Press Release nr01-54
Press Release · Monday, April 23, 2001

Washington, DC

Contacts:
Giuliana Bullard, 703-532-1477
Susan Cooper, 301-837-1700
Tom Cooney, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 202-488-0442

What:

The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group (IWG) will hold a briefing on the release of CIA files of key Nazis declassified under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act (PL 105-246). Packets of information with sample copies of the documents will be distributed. The full files being opened will be available at the National Archives College Park, Maryland, building at noon on Friday, April 27.

Under the auspices of the IWG, the CIA has reviewed and declassified 20 "Name Files," including those of Adolf Hitler, Josef Mengele, Adolf Eichmann, Heinrich Mueller, Klaus Barbie, and other important Nazi officials, some of whom were later associated with the Gehlen Organization, a post-war intelligence operation aimed at the Soviet Union that received funding from the U. S. Government.

Press will be briefed by: IWG Chair Steven Garfinkel, Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York, Members of the IWG, and Dr. Richard Breitman, IWG Historian. In addition, Dr. Tim Naftali, Dr. Norman Goda, and Mr. Robert Wolfe of the IWG Historical Staff will be available for comment.

Friday, April 27, 9:30 A.M.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Rubinstein Auditorium 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW (Use the 15th Street Entrance)

Importance: The CIA rarely releases such files, which are diverse collections of information on individuals considered significant by the Agency. The 20 being released are the first of several hundred related to war crimes or suspected Nazi war criminals that will be made public by the IWG. The release of the Gehlen-related records follows CIA's acknowledgement last September that the Agency had an intelligence relationship with the Gehlen Organization during the Cold War. Release of the Gestapo Chief Heinrich Mueller file follows recent news stories that speculated on his survival and activities after the War.

Background: Since 1999, the IWG has overseen the identification, declassification review, and release of formerly classified U. S. Government records as required by the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act. Under the auspices of the IWG, U.S. Government agencies have declassified more than 3 million pages to date. These records will take their place among the many millions of pages of related documents previously made available for research in the National Archives. In its recent passage of the Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act of 2000, Congress endorsed the IWG's effort to finish the European war crimes phase and move into the Japanese and Far East phase and thus complete the full task set forth in the Disclosure Act. The IWG website provides additional background: www.archives.gov/iwg/.

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