The Nazis Next Door

October 1, 2014

Until recently, public perception has been that only a small number of Nazis settled in the United States after World War II. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Lichtblau's (New York Times) thoroughly riveting account demolishes this myth by revealing the backstory of how and why as many as 10,000 Nazis arrived postwar on America's shores. Through interviews and archival research, the author demonstrates the involvement of the military, the CIA, and the FBI in turning these World War II enemies into Cold War allies in the fight against communism by scrubbing their wartime histories, assisting them in gaming the immigration system to gain residency and citizenship, harnessing their knowledge to fight the Soviet Union, and shielding them from investigations. Lichtblau documents the lengths to which federal agencies would go to protect these assets. In one instance, congressional members derailed an immigration service investigation into the chief scientist of NASA's aerospace medical division, Hubertus Strughold--a man who had knowledge of many human experiments performed on prisoners in concentration camps. Rich in detail, this work is a necessary corrective to our understanding of postwar American history. VERDICT An essential read for all those interested in World War II, the Cold War, and 20th-century history.--Chris Sauder, Round Rock P.L., TX

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