Foreign Armies East, or Fremde Heere Ost (FHO), was a
military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
organization of the ''
Oberkommando des Heeres
The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at ...
'' (OKH), the Supreme High Command of the German Army during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
It focused on analyzing the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
and other East European countries before and during the war.
Establishment
Fremde Heere Ost was established on 10 November 1938 as 12 Department of the General Staff of the Army, attached to the section Senior Quartermaster IV (german: Oberquartiermeister IV). It was commanded by
Oberstleutnant
() is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Lieutenant colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedi ...
Eberhard Kinzel
__NOTOC__
Eberhard Kinzel (18 October 1897 – 25 June 1945) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
Military career
Kinzel w ...
from November 1938 to March 1942.
Oberstleutnant
() is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Lieutenant colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedi ...
Reinhard Gehlen
Reinhard Gehlen (3 April 1902 – 8 June 1979) was a German lieutenant-general and intelligence officer. He was chief of the Wehrmacht Foreign Armies East military intelligence service on the eastern front during World War II, spymaster of the ...
replaced Kinzel on 1 April 1942 on the orders of Chief of the General Staff, General
Franz Halder, with an initial staffing of about 35 people. Foreign Armies East was the successor organisation of Department IIIb of the German General Staff, a section since 1889, and only became a department during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
During World War I, the department was heavily involved in military intelligence, counter-intelligence and sabotage. Later as it developed, it became involved in propaganda as well. Its main rival and competitor was the Naval Intelligence Department, (german: Marinenachrichtendienst), a department of the
Imperial German Navy
The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Kaise ...
.
With the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
, the army was drastically reduced and military intelligence was disallowed. However, a troop office, called ''Department T 3'' (german: Truppenamt) also referred to the Army Statistical Department (german: Heeresstatistische Abteilung) was created to be the new military intelligence department, but essentially a continuation of the old department. Most of the information that came into the department came from open sources, specifically daily news and military news. For example, the officer responsible for intelligence gathering from Great Britain from sources like
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
, the
United Services Review, the Journal of the
Royal United Services Institution
The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank. ...
and the Journal of the
Royal Engineers.
In 1935, the department was renamed to ''Abteilung Fremde Heere'' or Department of Foreign Armies, and it was finally renamed on 10 November 1938 by Franz Halder
who split it into two departments called Fremde Heere Ost and
Fremde Heere West.
The offices of both organizations were located at 76 Tirpitzufer in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, which was and is colloquially known as
Bendlerblock
The Bendlerblock is a building complex in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße (formerly named ''Bendlerstraße''). Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine'') ...
.
Fremde Heere Ost was the third branch of the German General Staff, while
Fremde Heere West was the twelfth.
The FHO initial task was the collection of statistical and technical data on the armies that Germany was at war with or countries that it had planned to invade including
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
,
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
,
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
,
China,and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
In 1942, Gehlen predicted the downfall of the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
state, and the coming
Cold War between the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and the Soviet Union. He planned to preserve his office of the FHO and then to present it to the US as a sort of gift.
End of World War II
As the war ended, Gehlen hid himself, his staff and his microfilmed files in the chaos of the downfall of Hitler's government. General
William Wilson Quinn
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the s ...
of the
US Seventh Army, recognized Gehlen's name from a report by
Allen Dulles of the
OSS. He ensured Gehlen and his material were brought to the attention of the US government.
Gehlen revealed his plan for Foreign Armies East to Captain
John Boker of
US Military Intelligence
The Military Intelligence Corps is the intelligence branch of the United States Army. The primary mission of military intelligence in the United States Army is to provide timely, relevant, accurate, and synchronized intelligence and electronic ...
, who persuaded General
Edwin Sibert of
USFET to listen to Gehlen. The
J-2 staff of the
Pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°.
A pentagon may be simpl ...
was also involved. These operations eventually led to the formation of Operation X, Operation Rusty, 'the Organization', 'the Org', and finally, the '
Gehlen Organization'.
The
Gehlen Organization became a powerful spy ring during the early years of the Cold War. Eventually, this organization was transformed into the
Bundesnachrichtendienst
The Federal Intelligence Service (German: ; , BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin and is the world's largest intelligence head ...
, or BND,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
's intelligence service.
[Critchfield, p 21, 22, et al]
Many of the controversial aspects of Gehlen and his organization, such as its links to old Nazis, and its infiltration by
Eastern bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
agents, were later described by Heinz Höhne & Hermann Zolling, in articles and a book, ''The General Was a Spy''.
See also
*''
Sicherheitsdienst
' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...
'' (intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party)
*''
Ostministerium'' (Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories)
*''
Abwehr
The ''Abwehr'' (German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. A ...
'' (German military intelligence organization)
References
[Partners at the creation: the men behind postwar Germany's defense and intelligence establishments](_blank)
James H. Critchfield, Naval Institute Press, 2003
[''The General was a Spy'', The Truth about General Gehlen - 20th Century Superspy. Höhne, Heinz & Zolling, Hermann, New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc. 1972.]
Further reading
* Pahl, Magnus: Fremde Heere Ost. Hitlers militärische Feindaufklärung. Berlin 20124
Military history of Germany during World War II
Nazi German intelligence agencies
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