During World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, Richard W. Cutler
was an officer with the elite X-2 counterintelligence branch of the
Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and with its successor, the Strategic
Services Unit (SSU). Counterspy offers a rare firsthand account of the
secret war against Hitler and the postwar competition with the Soviets
for German intelligence assets. While with X-2, Cutler analyzed the
super-secret Ultra intercepts and vetted agents about to be sent into
Nazi Germany. Cutler provides an insightful overview of OSS operations
during the war and their contribution to the Allies' victory. This is
also one of the few books to describe the role of the OSS and the SSU in
the postwar occupation of Germany. Cutler's first job after the German
surrender was to vet all of Allen Dulles's wartime sources inside
Germany, who were aptly nicknamed the Crown Jewels. Just as the OSS was
reorganized into the SSU, Cutler moved to Berlin, where his first task
was to collect intelligence from former Nazis. Soon he became chief of
counterespionage in Berlin. Soviet intelligence had already begun
recruiting former German intelligence officers to spy on Americans, so
Cutler's top priority was to uncover Soviet objectives and either
neutralize or double their agents. Cutler reveals previously unpublished
case histories of double agents against Soviet intelligence and details
agents' recruitment, missions, methods of operation, successes and
failures, and fates. All of these events are recounted against the
fascinating background of postwar Germany. He provides a vivid picture
of the mood of the German people, how they rationalized war guilt, and
how they coped with the devastation throughout the country. With
photographs and a foreword by bestselling author Joseph E. Persico
(Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage), Counterspy
is a unique account of espionage during the momentous years of World War
II and the beginning of the Cold War.
