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I also enjoyed it very much and shared it with some old navy friends. Irv - K3IRV On Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 8:30 PM, L.T. Easterly <[email protected]> wrote: > Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from > this list > > This is neat! I had not heard of this find! > > > On Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 12:15 PM, Al Fansome <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks to unsubscribe from > > this list > > > > > > July 29, 2010 > > > > AP IMPACT: Before the CIA, There Was the Pond > > By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS > > > > Filed at 10:39 a.m. ET > > > > NEW YORK (AP) -- It was a night in early November during the infancy of > > the Cold War when the anti-communist dissidents were hustled through a > > garden and across a gully to a vehicle on a dark, deserted road in > > Budapest. They hid in four large crates for their perilous journey. > > > > Four roadblocks stood between them and freedom. > > > > What Zoltan Pfeiffer, a top political figure opposed to Soviet > > occupation, his wife and 5-year-old daughter did not know as they were > > whisked out of Hungary in 1947 was that their driver, James McCargar, > > was a covert agent for one of America's most secretive espionage > > agencies, known simply as the Pond. > > > > Created during World War II as a purely U.S. operation free of the > > perceived taint of European allies, the Pond existed for 13 years and > > was shrouded in secrecy for more than 50 years. It used sources that > > ranged from Nazi officials to Stalinists and, at one point, a French > > serial killer. > > > > It operated under the cover of multinational corporations, including > > American Express, Chase National Bank and Philips, the Dutch-based > > electronic giant. One of its top agents was a female American > > journalist. > > > > Now the world can finally get a deeper look at the long-hidden roots of > > American espionage as tens of thousands of once-secret documents found > > in locked safes and filing cabinets in a barn near Culpeper, Va., in > > 2001 have finally become public after a long security review by the > Central > > Intelligence Agency. > > > > The papers, which the Pond's leader tried to keep secret long after the > > organization was dissolved, were placed in the National Archives > > in College Park, Md., in 2008 but only opened to the public in April. > > Those records plus documents obtained by The Associated Press in the > > past two years from the FBI, CIA and other agencies under the Freedom of > > Information Act portray a sophisticated organization obsessed with > > secrecy that operated a network of 40 chief agents and more than 600 > > sources in 32 countries. The AP has also interviewed former officials, > > family members, historians and archivists. > > > > The Pond, designed to be relatively small and operate out of the > > limelight, appeared to score some definite successes, but rivals > > questioned its sources and ultimately, it became discredited because its > > pugnacious leader was too cozy with Sen. Joseph McCarthy and other > > radical anti-communists. > > > > The documents also highlight issues still relevant today: the rivalry > > among U.S. intelligence agencies that have grown to number 16, the > > government's questionable use of off-the-books operations with budgets > > hidden from congressional oversight, and the reliance on contractors to > > undertake sensitive national security work. > > > > Created by U.S. military intelligence as a counterweight to the Office > > of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA, it functioned as a > > semiautonomous agency for the State Department after World War II and > > ended its days as a contractor for the CIA with links to J. Edgar > Hoover's > > FBI. > > > > The organization counted among its exploits an attempt to negotiate the > > surrender of Germany with Hermann Goering, one of Adolf Hitler's > > top military leaders, more than six months before the war ended; an > > effort to enlist mobster Charles ''Lucky'' Luciano in a plot to > > assassinate Italian dictator Benito Mussolini; > > identifying the location of the German heavy water plants doing atomic > > research in Norway; and providing advance information on Russia's first > > atomic bomb explosion. > > > > There were other tangible successes, such as planting a high-level mole > > in the Soviet secret police and, in a major operation code-named > > ''Empire State,'' the Pond paid a group of dissidents behind the Iron > > Curtain with CIA funds to obtain cryptographic systems to break coded > > messages from Moscow. > > > > But it was Pfeiffer's successful escape that was among the most > > high-profile operations, garnering headlines, although the Pond's role > > was kept secret for years. > > > > McCargar, a State Department official who secretly was the Pond's agent > > in Budapest, had been ordered to find a way to get Pfeiffer and his > > family out of the country. The Hungarian was the leader of a small but > > increasingly popular anti-communist party that had made gains in August > > elections, and he had begun to get death threats. > > > > McCargar coordinated the escape with the help of fellow State Department > > employee Edmund Price, also identified in the papers as working for the > > Pond. But it was McCargar, armed with a pistol, who drove them from > > Budapest, past four road blocks. At one, a Russian guard asked to see > > what was in the four crates. McCargar bribed him with cigarettes. > > > > They arrived in Vienna, a hotbed of international intrigue, where the > > U.S. shared control with their allies, the French and the British, as > > well as the Soviets. Against this politically fraught backdrop, Pfeiffer > > and his family were taken to an airfield and spirited away to Frankfurt > > and on to New York. They arrived in the U.S. on Nov. 12 as heroes of > > the anti-communist opposition. > > > > One of the escapees, Pfeiffer's daughter, Madeline, told the AP she > > remembered sitting between her mother's legs in one crate and that she > > was given sleeping pills to keep her quiet. > > > > ''It is strange to realize that I have lived though this, and that my > > parents lived through this,'' said Madeline Pfeiffer, 67, now living in > > San Francisco. On the 50th anniversary of their flight from Hungary, she > > said she sent McCargar a bottle of cognac -- what he and her parents > > drank after escaping. Two other dissidents were taken out with them. > > > > The head of the Pond was Col. John V. Grombach, a radio producer, > > businessman and ex-Olympic boxer who kept a small black poodle under his > > desk. He attended West Point, but didn't graduate with his class because > > he had too many demerits, according to a U.S. Army > > document. His nickname was ''Frenchy,'' because his father was a > > Frenchman, who worked in the French Consulate in New Orleans. > > > > The War Department had tapped Grombach to create the secret intelligence > > branch in 1942 as a foundation for a permanent spy service. Grombach > > said the main objectives were security and secrecy, unlike the OSS, > > which he said had been infiltrated by allies and subversives. It was > > first known as the Special Service Branch, then as the Special Service > > Section and finally as the Coverage and Indoctrination Branch. > > > > To the few even aware of its existence, the intelligence network was > > known by its arcane name, the Pond. Its leaders referred to the G-2 > > military intelligence agency as the ''Lake,'' the CIA, which was formed > > later, was the ''Bay,'' and the State Department was the ''Zoo.'' > > Grombach's organization engaged in cryptography, political espionage and > > covert operations. It had clandestine officers in Budapest, London, > > Lisbon, Madrid, Stockholm, Bombay, Istanbul and elsewhere. > > > > Grombach directed his far-flung operations from an office at the > > Steinway Hall building in New York, where he worked under the cover of a > > public relations consultant for Philips. His combative character had > > earned him a reputation as an opportunist who would ''cut the throat of > > anyone standing in his way,'' according to a document in his Army > > intelligence dossier. > > > > In defining the Pond's role, Grombach maintained that the covert network > > sought indirect intelligence from people holding regular jobs in both > > hostile countries and allied nations -- not unlike the Russian spies > > uncovered in June in the U.S. while living in suburbia and working at > > newspapers or universities. > > > > The Pond, he wrote in a declassified document put in the National > > Archives, had a mission ''to collect important secret intelligence via > > many international companies, societies, religious organizations and > > business and professional men who were willing to cooperate with the > > U.S. but who would not work with the OSS because it was necessarily > > integrated with British and French Intelligence and infiltrated by > > Communists and Russians.'' > > > > On April 15, 1953, Grombach wrote that the idea behind his network was > > to use ''observers'' who would build long-term relationships and produce > > far more valuable information than spies who bought secrets. > > ''Information was to be rarely, if ever, bought, and there were to be no > > paid professional operators; as it later turned out some of the > > personnel not only paid their own expenses but actually advanced money > > for the organization's purposes.'' > > > > The CIA, for its part, didn't think much of the Pond. It concluded that > > the organization was uncooperative, especially since the outfit refused > > to divulge its sources, complicating efforts to evaluate their reports. > > In an August 1952 letter giving notice that the CIA intended to > > terminate the contract, agency chief Gen. Walter Bedell Smith wrote that > > ''our analysis of the reports provided by this organization has > > convinced us that its unevaluated product is not worth the cost.'' It > > took until 1955 to completely unwind the relationship. > > > > Mark Stout, a former intelligence officer and historian for the > > International Spy Museum in Washington, analyzed the newly released > > papers and said it isn't clear how important the Pond was to U.S. > > intelligence-gathering as a whole. ''But they were making some real > > contributions,'' he said. > > > > Matthew Aid, an intelligence historian and author of ''The Secret Sentry: > > The Untold History of the National Security Agency'' > > who has reviewed some of the collection, said there was no evidence the > > Pond's reports made their way to decision-makers. ''I'm still not > > convinced that Grombach's organization was a worthwhile endeavor in > > World War II and even less so when it went off the books,'' he said. > > > > What it may have lacked in quality and influence, however, the Pond > > certainly made up with chutzpah. > > > > One of the outfit's most unusual informers was a French serial killer > named > > Marcel Petiot, Grombach wrote in a 1980 book. > > > > The Secret Intelligence Branch, as he referred to the Pond, began > > receiving reports from Petiot during the war. He was a physician in > > Paris who regularly treated refugees, businessmen and Gestapo agents, > > but he also had a predilection for killing mostly wealthy Jews and > > burning their bodies in a basement furnace in his soundproofed house. He > > was convicted of 26 murders and guillotined in 1946. > > > > Nevertheless, Grombach considered him a valuable informer because of his > > contacts. > > > > One cable discovered among the newly released papers appears to confirm > > the Pond was tracking Petiot's whereabouts. In the undated memo, the > > writer says Petiot was drawn by a Gestapo agent ''into a trap to be > > arrested by the Germans.'' Petiot was briefly arrested in 1943 by the > > Gestapo. > > > > Such sources were often feeding their reports to top operatives -- often > > businessmen or members of opposition groups. But there were also > > journalists in the spy ring. > > > > Ruth Fischer, code-named ''Alice Miller,'' was considered a key Pond > > agent for eight years, working under her cover as a correspondent, > > including for the North American Newspaper Alliance. She had been a > > leader of Germany's prewar Communist Party and was valuable to the Pond > > in the early years of the Cold War, pooling intelligence from > > Stalinists, Marxists and socialists in Europe, Africa and China, > > according to the newly released documents. > > > > But it was the help from businesses in wartime that was essential to > > penetrating Axis territories. > > > > The Philips companies, including their U.S. division, gave the Pond > > money, contacts, radio technology and supported Grombach's business > > cover in New York. Philips spokesman Arent Jan Hesselink said the > > company had business contacts with Grombach between 1937 and 1970. He > > added that they could not ''rule out that there was contact between > > Philips and Grombach with the intention of furthering central U.S. > > intelligence during the war.'' > > > > The Pond laid the groundwork and devised a detailed postwar plan to > > integrate its activities into the U.S. Rubber Co.'s business operations > > in 93 countries. It is unknown if the plan was ever carried out. The > > Pond also worked with the American Express Co., Remington Rand, Inc. and > > Chase National Bank, according to documents at the National Archives. > > > > American Express spokeswoman Caitlin Lowie said a search of company > > archives revealed no evidence of a relationship with Grombach's > > organization. Representatives of the other companies or their successors > > did not respond to requests for comment. > > > > The Pond directed its resources for domestic political ends, as well. > > > > In the 1950s, Grombach began furnishing names to McCarthy on supposed > > security risks in the U.S. intelligence community. By then, the Pond was > > a CIA contractor, existing as a quasi-private company, and the agency's > > leadership was enraged by Grombach's actions. It wasn't long before the > > Pond's contract was terminated and the organization largely ceased to > > exist. > > > > The CIA withheld thousands of pages from the National Archives > > collection of Grombach papers, including eight rolls of documents on > > microfilm; the National Security Agency kept back devices used to send > > coded messages. The CIA also declined a Freedom of Information Act > > request by the AP detailing its relationship to the Pond, which the AP > > has appealed. > > > > Grombach wrote to the Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford University, > > dated June 10, 1977, indicating most of his classified papers would go > > to the American Security Council Foundation, an anti-communist group > > that works on national security policy. Grombach died in 1982. > > > > Henry A. Fischer, the council's executive director, said safes at the > > 683-acre Longea Estate -- site of the council's former Freedom Studies > > Center -- were mistakenly removed by contractors hired to transfer the > > contents of its Boston, Va., library. He said he had been told by staff > > of the error when FBI agents were called to examine them. ''I have no > > idea what they were going to do with them.'' > > > > FBI historian John Fox said only one safe was removed from the property > > by the contractors and drilled open, its contents turned over to the > > CIA, which informed the bureau about the discovery in December 2001. Fox > > said the FBI recovered four other safes from the council and took them > > to Quantico to be opened. After an investigation, Fox said the remaining > > documents were transferred to the CIA. > > > > ---- > > > > Associated Press writer Toby Sterling in Amsterdam contributed to this > > report. > > > > ---- > > > > Online: > > > > National Archives Research Catalog: > http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/ > > > > CIA ''Pond'' article: http://bit.ly/cx5VIX > > > > John Grombach obit, see p. 132: http://bit.ly/cOnWW5 > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > The New Busy is not the old busy. 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