American espionage in Germany: Difference between revisions

'''American espionage in Germany''' was significantly intensified during [[World War II]] and the following [[occupation of Germany]]. As the [[Iron Curtain]] ran through the middle of [[Germany]] during the [[Cold War]], [[divided Germany]] was an important center of US espionage activities. US intelligence monitored the politics of the [[Federal Republic of Germany (1949-1990)|Federal Republic of Germany]] as well as conducting espionage and propaganda against the [[Eastern Bloc]]. The CIA and other American secretintelligence services worked closely with the West German [[Federal Intelligence Service|BND]], which was a close ally of the United StatesAmericans. Even after [[German reunification]], a significant American intelligence presence in Germany remained. In July 2013, the [[2010s global surveillance disclosures|global surveillance and espionage affair]] revealed that the American [[National Security Agency|NSA]] had [[Eavesdropping|eavesdropped]] on and [[Espionage|spied]] on almost all top German politicians, including Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web/German|url=https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/politik-inland/lauschangriff-auf-320-wichtige-deutsche-34798676.bild.html|titel=Neue NSA-Enthüllungen - Lausch angriff auf 320 wichtige Deutsche|werk=Bild|datum=2014-02-22|zugriff=2024-07-05|sprache=de}}</ref> The revelations also brought to light that the CIA had informants in politics and the security services of Germany.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web/German|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/medien-mehr-als-ein-dutzend-spione-in-ministerien-13042586.html|titel=Medien: Mehr als ein Dutzend Spione in Ministerien|datum=2014-07-13|zugriff=2024-07-05|sprache=de}}</ref>

According to estimates from 2010, around 120 CIA agents were working in Germany, often disguised as diplomats. They were mainly active in the [[Embassy of the United States, Berlin|American embassy]] in [[Berlin]] and the consulates in [[Munich]] and [[Frankfurt|Frankfurt am Main]]. For a long time, the CIA headquarters in Frankfurt was located in the [[IG Farben Building|I.G. Farben building]], which was occupied by the US in World War II.<ref>{{Cite web/German|autor=Hans Leyendecker|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/us-geheimdienst-cia-undercover-in-der-bundesrepublik-1.157473|titel=Undercover in der Bundesrepublik|werk=Süddeutsche Zeitung|datum=2010-05-17|zugriff=2024-07-05|sprache=de}}</ref> According to revelations [[WikiLeaks]] platform in 2017, there is a secret hacker unit called [[Vault 7]] in the [[Consulate General of the United States, Frankfurt|US consulate in Frankfurt]], which is responsible for [[Europe]], the [[Near East|Middle East]] and [[Africa]]. [[Wiesbaden]] is home to the [[United States Army|US Army]]'s [[Consolidated Intelligence Center]], which was built in 2015 and is also to be used by the NSA. The espionage center is located near the traffic-intensive [[DE-CIX]] internet hub.<ref>{{Cite web/German|url=https://archive.ph/xLZex|titel=Wiesbadener Kurier - Wiesbaden: Weiter Unklarheit über NSA-Abhörzentr…|datum=2013-07-20|zugriff=2024-07-05}}</ref> The US bases in the country are [[Extraterritoriality|extraterritorial]] and are therefore subject to [[US law]].<ref>{{Cite web/German|autor=Gert L. Polli|url=https://deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de/219976|titel=US-Spionage auf deutschem Boden ist vollkommen legal|zugriff=2024-07-09|sprache=de-DE}}</ref>

The USAUS has a surveillance capacity on German soil that far exceeds that of the German security services. This is also demonstrated by the fact that numerous terrorist attacks in Germany have been prevented by information from US intelligence. There is therefore a great deal of dependence on the German side in the [[Counterterrorism|fight against terrorism]].<ref>{{Cite web/German|url=https://www.prosieben.de/serien/newstime/news/warum-deutsche-geheimdienste-so-abhaengig-von-den-usa-sind-67447|titel=Warum deutsche Geheimdienste so abhängig von den USA sind|datum=2023-01-10|zugriff=2024-07-09|sprache=de}}</ref>

Shortly after the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour]], [[German declaration of war against the United States|Germany]] declared war [[German declaration of war against the United States|on the USAUS]] on December 11, 1941. The failure of the US intelligence services at [[Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbour]] led to the establishment of the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS) in 1942, which was subordinate to the [[United States Department of War|War Department]]. Numerous German émigrés worked for the service and passed on information to it, including [[Herbert Marcuse]], [[Jürgen Kuczynski]], [[Carl Zuckmayer]] and [[Franz Neumann (political scientist)|Franz Neumann]]. In order to prepare agents for deployment in Germany, the USA even set up a German fake city in [[Maryland]].<ref>{{Cite web/German|autor=Thomas Boghardt|url=https://history.army.mil/html/books/045/45-5/cmhPub_45-5.pdf|titel=Covert Legions: U.S. Army Intelligence in Germany, 1944-1949|hrsg=U.S. Army Center of Military History|seiten=28|zugriff=2024-07-05|sprache=en}}</ref> Almost 20,000 recruits were trained at [[Fort Ritchie|Camp Ritchie]], of whom around 2,000 were born in Germany. Many of them were [[History of the Jews in Germany|German Jews]], including the later [[US Secretary of State]] [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>Boghardt p. 30</ref> Thanks to their knowledge of the [[German language]], these recruits were able to provide important services for the American war effort by interrogating [[German prisoners of war in the United States|German prisoners of war]]. In cooperation with the British, the Americans were also able to decode German communications (e.g. through the joint [[Ultra (cryptography)|Ultra program]]) and were therefore always well informed about the [[Wehrmacht]] 's military plans.<ref>Boghardt p. 33–34</ref> With [[Operation Bodyguard]], the Allies were able to successfully deceive the Germans about the time and place of their [[Normandy landings]] by spreading false information, which contributed to the success of [[Operation Overlord]].<ref>{{Cite web/German|url=https://d-dayinfo.org/en/preparation/operation-bodyguard/|titel=Operation Bodyguard, the diversion plan for D-day|zugriff=2024-07-05|sprache=en-GB}}</ref>

[[Operation Paperclip|Operation Overcast]] was a secret US intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers and technicians were brought from Germany to the US between 1945 and 1959 to work for the American government after the end of the War. The operation was carried out by the [[Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency]] (JIOA), which was largely run by special agents from the US Army's [[Counterintelligence Corps]] (CIC). The scientists had often been involved in the Nazi rocket program, the air force, and German chemical and biological warfare,. and inIn some cases, the had been involved in serious [[War crime|war crimes]]. Among the scientists recruited was [[Wernher von Braun]], who later headed the [[American space program]]. German patents were also confiscated by the Americans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacobsen |first=Annie |url=https://books.google.de/books?id=Rs1CCgAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y |title=Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America |date=2014-02-11 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-22105-4 |language=en}}</ref>