Walter Kopp Explained

Walter Kopp (1913 in Alsenz – 1974 in Gauting[1]) was a lieutenant colonel in the Wehrmacht in Nazi Germany. After the Nazi defeat in 1945, he became the chief of one stay-behind network in West Germany, code-named KIBITZ-15.[2] The British and US intelligence services had set up clandestine anti-communist organisations supposed to "stay-behind" in case of a Soviet invasion. Walter Kopp was described by his own North-American handlers as an "unreconstructed Nazi,"[3] and the KIBITZ-15 network as "a group with Nazi tendencies"[4] in CIA documents released in June 2006.

In May 1945 Kopp wrote a letter to High Commissioner McCloy stating that he and a group of his friends were concerned over what might happen in case of a Russian invasion of Germany and wished to place themselves at the disposal of the Americans. Walter Kopp was later made chief agent of the KIBITZ stay-behind network.[5]

In May 1953 Kopp's contract with the CIA was terminated "on the friendliest terms".[6]

In 1968 he was Liaison officer of the Military District Command in Munich to the political parties.[7]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.das-ritterkreuz.de/index_search_db.php4?modul=search_result_det&wert1=3278. Accessed: 2015-10-27. (Archived by WebCite® at https://www.webcitation.org/6cbEoVjqR?url=http://www.das-ritterkreuz.de/index_search_db.php4?modul=search_result_det&wert1=3278)
  2. https://www.archives.gov/iwg/declassified-records/rg-263-cia-records/second-release-lexicon.pdf Research Aid: Cryptonyms and Terms in Declassified CIA Files Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Disclosure Acts
  3. https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,1792559,00.html Why Israel's capture of Eichmann caused panic at the CIA
  4. http://www.fas.org/sgp/eprint/naftali.pdf Naftali, Timothy - New Information on Cold War Stay-Behind Operations in Germany and on the Adolf Eichmann Case.
  5. http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/1705143/KOPP%2C%20WALTER%20%20%20VOL.%202_0017.pdf Declassified CIA file "Walter Kopp (KIBITZ-15)"
  6. http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/1705143/KOPP%2C%20WALTER%20%20%20VOL.%202_0078.pdf Declassified CIA memo (EGFA-1220) "Termination of Kibitz-15 net"
  7. News: Braune Feldgraue. Der Spiegel. 7 January 1968.