Gerhard von Mende

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Gerhard von Mende (December 25, 1904 – December 16, 1963) was a

BND
.

Early life

von Mende was born on December 25, 1904, in

University of Breslau for his writing "Studien zur Kolonization in der Sovietunion."[3] Later he was awarded a doctorate in Slavic studies from the Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin.[3] During this time he had become fluent in Russian, Latvian and French, as well as knowledgeable in Turkish and Arabic.[1]

In 1934 he wrote "Die Völker der Sowjetunion,"[4] about the struggles of German minorities in the Soviet Union.

Academia

After traveling through the Balkans following his studies,

University of Berlin in 1935,[5] University of Posen, and University of Hamburg.[3]
During this time he wrote "Der nationale Kampf der Russlandtürken" in 1936, about the oppression of the Turkish minorities under Soviet rule.

World War II

von Mende was an enthusiastic Nazi,[6] who was Alfred Rosenberg's specialist on minorities in the Soviet Union.[7] With the outbreak of World War II and subsequent invasion of the East by the Wehrmacht, von Mende was appointed head of the Caucasus division at the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory, although he kept his university position at the University of Berlin.[1]

Creation of Fifth Columnists

Prisoners soon began flowing back West from the occupied territories, where up to a million volunteered for committees established by von Mende to integrate them into the

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg to provide them equal status in receiving care, compensation, quarters, and other measures.[10] His work within the General Policy Office of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory led to him being considered the pioneer of using minorities as a fifth column against the Communists in the Soviet Union.[11] Some authors suggest von Mende was the origin of modern "Jihad" through his work at the Ministry.[11]

Post-war

With the war drawing to a close, von Mende worked through the bureaucracy to ensure that as many of the fifth columnists as possible were moved to the West to avoid capture by the Soviet Union, which would result in execution.[1] Many were left stranded and destitute in Munich, whereby von Mende, faced with little employment prospects of his own with his Nazi past, decided to look after them.[1] He wrote to the British Army explaining his vast intelligence sources on Soviet people, whereby interest was taken initially by them.[12][13][14]

Research Service Eastern Europe

Eventually the West German foreign office would fund his company called the "Research Service Eastern Europe"

CIA.[16]

Fallout with CIA

In 1956 von Mende increasingly became hostile toward the CIA following the creation of their front-group which would rival his RSEE, the

Radio Free Europe. von Mende however resented foreign interference with West German residents and believed that Muslims living in West Germany should be aligned with their operations.[1] He brought in former Muslim S.S. officer Nurredin Nakibhodscha Namangani to be established as the Hauptimam of West Germany's Muslims, working on the payroll of the West German government.[1]

In 1958 Namangani introduced an initiative called the Mosque Construction Commission, which eventually led to funding securing a home for the Muslims through the creation of a mosque in Munich.[1][17]

However, by 1960, the commission in Munich had fallen under control of

Holocaust to further weaken the credibility of von Mende and the RSEE, thus wrestling control of the fifth columnist Muslims from the West Germans in the end.[1][6]

Family and death

von Mende married Karo Espeseth,[18] a Norwegian author, and had children, including Erling von Mende. von Mende died at his desk in Düsseldorf on December 16, 1963, of a heart attack.[1]

Bibliography

  • Mende, Gerhard von (1933). Studien zur Kolonisation in der Sovetunion [Studies on colonisation in the Soviet Union] (in German). Breslau.
    OCLC 472801856.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[19]
  • Mende, G. von (1936). Der nationale Kampf der Russlandtürken: ein Beitrag zur nationalen Frage in der Sovetunion [The national struggle of the Turkish population in Russia] (in German). Berlin.
    OCLC 474984341.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  • von Mende, Gerhard (1944). "Sowjet-Föderalismus" [Soviet federalism]. Zeitschrift für Politik (in German). 34 (5–6): 149–156.
    OCLC 7831301044
    .
  • Mende, Gerhard von (1962). Nationalität und Ideologie [Nationality and Ideology] (in German).
    OCLC 256032126
    .

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "How a Mosque for Ex-Nazis Became Center of Radical Islam" Archived 2010-07-03 at the Wayback Machine, Ian Johnson. Wall Street Journal. July 12, 2005. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  2. ^ "von MENDE, Gerhard" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 20 August 2008. p. 1. Retrieved 15 January 2022. Born 25 December 1904 in Riga; Father: Johannes von Mende, bank director in Mitau; killed March 1919; Mother: Luise, née König; last address Hartenstein in the Erzgebirge
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-15037-9
    .
  4. ^ "Die Völker der Sowjetunion," Gerhard von Mende. R. Schneider, 1934.
  5. ISBN 3880229538
    . S. 187
  6. ^ a b c "U.S. support allowed Muslim Brotherhood to expand", Davis Daycock. May 1, 2010. Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  7. ^ "The Soviet War against ‘Fifth Columnists’: The Case of Chechnya, 1942–4" Archived November 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Jeffrey Burds. Journal of Contemporary History. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  8. ISBN 978-0-7432-1778-1
    . Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  9. ^ "A mosque for ex-Nazis became center of radical Islam".
  10. ^ "Stauffenberg: a family history, 1905-1944", Peter Hoffmann. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2003. p. 151. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  11. ^ a b "The Jihad Factory", Gal Beckerman. Apr/May 2010. The Book Forum. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  12. ^ "INCOMING CLASSIFIED MESSAGE" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. MUNICH. 14 May 1949. Retrieved 15 January 2022. ON MUNICH VISIT 9-11 MAY VON MENDE OFFERED HIS SERVICES AT ANY TIME CONVENIENT TO US.
  13. ^ "MENDE (Professor Dr. Phil) Gerhard von" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 3 December 1947. p. 5. Retrieved 15 January 2020. Friend of Graf von Bismarck and alleged by Bismarck to be an opponent of German Eastern Policy. [...] At the outbreak of the war between Germany and Russia, SUBJECT was appointed eastern expert by the Ministarium for Occupied Eastern Territories. SUBJECT is reported to be presently working for the British intelligence service in recruiting assistants from among German scientists who are experts on Eastern affairs.
  14. ^ Sichel, Peter W. F. (31 October 1945). "Gerhard von Mende" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 15 January 2022. I would be greatly interested in having him work for this Unit in Berlin, in an undercover job, since he is well acquainted with the minority questions in Russia and knows the White Russian and other minority circles in Berlin. [...] Should this be approved by you, suggest that the undersigned contact von Mende in Göttingen in order to recruit him.
  15. ^ a b "A Mosque in Munich reveals" Archived 2010-05-29 at the Wayback Machine, Ian Johnson. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  16. ^ "Records of the Office of Strategic Services 1940-1946", National Archives. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  17. ^ "A Mosque in Munich: How We Came to Set Up the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe", Colorado Yale Association. May 25, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  18. ISBN 978-0-521-49697-1
    . Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  19. ^ "Gerhard v.Mende; literary work" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 20 August 2008. p. 2. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
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