Civilian Agency Records RG 457

Other Agency Records

Records of the National Security Agency
(RG 457)

The National Security Agency (NSA) was established as a separately organized Agency within the Department of Defense by National Security Council Intelligence Directive 9 on December 29, 1952. Its primary missions relate to information systems security and foreign intelligence information. Among its predecessors were the Army Security Agency (1947-1952). (Note 34)

"Magic" Diplomatic Summaries January 1, 1943-November 3, 1945
Boxes 1-19

"Magic" Diplomatic Summaries 1942-1945 (Mimeographic Copy)
Boxes 1-18

Historic Cryptographic Collection, Pre-World War I Through World War II 1891-1981

Cryptographic records (including raw intercepts (often untranslated) of decrypted radio communications) inherited by the National Security Agency (NSA) from its predecessor agencies, as well as materials gathered by NSA. The collection consists of both unredacted, newly-released originals and copies of records previous available in the holdings of the National Archives. The records relate to such broad topics as codes and ciphers of Allied, Axis, and neutral countries; signal equipment; the breaking of codes by both Allied and Axis countries; captured documents; and military operations. Most of the documentation pertains to German and Japanese encryption measures and associated signal intelligence activities during World War II, but code and cipher intelligence relating to such countries as Argentina; Austria; Belgium; Bolivia; Brazil; Canada; China; Chile; Colombia; Czechoslovakia; Ecuador; El Salvador; Finland; France; Great Britain; Greece; Haiti; India; Italy; Korea; Mexico; Morocco; the Netherlands; Peru; Poland; Romania; the Soviet Union; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Venezuela; and Yugoslavia are also included. A document list is available in the consultation area in Room 2400.

Translation of Intercepted Berlin/Tokyo Radio Messages Between German Navy Liaison Personnel, June 1942-May 1945 (Entry 9017)

Tanslations of US Navy intercepted radio messages between Berlin/Tokyo exchanged by German Liaison personnel and counterparts. Intercepted messages cover all manner of subjects such as, blockade and U-boat operations, Allied and Axis political events, logistics, personnel and other matters relating to German- Japanese Naval activities. Arranged by National Security Agency/Central Security Service identification number (SRGL 1-2964) Boxes 1-4

Vichy French Diplomatic Messages 1941-1943 (Entry 9021)

Translations of messages between the Vichy Government in France and various government officials in France and in Soauth American countries, the United States, Viet Nam, and China. Subjects include diplomatic instructions, foreign affairs, economic and trade matters, government appointments, and summaries of foreign press reports on the Vichy Government. This series consists of elctrostatic copies. Information requirring continued protection for national security reasons has been deleted. Arranged according to National Security Agency/Central Security Service identification number (SRD 001, pts. 1-23) and thereunder chronologically. Boxes 1-8

Records of the Army Security Agency

The Army Security Agency was established on September 15, 1945, bringing together all the signal intelligence and communications security establishments, units, and personnel of the Army under a single command.

Records Relating to the Allied-Swiss Negotiations on the Disposition of German Assets and Looted Gold Held in Switzerland, August 1945-July 1946

This series contains a collection of SIGNIT documents relating to the 1946 Allied-Swiss negotiations in Washington, DC, on the disposition of German assets and gold looted from conquered countries held in German accounts in Switzerland. The collection primarily consists of 374 diplomatic message translations between Bern, Switzerland (Swiss Political Department or "Politique") and the Swiss Legation in Washington, DC. The documents span from late August 1945 through early July 1946. Of the 374, 105 translations deal directly with Allied-Swiss negotiations concerning the disposition of German assets and assets looted from national treasuries which were held in Switzerland on behalf of Germany. The remaining 269 translations cover other Allied-Swiss diplomatic issues and diplomatic/consular affairs. Each translation is in a formatted version. In the upper left port of each message are the "To", "From", date of the Swiss message, and the original Swiss internal message number. At the lower left corner of each page are the dates for various stages of the decrypt's processing: the intercept date, the date received at Arlington Hall, and the date translated along with the worksheet number. In the lower right corner is the Army Security Agency serial number which begins with an "H" and was assigned at the time of the release of the decrypt. Some translations have footnotes or the original German (the language of all the messages) technical term or colloquialism in brackets. These items were added by the analysts at Arlington Hall to help U.S. readers understand the messages. It is important to note the wide divergence in dates on the translations. Depending upon a variety of factors, including processing difficulties or conflicting mission priorities, the entire process from acquisition to release could last as few as 2 or 3 days to as long as 6 weeks. This accounts for the fact that the translations in the series do not occur in the same date order as the messages originally sent by the Swiss. In addition to the Swiss messages, four German diplomatic translations from April 1945 are included. The records are arranged chronologically by year and thereunder chronologically by month. Box 1 Compartment 11 (in Room 2000)