Counterspy

by Cutler, Richard W.

• ISBN13: 9781574888461
• ISBN10: 1574888463
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-30
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

During World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, Richard W. Cutler was an officer with the elite X-2 counterintelligence branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and with its successor, the Strategic Services Unit (SSU). Counterspyoffers a rare firsthand account of the secret war against Hitler and the postwar competition with the Soviets for German intelligence assets. While with X-2, Cutler analyzed the super-secret Ultra intercepts and vetted agents about to be sent into Nazi Germany. Cutler provides an insightful overview of OSS operations during the war and their contribution to the Allies' victory. This is also one of the few books to describe the role of the OSS and the SSU in the postwar occupation of Germany. Cutler's first job after the German surrender was to vet all of Allen Dulles's wartime sources inside Germany, who were aptly nicknamed the Crown Jewels. Just as the OSS was reorganized into the SSU, Cutler moved to Berlin, where his first task was to collect intelligence from former Nazis. Soon he became chief of counterespionage in Berlin. Soviet intelligence had already begun recruiting former German intelligence officers to spy on Americans, so Cutler's top priority was to uncover Soviet objectives and either neutralize or double their agents. Cutler reveals previously unpublished case histories of double agents against Soviet intelligence and details agents' recruitment, missions, methods of operation, successes and failures, and fates. All of these events are recounted against the fascinating background of postwar Germany. He provides a vivid picture of the mood of the German people, how they rationalized war guilt, and how they coped with the devastation throughout the country. With photographs and a foreword by bestselling author Joseph E. Persico (Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage), Counterspyis a unique account of espionage during the momentous years of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Joseph E. Persico	vii
Preface	xi
Introduction	xv
1 A Big Surprise	1	(5)
2 Welcome to OSS	6	(6)
3 Enigma, Ultra, and Double Cross	12	(6)
4 Counterespionage Rookie	18	(7)
5 London at War	25	(7)
6 American Spies in Germany	32	(8)
7 Clearing Agents before the Rhine Crossing	40	(4)
8 Victory in Europe	44	(4)
9 Life in Occupied Germany	48	(9)
10 America's Challenge in Germany	57	(7)
11 German Evasiveness About Hitler	64	(7)
12 War-torn Continent and Berlin	71	(12)
13 Counterespionage Case Officer	83	(17)
14 A Narrow Escape	100	(5)
15 The Joe House	105	(4)
16 Plumbing the Russian Mind	109	(9)
17 Civilian Status	118	(7)
18 The Nuremberg Trial and a Soviet Kidnapping Ring	125	(7)
19 Flying High	132	(6)
20 Hooked on Espionage	138	(13)
Source Notes	151	(12)
Bibliography	163	(4)
Index	167	(6)
About the Author	173