The Fellowship (40 page)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

CLASSIFIED MEMORANDUM

TO:
Deputy
Director, FBI (100-428091)

FROM:
SAC JC Wilson

SUBJECT:
INTERNAL SECURITY

There are enclosed herewith to the Bureau three copies, and to the New York Division one copy, of a report received from CG 5724-S* on February  9, 1943. This report deals with the findings of a three-day debriefing of SS
Unterscharführer
 
Sebastian Wolf, who surrendered himself to American authorities at the Vatican in January 1943 after capture by an unidentified group (possibly Vatican Intelligence or an affiliated insurgent organization). 

Debriefing began on Vatican premises on January 3, 1943. Post-debriefing, Subject was originally scheduled for transfer to POW farm labor camp in Murdoch, Nebraska. Request for transfer to Washington D.C. was granted on grounds that subject possessed unusually candid details about high-ranking Nazi government leaders and operations. Debrief continued in Washington D.C. on February 18 after Mr. Wolf was successfully evacuated to Spain en route to the United States. The following report includes relevant military details under consideration by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and Army Air Corps. 

3 – Bureau

1 – New York

1 - Chicago

SYNOPSIS OF MILITARY INFORMATION HEREIN

Summary follows. Details copied to Army Air Corps for possible use in Strategic Operations.

Sebastian Wolf drafted at age 15 from the Reich School, a top Nazi political training academy in
Feldafing, Germany.  Subject detailed names and locations of instructors and locations of 12 additional “Hitler Schools.”

Subject named 26 SS officers and 142 Ahnenerbe members, including highly detailed information regarding duties, ranks, and physical descriptions.

Subject reports food rationing in Germany to a greater degree than previously believed. Confirms reports of poor harvest previous year.

Subject reports Hitler Youth seen near anti-aircraft batteries in central Munich and various points in Brenner Pass (Alps) to protect key rail lines.

Subject denies knowledge of camps imprisoning ethnic minorities but claims to have known Catholic priest imprisoned at Dachau Camp near Munich and personally witnessed Jehovah’s Witness labor camp inmates working near Wewelsburg. 

Claims aircraft engine factory operational within old BMW plant (Munich) and detailed locations of six additional munitions plants near Frankfurt.

Confirmed existence of “breeding” programs to encourage population growth among ethnically desirable couples. Claims mother worked at one such camp (possible contact).

VALUE ANALYSIS

Opinion of intelligence value: HIGH/SUSPECT

Sebastian Wolf conveys an unusually high degree of potentially valuable internal SS/
Ahnenerbe operational information. Subject appears both highly intelligent and highly charismatic, although given to occasional erratic behavior, perhaps as a symptom of battle fatigue. However, value of information is unusually detailed in relation to subject’s seniority, calling into question validity of claims.  Subject explained this by citing high casualty rate on multiple war fronts, apparently depleting draft pool, along with elite status of political institution attended. 

In addition, subject’s outlandish claims about occult rituals within the Nazi party are also suspect.

Subject repeatedly asked if meeting with Nobel Prize winner Karl Landsteiner could be arranged upon arrival in U.S. Wanted to discuss unnamed subjects relating to “blood sciences” and “D-N-A.” 

Subject
left the Vatican under duress. Demanded access to unnamed “Holy Relic” before acquiescing to evacuation demands on January 8, 1943.

RECOMMENDATION

Wolf is only existing POW claiming to have personally worked with Heinrich Himmler since invasion of Poland in 1938. If sane, ongoing insight highly valuable for duration of war.

Recommend admit to federal facility in D.C. area for psychiatric evaluation. Further decision pending outcome of diagnosis.

62-43899-7789

MEMORANDUM TO

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
FBI

SUBJECT: Sebastian Wolf Escape

On March 17, 1943 POW Sebastian Wolf (see CG 5724-S*) escaped from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, D.C.  where he had been under psychiatric evaluation after intelligence debriefing.

Agents surveilling suspected Nazi sympathizers and other subversive organizations in surrounding area were put on notice. There were no contact reports.

On March 23, Mr. Wolf was apprehended at the Rockefeller Institute laboratory in New York.  Police report Mr. Wolf appeared at the Institute demanding to see Karl Landsteiner, a blood science specialist who won a Nobel Prize in 1930. Mr. Landsteiner is Professor Emeritus at the Rockefeller Institute and spoke with Mr. Wolf briefly before excusing himself to call police.

Landsteiner claims not to know Wolf. His statement that he left Europe prior to Wolf’s birth checks out.

Landsteiner claimed Wolf alarmed him when he said that he had recently been in Wewelsburg, Germany with Dr. Gustav Hahn, who was one of Landsteiner’s professional rivals in Germany. Hahn is a known anti-Semite whom Wolf had previously linked to a “Blood Science Research Group” that reports personally to Heinrich Himmler and other high-ranking Nazi figures.

Landsteiner said he then excused himself to phone the police. His assistant, John Hafner, said the following: “He told me that Dr. Hahn and others had completed research demonstrating that ethnic identity could be identified by blood analysis and, in the near future, would be identifiable through DNA analysis. He said the purpose of his visit was to get Landsteiner’s professional opinion on whether this science could be applied to other kinds of research. I told him that we were not interested in Nazi research, especially as it related to racial matters.”

Wolf was returned to federal custody pending further investigation and psychiatric analysis.

It is requested that you advise me at your earliest convenience as to whether further investigation of this individual’s knowledge of contemporary German medical theory, or Professor Landsteiner’s, as it corresponds to the war effort, should be investigated by the Bureau.

C.E. Longsmith

Special Agent in Charge

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, New York

62-43899-7789

Office of Strategic Services

Official Memo

CLASSIFIED

DATE: April 2, 1945

TO: Office of the Secretary of War

SUBJECT: Operation Paperclip

This is a formal request on behalf of the OSS for the immediate and undivided services of POW Sebastian Wolf (see CG 5724-S*). 

Given the American advance on the Rhineland, and the Russian advance in the east, the OSS has concluded that simultaneous occupation of German territory by both Ameri
can and Soviet forces is inevitable. Of chief concern is the acquisition of German scientific and engineering knowledge, especially related to rocket science knowledge and hardware; jet aircraft design and hardware; nuclear fission science and materials; cryptography research and decoding devices; and certain medical and biological research and advancements, especially relating to genetics, breeding and biological weaponry.

The OSS’s goal is to ensure that such knowledge is acquired and owned wholly by the United States. Therefore, the OSS is proceeding with Operation Paperclip immediately.

It is the belief of the OSS that Mr. Wolf’s background could be leveraged to help establish relationships with members of the German scientific community. It is our understanding that Mr. Wolf has been cleared psychologically and is not considered a security threat.

Please advise me immediately as to Mr. Wolf’s whereabouts so that he can be activated and deployed.

Sincerely

James McAvoy Wyeth, Deputy Director

Office of Strategic Services

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE GROUP

CLASSIFIED MEMORANDUM

February 06, 1946

SUBJECT
: Consultancy for Sebastian Wolf

This is a formal request to grant political asylum for Sebastian Wolf (see CG 5724-S*) and install him as a temporary paid consultant to the newly formed Central Intelligence Group as agents monitor the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany. 

As previously discussed, Mr. Wolf has repeatedly provided valuable intelligence information despite original fears that he suffered from delusions as a result of battle fatigue. The fact remains that the majority of Mr. Wolf’s claims made upon capture have since been confirmed by the War Department/OSS.

Mr. Wolf has been invaluable to efforts to import German scientific knowledge, including human resources, to the United States, in some cases actin
g as chief translator/liaison.  Furthermore, since the occupation, Mr. Wolf has helped authorities find and recapture confiscated treasure from former Nazi Germany, including artwork and jewels. This includes
several paintings now hanging in federal buildings.

Given his cooperation with the United States since his capture, it is the opinion of this office that Mr. Wolf would be in mortal danger if repatriated to Germany.

If permitted to remain in the United States, Mr. Wolf intends to fulfill any request of service to the Central Intelligence Group before pursuing a career as an Episcopal priest.

Please advise at your earliest convenience.

UPDATE TO FILE 62-43899-7789

CLASSIFIED AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Date:
 
Friday, November 19, 1973 - 9:04am - 9:39am

Participants:
 
,
Sebastian Wolf

Location:
 

FIRST 3:12:35  RECORDING: INAUDIBLE

3:12:36 PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS

:  So I hear you’re a man of God
and
science. Do I have that right, Wolf?

Wolf
: It’s my personal belief that God has given us science so that we can better understand Him.

:
  No kidding. Galileo could’ve used a guy like you around in his day, know what I mean? Say, did you know that something like 25 percent of all American presidents have been Episcopalian? 

Wolf
: I didn’t realize that,
.

:
Mmm-hmmm. Very savvy political move switching to the Episcopals. Right in the sweet spot. Goes all the way back to Washington. Roosevelt. Oh and

is one.
Oh and is one.
Even the head of the
Republican
National Committee – well you must know

. He’s one too I think.

Wolf
: Very interesting.

:
  Do you think it would be a good move for me to convert?

Wolf
: Not necessarily, sir. I believe religion can get in the way of following Jesus.

:
Well that is an interesting thought. Good talk, this is. I like you. You impress me, Wolf. Look, you have a reputation as a man who is quite connected. I know

is always over at Eden. You must have some great chow over there to get dinner guests like that.

Wolf
: [laughs] I think the conversation is the main attraction, sir.

:
Well I’ll buy that for a dollar. Yes sir, you are one connected guy. You even brought all those sons of bitches over from Germany that are running NASA now, didn’t you?

Wolf
: I did what I could to help.

:
Listen, Wolf, I was wondering if you could talk to to

for me. Used to be you could count on him. Up to a certain point, I mean. But he’s blackmailing me, if you can believe that. Says he’s going to blow this whole thing if I don’t cooperate. You two obviously have a lot more in common than I do. I could frankly use your help.

Wolf
: I’d be happy to have the discussion. I think we can come to some sort of understanding.

:
  Yeah.
You call him. Good deal. Smooth it over, will you? Lord knows this is one tough job. You can’t imagine. They’re throwing the whole damned book at me but they don’t understand that this job requires a different set of rules.

Wolf
: Agreed.
They don’t understand. The rules that apply to most men don’t apply to you. That is the nature of leadership.

:
  Damn right it is. [unintelligable] What do you think God would say about this whole thing?

Wolf
: That you were chosen to lead. You cannot be bound by the same rules as those who are destined to follow.

NEXT 18 MINUTES RECORDING: BLANK