History: 79-349: Primary Sources: Military, Intelligence, and Agency Records, Collections, and Documents

During World War II and the first decade and a half of the Cold War, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the State Department assigned leading scholars to write special, classified reports about Asia, Europe, the Soviet Union, Latin America, and Africa. At the time, the reports helped to shape U.S. foreign policy decisions, and, now, as part of History Vault, the over 3,500 reports in this module provide an excellent source for studying the major areas of the World during the period from 1941 to 1961. These reports are not contained in the State Department's foreign relations series or the armed forces' official histories. Reports on Asia focus on political, industrial, and military affairs of wartime Japan, the occupation of Japan by the U.S. following World War II, and the beginnings of the economic revitalization of Japan in the mid-1950s; the Nationalist-Communist struggle for China and Mao's consolidation of power in the 1950s, independence for India; the Korean War; and the outbreak of war in Indochina. Topics covered in the reports on Europe include the German war effort, occupation and division of Germany, reconstruction of Europe under the Marshall Plan, de Gaulle and the Fifth Republic, formation of the Common Market, and Soviet control of Eastern Europe. A series of reports on the Soviet Union for 1941 to 1961 covers Soviet participation in World War II; the cold war with the West; the death of Stalin; and the formation of the Warsaw Pact. There are also numerous reports on the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America from 1941 through 1961. Major developments covered include Palestine, African nationalism as well as economic stagnation and famine, Communist movements in South America and U.S. intervention in Central America.

This collection is one of three collections in the OSS series to focus on Europe, from 1941 through 1961. Key topics include the German war effort, occupation and division of Germany, reconstruction of Europe under the Marshall Plan, de Gaulle and the Fifth Republic, formation of the Common Market, and Soviet control of Eastern Europe. With over a thousand reports contained in the three collections, a sampling includes: German Defensive Capabilities (1943), Nazi Master Plan: Criminal Conspiracy against the Jews (1945), The Will of Western European Countries to Resist Aggression (1949), Long-Range Economic Prospects of the U.K. (1955), and A Critical Appraisal of Western Unity (1959).

This collection chronicles the activities and issues involved in the Roosevelt Administration's policies concerning the reception of Jews and other refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. Instead of opening its doors, the U.S. government created a bureaucratic barrier, which prevented most refugees from entering the country before and during World War II. Not until 1944 did the United States respond with belated rescue efforts to stop the genocide of European Jews and other groups. This was a full two years after the Wannsee Conference in Berlin that laid out the comprehensive plan for the extermination of European Jewry. On January 22, 1944, President Roosevelt established the War Refugee Board (WRB) to provide rescue and relief for Jews and other persons in danger of death in Nazi-occupied Europe.

a collection of documents and guide materials published by the Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality in 1946. The documents collected here were used as evidence by the American and British prosecutors in the Nuremberg Trials against Nazi war criminals in 1945 and 1946. The documents include Nazi Party correspondence, reports, and decrees; minutes of Hitler's conferences; diaries of prominent Germans; and excerpts of official German newspapers and other publications.

The first of thirteen trials of Nazi war criminals held between 1945 and 1949, the Trial of Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg helped to establish an international precedent, holding accountable those who would commit crimes against humanity. The "Blue Series" includes complete transcripts of the 11-month-long trial along with nearly 12,000 pages of evidence submitted to the tribunal, including documents in German and French.

This collection includes fifteen volumes of documents describing the series of U.S. military tribunals for war crimes against surviving leaders of the Nazi regime.

Also known as the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials, these twelve trials were held in Nuremberg after World War II during the period of October 1946 to April 1949, and focused on the individuals responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace committed by the Nazi regime.

Comprehensive documentation of developments and events in the key nations of the world during the period from World War I to the final campaigns of World War II. After World War I, the U.S. military developed a sophisticated intelligence gathering capability. Concerned with much more than strictly military intelligence, American military attaches and their staffs reported on a wide range of topics, including the internal politics, social and economic conditions, and foreign affairs of the countries in which they were stationed. This module contains the U.S. Military Intelligence reports for China, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, Soviet Union, Biweekly Intelligence Summaries, and Combat Estimates.

The State Department Diplomatic Post Records consist of correspondence and reports from American diplomats stationed around the world. Diplomatic post records are those kept at the embassies or legations rather than those kept in Washington. Diplomatic post records contain the incoming messages from Washington, retained copies of outgoing dispatches, locally gathered information, and background material on decision making. The following countries or cities are represented in this module: Japan; Cuba; El Salvador; Honduras; Nicaragua; Iran; Iraq; Beirut; Jerusalem; Aden; Lebanon; Russia and the Soviet Union.