NARA (National Archives & Records Administration), NA in DC, NAII in College Pk., MD

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'clock High!:

Richard T. Eger
NARA Record Groups
Wed May 24 17:31:38 2000


There are a number of record groups at the National Archives and Records Administration that are of interest. Rabe Anton frequently refers to RG 242 as a major
source of German records. Utilizing the 2 references I have cited, here are some record groups of interest. The first document referenced is "Captured German and
Related Records."

RG 242 - NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF SEIZED ENEMY RECORDS, 1941 -

Records Filmed at Whaddon Hall, Bucks, England

Among these are collections dealing with the German Foreign Office, German Foreign Ministry, German Embassy at Washington, and German Diplomats.

Captured German Documents Filmed at Berlin

'"Non-biographic" records of several offices of the Nazi Party, Party formations, affiliated associations, and supervised organizations; private papers of some Nazi
leaders; records of some Reich Ministries and Government Agencies; and records of some private industrial corporations and persons.' One area covered is
Reichswerke Hermann Goering.

Captured German Records Filmed at Alexandria, Virginia

"Records of various German central, regional and local government agencies, military headquarters, commands and units of the Nazi Party, Party formations, affiliated
associations, and supervised organizations, and papers of some private businesses, institutions, and persons." Here is a sampling of areas covered:

Records of the Reich Ministry for Armaments and War Production.

Records of the Reich Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium).

Records of German and Japanese Embassies and Consulates, 1890-1945.

Records of the German Headquarters of the German Armed Forces High Command.

Records of the Headquarters, German Navy High Command (OKM).

Records of the Headquarters of the German Air Force High Command (Oberkommano der Luftwaffe/OKL).

The Von Rohden Collection of Research Materials on the Role of the German Air Forces in World War II, 1911-1947.

Records of German Field Commands, Divisions.

German Military and Technical Manuals, 1910-1945.

Other German Records

In this area, which covers mainly pre-WW II records, is:

Records of the German Navy, 1850-1945, received from the United States Naval History Division.

Other Captured Records

Here are records relating to Russia, Hungary, Italy, and Portugal.

RG 238 - WORLD WAR II WAR CRIMES RECORDS

Here are records of the U. S. Nuermberg War Crimes Trials, including records of the 12 cases tried by U. S. Tribunals at Nuernberg. The 12cases tried were:

Karl Brandt, et. al.
Erhard Milch
Josef Altstoetter, et. al.
Oswold Pohl, et. al.
Friedrich Flick, et. al.
Carl Krauch, et. al.
Wilhelm List, et. al.
Ulrich Greifelt, et. al.
Otto Greifelt, et. al.
Otto Ohlendorf, et. al.
Alfred Felix, Alwyn Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, et. al.
Ernst von Weizsaecker, et. al.
Wilhelm von Leeb, et. al.

One is left to wonder where the papers collected on Hermann Goering, Albert Speer, and Rudolf Hess are. The papers on Erhard Milch, though, might be rather
informative.

Records of the International Military Tribunal Described in National Archives Preliminary Inventory No. 21.

These include the diary of Hans Frank, prosecution exhibits submitted to the International Military Tribunal, war diaries and correspondence of General Alfred Jodl, and
Untied States trial briefs and document book.

Miscellaneous Nuermberg Records

Document series C, D, EC, ECH, ECR, L, M, PS, R, TC, NO, OCC, BB, BBH, F, SS, and WB. Most of the original documents are accompanied by English
translations.

RG 59 - GENERAL RECORDS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Records of the Department of State Special Interrogation Mission to Germany, 1945-1956.

RG 165 - RECORDS OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT GENERAL AND SPECIAL STAFFS

Interrogation reports of former German officials by the War Department Historical Commisssion (Schuster Commission), July 9 - November

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'clock High!:

Artie Bob
NAII College Park
Fri May 19 12:45:18 2000


Just a note on the archives. There is an overwhelming amount of material at College Park, very accessible, if you have the time to search out what you are looking for.
The personnel are generally helpful and the facilities, IMHO, first rate. The problem is that you really have to go there to accomplish very much. Some of the material
has very good finding aids, other material just requires going through literally 10s of thousands of pages of documents and microfilm. When I am there, I scan about
5-10,000 pages each day and end up copying maybe 50-100 pages

[Richard T Eger]

From TOH!:

Rabe Anton
Re: Is NARA Really Valhalla?
Fri May 19 12:55:25 2000


Right on, Artie Bob! But I must add, and you would
agree, I think, that while there is a lot of material
with some potential at Archives II, it doesn't con-
tain the Ring of the Nibelungen so far as Luftwaffe
documentation is concerned. Out of what survives,
it has a great deal in RG 242, Captured German Records,
but what survives is so very little of what once was. . . .
Point is, one may go to Archives II but shouldn't
expect to have all the Luftwaffe's secrets delivered
on a platter. Most of those secrets will remain forever
hidden in the ashes of air raids and incinerators long
ago.

RA

[Richard T Eger]

From TOH!:

Mike Wenger
RG242??
Wed May 24 00:07:08 2000


Rabe

I have heard from someone in Barry Rosch's Luft club that a great body of Luftwaffe recon photography is at NARS in College Park. Have you are ever heard anything
about that being in the Still Picture Branch up there? I have been going up there for 20 years (living in RG80) and have never seen it, although the material might have
been acessioned from Suitland[?] in the last cople of years.

Mike Wenger

[Richard T Eger]

From TOH!:

Richard T. Eger
Records Comparison
Fri May 19 16:08:10 2000


Dear Rabe and Artie Bob,

How would you compare what is at NAII to the DDC microfilms now at Garber? The PB reports at the Library of Congress seem to be, in the main, a subset of the
DDC reports, as the same reel and frame numbers appear on both. Maxwell, however, seems to be a completely different animal altogether, the records concentrating
on the Allied side. Do either of you know whether Maxwell actually has any captured German documents and, if so, how do these fit relative to the NAII and Garber
holdings?

Regards,
Richard

[Richard T Eger]

From TOH!:

Artie Bob
Luftwaffe material
Fri May 19 17:48:15 2000


The information at Garber is almost all technical information, i.e., manuals, test reports, calculations, design data. At College Park, the spectrum is much wider and
there are the USSBS files, OSS, RG242(the Berlin documents), etc., etc.; but the Luftwaffe information I am looking for ends up being small pebbles embedded in a
very big pile of rocks. The HRA at Maxwell has a very limited amount of actual German documents, but has a fair amount of intelligence material, some of it very
interesting and remnants of the USAF post war historical files from Germany. Rabe is certainly the expert on Maxwell's holdings.

[Richard T Eger]

From TOH!:

Richard T. Eger
Comparison of Archives
Fri May 19 19:41:11 2000


Dear Artie Bob and Rabe,

Thanks for your responses. Rabe, you did confirm what I suspected. Way back in the 1960's I did a very brief search at the National Archives in downtown DC. If I
recall correctly, I was assisted by a fellow named John Taylor. John pulled out the OSS files. I went through these and the impression I came away with was that a lot
of their stuff was off in left field. Rumors of this or that, but nothing very hard. It was difficult, if not impossible, to tell if any of it was true. As for the USSBS reports,
aren't these of Allied origin, rather than captured German documents? Perhaps they contained translations. Rabe has mentioned RG242 in the past. Artie Bob, the
way you describe it, the National Archives is not truly the motherload of non-technical German reports, whereas Maxwell is the motherload of Allied material regarding
German aviation and the DDC microfilms are the motherload of technical information on German aircraft, engines, etc. Yes, you've said such non-technical reports in
large measure may not exist. What about the PRO in London, the IWM, and the Bundesarchiv's? If we went about grabbing anything technical we could lay our hands
on to microfilm, i.e., the DDC microfilms, just how could non-technical reports be so skimpy? Especially odd is the lack of a trail on the Werknummer system. Artie
Bob has had to develop this by reverse engineering. Just where are the records buried???

Regards,
Richard

[Richard T Eger]

From TOH!:

Rabe Anton
Re: Paper Survival
Fri May 19 20:07:10 2000


Richard,

Sorry, with a few exceptions that are either in RG 242,
the hands of postwar German aviation firms (e.g., MBB),
or the BA-MA, there isn't very much left of German
aviation industry paper. Credit the Allied air campaign
and the Germans' official anxiety about postwar consequences of their wartime behavior. . . .

RA

[Jaap Woortman]

"Famous" names in the Institute für Zeitgeschichte.
The goal of this message is give answer to the question of Richard T.Eger in the first message of this thread. In the index of the Institute für Zeitgeschichte I have seen the following known names: Goebbels, Göring, Halder, Hentschel, Heydrich, Himmler, Jodl, Lahousen, Rintelen, Saur, Schellenberg, von Seekt and Speer. Not to be mentioned in this list, but surely well-known and famous is Richard Suchenwirth. Files with documents from these persons are available in the mentioned Institute. For further information about the "Institute für "Zeitgeschichte" see "Archives at the WWW".

Jaap


[Note: This message has been edited by Jaap Woortman]

[Michael Holm]

Some details on the T321 records (Records of the HQ of the German Air Force High Command)
at NARA.
The entire series consist of 274 rolls, and this is some of the more interesting:

Rolls 9 and 53 with several maps, incl. one showing distribution of units under Lutfflotte Reich and others on 24.6.44. Also Weekly tables showing location, unit distribution and strength of the Luftflotten, 27.10.40 - 20.12.41.

Roll 17, 19, 50 and 51 contain the War Diary of Luftflotte 6 in 1945, very detailed.

Roll 18 and 20 contains the War Diary of Fliegerhorstkommandantur Tours, 1941 - 1943.

Roll 19 with the War Diary of KGrzbV 5, 9.42 - 10.42 and 2.43 - 9.43.

Roll 20 with the War Diary of 3.(H)/21, 1941 - 1942.

Roll 54 contains a Battle of Britain synopsis, written from the War Diaries of Luftflotten 2, 3 and 5; details of bomber operations 8.40 - 3.41

Rolls 60 - 66 contains several thousand Abschussmeldungen der Flak during 1944 (almost 8000 pages).

Roll 75 with the War Diary of KG55, 17.5.43 - 24.5.44.

More later.




------------------
Michael Holm

[Richard T Eger]

Dear Michael,

This is exactly the sort of useful detailed information that we need on the site. Thank you so much for your contribution. I look forward to your next posts.

Regards,
Richard

[Rich Corey]

Dear Richard,
Just to add my two cents worth to this topic.........
Not being able to travel to NARA's holdings, I must rely on their search engine which isn't exactly user friendly to the pc challanged, such as myself. The term "colossal monolith" quickly comes to mind.
Anyway, experimenting with the NAIL locater, I typed in the generic term "German aircraft" and came up with 300 hits. Almost all were motion picture reels. There was some very interesting subject matter such as: Flight testing of an FW-190 at Wright Field and even some captured footage of the Dornier Do-335! Certainly worth checking out.
Hopefully I'm not telling everyone a lot of info they already know.

Regards,
Rich

[Richard T Eger]

Dear Rich,

Yes, I remember finding that, while they had much film material archived on-line, it didn't appear that the text records had yet been put on the web. They have enormous holdings and it will probably take quite a while to get text material up.

I also agree that the NARA appears to have one of the most user unfriendly search engines in existence.

Regards,
Richard

[Richard T Eger]

From within a thread on 12 O'Clock High!:

rdunn
NARA
Tue Apr 8 22:10:31 2003
68.49.15.124

Several thoughts arise from reading this string of comments. I wonder if any of those of us commenting have ever seen NARA'a budget and more specifically the part related to Archives (not "records administration" an entirely different function). I wonder how it compares to budgets of other major countries that have similar facilities. If you've ever visited Archives II at College Park, Maryland you can't help but be impressed with the size of the building as well as its well-lit textual records room and other facilities (this is not the building with the primary geneolical material). Perhaps the money went to building this huge facility! The building is dedicated to the local Congressman who no doubt obtained the funds needed to build it.

As Government agencies go NARA is no worse than most and does a pretty decent job from what I can tell.

Finally, NARA is far from the last answer for folks interested in military history in the U.S. Each of the military services has a history program and provide access to a substantial amount of information on-line.

FWIW

Rick

[Richard T Eger]

For commentary comparing NARA II to the NA (PRO), the reader is referred to the topic "NA (PRO) A.I.2(g) reports" on the "Archives in the UK & Ireland" forum.

Regards,
Richard