Hitler's Secret War in South America, 1939–1947
German Military Espionage and Allied Counterespionage in Brazil
Publication Year: 1999
Published by: Louisiana State University Press
Introduction to the American Edition
In the years that followed World War II, hundreds of books were written about different aspects of that unprecedented conflict, but the details of the "secret war" in the West were slow to appear, in large part because of agreements concluded in 1945 between the American and ...
1) Target: Brazil
"Amid the torrent of violent events, one anxiety reigned supreme," wrote Winston Churchill, reflecting on the grim years 1940—41. What was this "mortal danger" that "gnawed" at the indomitable British leader during those somber times? What was the only ...
2) "Alfredo" and the "Bolívar" Network
In the latter part of October, 1941, a German spy whose code name was "Ivan" traveled from the United States to Rio de Janeiro to consult "Alfredo," an Abwehr agent, about the possibility of establishing a clandestine radio station in the United States. Director of one of ...
3) The Bolívar Tangents
The policy followed by the Abwehr in Brazil was to saturate the country with agents in the conviction that, despite the inevitable casualties and the inefficiency of some agents, sufficient information would reach Germany to furnish a relatively complete picture of enemy ...
4) "King" and the Message Center Brazil
The year 1923 was a momentous one in German history. When French and Belgian troops invaded and occupied the industrial Ruhr area because the Weimar government had failed to make reparations payments, the German people responded with a policy of passive ...
5) Swastika and Sigma
For the Portuguese salesclerk Elisio Teles, the important thing was to have somebody share the rent on the house that he occupied in Santa Teresa. Teles was thirty-six years old, a bachelor, and did not earn much, so he decided in the summer of 1941 to place an ad in the ...
6) The Hungarian Connection
As the Third Reich extended its dominion over Europe in 1940- 41, the regime in Berlin found ready collaborators in several neighboring states. They became fifth columnists within their own countries— the case of Major Vidkun Quisling in Norway is the most notorious
7) The Sāo Paulo Listening Post
Gabriela Lázsló was only twenty years old in 1941, but the dilemma she faced was an old one: one man loved her and was supporting her, but she was in love with another. Toward the former, she felt a debt of gratitude. She had arrived in Rio de Janeiro the previous ...
8) The Starziczny Case
Hans Buckup, von Kotze's businessman friend, was writing a letter to his sister in Germany in April, 1941, when he received word that a German merchant ship, the Hermes, had managed to break the British blockade and reach Rio de Janeiro. "That's marvelous," he exclaimed, and ...
9) Pearl Harbor and Its Consequences
At the beginning of November, 1941, while Starziczny was trying to recruit "Admiralty," Werner Waltemath was endeavoring to get his transmitter working, and Janos Salamon was feuding with the Hungarian minister, two Japanese agents were carrying out a secret mission in ...
10) The Allied Counterattack
The question of Nazi activities in Brazil became a matter of serious concern to the Vargas government for the first time in 1938, a year in which diplomatic relations between Rio de Janeiro and Berlin were almost severed as a result of the proselytizing efforts of Nazi party ...
11) The Collapse
There was little movement on Rua Campos de Carvalho in the southern beach district of Leblon that Tuesday morning in March, 1942. It was only ten o'clock, but the sun stood bright in the sky and it had already become another hot summer day. Readers of the dailies on ...
12) "Captain Garcia" and the Greenshirts
The Brazilian army captain seemed at first glance to have a reasonably promising career ahead of him. The son of a colonel, he was a licensed pilot and had rendered notable service in the coastal defense sector, working as a fire control officer with the American Military ...
13) The Buenos Aires-Sāo Paulo-Toronto Circuit
WITH THE COLLAPSE of the small network headed by "Captain Garcia," the only remaining German intelligence-gathering activity in Brazil was being done by the weak listening post set up in Sao Paulo by Werner Waltemath. And that group really had never gotten off the ...
14) The Abwehr's Last Salvo in Brazil
THE COASTAL DISTRICT of Sao Joao da Barra in the state of Rio de Janeiro was a region of decadent fishing villages whose inhabitants struggled hard to make a living. One of the poorest villages was Gargau, a riverport. There, early on the morning of August 10, 1943, while ...
List of Abbreviations
Page Count: 384
Publication Year: 1999
OCLC Number: 828743029
MUSE Marc Record: Download for Hitler's Secret War in South America, 1939–1947