INFORMATION REVIEW & RELEASE (IRR) NEWS FOR 10 - 14 NOVEMBER 2003 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05578129
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: April 2, 2019
• Case Number: F-2010-01471
• Publication Date: November 14, 2003

Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578129
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Information Review & Release (IRR) News for 10- 14 November 2003
Executive Summary
Future Planning Calendar
(U//AIU0) 3-5 December 2003: Historical Review Panel: Next semi-annual meeting.
(U/ , 10 December 2003: Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP): Next Liaisons'
meeting at Crystal City.
(IMAtHE)� 16 December 2003: Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP): Next Principals'
meeting at EEOB in Washington, DC.
(UthAtritT 31 December 2006: The Automatic Declassification Date per Executive Order 12958, as amended.
Overview of IRR Activities--Last Week
(UllibeigGA)�EOIA Requests
(ull ir To) Information or Records on Otto John
(U///rNIMAn Illinois requester seeks information on Otto John, a native German who was born in Hesse in 1909.
The requester claims that John established contact with American and British Intelligence and while "employed by
the Lufthansa legal department participated in the conspiracy against Hitler..." [Editor: Interestingly, the requester
informs us that: "After the war John was involved with the prosecution team at the Nuremberg trials... John
ostensibly defected to East Germany on 20 July 1954. He returned to the west on 12 December 19551
� The FOIA case officer performed a search of the Management of Officially Released Information (MORI)
database that revealed 11 documents on the same subject. She provided those documents to the requester and
(b)(5) also gave him a Glomar �stating that, with the exception of the 11 items sent to him, the
Agency can neither confirm nor deny the existence of records that might indicate a current or former
operational or analytical interest in any particular foreign personality.
(b)(3)
(U/fAIU0) Requester Seeks Information on Film Director
(UHATICM) A New York City requester asked for any files pertaining to film director Nicholas Ray (born in 1911 as
Raymond Nicholas Kienzle), who worked for the Office of War Information and may have been investigated by the
OSS at that time.
� The FOIA case officer informed the requester that we can begin processing his request upon receipt of his
agreement to pay fees as a requester in the "all other" fee category �which means he is responsible for search
time (less two hours free) and duplication fees beyond the first 100 pages.
(UHAILICIMnterest in CIA-University Relationships
(U/h6r1439) A history professor at Brandeis University requests information on CIA contacts with faculty members
and students at Harvard University's Russian Research Center (including materials related to Clyde Kluckhohn,
George Fischer, Albert Meyer and Merle Fainsod) and Columbia University's Russian Institute (covering Geroid
Robinson and Philip Edward Mosely) between 1947/8 and 1958. Also, the professor seeks information on CIA
relationships (during the 1950s and 60s) with the Inter-University Committee on Travel Grants, which promoted
scholarly exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union.
(b)(3)
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(b)(3)
(b)(5)
(U/44.1.1I() CDC Declassification Center
(IY/Alre) From the Archives:
(U/A1110) Deaths at the Berlin Wall
(U/3=7) A 13 July 1973 Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) states that "newly imposed East German restrictions
on West Berliners' visits to East Berlin and recriminations over the wall shootings on 7-8 July may temporarily
impede progress in inter-German relations." Following the shootings, West Berliners marched in protest to the Wall,
and one individual stormed through Checkpoint Charlie shouting "murderers." (The East Germans later released
him.)
� According to open sources, a review of STASI (East German secret police) files after the reunification of
Germany and studies by various historians have caused previous estimates of the number of people killed while
trying to escape from East Germany to be revised upward. One group-the August 13 Working Group-now
estimates the death toll at more than 1,000 people, of which more than 200 died at the Berlin Wall trying to
escape to the West.
(U//A140) Internment Camps and Insane Asylums
(U)e14419) From the DO files (circa 1948): The number of political prisoners in Hungary is increasing at such a rate
that the need for newer and larger internment camps has been evident. The newest of these camps is being
constructed in the Buda section of the Capital behind the Lipotmez insane asylum and will have an estimated
capacity of 15,000 people. The internment camp will be surrounded by a wall, high-tension wire fence and by
trenches. Insane asylum buildings not in use at present are also being used for internment camp purposes. There is
[also] a new internment camp under construction near Nyiregyhaza. The capacity of this camp will be approximately
8,000 people
(UHA41,144) Negotiating the Saar Dispute
(Uthicitr) Multiple Current Intelligence Bulletins dating from the early 1950s report on the French-German
negotiations to settle their dispute over the Saar border area. One CIB , from 1952, reports that "the West German
Government appears unperturbed by the recent breakdown of the Saar negotiations, and there is little indication that
it will ask for a resumption of talks soon." Another CIB ,from the same year, reports that the British Foreign Office
believes that "pressure Should now be put on the French...and that time is not on the side of the French."
� The French, German, British and US governments held protracted negotiations on this issue at the highest
levels. The dispute over the Saarland dates back to World War I Following that war, France tried to annex
the region. In the face of British and US opposition, the administration of the Saar was turned over to the
League of Nations. France, however, assumed control over the region's coal mines. This situation prevailed
until 1935, when the local population was allowed to hold a plebiscite to determine whether they wished to
join France or Germany. The vote was 90 percent in favor of Germany. At the conclusion of World War II,
the French tried to reclaim the area. But, again, they encountered British and US resistance. In 1946, the
coal mines of the Saar region reverted to French control. But even in 1948 with the creation of a customs
union with France, the political fate of the region remained uncertain. By the early 1950s, local inhabitants
again pressed for the Saar's unification with Germany. Finally, on 1 January 1957, the Saar region became a
part of the Federal Republic of Germany. Some historians consider the 1957 Saar referendum to be a defining
moment leading to French-German reconciliation.
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
A.1212.111SIBAIBLE-114T-ERAIA1.41SE--014L-Y�
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