Ultra came through investigative efforts in public scrutiny. Society must remain vigilant and remain and and demand ongoing oversight of government activities, particularly those involving sensitive research. Public awareness is a powerful tool in holding institutions accountable, so we live in a strange time also. And again, I'm not going to go down. Other rabbits hold, but I just want people to think critically for a moment.
If it's if it's indigenous residential schools, if it's large institutions that have been caught molesting children or even just poor oversights, where our taxpayers go, where our money goes and how it's spent is that I feel that there's many other areas where we can do a better job at holding governments accountable to us. Because it seems there seems to be a lot of lack of transparency and there doesn't seem to be as much public figures being held accountable. But I digress.
So what's really at stake here? And and think about this for a moment. What are they targeting? They're targeting your brain. Your brain is your human biological computer. Oi want people to kind of look at their brain differently for the first time and be me being a person that's interested in computer sciences and I work for a lot of high tech startups and I look at our brain as a human computer. So I'm going to use a metaphor
as if our brain is a computer. And I want people to relate to this so they can maybe understand how their brain works and what was at stake here. So they were trying to reprogram your brain, mind control, right? Or trying to take control over your brain. So what would a hacker do? A hacker would try to take control over your computer, right? Maybe access secret information, maybe access your credit card, maybe take over your computer to
do malicious things, right? So think about this, the metaphor, your imagine your brain as a sophisticated computer, which it is, right? It receives, it processes, it stores, it retrieves information much like a computer process. Data right input, right input is sensory information, right? Similar to a computer receiving input from a keyboard or a mouse. The brain gets its information from our senses. Sight, sound, touch, taste and smell right. Processing neural networks,
right? Our brain is combined our brain. Within the brain there are neural networks. Or within our brain there are networks of neurons akin to circuits in the computer. These neurons communicate through electrical and chemical signals. Say that one more time within the brain there are networks of neurons akin to circuits. In a computer. These neurons communicate through electrical and chemical signals, forming the basis of information processing memory
storage like RAM and hard drive. So think of short term memory like random access memory, RAM. That's what RAM stands for. Random Access memory. It's temporary storage for quick access. Long term memory is like the computer's hard drive. Storing information for the long haul, right? Encoding memories, creating files, right? So when we experience something, the brain encodes it into the memory. It's like creating a file on a computer.
The stronger the experience, the more likely it's to be saved. Retrieving and accessing its files Right? When we recall a memory, it's akin to accessing a file on a computer. Sometimes a brain may need a few cues, right? Like a keyword for a search to retrieve the information. Imagination. Virtual reality. A virtual reality simulator we would call a memory. It's akin to accessing a file on
a computer. Sometimes a brain may need a few cues, like keywords for a search to retrieve the information. Imagination Virtual reality simulator. Think about that for a minute. Your imagination is your virtual reality simulator. The brain has a remarkable ability to simulate experiences through imagination. It's like running a virtual reality program, creating a scenario that hasn't happened but could Trauma and
manipulation. Viruses and malware Trauma and manipulation can be likened to a virus or malware affecting a computer. They disrupt the normal functioning and may alter the way information is processed, affecting the neural network, wiring, the circuitry, system, trauma. Trauma can physically alter the brain structure and the connections between the neurons. Like rewriting the circuits of the computer, it may impact the emotional responses and memory information, healing and
rebuilding system updates. Recovering from a trauma is akin to a systems update. With therapy and support. The brain can adapt and heal and rebuild with healthier neuro connections, mindfulness and self-awareness. The firewall and the security software practices like mindfulness acts as kind of like a firewall and a security software, helping to protect the mind from negative influences.
Promoting self-awareness, empowerment, taking control, understanding how the brain works empowers individuals to take control of their mental well-being, making informed choices to foster healthy and mental environments. So in these Canadian experiments, the toxic legacy of Canada's CIA brainwashing experiments, I played a clip that I found in my last podcast. Please listen to that because it really breaks down these horrific experiments.
So again, so I'm going to end it here because this is a heavy subject, right? It's want to give food for thought, but I don't want to overwhelm my dear listeners because this stuff can take you down some dark rabbit holes and again, it's not to depress you, it's not to distress you. I'm hoping that actually it will give you a better awareness and also like I said, have a better understanding of how your brain
works. In my opinion, your brain is the most valuable asset that you have and own, and please take care of it, because it is, to me, in my opinion, a miracle of the universe. In the labyrinth of the mind, a puzzle unfolds. A miniature universe, a mystery untold, a sanctuary from the world outside, where secrets and memories and shadows abide. A place to escape, where echoes are hustled in the corridors of thought, where whispers are brushed. A refuge from trauma and heaven
for fears. Where time is suspended and soulless appears. The mind of the labyrinth, of winding trails. Through the tapestry of memories it sails each twist and turns a chapter of verse. A sanctuary where the heart can immerse in the quiet corners, where thoughts retreat. A sanctuary where emotions can meet. A universe within a vast and profound a place of solace, where healing is found. Yet beware the shadows, the corners unseen.
For even in solace there is a balance, a Sheen, A labyrinth hold both darkness and light, a dance of contrast. So wander with care through this intricate maze where your mind in its brilliance both dazzles and sways a puzzle, a refuge of universe within the mines labyrinth where the story begins. Germany, Spring 1945. The Allies are on the verge of crushing the Nazi war machine. For many of Hitler's elite officers, self preservation has
become their top priority. It was only in the last couple of months of the war that members of the s s started to approach Americans with offers of assistance, and it was clear they were doing it because the writing was on the wall. The war was over. Among those carefully considering their predicament, 43 year old General Reinhard Galen. Reinhard Galen was a general staff officer. He was, by the end of the war, a Major General in the German army.
He was directly responsible for the German army's analytical group that studied the Soviet. Army General Galen knows better than most that the end is near with the Eastern Front collapsing. He has been giving the Fuhrer consistently grim news for months. As he foresaw the end, he began telling Hitler the truth about what the situation was in the East, and Hitler didn't want to hear it. On April 9th, 1945, Galen is dismissed from his post by Hitler.
He fished that later that month. He quietly assembles his closest advisors to execute his post war strategy. He said. What we're going to do is we're going to get our files. We're going to get. All of our most valuable files on the Soviet Union, we're going to make copies of them and we're going to bury them in different places. And he did this in order to have a bargaining chip that he could use with the Western Allies
later. He accurately understood that an ideological showdown between East and West was was evolving. And he positioned himself in such a way as to take advantage of that. With his Nazi intelligence files safely hidden in the Bavarian mountainside, Galen turns himself in to American authorities. On May 22nd, 1945, two weeks after his country surrender, he grandly announces to his captors that he can provide unique intelligence on the Soviets to the American government.
But it isn't until he is interrogated by a young Army captain that officials realize the significance of their captive. A self starter named Captain John Boker identifies Reinard Galen in an interrogation center. He understood that the interests of the United States and the Soviet Union were not the same, and he felt that the time was absolutely right to use and to absorb whatever the Germans knew about the Soviets. For months, Volker has interrogated captured German
officers. From them, he has learned what many in the upper echelons of the US government already know, despite his past promises. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's desire to spread communism throughout Europe is insatiable. So when General Gaitlin emphasizes a gathering Soviet threat to the West, Captain Boker readily agrees.
Galen was a master at playing on our fears about the Soviet Union. Yes, he told Boker exactly what Boker expected to hear, which is that the Soviets were a great menace, that their desire for land was inexhaustible, and that he, Galen, was an expert on this new threat. Within months of his surrender, the information Galen buried in
the Alps is retrieved. While American intelligence analysts pour over his files, officials at the Pentagon decide to bring Galen and his officers to the United States. August 14th, 1945 The Japanese surrender unconditionally. World War 2 is over. 10 days later, Galen and members of his staff are smuggled into the US disguised as American civilians.
This would have been a political disaster if it had been known, because the the general feeling would have been indeed that we'd taken out a bunch of Nazis and this was the time when we just wanted to string them up. And here we were on the side working with this German general.
Galen insists he never joined the Nazi Party, but he is well aware that his role as a general in the Third Reich may subject him to indictment at Nuremberg. So upon his arrival at Fort Hunt, Virginia, General Galen sets about reinventing himself for his new American colleagues. When he was at Fort Hunt he was creating this legend about himself as he really was.
He was not really a Nazi, he was just someone who is a pure spy technician who at this stage of the game is an ardent anti communist who happened to be a very skillful espionage expert who just wanted to work for the cause. According to author Christopher Simpson, however, Galen did more than gather intelligence. The former general is responsible for the brutal treatment of Soviets in Nazi POW
camps. You had interrogators under Galen's authority interrogating the people in the camps and also offering them the choice of life or death. In other words, if you cooperate with and give us the intelligence you need, we'll give you some food. And if you don't cooperate, we won't, and you'll die. Even as U.S. officials consider what to do with Hitler's hench men. Galen quickly learns that increasing Soviet aggressions in Eastern Europe have already
enhanced his value. The thinking about Galen shifts in this period. The Cold War makes it shift. Stalin makes a number of very threatening moves in 1945 and 46 that shakes up the debate about the future of US Soviet relations. We suddenly realized these guys are not trustworthy at all and that frightened us badly. In the end, Washington's decision in 1945 to work with Galen is made out of an urgent need for spies who could provide solid intelligence about the Soviet Union.
Most of the experts from that time I've interviewed a number of them, agree that the files were essentially empty concerning Eastern European and and Soviet affairs. As a result, the US abruptly shifts from hunting key Nazis to courting them. On the one hand, you had units of the US Army Counterintelligence Corps doing their job tracking down Nazi war criminals. On the other hand, you had other units of the same organization recruiting them to work against the Soviet Union.
When I arrived in Austria in my NCO, when I reported to him for duty, on the wall was a chart. Automatic arrest categories of the Nazi party and his affiliates. If you ran into these people, you're supposed to arrest them. And I said to him, I said, Izzy, what about this? Said Forget about it, We're after the Communists now. In the summer of 1946, Reinhardt Galen returns to Germany. Hitler's former general is now working for the United States.
His orders recruit agents who can gather fresh information on the Soviets. Almost all of the operatives Galen recruits are former Nazis. Some are known war criminals and all are now on the US payroll. What Galen wanted to do was get as big as fast as he could, because he knew that his survival depended on it. Galen is now the primary US source of intelligence about the Soviet Union, based in Germany. Can a former Nazi general be trusted?
It's a question that will haunt U.S. intelligence for years to come. In the meantime, U.S. officials will begin another secret alliance with former Nazis. The original idea was to utilize German science and out of that came the project paper clip. September 1946. It's been little more than a year since former Nazi general Reinhardt Galen began working secretly for the United States.
By now, former Nazi scientists and engineers have also been brought to the US and put on the government payroll. It's a top secret operation run by the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the code name Paper Clip. A project is named for the paper clips used in the files of the new German recruits. The project's purpose was to bring German scientists to the United States and use their skills. They would work for the US military.
Under President Harry Truman's guidelines, war criminals are supposed to be excluded from the program. But to the Joint Chiefs, this restriction impedes their mission of recruiting former Nazi scientists quickly. Before the Soviets can grab them. The background checks were coming in that, lo and behold, some of them violated President Truman's policies. If you're dealing with hundreds of these scientists, you're not going to have those full field investigations.
People come through with paperwork. Paperwork looks kind of good, looks kind of bad, but you know, there's no written order that they found. Bring the guy. In And so they simply doctored the files and sent what washed dossiers to the State Department. One of these files is that of Arthur Rudolph. He will later become famous as the project director of the Saturn 5 rocket program, which will one day help put a man on the moon. During World War 2, Arthur Rudolph was the Operations
Director of the. Middleburg Factory in this cave underneath Koenstein Mountain. He was responsible for overseeing the production of the V2 missile, and to do that he had the idea of using concentration camp inmates. Rudolf regularly exploited the labor of hundreds of prisoners from the Dora concentration camp who were put to work on his project. There was inadequate ventilation in the winter. They froze. The dust from blasting permeated the atmosphere.
Prisoners at the Middleburg perished in in large numbers, both because of the inhumane conditions down there and as a result of physical abuse by civilian personnel and by the S s guards. All this happened on Rudolph's watch. He controlled the food, he controlled the conditions in the factory for these poor people and was responsible for that. Experts estimate that 20,000 men died in the tunnels at Middleburg. Despite his war crimes, Rudolph is recruited by the US military.
The official evaluation was that he was 100% Nazi dangerous type and it was suggested that he be interned. In fact, what happened was he was instead employed. By the end of 1946, unbeknownst to the public, the US government has two major programs staffed by former Nazis. Under Project Paper CLIP, former Nazi scientists are being sent to work at various U.S. military bases.
At the same time in Eastern Europe, former General Reinhardt Galen's organization is collecting fresh intelligence on the Soviet Union. His organization now employs hundreds of agents, many of them former Nazis. It survives on about half $1,000,000 a year in Pentagon funding. Galen operates with little oversight. the US Army monitored this organization with two people. That's it. Like Project Paper CLIP, Galen Spy Network has War Criminals on Its Payroll. Well, what he promised not to do
was to bring in war criminals. However, cogs in the wheels of the Holocaust started to turn up in the Galen organization. The US Army isn't eager to challenge its best source for Soviet intelligence on his hiring practices. the US Army asked him, Are you hiring war criminals? And he said no. So it was a marriage of convenience. And a marriage, by the way, an arrangement that suited Galen perfectly. Among Galen's hires, no one is more notorious or reviled by
Holocaust survivors. Than Klaus Barbie. He is a former captain in the Gestapo who was also known as the Butcher of Lyon. Michelle Thomas, a fighter in the French Resistance, was well aware of Barbie's tactics during the war. In one instance, Thomas learned of Barbie's orders for a group of Jewish children in an orphanage near Lyon. And Barbie, of course, has raided the whole. Arrested and took all the children and and and their help and the ball.
Deported by Barbie to Auschwitz to death. Typical. Typical. When the war ends, Barbie reinvents himself as an expert on Soviet intelligence after a brief stint in the Galen Organization. He is recruited by the US Army's counterintelligence division, known as the CIC.
The Butcher of Lyon works in relative obscurity until the late 1940s, when French authorities called for his extradition from Germany. When this became enough of a political crisis or political issue in France, American CIC decided to smuggle Barbie out of Europe to get rid of him, to hide him. With the aid of American officials, Barbie has smuggled to Bolivia, where he lives comfortably for the next 30 years.
These former Nazis would seem to be valuable intelligence assets in the Cold War, but documents declassified by the US in the late 1990s cast doubt on the accuracy of the information reported by Galen and his spy network. They had to exaggerate the onerous nature of Stalin's regime and Russia. I mean, why don't you just say the facts Bad enough, But So what they did.
They pumped up reports claiming that Stalin was mobilizing forces, Soviet military forces in eastern Germany, that they were going to lurch across the boundary and attacked Western Europe at any time. Why? Because if the Soviets weren't about to attack, what do you need Galen for? American officials. Often failed to properly question Galen's intelligence. Well, there was a series of alarms that Galen raised in the fall of 1947 and in early 1948. Some of them were truthful, some
of them were not. The truthful alarm was that there's quite a bit of tension in Czechoslovakia at that time. In 1948. Despite Stalin's promises to the contrary, the Soviets overthrow Czechoslovakia's elected government and install a communist regime. As Washington watches the coup with alarm, Galen adds even more fuel to the fire. What Galen added to the Czech crisis was a claim that the Soviet troops in the eastern zone were not under equipped overextended.
Troops that they were instead supposedly fresh troops, fully equipped and positioned for a blitzkrieg type offensive on the West. General Lucius Clay, the US commander in Germany, receives Galen's intelligence.
When Clay started to put two and two together with seeing the political crisis in Czechoslovakia, along with these military claims as to what the Soviets were supposedly up to, the general Clay. Sent his suspicions or concerns back to the United States in a famous telegram that spring, and that telegram was to advance a claim that the war with the Soviets was imminent. But author Christopher Simpson says declassified documents reveal that the threat was
overblown. Well, we know in retrospect, in part from the Army's own intelligence, that. The claim that they were about to attack was false and was not supported by evidence that was in hand. The intelligence may have been bad, but it serves Galen's immediate need, which is to keep U.S. intelligence focused on the
Soviet menace. By the late 1940s, former German general Reinhardt Galen is enjoying nearly unquestioned influence as a spy for the US. With only minimal supervision from the Army, all that is about to change, the CIA felt that if we didn't control them, someone else might, and it was absolutely necessary to corral, contain, and somehow penetrate this Frankenstein's monster. Since the end of the war.
Former German general Reinhardt Galen has been developing his spy network in West Germany under the US Army. Now, the newly created Central Intelligence Agency is poised to take over Galen's organization. Meanwhile, the US government has kept the public from knowing the extent to which former Nazis are involved in American intelligence operations. I call it the CIA's original sin that they would actually.
Incorporate this Nazi infested spy apparatus into the bosom of U.S. intelligence and this is all done behind the back of the US public. In fact, the CIA's own analysts are now well aware that Galen has been recruiting war criminals under the less than watchful eye of the US Army. The US Army wanted tactical information about movements of the Soviet Armed forces in Occupy Germany.
As long as the Galen Organization continue to provide information on that, the US Army look the other way on big questions of recruitment. CIA officials realized they must begin to assert greater control over Galen. In spring of 1948, they assigned a young, decorated army Colonel to investigate Galen sprawling organization. So in the CIA sends James. Critchfield to investigate. Galen to meet with him. Critchfield comes back and says the CIA should acquire responsibility for the Galen
organization. During an interview with the BBC in 1992, the former Colonel explained why he told the CIA that it was still going to need Galen and his VAS spy network. The reason that I recommended in my original report in December 1948. That we accept responsibility for this organization was that we really had no choice. We had no specialist who had dealt with Soviet forces. But the CIA also recognizes the danger that Galen poses.
When the CIA looked at this organization, it realized that it had grown so big that it now represented a threat to democracy in West Germany. We don't have a choice. It exists. We can either work with it, control it, penetrate it, use it, or it'll work against us. And once again, growing Soviet aggressions help to improve Galen's position with U.S. officials. In June 1948, Stalin imposes a blockade on West Berlin.
Attempting to starve the city and force it to submit to communist control, US warplanes deliver food and medical supplies to the city. And nearly a year later, Stalin finally backs down. The Berlin crisis sparks widespread fear in the West that war with the Soviets is imminent. It is in this atmosphere. That the CIA elects to maintain Galen's organization.
Colonel Critchfield demands greater control over Galen's recruiting practices, but he soon learns that the former Third Reich general has his own agenda. Galen says. Fine, I'll give you what you want. As soon as it's clear that the CIA is going to pick up the tab for Galen, the trap shuts and he says to the Americans, I'm sorry, you misunderstood me. I can't give you the names of the people I'm hiring. That would be against German prestige.
Galen also chides as American supervisors, reminding them of how little they know about running a European intelligence operation. You're so naive. You're Americans. We Europeans have been spying for centuries. You have to have confidence that I understand how to run an intelligence organization.
Ultimately. The CIA's attempts to control Galen prove no more successful than the Army's By 1949 in response to Stalin's aggressions in Eastern Europe, the US and 11 European countries, which will later include West Germany, form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. Any attack on a member nation will be considered an attack on
the entire alliance. And because Galen's network is a main conduit of intelligence flowing from east to West, it becomes a prime target for Soviet spies looking to infiltrate the NATO alliance. It was harder for the Soviets after World War 2 to penetrate directly the United States government, but it could penetrate the Galen Organization and acquire NATO secrets. One method by which Soviets gain access to the Galen Organization secrets.
Is to blackmail the same Nazi war criminals hired by Galen, forcing them to work for the Soviets. They used what they knew about the backgrounds of people in the Galen organization against those people. It basically said, listen, we know what you did in World War 2, and if you don't work for us, we will. Expose you. As a result, many of Galen's
operatives become double agents. Spying on the US and NATO for the Soviets. The worst among these is Heinz Falfa, whose treachery blew the covers of hundreds of spies. Heinz Falfa had been in the s s during World War Two. He worked his way up the Galen Organization and ultimately became chief of Galen's operations against Soviet intelligence. And he was a Soviet mole. What this means is that every Galen operation in the Soviet zone was penetrated and compromised to the Soviet Union
by falfa. As declassified documents now reveal, since 1949 the CIA had been spying on Galen's organization. A number of intelligence professionals in the CIA never wanted to work with Galen, and they continue to make the argument that Galen is a mistake. Even though the CIA is well aware of the dangers posed by Heinz Felfa, it does nothing to prevent counter espionage within Galen's organization.
The blame for this, according to author Timothy Naftali, lies squarely with two parties should be laid on Galen and laid on the CIA for basically mishandling Galen and not putting putting screws to him. In fact, it isn't until 1961 that CIA agents arrest Heinz Felfa as a K GB agent. Through the early 1950s, the CIA continues to investigate additional reports of Soviet penetration of Galen's
organization. None the less, even Galen's harshest critics acknowledge that he was hugely successful in one key respect through his efforts, the new government of West Germany. Was able to build its own intelligence apparatus. In 1956, Galen's organization officially becomes West Germany's intelligence operation, known as the BND. Some say that as a loyal German, Galen had been working toward this goal from the very start. He had achieved what he wanted to achieve overall.
He had become a very significant figure in in German history, so that I think, I think in the end Galen was the winner. But the true cost of employing Galen's organization and using former Nazi scientists will not be revealed for another 4 decades. By the 1970s, some Americans are beginning to ask questions. About the presence of ex Nazis in their midst. As an American, what are these
people doing on our shores? How many Americans went to fight in World War 2 all of a sudden to have their sacrifice made a mockery of by having Hitler's hench men come here and be given security and benefits of liberty? Spring 1974, New York Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman. Learns of the nearly 30 year history of former Nazis brought to the US to work on defense projects. Somebody who was very knowledgeable about immigration matters came to see me.
He came and told me the story that the US government had a list of Nazi war criminals living in the United States and was doing nothing about it. And my first reaction was, this is crazy. I can't believe it. She immediately contacts Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Leonard Chapman. I said to the immigration commissioner, is it true that you have a list of Nazi war criminals in the United States?
And his answer was yes. And I almost fell off my chair because I didn't expect it to be true. Holtzman Launches a Campaign to Change American Immigration Law. In 1978, Congress passes the Holtzman Amendment. It denies Nazi war criminals admission to the United States and mandates the deportation of those who have already been
admitted. That same year, the Office of Special Investigations for OSI is created in the US Justice Department. One goal of the OSI is to find the evidence about Nazi war criminals living in America. Then to bring them to justice. In 19 eighty 25 year old attorney Eli Rosenbaum joins the OSI. If you've got the evidence, we'll do it. His first major case is that of Arthur Rudolph, the former Nazi engineer who was brought to the US back in the 1940s under
Project Paper CLIP. In the United States, Martha Rudolph had gained near heroic status. He was, after all, one of the key. NASA officials are responsible for building the Saturn 5, the rocket that took humankind to the moon in 1969. Rosenbaum is convinced that Rudolph has blood on his hands. Decades before, Rudolph exploited Dora concentration camp inmates in his effort to perfect Germany's V2 rocket used on allied targets throughout Europe.
The utilization of slave labor is a violation of the Nuremberg Charter. It's a crime against humanity. He should have been prosecuted criminally right after the war for what he did. But he wasn't. The two men meet on February 4th, 1983. In a tape recorded interview, Rosenbaum attempts to get Rudolph to admit his guilt. The following are audio excerpts from that interview. But did it did it occur to you that they might send you more by 10 prisoners?
That could have big praise in this, yes. He brought these people down to this hellhole, knowing exactly what gruesome conditions they were going to be exposed to, and he did it without any concern. For their For their lives. For their health. You must have thought of who was going to build these rockets. I mean, they were going to be working for you. A lot of them, yes. Without The situation was so confused.
At that time at the Middleburg, prisoners who were involved in production had different kinds of little badges, little phone cloth. They indicate what kind of presence they were, for instance, political. Be sure you don't recall like yellow like a yellow Star of David. You don't recall that despite Rudolf's denials, Rosenbaum and the OSI believe they have enough evidence to prosecute the former Nazi. The OSI was going to bring a case against him and Rudolf left
the country rather than face. Certain deportation because of the war crimes that he engaged in. The OSI stays on the hunt for other Nazi war criminals living in America, but the full story of the use of former Nazis by U.S. Intelligence during the Cold War will remain classified for another 20 years. The former Soviet Union had opened up their files yet. The American government, the country of openness of a democracy, was still availing it in total secrecy.
In the mid 1980s, new questions emerge about the use of former Nazis in American scientific and intelligence operations. Beginning in 1984, author Mary Ellen Reese spent six years researching Reinhardt Galen. And his ties to the CIA. One very, very senior CIA officer said to me, We have papers that say things about Galen that we don't want on the record. We don't want the people to see
that. Over the next decade, even with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the CIA remains unwilling to open its files in 1998. Congress passes the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, sponsored by New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. The bill requires the CIA to reveal details about its relationship with former Third Reich officers, including Reinhard Galen. They insisted on having an item that said that anything that pertained to current national
security could not be disclosed. That this was 50-60 years after World War 2. On October 8th, 1998, the ACT is signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Over the next six years, 8 million documents from the CIAUS, Army and other government organizations are made public, the largest declassification of U.S. intelligence records in history. Cold War expert Timothy Naftali reviews the documents concerning the Galen organization. And is shocked by what he discovers.
When the CIA finally analyzed his operations, they discovered that 90% of them were garbage. They were either fraudulent, they didn't exist, or the information that was being provided was worthless. Naftali and others believe this faulty intelligence was detrimental to the US. The United States paid a very serious price for relying on Galen for intelligence. Part of the price was protecting
Nazi war criminals. Part of the price was not fulfilling our treaty obligation to prosecute war criminals, which we have a legal treaty obligation to do. 2/3 of the raw intelligence that filtered into NATO came through the Galen network. So they played a very important role during the Cold War and I fear also a very negative role in terms of. Influencing US Soviet relations in a way that wasn't helpful to either country, but was ultimately helpful to Galen and his Nazis.
Critics also question whether engineers like former Nazi Arthur Rudolph made a real contribution to American scientific progress. Arthur Rudolph was a competent administrator of large scientific enterprises. He was aceo type if you will. He had management skills. Needed Rudolph is I personally, I see no evidence that supports that French Resistance fighter and concentration camp survivor. Michelle Thomas was recruited in March of 1945 by U.S.
Army Intelligence. He was present with Allied troops at the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp on April 29th, 1945. We never and then say we never. Should have even considered or thought of it. Thought of of working with knots with Gestapo it it was part of. Our mission to arrest. Them and to and to and to see if. Ever. Justice done. I don't know if there is any human justice to all the inhuman activities.
No matter where they go or what they do, they always try to remember what to do. If the atom bomb explodes. Right then it's a bomb Duck can cover. But for many former Cold Warriors who operated under the very real threat of war with the Soviets, the decision was between the lesser of two evils in 1940. 6 Robert Livingston was a. Member of the US Army's Intelligence Corps, the CIC, stationed in Austria. His unit collected general Intel on Soviet activity.
It is a duplicitous double game. And you have to work with people who would not, would not go to dinner with it was morals or sometimes not a dubious, maybe even in the gutter, you know. And you have to do that sometimes to advance a a higher cause, the champion of the relationship. Between the CIA and Galen James Critchfield.
And defended the collaboration with the former 3rd Right General until his death in 2003. All of this was real life and death intelligence during this period, and I think it's it's for that reason that there was no questioning by anyone of the value of it at that moment in history. Critchfield reminded critics that Galen's organization. We built an intelligence apparatus for West Germany that served the Western alliance throughout the Cold War.
Christopher Simpson acknowledges this, but still disputes the wisdom of working with Galen. A lot of people argue the collaboration. With the Nazis was not necessarily a bad thing that supposedly the United States gained in terms of intelligence information. That supposedly they gained some sort of advantage in terms of dealing with Eastern Europe and Soviets and so on.
I think that's simply untrue. The fundamental cost of deciding to work with people who've committed genocide and crimes against humanity is by itself corrupt in very institutions that we. Employ to. Gather intelligence can also poison or mislead intelligence. Just so that you have a situation in which a government is simultaneously heavily dependent upon intelligence, and yet cannot count upon the intelligence to be actually accurate, but in times. Of war.
The need for intelligence can often trump ethical concerns. We're faced with that same problem in Iraq today. I mean, who do we work with? We work with those who are. Pristine. Clean. There are very few that are pristine clean. Then of course, judgments in hindsight are always a lot easier than they are at the time, and you're faced with a concrete problem. You're an operating officer of an intelligent outfit. Your boss say we need information on XY and Z, so these are the type of
compromises. That have to be. Made in in the big political game sometimes. Meanwhile, more documents are still being declassified under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act. But the full story of Reinhard Galen's relationship with U.S. intelligence may never be known. Do I think we got all of it? No, I didn't get a chance to. Walk the halls of the CIA archive. None of us did. And I think the most important thing to say is that we are not going to give. Up without getting the truth.
The agencies that still have not given us the information that we need. I think they will have to. The preceding program presented theories about an historical event that is shrouded in mystery. It contained archival footage, reenactments and dramatizations which invite you, the viewer, to draw your own conclusions.