'PAPERCLIP': SOME NAZIS' TICKET TO U.S.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-01208R000100140087-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 87
• Publication Date: October 22, 1979
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-01208R000100140087-3
STAT
Al i:..
ON .
x'cilJ y
THE WASHINGTON POST
22 October 1979
Jack Anderson,
In fact, however, the secret docu ians without regard to the immigra-
ments indicate-and other sources - , tion laws."
have confirmed-that in. many cases When one government official sug-
no security checks were made. This . gested that the.. German. scientists
laxity by federal authorities enabled . should be permitted to come here only
Nazi criminals to sP
ttle in the U
it
d
~
n
e
, on regular visas, he was quickly over
Trained' to serve humanity; they: j. States, secure from prosecution: for..*
'Should have h on grounds of "expedience," the;
ad a better grasp of right-...., their atrocities. A few of these. scien- ruled documerts show. Hundreds of scien-;
and wrong than- the homicidal, mo- Lists have been accused of performing tists and'their families, some with nei-i
ronic thugs of the SS who did the ac- experiments on Jews, sources told our then, *passports nor visas--and . some'
tual butchering. Yet it was German sci-: associates Gary Cohn and Jack Mitch withrwelldocumented ties to Nazi ac-i
entists who developed the mass-mur ell.. ides-were ferried to- the United.
der techniques the SS. used, and who :: - In some 'cases, derogatory informa: States on troop ships car g Ameri-l
performed unspeakable experi tion on a particular scientist-recruit can GIs home fordischar e. Others'
ments" on Jews, Russian prisonersof was simply overlooked because the were brought to Canada and Mexio
war and other helpless victims.. government considered him too valu- - and sneaked into the United States. the
able to WarIronica
gaviey'these scientists the beet to a de-Nrisk going cation to the fans-or one instance cited in the docu-j
chance of any Nazi criminals to escape.: ?~ paperclip' was.courL- a calculated, cu menu, an mericaeatened a officeri
punishment for their actions. Their ex-- mulative effort by the U.S. govern- ; pulled. a gun and threatened the pro.:
a groU the pan
pertise was a salable commodity in the- ment to bring some of the worst kinds, ment official who- questioned
East-West competition that sprang up -: of Nazis into the United States regard- scientists of allowing a group of German
before the ashes of defeated Germany less of their backgrounds," a congres- scientists into the United States
were even cool.. sional investigator told us after exam- Once in this country, the German
Suppressed government documents . fining the suppressed documents.
scientists were given lucrative jobs in
detail an outrageous program,. code A less extreme view was given by an--:'- = - American industry. Some even, re-((
named "Paperclip," under which hun- other knowledgeable source, who said ceived security clearances to work on l
dreds of Nazis-including alleged war ...: the intent of the operation was benign .. -- sensitive defense projects.
criminals-were welcomed into-- the- -to expedite the clearance of needed _ The suppressed -"Paperclip" filesi
United States with no regard for their..., scientific talent-but the way it was . raise disturbing questions about a re-1
past service to Hitler. The still-secret. , carried out was a disaster.:"It was. an port last year by the General Accoundocuments were turned up. by Sena error of judgment," he said. ing Office, which concluded that there,
Max Baucus (1)-Mont.), whose Judiciary Whether "Paperclip" was deliber- was no widespread conspiracy to obsubcommittee i3 looking into-"Paper ? ately used to smuggle known Nazi" sstruct investigation and prosecution!
clip" and related programs. criminals into this country; ' or was of Nazi war criminals {
The intent of the "Paperclip" pro-merely bungled, the fact remains that:' . The GAO report 'did acknowledge,
gram was to recruit German scientists - xr federal- authorities violated- immigra- " that the CIA. the FBI and the Defense
and technicians before the- Soviets-.. _ . tion laws in their zeal to recruit, the and State department* had arranged{
snared them.. Ostensibly, strict. back German scientists:' ? ? Y... for suspected Nazis to gain refuge{
ground checks were to be run on the-. One, restricted document, 'for ex- here, and then used them as sources of
recruits and their families- to, make : ample; states: "Frankly, . we reached information.:- But : the -- GAO. -report!
sure no war criminals were given sane the conclusion that; as a matter of fact, played down this use of war-crimes,
tua_ry in this country.:: they are being brought here -as civil- suspects by U.S agencies
In the nightmare that was Nazi Ger-
nman-v, the most unforgivable criminals
were the men of science who put their
skills and knowledge at the service of
Adolf Hitler and his insane genocidal
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-01208R000100140087-3