Fall 2002, Vol. 34, No. 3
The Black Market in Postwar Berlin
Colonel Miller and an Army Scandal, Part 3
By Kevin Conley Ruffner
Notes
All statements of fact, opinion or analysis in this paper are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect official positions or the views of the Central Intelligence Agency or any other U.S. Government entity, past or present. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying US Government endorsement of the paper's factual statements and interpretations. This article has been reviewed by CIA's Publications Review Board and found to contain no classified information.
1 The US Senate established the Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program in March 1941 to investigate "excessive profits, fraud, corruption, waste, extravagance, mismanagement, incompetence, and inefficiency in expenditures, connected with the prosecution of the national defense program for World War II." Because Senator Harry Truman was the first chairman of the special committee, it is best known as the Truman Committee. Senators Harley M. Kilgore (D - WV), James M. Mead (D - NY), and Owen Brewster (R - ME) were successive chairmen. The committee held some 432 public hearings and 300 executive sessions, went on hundreds of field trips, and issued 51 reports. While the Truman Committee disbanded in 1948, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) of the Senate Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments (later the Committee on Government Operations) took over some of its tasks. Interestingly, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy was a member of the Truman Committee during his first term in the Senate, later gaining notoriety as the chairman of the PSI in 1953 - 1954. For further details, see National Archives and Records Administration, Guide to the Records of the United States Senate at the National Archives, 1789 - 1989 (1989) and US Congress, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - 1989 (1989).
2 Born in 1895 in Kentucky, Francis Pickens Miller was a scholar, educator, author, soldier, and humanitarian. Educated at Washington and Lee University, he also studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and in Switzerland. He later received a law degree in 1954. Miller was involved in a number of public interest groups before the war and served as organizational director of the Council for Foreign Relations prior to the American entry into World War II. He was among the influential American proponents of rearming the British in 1940. He joined the Coordinator of Information (COI) in 1942 and transferred to the Office of Strategic Services upon its formation. After receiving an army commission, Lt. Colonel Miller was instrumental in organizing OSS agent operations into France from England prior to the Normandy invasion. He transferred to the army after a falling out with Gen. William J. Donovan in 1944. A veteran of army service in France during the First World War, Miller received numerous high decorations and led a distinguished postwar career. He held various positions in the State Department after World War II and was a candidate for Virginia governor in 1949 and US Senate in 1952. He died in August 1978. Miller's own recollections are found in Francis Pickens Miller, Man from the Valley: Memoirs of a 20th-Century Virginian (1971). See also Martin Weil, "Francis Pickens Miller Dies at Age 83, Father of Va. Senatorial Nominee," Washington Post, Aug. 4, 1978, p. B6; and ""Francis Miller Dies; Virginia Politician," New York Times, Aug. 5, 1978, p. 22.
3 Miller's testimony is found in US Congress, Senate, Special Committee Investigating the National Defense Program, Investigation of the National Defense Program: Hearings before a Special Committee Investigating the National Defense Program, Part 42, 80 Cong., 1st sess., Aug. 14, 1946. These hearings and several others were not published until 1948. It is listed in the CIS US Congressional Committee Hearings Index as (80) S875-7 and is hereinafter cited as "Special committee hearing."
The results of the US Army's high-level investigation of Colonel Miller's allegations are found in Col. Eugene L. Miller, War Department Special Staff, Office of the Inspector General, to Kenneth C. Royall, Under Secretary of War, "Inquiry Regarding Certain Phases of the Army's Administration of the United States Zone of Occupied Germany," Nov. 21, 1946, in General Correspondence 1939 - 1947, Army of Occupation (Secret), File No. 333.9, Entry 26F, Boxes 34 - 35, Record Group (RG) 159, Records of the Office of the Inspector General (Army), National Archives at College Park (NACP). Hereinafter cited as the Cooke Report, after Brig. Gen. Elliott D. Cooke, deputy inspector general, who directed the investigation from September 28 to November 4, 1946.
4 Born in 1896, Brig. Gen. James B. Edmunds joined the Indiana National Guard in World War I and was promoted to lieutenant during the conflict. He remained in the National Guard during the interwar period and was brought back to active duty in 1941 as a lieutenant colonel. He was promoted to brigadier general in October 1945 but reverted to colonel in March 1946. See US Army, Adjutant General, Register of the Army of the United States for 1947 (1947). Edmunds and his wife were the subjects of extensive questioning by the War Department's IG in late 1946 after his return to the United States. Edmunds remained in the army until his retirement in 1953, and he later served as general manager of the New York City Transit Authority. He died in 1968.
5 In particular, Miller was concerned by Edmunds's treatment of Maj. Michael J.L. Greene, a member of the OMGUS staff, who had reported on illegal transactions at the army headquarters in Berlin. Miller had sought Greene's transfer to ODI, only to find that he had been moved to a regular unit in the American occupation zone. Author interview with Brig. Gen. Michael J.L. Greene, US Army (ret.), Washington, DC, January 10, 2002.
6 See "Events Leading Up to this Inquiry," Cooke Report, pp. 1 - 4, RG 159, NACP.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Special committee hearing, Miller testimony, pp. 25816 and 25818.
10 Ibid., p. 25823.
11 Ibid., pp. 25831 - 25833.
12 Ibid., p. 25834 - 25835.
13 Ibid., p. 25836.
14 Life Magazine reported on the rise of black market activities in Berlin soon after the arrival of Allied troops. See "Black Markets Boom in Berlin," Life, Sept. 10, 1945, pp. 51 - 54. For a photographic account of life in postwar Germany, see Frank Grube and Gerhard Richter, Die Schwarzmarktzeit: Deutschland zwischen 1945 and 1948 (1979). See also Tony Vaccaro, Entering Germany, 1944 - 1949 (2001).
15 Richard Brett-Smith, Berlin '45: The Grey City (1966), p. 94.
16 A Strategic Services Unit (SSU) intelligence report in early 1946 quoted one American officer in Berlin who said that he could sell the following items to Soviet soldiers in exchange for dollars: carton of American cigarettes for $200; an army wrist watch for $1,000; a five-cent chocolate bar for $5; a bottle of whiskey for $150; low-grade French cognac for $80; and a pair of army boots for $200. See SSU Intelligence Report, "Black Market Prices in Berlin and Frankfurt a. M.," Jan. 25, 1946, Intelligence Report No. A-64903, LB-114, WASH-REG-INT-139, box 169, Entry 108, Records of the Office of Strategic Services, RG 226, NACP.
17 Julian J. Bach, Jr., America's Germany: An Account of the Occupation (1946), pp. 57 - 63.
18 Frank Howley, Berlin Command (1950), pp. 90 - 91.
19 Walter Rundell, Jr., Black Market Money: The Collapse of US Military Currency Control in World War II (1964), pp. 46 - 47.
20 Ibid., pp. 41 - 46; Harry Dexter White, assistant secretary of the treasury and a suspected Communist agent, was instrumental in arranging the American transfer of the plates to the Soviets. White's role in World War II and suspected Communist activity is discussed in John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America (1999) and Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America— The Stalin Era (1999). For a contrary viewpoint, see James M. Broughton, "The Case against Harry Dexter White: Still Not Proven," International Monetary Fund Working Paper, WP/00/149, August 2000.
21 Lucius D. Clay, Decision in Germany (1950), pp. 63 - 64.
22 An army officer, later with the Central Intelligence Agency, wrote years afterwards that "nobody who sold a few cartons was considered a criminal. It was the big wheeler-dealers who dealt in cars, diamonds and tens of thousands of dollars that the CID [Criminal Investigations Division] was after. This army organization might call on you if you ordered 100 cartons a week from the US (at one dollar a carton), and enquire politely whether you were really such a heavy smoker. But they were too busy to investigate something like twenty cartons a month. For four packages of cigarettes you could hire a German orchestra for an entire evening." David Chavchavadze, Crowns and Trenchcoats: A Russian Prince in the CIA (1990), p. 142.
23 Harold Zink, The United States in Germany 1944 - 1955 (1957), p. 140.
24 For further details on the army in postwar Germany, see Eugene Davidson, The Death and Life of Germany: An Account of the American Occupation (1959); Franklin M. Davis, Jr., Come as a Conqueror: The United States Army's Occupation of Germany 1945 - 1949 (1967); John Gimbel, The American Occupation of Germany: Politics and the Military, 1945 - 1949 (1968); Edward N. Peterson, The American Occupation of Germany; Retreat to Victory (1977); B. U. Ratchford and William D. Ross, Berlin Reparations Assignment: Round One of the German Peace Settlement (1947); and Hans A. Schmidt, ed., US Occupation in Europe after World War II (1978).
25 Earl F. Ziemke, The US Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944 - 1946 (1975, reprint 1990), p. 421.
26 SSU Intelligence Report, "Rumors in Russian Zone," Feb. 12, 1946, Report No. A-65306, LP/5-660, WASH-REG-INT-39, box 169, Entry 108, RG 226, NACP.
27 Bach, America's Germany, p. 39.
28 Ziemke, The US Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944 - 1946, pp. 321 - 327.
29 Theodore Singer, letter to the editor, New York Times, Nov. 30, 1945, cited in John Willoughby, "The Sexual Behavior of American GIs during the Early Years of the Occupation of Germany," Journal of Military History 62 (January 1998): 166 - 167.
30 Another unforeseen result was the large number of illegitimate children born to German women. Official West German estimates of the number of American-German offspring during the American occupation period range from 37,000 to 85,000. See Zink, The United States in Germany, 1945-1955, pp. 137 - 138.
31 Douglas Botting, In the Ruins of the Reich (1985), pp. 191 - 192.
32 The wide range of criminal activity in Berlin, including murders, suicides, robbery, and rapes by army members, investigated by the Criminal Investigations Division are located in boxes 894 - 897, Records of the Public Safety Branch, Reports on Investigations 1946-48, Records of the Office of Military Government for Germany (OMGUS Records), Records of United States Occupation Headquarters, World War II, RG 260, NACP. For the 1946 investigations of several US Army officers involved in black market cases in Berlin, see box 4, Records of the Executive Office, Chief of Staff, Investigations, Political, Emergency and Occupation, 1947 - 1949, OMGUS Records, RG 260, NACP.
33 Jack Gieck, Lichfield: The US Army on Trial (1997).
34 The theft of the crown jewels of Hesse from Schloss Kronberg was just one of several high profile cases that came to light in 1946. For a discussion of this case and several others, see Kenneth D. Alford, The Spoils of War: The American Military's Role in Stealing Europe's Treasures (1994).
35 "Probe of MG in Germany Urged, Efficiency of ET Occupation is Questioned," Stars and Stripes, European Edition, Sept. 14, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, OP-58, Military Government in Germany, box 1011, Records of the US Senate, RG 46, National Archives Building (NAB).
36 Philip Dodd, "Charges Mead Holds Up Probe of AMG in Reich, Evidence in Months Ago, Brewster Says," Chicago Tribune, Sept. 13, 1946, ibid.
37 Special committee hearing, Miller testimony, pp. 258365 - 25836.
38 See Confidential Report to the Special Senate Committee Investigating the National Defense Program on the Preliminary Investigation in the Occupied Areas of Europe (Meader Report), Nov. 22, 1946, in special committee hearing, pp. 26152 and 26175. See also Immediate Release, Special Senate Committee Investigating the National Defense Program, Sept. 12, 1946, Exhibit IV, in Meader to Mead, Dec. 18, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
39 Meader Report, p. 26152. The investigation's terms of reference, agreed between Senator Kilgore and President Truman, are found in the Meader Report, pp. 26175 - 26176.
40 George Meader was born in Benton Harbor, MI, in 1907 and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1927. He also took a law degree from the University in 1931 and entered private practice. After a stint as a county prosecutor, Meader moved to Washington to join the Truman Committee as assistant counsel in 1943. He remained with the special committee as its assistant and then chief counsel until 1947, when he returned to private practice. After brief service on the staff of another Senate committee, Meader was elected as a Republican congressman and took office in 1951. He remained in Congress until 1965 and then served as counsel for a joint congressional committee until 1975. He died in 1994. His personal and private papers are located at the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library. For further details, see Kathryn Allamong Jacob and Bruce A. Ragsdale, eds., Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - 1989, Bicentennial Edition (1989), p. 1487. See also Obituary, George Meader, Washington Post, Oct. 30, 1994.
41 Meader Report, pp. 26152 - 26153.
42 The itinerary and list of persons consulted is found in the Meader Report, pp. 26176 - 26179.
43 The special committee devised a standard set of questions for its investigation in Europe. See Meader Report, pp. 26180 - 26184.
44 For a summary of the areas reviewed by the special committee, see Meader Report, pp. 26156 - 26175. During the course of the investigation, Meader assembled some 400 pages of documentary evidence and obtained stenographic transcripts totaling nearly 800 pages. All told, the special committee had enough files to fill six feet of drawer space. Meader Report, p. 26154. This material forms the bulk of Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, boxes 991 - 1018, RG 46, NAB.
45 Meader Report, p. 26175.
46 Meader distributed the draft report at an executive session on November 25 to Sens. Ball, Ferguson, Kilgore, Knowland, and Mitchell. Senator Mead received a copy on November 26, and Senators Brewster, Briggs, Connally, and Tunnell the following day. See note in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
47 Telegram, Kilgore to Mead, Nov. 22, 1946, and telegram, Mead to Kilgore, Nov. 23, 1946, ibid.
48 Miller, Man from the Valley, p. 137. See also Walter White, "Investigate the Investigators," Philadelphia Bulletin, Dec. 19, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
49 Probe of AMG Beaten 6-4 on Party Lines," Washington Post, Nov. 27, 1946, pp. 1 and 6.
50 Philip Dodd, "Move to Block Reich Quiz Laid to State Department," Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 15, 1946, p. 28, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
51 Ibid. A number of other articles in box 1011 provide details of the meetings in New York.
52 "Clay to Talk on Occupation," Washington Post, Nov. 12, 1946, ibid.
53 Meader to Kilgore, "Military Government Field Inspection Investigation," Nov. 18, 1946, ibid.
54 Harry S. Truman, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, 1946 (1962), p. 487.
55 "Probe of MG in Germany Urged, Clay Has 'No Comment' on Occupation Criticism," Stars and Stripes, European Edition, Sept. 14, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
56 "Probe on AMG Beaten 6-4 on Party Lines," Washington Post, Nov. 27, 1946, pp. 1 and 6.
57 Robert S. Allen, "Suppressed Report on Germany Lays Immorality to US Forces," New York Times, Dec. 2, 1946, p. 2.
58 Mary Spargo, "Bitter Fight Looms on Probe of AMG," Washington Post, Nov. 26, 1946, p. 3, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
59 John H. Crider, "Clay Sees End Soon to Occupation Cost," New York Times, Nov. 14, 1946, ibid.
60 "Senators Ask Byrnes O.K. on AMG Probe," New York Post, Nov. 13, 1946; "Truman Discusses Cuts with Military Leaders," New York Herald-Tribune, Nov. 15, 1946; and Mary Spargo, "Bitter Fight Looms on Probe of AMG," Washington Post, Nov. 26, 1946, all in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
61 Drew Pearson, "Washington Merry-Go-Round," Washington Post, Nov. 23, 1946, ibid.
62 Meader Report, p. 26175.
63 Editorial, "Bull in a China Shop," Washington Post, Nov. 25, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
64 Kilgore telegrammed the absent members of the special committee to vote on the motion to send a subcommittee to Europe. See Kilgore to Briggs, Connally, Mead, and Tunnell, Nov. 25, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
65 "Probe of AMG Beaten 6-4 on Party Lines," Washington Post, Nov. 27, 1946, pp. l and 6.
66 Meader to Byrnes, Dec. 5, 1946; Mead to Meader, Dec. 4, 1946; Meader to Mead, Dec. 18, 1946; Brewster to Meader, Dec. 1, 1946; Meader to Brewster, Dec. 11, 1946; and Meader to Brewster, Dec. 20, 1946, all in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
67 Collier's Magazine published an article on October 19, 1946, by Edward P. Morgan entitled "Heels Among the Heroes." A copy is found in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 997, NAB.
68 Robert S. Allen, "Suppressed Report on Germany Lays Immorality to US Forces," New York Times, Dec. 2, 1946, p. 3.
69 "Meader's DP Report Criticized as Unfair," New York Times, Jan. 2, 1947, p. 13. A copy of the November 11, 1946, telegram from Walter White, executive secretary of the NAACP, and Meader's November 14, 1946, reply are found in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1011, NAB. See also I.F. Stone, "Meader Never Visited Camp for D.P.'s," New York PM, Dec. 5, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1012, NAB.
70 Meader sent the New York Times a copy of the report released by the special committee. See Meader to Editorial Department, New York Times, Dec. 6, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1010, RG 46, NAB.
71 "Probe of AMG Beaten 6-4 on Party Lines," Washington Post, Nov. 27, 1946, pp. 1 and 6. Interestingly, a copy of Kilgore's letter of November 25 has not been found in the records of the special committee at the National Archives. Possibly, Kilgore's letter may be located in his papers at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library or the University of West Virginia. For further details, see Karen Dawley Paul, comp., Guide to Research Collections of Former United States Senators, 1789 - 1995 (1995).
72 Special committee, press release, Dec. 4, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1018, RG 46, NAB. The Republican members noted that they tried to "persuade the full Committee to authorize such a release, but were unable to do so and consequently are forced to direct the release ourselves in the interest of fairness to the public." The members expressed three qualifications about the report: it was not a committee report nor did it have the approval of the members; it was drafted as a confidential report for the committee and not intended for publication; and that it was the result of a preliminary report and not a statement of facts. See also Robert C. Albright, "GOP Divulges Secret Report on AMG Despite Protests," Washington Post, Dec. 4, 1946, and "Report on GI Misdeeds in Reich Barred," Baltimore Sun, Dec. 4, 1946.
73 Senator Kilgore, press release, Dec. 3, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1012, RG 46, NAB.
74 For press reaction to the full report, see "Ask Report on Conduct of Troops," Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dec. 4, 1946, and "Conduct of Yanks in Reich Assailed," Brooklyn Eagle, Dec. 4, 1946, in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1012, RG 46, NAB.
75 Oral History Interview with George Meader by Charles T. Morrissey, June 12, 1963, Washington, DC, in Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, MO.
76 Peter Kihss, "Senator Urges Dismissal in U.N. as 6 More US Aides Avoid Queries," New York Times, Oct. 15, 1952, pp. 1 and 13; "Lie Acts on 12 in UN. Silent on Red Link," New York Times, Oct. 23, 1952, pp. 1, 8; Richard H. Parke, "UN Editorial Aide Admits Red Links," New York Times, Oct. 25, 1952, pp. 1, 5; A. M. Rosenthal, "Lie Ousts 3 of His US Aides Who Balked at Red Inquiry," New York Times, Nov. 1, 1952, pp. 1, 3; Pierre J. Huss and George Carpozi, Jr., Red Spies in the UN (1965), pp. 41-45; and US Congress, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Activities of United States Citizens Employed by the United Nations: Hearings, 82nd Cong., 2nd sess. (1952).
77 For a copy of the report prepared by Melvin Benson, see Congress, House of Representatives, Committee on Military Affairs, Investigations of the National War Effort, House Report 2740, 79th Cong., 2nd sess., Serial Set Vol. 11026A, House Reports (1947). See also "Report on Black Marketing," Baltimore Sun, Dec. 8, 1946; "Army Personnel in Germany May Face Black Market Quiz," Washington Star, Dec. 8, 1946; "Inquiry Urged on G.I. Profits in Black Market," New York Herald-Tribune, Dec. 8, 1946; William F. Arbogast, "Probe Would Eye Army Men's Taxes," Washington Post, Dec. 8, 1946, all in Senate 79A-F30, National Defense Program, Military Government, box 1012, RG 46, NAB. See also "Study of GI Profits Urged," New York Times, Dec. 8, 1946, p. 53, and Walter H. Waggoner, "House Report Criticizes Military on Occupation Policy in Germany, Charges 'Vast Majority' of Troops Took Part in Black Market, Sees Laxity on Nazis and Failure to Back Foreign Policy," New York Times, Jan. 3, 1947, p. 1.
78 "Test of US Army in Reich: Charges of Confusion, Laxity," United States News 21 (Dec. 13, 1946): 27 - 28. See also "Softening Life of Occupation: Effect on American Troops," United States News 21 (Dec. 6, 1946): 27 - 28.
79 See "Conclusions and Recommendations Made by Colonel Dodge— Special Investigator for General McNarney," in the Cooke Report. A search for the complete Dodge Report in Record Groups 159 (Records of the Office of the Inspector General (Army)), 260 (Records of US Occupation Headquarters, World War II, OMGUS records), 331 (Records of Allied Operational and Occupation Headquarters, World War II), 338 (Records of United States Army Commands, 1942 - , USFET records), 389 (Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, 1941 - ), and 466 (Records of the US High Commissioner for Germany) at the National Archives has proven unsuccessful.
80 Brig. Gen. Cooke to Lt. Gen. Dan I. Sultan, Inspector General, Oct. 24, 1946, in Cooke Report. A copy of the completed USFET IG report has not been located. For further details, see Adjutant General to the Inspector General, "Interim Report on Investigation of Black Market and Kindred Activities in Berlin Area," Jan. 27, 1947, forwarding Col. George F. Herbert, Adjutant General, OMGUS, to Adjutant General, "Interim Report on Investigation of Black Market and Kindred Activities in Berlin Area," Jan. 14, 1947, enclosing Brig. Gen. Charles K Gailey, Chief of Staff, OMGUS to Adjutant General, "Interim Report on Investigation of Black Market and Kindred Activities in Berlin Area," Jan. 9, 1947, in Cooke Report. As late as mid-May 1947, the War Department had yet to receive a final copy of the Baldwin Report.
81 Cooke Report, p. 5.
82 Typescripts of the testimony taken in Washington and in Germany are included in the Cooke Report. The IG questioned Lt. General Clay among other senior officers in USFET.
83 Cooke Report, pp. 17 - 18.
84 Ibid.
85 Ibid., pp. 19 - 20.
86 A summary of the Cooke Report's ten conclusions include the following major points: that the military governor and deputy governor were receiving "sufficient" intelligence; that steps be taken to integrate G-2 personnel as to the role of intelligence on the military government's staff; that there had not been "sufficient" cases of misconduct to besmirch US troops in Germany; that individuals accused of crimes and misconduct were being investigated; that the State and War Departments review the barter and exchange system in Germany to reduce the opportunities for black marketing; that no commanders were afraid of their Negro troops or reluctant to administer disciplinary action; that the influence of American and German industrialists on military government policy was "negligible;" that many of Colonel Miller's statements raised questions as to his "integrity as an officer"; and that commanders did not properly utilize the services of inspector generals "to best advantage." See Cooke Report, pp. 20 - 21.
87 C. P. Trusell, "GOP Weighs Study of Forces Abroad," New York Times, Jan. 10, 1947, p. 10.
88 "Senate Fight Over War Inquiry," New York Times, Jan. 13, 1947, p. 5; Trussell, "Special War Fund May Get GOP Airing," New York Times, Jan. 16, 1947, p. 5; and Trussell, "GOP Wins First Test as Senate Extends War Inquiry Board," New York Times, Jan. 23, 1947, pp. 1 and 3. See also entry for Jan. 22, 1947, US Senate, Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, 80th Cong., lst sess. (1948), pp. 66 - 67. The Senate did not take up the issue of the army in Germany until the summer and fall of 1947, although it does not appear that this investigation resulted in a formal report. See "Senators to Inquire into G.I.'s in Germany," New York Times, July 6, 1947, p. 40; and Jack Raymond, "Bridges and Taber Draw Army's Fire," New York Times, Oct. 24, 1947, p. 7.
89 Clay notes that he received some eighty-five congressional visitors while in Germany, although he does not discuss Meader's trip in the fall of 1946, his meeting with the special committee in November, or his interview with the War Department IG. See Clay, Decision in Germany, pp. 236 - 237. In Clay's personal papers at the National Archives as well as his official OMGUS records, there is no mention of his role in the Senate and War Department investigations. In February - March 1947, Clay spent considerable time responding to an article, "An Army Wife Lives Very Softly in Germany," that appeared in the Feb. 15, 1947, issue of Saturday Evening Post. See Records of the Executive Office, Chief of Staff, Records Maintained for the Military Governor, Lt. Gen. Lucius D. Clay, 1945 - 1949, box 21, OMGUS Records, RG 260, NACP. See also Gen. Lucius D. Clay Personal Papers, April 1945 - May 1949, National Archives Collection of Donated Materials, NACP. Likewise, the investigations are not mentioned in Jean Edward Smith, The Papers of General Lucius D. Clay: Germany 1945 - 1949, 2 vols. (1974) or Smith, Lucius D. Clay: An American Life (1990).
90 For example, see Harry S. Truman, Memoirs by Harry S. Truman: Years of Trial and Hope, vol. II (1956). For a list of published works on Truman and his presidency, see Donald R. McCoy, The Presidency of Harry S. Truman (1984), pp. 331 - 341.
91 Colonel Miller's reaction to the War Department IG's investigation is found in Miller, Man from the Valley, pp. 137 - 138.
Berlin Black Market, Part 1
Berlin Black Market, Part 2
Kevin Conley Ruffner is a historian with the History Staff of the Central Intelligence Agency, specializing in World War II and early Cold War intelligence. His two-volume book of documents, Forging an Intelligence Partnership: CIA and the Origins of the BND, 1945 - 49, was recently declassified. Dr. Ruffner is currently writing a book on the black market and the U.S. Army in Berlin.
| Articles published in Prologue do not necessarily represent the views of NARA or of any other agency of the United States Government. |
