BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst), Germany
No government voluntarily submits their intelligence organizations to minute scrutiny. Germany, however, would probably prefer an extensive, exquisitely detailed, public hearing analyzing current operations rather than suffer another lengthy hot-coal dragging regarding the Bundesnachrichtendienst’s (BND) origins. If you, dear reader, have a sudden suspicion involving Nazis and disturbing legacies, rest assured that the BND’s story will not disappoint.
Founded on April 1, 1956, the BND is the descendent of a World War II military intelligence unit. Designated Foreign Armies East (FHO), this unit developed strategic and force-strength analyses of the Soviet military. Unlike other Reich intelligence groups, the FHO had a nasty habit of developing accurate reports that conflicted with rear-echelon assessments, or with what Hitler wanted to hear. The FHO’s chief, Reinhard Gehlen, was a professional soldier with a genuine flair for intelligence intrigues, and he predicted both the Reich’s defeat and the emergence of the Cold War as early as 1942.
Gehlen quietly prepared for the future, and copied the FHO’s files, which contained a wealth of political and military information regarding the Soviet Union. Hitler dismissed Gehlen in April 1945, but the FHO Chief was already a step ahead. Gehlen and his staff surrendered to the American Army the next month, securing their safety in exchange for the FHO files buried in water-tight drums throughout the mountains. It was a priceless intelligence windfall for the West whose intelligence networks did not extend into Eastern Europe or the Soviet Union.
Gehlen worked with US intelligence over the following year, and in late 1946, established the “South German Industrial Development Organization.” Known informally as the “Gehlen Organization” or the “Org,” the intelligence unit reported to the US Army until 1947, and the Central Intelligence Agency until 1956. Initially, the Org was the most effective western intelligence group throughout the Soviet’s Eastern Bloc. Gehlen did, however, make several crucial decisions that returned to haunt both himself and Germany.
Gehlen recruited former members of the Schutzstaffel (SS), Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the SS’s intelligence branch, and the Gestapo, including an SS officer who commanded an Einsatzgruppe unit. When several spectacular failures exposed the organization to the public, criticism quickly followed. The Org’s existence as an apparatus of the CIA ended, and transferred to the authority of West Germany. This included the staff and operatives. Gehlen remained at the head of the newly founded BND until his retirement in 1968.