Today’s post is by Cara Moore Lebonick, Archives Reference Specialist at the National Archives at St. Louis In 1931 Virginia Hall, born this month, was appointed as a “Clerk” for the U.S. Department of State, to be stationed in Warsaw. She failed the “career service” exam twice, once in 1929 and again in 1930, before … Continue reading The Secrets of the Office of Strategic Services Personnel Records: Spotlight on Virginia Hall
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park Late in the morning of November 5, 1942, Walter William Orebaugh, American Consul General at Nice, France, received a telephone call from Pinkney Tuck, American Chargé d'affaires at the American Embassy at Vichy, who informed him that the … Continue reading The Adventures of American Diplomat Walter William Orebaugh in Italy 1942-1944, Part I
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park. At the time of the Italian Armistice on September 8, 1943, there were almost 80,000 Allied prisoners of war in Italian prisoner of war camps.[1] When the Allied prisoners of war learned of the Armistice, most were in … Continue reading The Office of Strategic Services and the SIMCOL Operation in Italy October 1943
Today’s post is written by Chris Naylor, Director of Textual Records for Research Services, Washington DC. The Nazis and their collaborators engaged in widespread and systematic confiscation of art and cultural property between 1933 and 1945 through various means including theft, coercion, and forced sales. These activities resulted in the displacement of millions of items … Continue reading National Archives Hosts International Research Portal for Records Related to Nazi-Era Cultural Property
Today's post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) launched this month a new section of its portion of the International Research Portal for Records Related to Nazi-Era Cultural Property that is devoted to the photographic albums containing photographs of cultural property looted by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) during … Continue reading NARA launches a webpage devoted to Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg photographic albums
By Jason Clingerman In 2001, seemingly secretive government documents were “found in locked safes and filing cabinets in a barn near Culpeper, Virginia.” After investigation, the records were turned over to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for review. The files turned out to be the records of a highly secretive intelligence organization led by John … Continue reading The Pond in a barn
