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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Reinhard Gehlen.md
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@ -29,19 +29,19 @@ Anticipating German defeat, Gehlen in 1944-1945 ordered the microfilming of his
Gehlen surrendered to U.S. Army forces on May 22, 1945, and immediately proposed a bargain: his organization, its records, and its agent networks in the Soviet bloc, in exchange for American protection and support. The Strategic Services Unit, successor to the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS), accepted. Gehlen was brought to the United States in August 1945 for debriefing at Fort Hunt, Virginia, and returned to Germany in 1946 to begin operations under American control.[^2]
The arrangement - known informally as the "Gehlen deal" - gave the United States its primary human intelligence network covering the Soviet bloc at the very moment when the emerging Cold War made such capability most valuable. The CIA, formally established in 1947, inherited the arrangement from its predecessor organizations. Gehlen's organization was funded and directed by the CIA as a contractor throughout the period of West German occupation.[^1]
The arrangement - known informally as the "Gehlen deal" - gave the United States its primary human intelligence network covering the Soviet bloc at the very moment when the emerging Cold War made such capability most valuable. The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], formally established in 1947, inherited the arrangement from its predecessor organizations. Gehlen's organization was funded and directed by the CIA as a contractor throughout the period of West German occupation.[^1]
### Gehlen Organization, 1946-1956
The Gehlen Organization (Org) operated from a compound at Pullach, near Munich, in the American occupation zone. It recruited former Wehrmacht intelligence officers, SS personnel, and other German specialists with relevant experience and Eastern European contacts. The organization's personnel roster included significant numbers of former SS officers and individuals with wartime records that would have disqualified them from employment by the postwar German state's official denazification standards - a fact that the CIA accepted as the price of operational capability.[^2]
The Gehlen Organization (Org) operated from a compound at Pullach, near Munich, in the American occupation zone. It recruited former Wehrmacht intelligence officers, [[SS]] personnel, and other German specialists with relevant experience and Eastern European contacts. The organization's personnel roster included significant numbers of former SS officers and individuals with wartime records that would have disqualified them from employment by the postwar German state's official denazification standards - a fact that the CIA accepted as the price of operational capability.[^2]
The Org was penetrated by Soviet intelligence. [[Heinz Felfe]], who joined the Org in 1951 and rose to become chief of counterintelligence, was a KGB agent who had been recruited by Soviet intelligence during his postwar capture. Felfe operated as a double agent for a decade before being exposed in 1961; his penetration compromised substantial portions of the Org's operations and agent networks in the Soviet bloc.[^1]
The Org was penetrated by Soviet intelligence. [[Heinz Felfe]], who joined the Org in 1951 and rose to become chief of counterintelligence, was a [[KGB]] agent who had been recruited by Soviet intelligence during his postwar capture. Felfe operated as a double agent for a decade before being exposed in 1961; his penetration compromised substantial portions of the Org's operations and agent networks in the Soviet bloc.[^1]
### BND Directorship
When [[West Germany]] regained sovereignty in 1955 and the Federal Republic was established, negotiations produced the transfer of the Gehlen Organization to West German government control as the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND, Federal Intelligence Service), formally established April 1, 1956. Gehlen served as the BND's first president until his forced retirement in 1968, when Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger replaced him with Gerhard Wessel.
When [[West Germany]] regained sovereignty in 1955 and the Federal Republic was established, negotiations produced the transfer of the Gehlen Organization to West German government control as the [[Bundesnachrichtendienst]] (BND, Federal Intelligence Service), formally established April 1, 1956. Gehlen served as the BND's first president until his forced retirement in 1968, when Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger replaced him with Gerhard Wessel.
Under Gehlen, the BND maintained close liaison with the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] and shared intelligence on Soviet bloc countries. The BND's origins in the Org - and the corresponding presence of former Nazi intelligence personnel throughout the organization's senior ranks - remained a persistent problem. The extent of SS and Nazi party affiliation among BND staff was minimized in official accounts during Gehlen's tenure and was not comprehensively documented until subsequent academic research, including the 2013 Scholz Commission investigation commissioned by the German government.[^2]
Under Gehlen, the BND maintained close liaison with the CIA and shared intelligence on Soviet bloc countries. The BND's origins in the Org - and the corresponding presence of former Nazi intelligence personnel throughout the organization's senior ranks - remained a persistent problem. The extent of SS and Nazi party affiliation among BND staff was minimized in official accounts during Gehlen's tenure and was not comprehensively documented until subsequent academic research, including the 2013 Scholz Commission investigation commissioned by the German government.[^2]
### Memoir and Later Life