Total Espionage: Germany's Information and Disinformation Apparatus 1932-40

by Curt Riess

Total Espionage was first published shortly before Pearl Harbor and is fresh in its style, retaining immediacy unpolluted by the knowledge of subsequent events. It tells how the whole apparatus of the Nazi state was geared towards war by its systematic gathering of information and dissemination of disinformation. The author, a Berlin journalist, went into exile in 1933 and eventually settled in Manhattan in where he wrote for the ‘Saturday Evening Post’. He maintained a network of contacts throughout Europe and from inside the regime to garner his facts. The Nazis made use of many people and officers’ associations who were in touch with many who left to help organize the armies of South American countries, and in the USA there were the Friends of the New Germany. German consulates sprang up and aircraft would make unusual detours to observe interesting parts of foreign countries. News agencies and various associations dedicated to maintaining contacts with particular countries were encouraged to supply information. Film studios would send large crews abroad to shoot documentaries as well as perform acts of espionage. Foreign nationals were bribed or blackmailed; and pro-fascist groups in foreign countries were supported via the Auslandsorganization. All Germans living abroad were encouraged to report their observations to the authorities, particular attention was being focused on engineers, technicians, scientists and people in other professions who were particularly likely to obtain valuable information; however, other Germans abroad were also used, even cabaret singers, waiters, language teachers, as well as Germans traveling abroad as tourists. Germans living abroad were exempt from mobilization because of their value as spies. Foreigners were given opportunity to study in Germany, and connections with them were kept in the hope that they would one day provide useful information. All of this was Goebbels’ ‘Total Espionage’.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off this is a contemporary account from 1941 of the nazi espionage system, and this is important to remember when reading Curt Riess' account, also that it was written with an American audience in mind, an audience that was not then a combatant in the war. A war that the Nazis were firmly winning at this stage, with little in the way of success for the allies.

Many of the successes Riess claims for nazi intelligence are not accepted as such now; in fact the nazi intelligence apparatus is now widely accepted to have been ineffectual, not least because of the duplication, spread, and uncoordinated nature of that apparatus. Something that at this stage Riess argues to be a strength. There are some very dubious claims made here, not least the effectiveness of thousands of servants, waiters etc. who were spies in Britain, in fact the spies sent to Britain were largely amateurs, rounded up at the beginning of the war, and in some cases expertly turned through the XX system. Even had this not been the case, the value of such agents is questionable, and the soviet focus on agents of influence was clearly much more effective. There are also some, now, glaring errors naming SIS as B4 - actually a part of MI5 dealing with the soviets. Where Riess does certainly get it right, is in the slowness of the western intelligence agencies to recognise the threat of the nazis, and the rapid unraveling of their networks when war finally broke out. A stark warning to those that would join the conflict later, especially for those such as America where there was no established intelligence apparatus.

Despite some understandable errors, and lacking the benefit of hindsight, this is an engrossing study of nazi intelligence, Riess was clearly fed by contacts in Germany, and it is hard not to dwell on the fate of some of them on the publication of this book. A gripping contemporary account, that is recommend.