REINHARD GEHLEN

When the Second World War neared its end in Europa, many influential Nazi's, scientists and bureaucrats made preparations for the future. Some committed suicide, some fled to Sweden or South-America or went underground. Other prepared their defection to the Allies and Heinrich Himmler, 2^nd in the Reich and leader of the SS and the Gestapo, approached the Americans and Churchill, personally, with a offering of peace. The Allied Forces and the German troops would move east to fight the real enemy: the Soviet-Union. The Eastern Front was crumbling and the Red Army was 100 miles from Berlin.

Churchill and the Americans refused to negotiate. Nazi-Germany had to surrencer unconditionally. Hitler was furious, when he heard that Himmler had betrayed him. He decided to fight till the end.

Reinhard Gehlen was a Wehrmacht-general, who was responsible for information-gathering and espionage at the Eastern Front. He knew that the war was lost and when he confronted Hitler, he was fired. But Gehlen did not quit. He was sure, that after the defeat of Germany a confrontation with the Soviet-Union and communism would be next. Together with his staff he buried tuns of data, on different places in the Bavarian Alps.

After the war Reinhard Gehlen offered the information and his expertise to the Americans. Finally the general and his staff were flown to the USA to brief the US Military. Although there were doubts about his actions during WW2, the USA was glad to cooperate and even financed 'Organization Gehlen”, when they went home and started gathering information about the Sovjiet-Union, the occupied countries and the Russian Occupation Zone. On a yearly basis Gehlen received half a million dollars to pay for his services. Reinhard Gehlen recruted many old friends and fellow Nazis, with a dark past. One of them was Klaus Barbie, who worked for America for years. This made them easy targets for Soviet spies. In the 50s en 60s many double agents and Soviet spies were active in Gehlen's.

Gehlen and his man were responsible for a constant flow of documents, plans and top-secret information, which fed the common opinion, that the Soviets were preparing for a war, to conquer Western Europe. The necessary divisions were placed and trained, ready to strike; as was the case in 1940, which led to Hitler's “pre-emptive” strike in 1941.

The results of Gehlen's spies and under-cover agents had an enormous impact on the American foreign policy and it is fundamental for understanding the Cold War, first formulated by Winston Churchill. Again “Dark Ages” had begun.

In fact Reinhard Gehlen was a war-criminal. His information was gathered by torture, cruelty, slaughter, mass-executions and fear. He committed crimes against human dignity and humanity. Those who talked, were killed, when no longer useful. He should have been put on trial for this. Even worse. When the US-government were forced to publish reports of the “Gehlen Organisation”, most of the gathered information and research was only partly true and mostly completely wrong. An impressive form of “Agitprop”, the Germans propagandists during the Nazi-regime were common to use. Reinhard Gehlen is seen as the founder of German “Intelligenz”-department. He also did everything he could, to realize Heinrich Himmler's plan of a war of the Allies (including Germany) against Russia end the Eastern European states. Battlefield Europa and a final tank-battle, fought on ancient battlegrounds in Poland and Ukrain.

But relax. We have gone global now.