Research Symposium

BIO

Luke is a junior History major at FSU, and is very excited to be working on this project. He enjoys reading more than writing, but writing more than creative design, which is why he would like to thank his project partner Adrian Pineda for assuming the helm in designing the poster. The Classics department has been a happy second residence for him, and between Catullus and Ovid his ancient literary and historical knowledge has been well supplemented. Recently, however, South Asian history has piqued his interest, which is probably where he will focus for the remainder of his time at Florida State University. He would lastly like to offer one final token of gratitude to Brandon Bernick for selecting him as a research assistant on his masterly masters-become-doctoral dissertation.

The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend

Abstract

Following WWII, the United States and Western Germany, under the impetus of Captain John R. Boker and former Wehrmacht Major General Reinhard Gehlen, initiated an extensive espionage operation throughout the Eastern Bloc. “Operation Rusty” played a fundamental role in early Cold War intelligence acquisition. It was the primary source of American information on the Soviet Union. However, when the Soviet Union successfully infiltrated Operation Rusty by turning a select number of its agents, it likely fed false information to the Americans and the Germans. This project seeks to answer three major questions: 1. What connection is there between Gehlen’s appointment as the Chief of the German Wehrmacht Fremde Heere Ost intelligence section and a marked increase in mass murder under the Holocaust? 2. How did successful Soviet corruption of Operation Rusty agents impact the functioning of the operation? 3. How did this corrupted information impact American Cold War domestic and foreign policy?

Keywords: Cold War, Espionage, CIA, Gehlen, Intelligence