STATUS OF DECLASSIFIED OSS RECORDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP01-00569R000100060014-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 16, 2009
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: December 9, 1983
• Content Type: MEMO

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9 December 1983
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
THROUGH Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Executive Director
Executive Secretary
FROM J. Kenneth McDonald
Chief, History Staff
SUBJECT Status of Declassified OSS Records
REFERENCES Memo for C/HS fm DCI, dtd 1 December 1983, Subj:
Declassification of Historically Significant Files
Memo for DCI fm C/HS, dtd $, December 1983,? Subj :
Release of Declassified OSS Records to the National
Archives, and Status of DCI Histories
1. This is the full report, requested and transmitted by the
references above, on the present status of the declassified records CIA
holds of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and its other predecessor
organizations. My account goes into some detail, since these records'
release will begin the selective declassification of historically
significant records proposed in your 4 October 1983 letter to Senator
Durenberger. My report is organized into the following sections:
a. The Postwar Disposition of OSS Records
b. CIA's Declassification of OSS Records
c. The Impasse with the National Archives
d. Final Check and Release
e. Discussion
f. Recommendations
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SUBJECT: Status of Declassified OSS Records
2. The Postwar Disposition of OSS Records:
a. After President Truman dissolved OSS on 1 October 1945, the records
of its Researchand Analysis (R&A) Branch went to the Department of
State and its operational and other records went to the Strategic
Services Unit (SSU) in the War Department. When established in
September 1947, CIA inherited OSS's operational records along with the
records of SSU and the Central Intelligence Group (CIG).
b. In 1946 the Department of State transferred its OSS records to the
National Archives. In 1972, at the National Archives' request, CIA
organized a team of four CIA annuitants (who were also OSS veterans) who
reviewed and declassified these OSS R&A Branch records. The National
Archives opened 919 cubic''feet of declassified OSS records to the public
as review was completed between 1974 and 1978. These files, in Record
Group 226, are the most active records in the Military Branch, which
serviced some 2900 requests for them in the first eight months of 1983.
c. Between 1977 and 1982 the National Archives, in cooperation with
the DA's Records Management Division, appraised the approximately 6500
cubic feet of OSS, SSU and CIG records in the custody of the DO's
Information Management Staff. This appraisal determined that
approximately 3300 cubic feet were of permanent value and should be
preserved for eventual transfer to the National Archives. (List
attached.)
3. CIA's Declassification of OSS Records:
a. In December 1978, when President Carter's Executive Order 12065
requiring the systematic declassification review of permanent records
over 20 years old went into effect, the DA's Classification Review
Division formed a team of 15 annuitants (including some who had reviewed
State's OSS records for the National Archives) to review CIA's OSS, SSU
and CIG permanent records. For this review the Classification Review
Division developed extensive specific written. guidelines (in
consultation with the team, the DO's Information Management Staff, and
the National Archives) to protect such key factors as sources, methods,
identities and foreign government information.
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SUBJECT: Status of Declassified OSS Records
b. Working under a single executive order and a single set of Agency
guidelines, this special team reviewed CIA's permanent OSS records (with
the exception of about 100 cubic feet) in a period of just under four
years and at an estimated cost of about $500,000. The declassification
review began in January 1979 and was completed in September 1982, with
the following results:
Total records reviewed 3157 cubic feet
Withheld to remain classified 191 cubic feet
Declassified and available for
transfer to National Archives 2966 cubic feet
Thus CIA declassified about 94% of these records and withheld about 6%,
principally to protect sources, foreign government information, and
foreign liaison relationships.
4. The Impasse with the National Archives:
a. In 1979, as the National Archives appraisal and CIA
declassification review of OSS records proceeded, the DA's Records
Management Division, in coordination with the DO's Information
Management Staff, arranged to begin transferring declassified OSS
records to the National Archives. As a first increment, CIA transferred
198 cubic feet of records on 16 January 1980, for release to the public
after final processing by the National Archives' Declassification
Division.
b. In transferring these records, CIA declared on the National
Archives form (copy attached) that they were subject to the Privacy Act
under System No. CIA-49, and imposed the following two specific.
restrictions on their release to the public:
"Foreign Government Information must be afforded protection and
will not be released without the prior approval of the government
involved.
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SUBJECT: Status of Declassified OSS Records
"In keeping with the provisions of the Privacy Act information
concerning the affiliation of U.S. persons with OSS may not be
released without the consent of the person involved."
c. As a matter of course the National Archives will honor the first
restriction, to insure the continued protection of foreign government
information as well as other non-OSS originated information still
requiring security classification, as they have done in reviewing the
State Department's OSS files. CIA's names restriction, however, the
National Archives found both unprecedented and unworkable. Unable to
process these records for release to the public, they discussed this
restriction informally with Agency officers during 1980 and early 1981.
d. On 2 April 1981 the Archivist of the United States, Dr. Robert M.
Warner, wrote to you that in his view the\,names restriction effectively
negated the original purpose of the records' transfer, "which was to
make public as much of the OSS story as possible, within the limits of
present national security considerations." Noting that screening
documents for individual names would be a resource-consuming operation,
while the documents released would be too fragmentary to be useful to
most researchers, Dr. Warner expressed hope for a reasonable
resolution. Admiral Inman replied that CIA, recognizing the Archives'
difficulty, was prepared to accept the return of these declassified
records until they could be released without the names restriction.
e. The impasse remains. The National Archives still holds, but will
not process or release, the 198 cubic feet of OSS records they received
from CIA in January 1980. For our part, CIA has sent the National
Archives no further OSS records, even though their declassification was
completed in September 1982.
5. Final Check and Release:
a. Having identified CIA's imposition of the names restriction as the
core of the problem, I asked the advice of the Office of General
Counsel. In late September I found that in fact neither the Privacy Act
nor any other law or regulation provides for'such a restriction. In
light of this information, the Information Management Staff decided to
reconsider the names restriction.
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SUBJECT: Status of Declassified OSS Records
?
b. In a memorandum for the record of 9 November 1983, approved by the
Deputy Director for Operations on 16 November 1983, the Chief of the
Information Management Staff proposes to lift the names restriction
imposed in transferring CIA's first increment of 198 cubic feet of
declassified OSS records to the National Archives on 16 January 1980.
(The restriction on foreign government information would, of course,
remain unchanged.) Having agreed to remove the erroneous Privacy Act
restriction, the Directorate of Operations proposes
"...to transfer the declassified OSS records to the National
Archives in stages, beginning with the least sensitive files.
Prior to the transfer of any records, we would make a final check
to ensure that any sensitive material is protected. This would
consist of an inspection of each box of records to check that
material bearing on foreign liaison dr other politically sensitive
areas is protected."
c. The Information Management Staff proposes this final check out of
concern that the original reviewers "may not have taken into full
consideration certain politically sensitive areas that might still be
damaging to the national security and U.S. foreign relations." The
memorandum adds that they expect to accomplish this final check "in
relatively short order", since it will not require the time-consuming
document-by-document inspection the DA's 15-member review team completed
in 1979-82.
6. Discussion:
a. The Directorate of Operations' desire for a final check is, I
believe, largely inspired by genuine apprehension about the the nature
and rigor of the declassification review that the DA's Classification
Review Division team carried out independently in 1979-82. Although the
evidence I have seen convinces me that the original team conducted a
cautious, thorough and highly professional declassification review, I
respect the Information Management Staff's judgment in proposing their
own quick final check of these records.
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SUBJECT: Status of Declassified OSS Records
b. Before beginning this final check, the Information Management
Staff's reviewers might usefully consult first with the Classification
Review Division on the actual guidelines and procedures used in the
original review, and then with the National Archives' Declassification
Division about the processing (including the protection of foreign
government information) that these records will receive before being
opened to the public. In my view, such consultations should help the
Information Management Staff move rapidly through their final check.
c. To expedite matters, the Information Management Staff proposes to
go to the National Archives to check the 198 feet of OSS records CIA
transferred there in 1980. If CIA lifts its names restriction and
presses on with the transfer of these records, the National Archives'
Declassification Division would expect to process around 200 cubic feet
a month. This would appear to be a reasonable transfer rate for CIA to
aim for.
d. The long delay in releasing these OSS records illustrates a problem
that the Agency faces in organizing a new program to declassify and
release historically significant records. Since this is not an activity
that engenders much enthusiasm in this organization, direction and
impetus from the center will be needed. On the other hand, even though
the direction is central, the components providing the records must have
a large enough role in the selection, review and release decisions to
have confidence in the process.
e. Since the opening of these OSS, SSU and CIG records will inevitably
receive a large amount of press attention, I would suggest that the
Agency's Public Affairs Office work with its counterpart at the National
Archives to decide how best to handle this event. Deputy 25X1
Chief, Office of Legislative Liaison, has suggested that the re ease of
these documents might usefully be timed to support efforts to carry the
FOIA exemption bill through the House of Representatives. In any event,
the opening of these records will demonstrate CIA's good faith in
undertaking to declassify and release selected older records of
historical significance.
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SUBJECT: Status of Declassified OSS Records
7. Recommendations:
I recommend that you approve the following actions:
a. That CIA notify the National Archives that we have agreed to
withdraw the second, "Privacy Act", restriction on the 198 cubic feet of
declassified OSS records transferred to them on 16 January 1980, with
the provision that the Information Management Staff must carry out a
final check of these records at the National Archives before they can be
released to the public.
b. That the Information Management Staff carry out their final check of
CIA's declassified OSS records as soon as possible, beginning at the
National Archives with those records now held there.
c. That after completing the final check of the records now at the
National Archives, or by no later than 31 January 1984, the Information
Management Staff propose for your approval a schedule of estimated dates
when the remaining increments will be checked :nd transferred to the
National Archives.
d. That the Chief, Public Affairs Office, consult with all parties
concerned to determine how CIA should treat the opening of these records
to the public at the National Archives.
J. Kenneth McDonald
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SUBJECT: Status of Declassified OSS Records
APPROVED:
Director of Central Intelligence Date
DISAPPROVED:
Director of Central Intelligence Date
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LU,Nr WtN 1 1HL ?
SUBJECT: Status of Declassified OSS Records
C/HS/DCI/JKMcD:nkl/2621 (9 Dec 83)
Distribution:
Orig - Addressee (w/att)
1 - DDCI (w/att)
1 - ExDir (w/att)
1 - ExSec (w/att)
1 - C/HS (w/o att)
/ - HS Chrono (w/o att)
1 - HS Subj (w/att)
9
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