The integration of staff from various Third Reich institutions into the Federal Intelligence Service was long a subject of speculation. In fact, those responsible in the BND developed no awareness of the criminal character of the Nazi dictatorship. From 1946 onwards, they purposefully recruited Nazi perpetrators, some of them heavily incriminated, for the West German secret service. In this way, they created a heavy burden that lasted until the 1980s, but they were able to conceal its extent.
Incriminated employees formed networks beyond the BND, became involved in right-wing extremist organisations and established an official culture in the BND in which Nazi ideologems continued to have an effect for a long time. A volume in the series "Veröffentlichungen der Unabhängigen Historikerkommission zur Erforschung der Geschichte des Bundesnachrichtendienstes 1945-1968".
Group
Books (first-hand)
Author
Sälter, Gerhard
Title
NS-Kontinuitäten im BND. Rekrutierung, Diskurse, Vernetzungen
