Foreign Armies East

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Foreign Armies East (German: Fremde Heere Ost (FHO), founded in 1938), operated as a military-intelligence organization of the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) - the Supreme High Command of the German Army before and during World War II.[1] It focused on analyzing the Soviet Union and other East European countries before and during the war.[2][3]

Establishment

Fremde Heere Ost was established on 10 November 1938 as 12 Department of the General Staff of the Army, attached to the section Senior Quartermaster IV (

Royal United Services Institution and the Journal of the Royal Engineers.[6]

In 1935, the department was renamed to Abteilung Fremde Heere or Department of Foreign Armies, and it was finally renamed on 10 November 1938 by Franz Halder[6] who split it into two departments called Fremde Heere Ost and Fremde Heere West.[5] The offices of both organizations were located at 76 Tirpitzufer in Berlin, which was and is colloquially known as Bendlerblock.[5] Fremde Heere Ost was the third branch of the German General Staff, while Fremde Heere West was the twelfth.[6]

The FHO initial task was the collection of statistical and technical data on the armies that Germany was at war with or countries that it had planned to invade including Poland, Scandinavia, Balkans, the Soviet Union, China,and the United States.[1]

In July 1941

Nazi state, and the coming Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. He planned to preserve his office of the FHO and then to present it to the US as a sort of gift.[7]

End of World War II

As the war ended, Gehlen hid himself, his staff and his microfilmed files in the chaos of the downfall of Hitler's government. General

US Seventh Army, recognized Gehlen's name from a report by Allen Dulles of the OSS. He ensured Gehlen and his material were brought to the attention of the US government.[8]

Gehlen revealed his plan for Foreign Armies East to Captain

USFET to listen to Gehlen.[9] The J-2 staff of the Pentagon was also involved. These operations eventually led to the formation of Operation X, Operation Rusty, 'the Organization', 'the Org', and finally, the 'Gehlen Organization'.[10]

The

Bundesnachrichtendienst, or BND, West Germany's intelligence service.[11]

Many of the controversial aspects of Gehlen and his organization, such as its links to old Nazis, and its infiltration by

Eastern bloc agents, were later described by Heinz Höhne & Hermann Zolling, in articles and a book, The General Was a Spy.[2]

See also

  • Sicherheitsdienst – intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party
  • Ostministerium
     – Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
  • Abwehr – German military intelligence organization

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 161288059
    .
  2. ^ a b The General was a Spy, The Truth about General Gehlen - 20th Century Superspy. Höhne, Heinz & Zolling, Hermann, New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc. 1972.
  3. ^ Partners at the creation: the men behind postwar Germany's defense and intelligence establishments James H. Critchfield, Naval Institute Press, 2003
  4. ^ Critchfield, p 24
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-936274-13-0
    . Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-511390-7
    . Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  7. ^ Critchfield, p 24-27
  8. ^ Critchfield, p 29
  9. ^ Critchfield, p 30
  10. ^ Critchfield, p 32
  11. ^ Critchfield, p 21, 22, et al

Further reading

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