Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Record Group 330)
Office of Research and Engineering
Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency
Notice to Researchers in Records Released under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act and the Japanese Imperial Government Records Act
The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group (IWG), in implementing the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act and the Japanese Imperial Government Records Act, has taken the broadest view in identifying records that may be responsive to the Acts. Information relevant to the Acts is often found among files related to other subjects. In order to preserve the archival integrity of the files, the IWG and the National Archives and Records Administration, where possible, have released entire files together, not just those items related to Nazi or Japanese war criminals, crimes, persecution, and looted assets. These records may relate to persons who are war criminals, former Axis personnel who are not war criminals, victims of war crimes or persecution, or civilian or military personnel investigating Nazi activities; the records may also include mention of, or information about, persons having no connection to these activities.
The Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) was established in 1945 as a subcommittee of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The JIC served as the intelligence arm of the JCS, responsible for advising the JCS on the intelligence problems and policies and furnishing intelligence information to the JCS and the Department of State. The JIC was composed of the Army's director of intelligence, the chief of naval intelligence, the assistant chief of Air Staff-2, and a representative of the Department of State.
The JOIA was given direct responsibility for operating the foreign scientist program, initially code-named Overcast and subsequently code-named Paperclip. The JOIA was composed of one representative of each member agency of the JIC, and an operational staff of military intelligence officers from the different military services. Among the JOIA's duties were administering the program's policies and procedures, compiling dossiers, and serving as liaison to British intelligence officers operating a similar project. It was also responsible for collecting, declassifying, and distributing Combined Intelligence Objectives Subcommittee (CIOS) and other technical intelligence reports on German science and industry. In addition, the JOIA took over many of the activities of CIOS when that organization was terminated. The JOIA was disbanded in 1962.
Foreign Scientist Case Files 1945-1958
Personnel dossiers on over 1,500 German and other foreign scientists, technicians, and engineers who were brought to the United States under Project Paperclip and similar programs. Among the dossiers are those on Georg Rickhey, a former official at the Nordhausen underground V-2 rocket factory who arrived in 1946 but who left the United States in 1947 when he was tried (and acquitted) for war crimes by a U.S. military tribunal; Walter Schreiber, who had been instrumental in medical experiments on concentration camp inmates and who fled the United States to Argentina in 1952 after the appearance of a newspaper column about his activities; and, Arthur Rudolph who had been a V-2 project engineer and who left the United States in 1984 following the Department of Justice's discovery of his role in the persecution of prisoners at the Nordhausen factory. Not included among the dossiers is one for rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. It was never transferred to NARA.
Where to find these records: The records are arranged alphabetically by surname and a box and folder list is available in the consultation area in room 2400, College Park, Maryland.
Boxes 1-186 location: 631/25/67/07
