INTELLIGENCE RECORDS FROM WORLD WAR II THAT UNTIL NOW HAVE BEEN LARGELY CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC ARE BEING OPENED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE.

Document Type:

CREST

Collection:

General CIA Records

Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):

CIA-RDP90-01208R000100090016-7

Release Decision:

RIPPUB

Original Classification:

Document Page Count:

Document Creation Date:

December 22, 2016

Document Release Date:

February 22, 2011

Sequence Number:

Case Number:

Publication Date:

January 30, 1985

Content Type:

OPEN SOURCE

File:

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CIA-RDP90-01208R000100090016-7.pdf	41.6 KB

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II STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-0120 THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION 3U January.1985 Intelligence records from World War 11 that until now have been largely closed to the public are being opened at the National Archives and Records Service. The Central Intelli- gence Agency is releasing to the Ar- chives operational records of the Of- fice of Strategic Services, the C.I.A.'s predeces:cor. The records were reviewed and de- classified bythe C.I.A. in 1979-80, but the C.I.A. and the Archives could not agree on how much of the material could be opened to the public. The C.I.A. wanted tougher restrictions on access to the o.s.s. files than the ar- chivists would accept. Some scholars were able to re- quest individual O.S.S. documents under the Freedom of Information Act, but the bulk of the records re- mained closed. In 1983, however, the director of the C.I.A., William Casey. facilitated the transfer of the documents to the Archives. J . Kenneth McDonald,, chief of the historical staff at the C.I.A.. says only 4 to 5 per cent of the O.S.S. operation- al records have been withheld as classified. Some 190 cubic feet of rec- ords have already been transferred to the Archives, and roughly another 2,500 cubic feet are to come. The records now open at the Ar- chives include the reports of the sur- vivors of the intelligence teams that parachuted into France before D. Day to work with the French resis- tance. 8R000100090016-7 The documents also include rec- ords relating to secret intelligence operations from 1942 to 1945 in Rome, Singapore. Burma. and other areas of Europe and Asia. In addition there are the files of the foreign na- tionalities branch, which gathered in- formation on foreign nationals in Eu- rope and America, for the years from 1941 to 1946. Finally, the cache contains the records of the morale operations branch, including such items as the recordings made by singer-actress Marlene Dietrich, in German, to de- moralize German troops. The Archives are anticipating that scholars will make heavy use of the o.s.s. records. They can be request- ed from the Modern Military Branch at the Archives. 11- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-01208R000100090016-7

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INTELLIGENCE RECORDS FROM WORLD WAR II THAT UNTIL NOW HAVE BEEN LARGELY CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC ARE BEING OPENED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE.