Major William D. Browne
Encyclopedia
Major William D. Browne is a former U.S. Army officer. He served in the postwar occupation military government of Germany
, as a Major in the Third Army. He was involved in the recovery of German documents at the end of WWII.
, describes the discovery of the Nazi Party's worldwide membership card files in May 1945 by U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps
personnel.
The report states, "An estimated 68,000 kilos of Party records and documents of Reichsleitung SA were discovered by agents of the 45th CIC Det in a paper mill at Freimann (X-8763). Included among the papers were all Party membership cards with identification photos, documents relating to the Party, SA courts, and SA administration."
Six to seven million of these cards were moved to the Army's Munich headquarters, located in the "Reichfinanzhof" building (Reich Finance Court). Browne's report included a photo of these files.
Browne came upon the remaining files at the paper mill in September 1945. He alerted General Eisenhower's
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
(SHAEF), which immediately ordered a major task force to organize and catalog the files. Browne's discovery received worldwide press coverage.
The files subsequently became the heart of the collections of the Berlin Document Center
(BDC), and were instrumental in the Allied Denazification
of Germany, and in the Nuremberg War Crimes trials
.
gave an account of his rescue of the files in May 1945. When Thomas's account was questioned by a Los Angeles Times reporter in 2001, Thomas sued the reporter and the paper for defamation, and commissioned a private investigator to research this and other issues.
The investigator's research led to Volume XXVI of The History of the Counter Intelligence Corps
. This states that the first U.S. soldier to see the files in May 1945 was Counter Intelligence Corps Agent Francesco Quaranta.. However, when the investigator interviewed Quaranta's widow, she said he did not speak or read German and would not have understood what was on the cards, nor did he ever mention any role in the discovery of the files.
As of 2002, only one other Agent survived from Thomas's unit, Mr. Walter Wimer. He stated in a sworn Declaration filed in Thomas's defamation suit that there were at most six German-speaking members of the unit, including himself and Thomas, and was unaware of any other agent who claimed a role in rescuing the files.
Thomas also kept original Nazi documents that he found at the mill, including one bearing the original signature of Heinrich Himmler.
In 2002, this evidence was submitted to Robert Wolfe, a leading expert on captured German war documents from the National Archives. Wolfe concluded that Thomas was the Counter Intelligence Corps Agent who originally rescued the files in May 1945. His monograph reviewing the evidence can be found at http://www.michelthomas.org; the text is pasted into the Talk section of this article.
In 2006, Gregory Gordon, a career prosecutor at the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations, wrote an article that also credited Thomas with the rescue of the files.
Allied Control Council
The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority, known in the German language as the Alliierter Kontrollrat and also referred to as the Four Powers , was a military occupation governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany after the end of World War II in Europe...
, as a Major in the Third Army. He was involved in the recovery of German documents at the end of WWII.
Report on recovery of Nazi documents
Browne was the author of a 1946 U.S. Army Report: "Covering the locating, safeguarding, collecting and disposition of NSDAP records during period 19 September 1945 to 21 January 1946, by the Office of Military Government for Regierungsbezirk Oberbayern." The report, which is lodged in the U.S. National ArchivesNational Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
, describes the discovery of the Nazi Party's worldwide membership card files in May 1945 by U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps
Counter Intelligence Corps
The Counter Intelligence Corps was a World War II and early Cold War intelligence agency within the United States Army. Its role was taken over by the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in 1961 and, in 1967, by the U.S. Army Intelligence Agency...
personnel.
The report states, "An estimated 68,000 kilos of Party records and documents of Reichsleitung SA were discovered by agents of the 45th CIC Det in a paper mill at Freimann (X-8763). Included among the papers were all Party membership cards with identification photos, documents relating to the Party, SA courts, and SA administration."
Six to seven million of these cards were moved to the Army's Munich headquarters, located in the "Reichfinanzhof" building (Reich Finance Court). Browne's report included a photo of these files.
Browne came upon the remaining files at the paper mill in September 1945. He alerted General Eisenhower's
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force , was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was in command of SHAEF throughout its existence...
(SHAEF), which immediately ordered a major task force to organize and catalog the files. Browne's discovery received worldwide press coverage.
The files subsequently became the heart of the collections of the Berlin Document Center
Berlin Document Center
The Berlin Document Center was created in Berlin, Germany, after the end of World War II. Its task was to centralize the collection of documents from the time of Nazism, which were needed for the preparation of the Nuremberg Trials against war criminals...
(BDC), and were instrumental in the Allied Denazification
Denazification
Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering...
of Germany, and in the Nuremberg War Crimes trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
.
Role of CIC Agent Michel Thomas
In 2000, "Test of Courage" a biography of former CIC Agent Michel ThomasMichel Thomas
Michel Thomas was a polyglot linguist, language teacher and decorated war veteran. He survived imprisonment in several different Nazi concentration camps after serving in the Maquis of the French Resistance and worked with the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps during World War II...
gave an account of his rescue of the files in May 1945. When Thomas's account was questioned by a Los Angeles Times reporter in 2001, Thomas sued the reporter and the paper for defamation, and commissioned a private investigator to research this and other issues.
The investigator's research led to Volume XXVI of The History of the Counter Intelligence Corps
The History of the Counter Intelligence Corps
The History of the Counter Intelligence Corps was a classified 30 volume book prepared in the late 1950s by Major Ann Bray and others at the United States Army Intelligence Center and printed in 1959. The document contains the history of the US Army's Counter Intelligence Corps until 1950...
. This states that the first U.S. soldier to see the files in May 1945 was Counter Intelligence Corps Agent Francesco Quaranta.. However, when the investigator interviewed Quaranta's widow, she said he did not speak or read German and would not have understood what was on the cards, nor did he ever mention any role in the discovery of the files.
As of 2002, only one other Agent survived from Thomas's unit, Mr. Walter Wimer. He stated in a sworn Declaration filed in Thomas's defamation suit that there were at most six German-speaking members of the unit, including himself and Thomas, and was unaware of any other agent who claimed a role in rescuing the files.
Thomas also kept original Nazi documents that he found at the mill, including one bearing the original signature of Heinrich Himmler.
In 2002, this evidence was submitted to Robert Wolfe, a leading expert on captured German war documents from the National Archives. Wolfe concluded that Thomas was the Counter Intelligence Corps Agent who originally rescued the files in May 1945. His monograph reviewing the evidence can be found at http://www.michelthomas.org; the text is pasted into the Talk section of this article.
In 2006, Gregory Gordon, a career prosecutor at the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations, wrote an article that also credited Thomas with the rescue of the files.