Justice Department Reports US “Safe Havens” for Nazis

In 1954, Otto Von Bolschwing, an accomplice of masterminds behind Germany’s Holocaust, was provided “safe haven” by the CIA and ultimately worked for the agency.

A new Justice Department report demonstrates that the CIA was not only aware of Nazi refugees such as Von Bolschwing but knowingly protected them.

In regard to Von Bolschwing, the CIA debated how to shield the former Nazi should his past become publicly known.

It was not until 1981, two years after the Office of Special Investigations (O.S.I.) was created for deporting Nazi collaborators, that Von Bolschwing was discovered.

He died at age 72, before he could be deported.

The 600-page report, six years in the making, was recently obtained by the New York Times.

The Justice Department previously tried to suppress the report, at first only allowing an incomplete version to be viewed by the private National Security Archive.

This version omitted key details, such as the CIA’s protection of Von Bolschwing. The version presented to the New York Times was complete.

The report also details scientist Arthur L. Rudolph, NASA honoree and father of the Saturn V Rocket.

Rudolph, a former Nazi scientist, was brought into the United States in 1945 for his rocket-making expertise. Rudolph was a beneficiary of Operation Paperclip, a concerted American effort to recruit Nazi scientists.

While in Germany, Rudolph ran the Mettelwerk slave labor camp and allegedly forced laborers to view hangings.

Though Nazi safe havens for scientific purposes have long been suspected by scholars and government officials, the report provides unprecedented detail in such cases.

However, the report places the number of Nazi collaborators successfully entering the United States at less than 10,000—lower than previously thought.

However, the Justice Department does not regard the report as an official finding, citing errors and omissions, though providing no specifics.

Senior Stephanie Herndon was surprised by the report’s findings, but said, “I don’t think it’s difficult to believe.

“We’re normally taught that Americans weren’t really involved with the Nazis — that we got into World War II because of Pearl Harbor and the Japanese.

“But there’s all this controversy in our country about possible torture that we’ve done in the Bush Administration, and in World War II we had internment camps for Japanese citizens.”

The Justice Department report certainly illuminates a dark instance in American history, but with its release, provides hope for a new era of transparency and disclosure from Washington.

Michael Angelo can be reached at michaelangelorumore@gmail.com.