Britain kidnapped former Nazis to plunder Germanys secret assets

Elite British army commandos kidnapped hundreds of Nazi Germany scientists and technicians in the hope of retrieving the defeated nations trade secrets and intellectual assets immediately after World War II.

London, Aug 30 : Elite British army commandos kidnapped hundreds of Nazi Germany scientists and technicians in the hope of retrieving the defeated nation's trade secrets and intellectual assets immediately after World War II.

The kidnappings were carried out by a small lightly armed and highly mobile unit called T-force, according to declassified government documents.

The abductions were carried out in the British-controlled zone of post-war Germany on the orders of two organisations, British Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee (Bios) and Field Information Agency (Technical), or Fiat, a joint Anglo-American military intelligence unit.

The purpose was two-fold--One to uncover Nazi military secrets in the dying days of the war, which was seen as helpful in ending the conflict in the Far East, and Two to acquire a commercial edge through acquisition of German knowledge.

"Usually, an NCO arrives without notice at the house or office of the German and warns that he will be required. He does not give him any details of the reasons, nor does he present his credentials. Some time later, the German is seized (often in the middle of the night) and removed under guard," The Telegraph quoted a memo written by a civil servant working with the British military in Germany in August 1946.

The documents, labelled 'Top Secret' and belonging to the British Foreign Office were discovered at the National Archives at Kew.

After interrogating them, the documents reveal that the abducted Germans were either released or put to work in Britain. Those who worked were paid 15 shillings (75p) a week, the daily reported.

ANI