WEBVTT NOTE Mises and the Struggle Against Italian Fascism in World War II 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.000 My paper deals with the US intelligence community, so bear with me. Some of these concepts, I'll do my best to define them. You may not be familiar with them. 2 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:22.000 Biographers of Austrian School economists face at least two significant obstacles when attempting historical research within the US intelligence community's wilderness of mirrors. 3 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:28.000 The first is lack of experience litigating and obtaining documents under the Federal Freedom of Information Act. 4 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:39.000 The second obstacle is a general unfamiliarity with investigative reporting and open sources and methods within the intelligence field. 5 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:50.000 I did investigative reporting between 1983 and 1989 while working as a journalist, and that experience helped me write this paper. 6 00:00:50.000 --> 00:01:06.000 While conducting historical research into the Austrian School, I filed a FOIA request with the Central Intelligence Agency for declassified records pertaining to several deceased economists, including Ludwig von Mises. 7 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:19.000 The CIA cited two FOIA exemptions in denying my request. Those were the B1 national security and B3 sources and methods exemptions. 8 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:34.000 The Story of Ludwig von Mises during World War II 9 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:41.160 worked with US intelligence in the struggle against fascism, Italian and German. 10 00:01:41.160 --> 00:01:50.360 And this is in contrast to the claim by Herbert Marcuse made in a 1934 article reprinted in 11 00:01:50.360 --> 00:01:59.240 a 1968 book that Mises was somehow sympathetic to fascism based on one paragraph in liberalism, 12 00:01:59.240 --> 00:02:02.320 a book that he'd written in the 1920s. 13 00:02:02.320 --> 00:02:09.040 Both Murray Rothbard in 1981 and Ralph Reiko in 1996 attempted to respond to Marcusa. 14 00:02:09.040 --> 00:02:15.160 I'm responding to Marcusa using correspondence that I obtained from these archives. 15 00:02:15.160 --> 00:02:22.200 And I'm arguing that these claims of Marcusa, viewed in light of his work as an intelligence 16 00:02:22.200 --> 00:02:29.040 analyst and the CIA's denial of my request, raise some important questions about government 17 00:02:29.040 --> 00:02:31.040 secrecy. 18 00:02:31.040 --> 00:02:43.040 Let me say that this paper would not have been possible without the cooperation of Dr. Jeffrey Herbiner at Grove City College who oversees the Mises Archives. 19 00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:49.040 And I'm building on the work that was done by Weido Halsman. 20 00:02:49.040 --> 00:02:57.040 I'm going to start by noting that Mises was the target of the Gestapo during World War II. 21 00:02:57.040 --> 00:03:02.040 He was exfiltrated from France with his wife, Margeet. 22 00:03:02.040 --> 00:03:12.040 The story of his help in the struggle against fascism, though, has its origins in his World War I military service. 23 00:03:12.040 --> 00:03:17.040 Hulsman is the authority on that service. 24 00:03:17.040 --> 00:03:26.040 And the important point about his service, in some, is that Ludwig von Mises served in the military and understood logistics. 25 00:03:26.040 --> 00:03:29.400 I'll give you a definition of logistics. 26 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:33.840 Logistics deals with the procurement, supply and maintenance of military equipment and 27 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:42.280 with the movement, evacuation and hospitalization of personnel and provision of other services. 28 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:48.220 These become issues that Ludwig von Mises is dealing with as he writes unsigned editorials 29 00:03:48.220 --> 00:03:53.360 for the New York Times during World War II, commenting on the logistical problems that 30 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:58.360 that the Nazis face on the Eastern Front. 31 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:05.920 So I mentioned Halsman, Marjit Mises, Ludwig von Mises' wife, wrote a memoir, and that 32 00:04:05.920 --> 00:04:13.320 memoir is the authoritative story of how they escaped from Europe as the Nazis closed in 33 00:04:13.320 --> 00:04:17.520 on them. 34 00:04:17.520 --> 00:04:25.720 Now I'm going to talk briefly about Mises' work as a wartime analyst writing for the New 35 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.920 York Times before getting into what the archives show. 36 00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:35.840 A subplot of Mises' work with U.S. intelligence during World War II was his work as a wartime 37 00:04:35.840 --> 00:04:41.120 analyst while living in New York for the American paper of record, the New York Times. 38 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:49.260 Margit Mises, Graves in 1993 and Hulsman all refer to this relationship and additional 39 00:04:49.260 --> 00:04:56.300 information is provided by the New York Times index for 1943, which is open source. 40 00:04:56.300 --> 00:05:00.480 The New York Times published at least eight unsigned editorials written by Mises and another 41 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:04.380 two letters to the editor in 1942 and 43. 42 00:05:04.380 --> 00:05:12.420 It's likely that another two unsigned editorials published by the Times were written by Mises. 43 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:17.460 Just to give you the flavor for this, his fourth unsigned editorial, which gets into 44 00:05:17.460 --> 00:05:24.640 logistics entitled The German Supply Problem, published 26 December 1943, notes the Nazi's 45 00:05:24.640 --> 00:05:28.020 problems on the Eastern Front. 46 00:05:28.020 --> 00:05:33.740 Quote, it becomes increasingly clear that the Russian campaign has strained German manpower 47 00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:38.820 Power and Material Resources to the utmost. In the earlier stages of the war when they 48 00:05:38.820 --> 00:05:47.220 were advancing, the German armies had to transform the wider Russian railroad gauge into the 49 00:05:47.220 --> 00:05:54.620 narrower European gauge. Immense quantities of German material, iron and steel, lumber 50 00:05:54.620 --> 00:06:02.140 cement, electrical equipment are embedded in the vast sandy steppes and swamps of Russia. 51 00:06:02.140 --> 00:06:05.580 So he's analyzing logistical problems just like an analyst. 52 00:06:05.580 --> 00:06:16.340 And in fact, he's approached in 1943 by the Office of Strategic Services, which is the 53 00:06:16.340 --> 00:06:26.380 predecessor of the CIA, in a letter from Taylor Stark. 54 00:06:26.380 --> 00:06:31.060 Now, just back up for one moment, Mises is doing this logistical work. 55 00:06:31.060 --> 00:06:38.180 He's also concerned with post-war reconstruction. This is pointed out by Hulsman in his biography. 56 00:06:38.180 --> 00:06:43.340 Mises was convinced the fascists would lose World War II at the conflict's onset in September 57 00:06:43.340 --> 00:06:49.800 1939. He was already thinking about the time after the war. By May of 1940, he elaborated 58 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:56.660 a fairly detailed plan for post-war reconstruction but kept it private. He referenced post-war 59 00:06:56.660 --> 00:07:03.240 Reconstruction, and a January 1941 article written for Trusts and Estates magazine, but 60 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:09.820 then in January of 1943 he actually wrote an editorial, an op-ed, for the New York Times 61 00:07:09.820 --> 00:07:17.020 exclusively on that topic of post-war reconstruction. So he's out there, his name is now in the 62 00:07:17.020 --> 00:07:24.020 paper of record, and he receives this letter, November 15th, 1943, from Taylor Stark. This 63 00:07:24.020 --> 00:07:30.300 Services in the Mises Archive at Grove City College. 64 00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:39.980 The American Defense Harvard Group, according to the Harvard Library Archives, the Biographical 65 00:07:39.980 --> 00:07:44.860 Records Committee was authorized by the OSS to make a study of learned personnel in enemy 66 00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:47.080 and enemy-controlled countries. 67 00:07:47.080 --> 00:07:50.980 As Stark's letter to Mises begins, quote, the American Defense Harvard Group at the 68 00:07:50.980 --> 00:08:20.980 and the instigation of the Office of Strategic Services has undertaken a survey of reliable individuals in enemy and Nazi-dominated countries, though our inquiry is primarily concerned with the educational, learned and artistic world, we are always glad to receive pertinent data about anyone, no matter what his occupation might be. Stark also tells Mises that the establishment of fascism in Italy and the committee's anxiousness to have the names 69 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:45.980 Mises reassures Mises about his own personal safety. He tells Mises you need to have no hesitation on the score of injuring unwittingly any friends or acquaintances who are still within the reach of the Gestapo. They are interested in people that are back in Europe, not in the United States. 70 00:08:45.980 --> 00:09:05.980 Okay, Stark did not receive a reply. He approached Mises in a second letter dated 12 January 1944. However, Mises within three days replied. He had taken some time to consult with a colleague, an Austrian, and he provided five names to Stark for the OSS. 71 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:21.980 Okay. There were other approaches by the government to Mises. In the interim between Stark's first and second letters, Mises received a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Edward L. Barlow, Chief of the New York Office of the War Department's Military Intelligence Division. 72 00:09:21.980 --> 00:09:33.980 And this is a copy of the letter. Okay. And in this letter, it states that it's been brought to our attention that you might have information of value which should be useful to the work conducted in this office. 73 00:09:33.980 --> 00:09:41.260 Office, Mises replied, and in fact, he was later contacted by the Office of War Information, 74 00:09:41.260 --> 00:09:46.700 the Writers' War Board, and he was asked to provide information for a shortwave broadcast 75 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:51.780 into Italy, occupied Italy, against fascism. 76 00:09:51.780 --> 00:09:57.780 Remember, Marcuse is accusing Mises of being sympathetic to fascism. 77 00:09:57.780 --> 00:09:58.980 He's repeating that claim. 78 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:08.980 The leftists have repeated that claim into the 21st century in articles and books, and here is Mises working with US intelligence against fascism. 79 00:10:08.980 --> 00:10:18.980 He's providing names to the OSS about people who can help in the denazification process after the war ends. 80 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:26.980 He's helping the OWI with a broadcast into Italy. That's what these archives show. 81 00:10:26.980 --> 00:10:38.980 So finally, as World War II neared its conclusion in Europe, Mises received an 8 March 1945 letter from Colonel S. V. Constant, Security and Intelligence Division, U.S. War Department. 82 00:10:38.980 --> 00:10:46.980 The letter noted that Mises had been suggested as a possible source of information and asked him to complete an attached form and return it to this office. 83 00:10:46.980 --> 00:10:55.980 He did. In fact, Mises identified 11 Austrian economists and lawyers who did not yield to the Nazis and are at present in Austria, 84 00:10:55.980 --> 00:11:01.940 Five German non-Nazis and seven non-Nazis in Austria. Mises provided additional information 85 00:11:01.940 --> 00:11:10.180 on five non-Nazis in an 11 April 1945 letter, of course, on 8 May 1945, World War II ended. 86 00:11:10.180 --> 00:11:18.020 Now the fate of Mises's friends I think could be a completely separate paper, but we'll 87 00:11:18.020 --> 00:11:25.340 narrow that long list down to five. He gave the same names to Stark in January of 1944 88 00:11:25.340 --> 00:11:30.740 and then the War Department in early 1945, unbeknownst to Mises, three of the group had 89 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:36.220 already perished at the hands of fascists. One was first separated from his family and 90 00:11:36.220 --> 00:11:40.880 forced to reside in a mass residence in Vienna, according to Hulsman. He was later deported 91 00:11:40.880 --> 00:11:46.420 and never seen again. Another was arrested by the Gestapo in 1942 and later perished 92 00:11:46.420 --> 00:11:52.320 while in captivity. Finally, one of the others was, along with his wife, perished in a German 93 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:55.560 and Concentration Cap, again according to Halsman. 94 00:11:55.560 --> 00:12:02.360 Now one of the five though, Tautcher, who was a chamber of commerce official and also 95 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:08.040 a pre-war Austrian minister of trade and transport, lived and played a key role in Austria's post-war 96 00:12:08.040 --> 00:12:09.660 reconstruction. 97 00:12:09.660 --> 00:12:16.160 He actually led the ERP under the Marshall Plan in Austria and was an early supporter 98 00:12:16.160 --> 00:12:18.080 of European economic integration. 99 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:26.580 So, I'm going to wrap this up. I mentioned Murray and Ralph Reiko defending Mises against 100 00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:31.220 Marcuse. I've come about it a different way. I've gone into these archives to come up with 101 00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:36.620 this correspondence. I think it's compelling. And I think it shows that this is who Ludwig 102 00:12:36.620 --> 00:12:42.660 von Mises was. He was an anti-fascist, okay? However, government secrecy increases the 103 00:12:42.660 --> 00:12:45.260 and the probability of false histories. 104 00:12:45.260 --> 00:12:49.980 One characteristic, of course, of intelligence services is their creation of legends, which 105 00:12:49.980 --> 00:12:52.540 are false histories. 106 00:12:52.540 --> 00:12:55.900 These do not fool competing services most of the time. 107 00:12:55.900 --> 00:12:57.440 They're designed to fool the people. 108 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:01.420 And this is a point made by Victor Marchetti, a former CIA officer. 109 00:13:01.420 --> 00:13:06.660 In fact, legislators in the press in many cases are intimidated by the resources that 110 00:13:06.660 --> 00:13:09.180 an intelligence service can bring to bear. 111 00:13:09.180 --> 00:13:12.640 Independent historians face a similar challenge. 112 00:13:12.640 --> 00:13:18.800 Journalists have tools at their disposal. FOIA is one example, though open source intelligence 113 00:13:18.800 --> 00:13:24.280 is often times more useful in reporting on the intelligence community. Open source intelligence 114 00:13:24.280 --> 00:13:30.360 in this case reveals several ironies and several unanswered questions. Now, the New York Times 115 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:37.800 in noting Marcuse's death, 31 July 1979, quote, during World War II, Dr. Marcuse has served 116 00:13:37.800 --> 00:13:42.260 as a European intelligence analyst with the Army's Office of Strategic Services. After 117 00:13:42.260 --> 00:13:47.040 After the war, he spent four years doing research for the quote-unquote government. 118 00:13:47.040 --> 00:13:52.260 The government in this instance is revealed in another open source material to be the 119 00:13:52.260 --> 00:13:53.580 CIA. 120 00:13:53.580 --> 00:13:57.420 This open source material is O'Toole, 1988. 121 00:13:57.420 --> 00:14:03.420 O'Toole was former chief of the Problems Analysis Branch of the CIA. 122 00:14:03.420 --> 00:14:08.180 According to his book, Marcuse has served in the OSS's Research and Analysis Branch 123 00:14:08.180 --> 00:14:10.660 during World War II. 124 00:14:10.660 --> 00:14:17.300 to the war, he went to work at the State Department, and finally he supervised intelligence studies 125 00:14:17.300 --> 00:14:20.260 for the CIA. 126 00:14:20.260 --> 00:14:28.060 This leads us to note this irony that Mises and Marcuse both worked with the OSS in the 127 00:14:28.060 --> 00:14:30.400 anti-fascist struggle in different ways. 128 00:14:30.400 --> 00:14:35.680 Marcuse, as an analyst, Mises providing human intelligence, however, there's one unresolved 129 00:14:35.680 --> 00:14:42.440 Question Did Marcuse know that Mises had provided intelligence to his employer, the OSS, during 130 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:44.080 World War II? 131 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:51.120 We don't know because of government secrecy, the denial of my FOIA requests. 132 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:56.040 Observers might speculate that Marcuse's intelligence analysis of Central European fascists suggests 133 00:14:56.040 --> 00:14:59.920 he knew of Mises's anti-fascist work. 134 00:14:59.920 --> 00:15:08.560 The compartmentalization of intelligence services prevents us from really coming up with a definitive 135 00:15:08.560 --> 00:15:13.520 answer without some documents that we can get out of the agency. 136 00:15:13.520 --> 00:15:20.560 However, I believe we can bury this false history that Marcuse and his followers have 137 00:15:20.560 --> 00:15:22.080 erected. 138 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:27.940 The revelation of these documents from archives establishes that Mises worked with U.S. intelligence 139 00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:29.140 during World War II. 140 00:15:29.140 --> 00:15:34.020 He was not a fascist, however government secrecy prevents the American people from knowing 141 00:15:34.020 --> 00:15:37.900 whether another legend has emerged in its place.