Page:Eagle and Swastika - CIA and Nazi War Criminals and Collaborators.pdf/12

 contact with CIA is well nigh impossible. Thus, it is quite likely that investigators, historians, and journalists will continue to claim to have uncovered Nazis with connections to the CIA. (U)

Eagle and Swastika highlights the general operational activities of the Agency and its predecessors and recounts specific projects involving those with Nazi backgrounds from 1945 to the present day. The study should be regarded as a critical guide to future research into this emotional and complicated subject. (U)

The strengths and weaknesses of this study rest primarily within the CIA's own records management system. As an item of interest, Agency records generally do not contain information that constitutes a basis for judging the guilt or innocence of war criminals. The Office of Special Investigations, however, utilizes the Agency's records as a tool in its examination of existing historical documentation. These documents, in turn, may have some impact on the overall course of the investigation and prosecution. (U)

Interviews with retired Agency officers have provided some personal anecdotes and information about the early days of American intelligence operations in Western Europe after World War II. Both the GAO and OSI also conducted extensive interviews during the course of their investigations. The interviews employed for this study have not been as far ranging, but have enabled the author to gain a better understanding of the Agency's operations in Austria and Germany in the first decade after World War II. This time period, as will be seen, is crucial because the Agency became more involved with Nazi war criminals and collaborators. (U)