In the immediate post-war period, if you wanted good intelligence on what was happening in Europe, and particularly what was happening with the Soviets and Soviet influence within European societies, it was hard to find better assets than Germans who had intelligence experience and who were veterans of the campaign on the Eastern Front.
I can understand that. Similarly, it was important that the West attract scientists who worked on advanced weaponry, particularly in the nuclear field, but also in less lethal weaponry. There was a competition to win the allegiance of these scientists, and our loss was the Soviets’ victory.
Still, given the magnitude of the Nazi regime’s moral failings, this created a very unsavory legacy. Do you think it was worth it? Do you think we went too far?
