Date Mon, 9 May 1994 14 23 15 -0500
Reply-To: German History list
Sender: German History list
From: H-GERMAN MODERATOR Dan Rogers
Subject: What is the Berlin Document Center?
Submitted by: Dan Rogers
U.S. Department of State Appendix to Testimony before the Subcommittee on
International Organizations, International Security, and Human Rights April
28, 1994
Access to Holdings of the Berlin Document Center
What is the BDC?
The Berlin Document Center (BDC) is the largest repository of
personnel and membership records of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and its
affiliated organizations. From July 1945 until October 1953, Nazi Party
records captured by the Western Allies were consolidated at the BDC under
the authority of the U.S. Army for use in war crimes and denazification
trials. Since October 1953, the BDC has been under the jurisdiction of the
Department of State, directly subordinate to, first, the United States
Mission in (West) Berlin and, since German unification, Embassy Office
Berlin. Throughout this history, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) has
borne the expenses of operating the BDC.
The records at the BDC contain both biographical files and
nonbiographical materials. The biographical files, which make up the bulk
of the collection, contain Nazi Party membership records and personnel
records of the SS, SA, and other affiliated party and state agencies.
The BDC Research Collection constitutes the only nonbiographical
records still held at the BDC. All other nonbiographical Nazi records that
were once held in the BDC were transferred to the FRG Government during the
period 1959-62 pursuant to bilateral agreements between Germany and the
United States, Great Britain, and France. Much of the returned material
was microfilmed at the time under the auspices of the American Historical
Society [sic] or the Hoover Institution and has been readily available to
scholars in the United States.
Under a separate agreement (the Hallstein-Dowling exchange of notes,
1956), German Foreign Ministry files (distinct from Nazi Party records)
were turned over to the Foreign Ministry during the period 1956-58. These
were subject to selective U.S. microfilming, which on privacy grounds
excluded personnel files. While German Foreign Ministry archivists have
declined to release these personnel files, they have routinely answered
questions from scholars about their contents.
Included in the records still held by the BDC are:
Approximately 11 million NSDAP membership cards created and maintained
by party headquarters. This collections is believed to constitute 90
percent of all such cards created by the NSDAP;
personnel files of SS officers;
documents pertaining to rank-and-file SS members;
and, documents relating to other NSDAP-affiliated organizations, both
para-military and civil.
Background to the Turnover
State Department records indicate our intention as of 1952 to transfer
captured German documents to Bonn's control in order "promote friendly
relations with the Federal Republic of Germany on a normal basis." Those
documents whose release could endanger national security or whose contents
dealt with the Nazi Party were to remain in U.S. control, "except where
such transfer would not jeopardize the democratic way of life in the
Federal Republic." The U.S. and FRG Governments have discussed the
transfer of BDC periodically since 1967. Our policy since 1980 has been
guided by a bilateral ad referendum agreement which provided for the
turnover when microfilming of all BDC records had been accomplished.
Following a unanimous 1989 resolution of the German Bundestag
requesting the immediate transfer, renewed negotiations culminated in the
October 1993 agreement, under which we will transfer to Germany title and
control of the German documentary materials contained in the BDC. This
transfer is to occur on July 1, 1994, by which time the BDC will have
microfilmed, at German expense, all of the BDC records and transferred the
microfilms to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Thus far in the microfilming project, over 52 million exposures have
been made. The BDC's system of "finding aids," which facilitate research,
is being reproduced, and a computer data base of the files is also being
created. Some original documents are receiving preservation treatment and
are being restored when necessary.
Upon completion of the project, the NARA will possess one of the two
complete sets of microfilm currently in production (the German National
Archives will receive the other set) and will begin making a set for use by
public researchers. NARA officials have already begun to examine the 32
series of documents (as organized by the BDC's creators) for the purpose of
identifying those series that merit the earliest release for researchers.
Access in Germany
Our agreement with Germany assures the U.S. Government of continued
access to original documents held in the BDC for the official purposes that
have characterized our use of the Center heretofore, namely: (1) the
purposes of comparing originals with microfilm copies and producing
additional copies; (2) forensic purposes; and (3) judicial evidentiary
purposes. The Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations and
State Department consular officials will continue to have full and timely
access to records required in enforcing U.S. immigration law provisions
against former members of Nazi-affiliated organizations. Judicial
officials in the United States will be able to receive from Germany and
hold for a reasonable time any original documents that pertain to war
crimes, other criminal, or civil actions before courts here.
Many of the fears concerning access to BDC originals are unfounded or
based on bad experiences in the past with a system that is no longer in
place or that will not apply to BDC access questions. Privacy
considerations will limit access, as they have under the U.S. stewardship,
but not in the case of scholarly research treating persons in the public
eye. Since Germany's adoption of a new federal archives law in 1988,
German nationals who desire access to BDC documents have had to apply to
the German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv). The Bundesarchiv indicates
whether it has any objections to access. BDC management has been in a
position, therefore, to monitor how the Bundesarchiv applies its discretion
under the German law. The Bundesarchiv has established an excellent track
record of openness and accessibility. In 1993, for instance, it posed no
objections to access to BDC documents in the 863 cases involving German
citizen requests.
The turnover agreement provides that "public access to the documents
in the Berlin Document Center and the microfilm copies in the National
Archives of the United States of America shall be in accordance with the
rules of the respective archives." It provides also for a U.S. Government
Berlin Document Center Liaison Officer, a diplomatic member of our Embassy
Office in Berlin, who will be responsible "for representing American
interests in access to the documents until the American copy of the
microfilm is fully accessible in the United States of America." Ambassador
Holbrooke has assigned this important role to our principal officer in
Berlin.
Pursuant to internationally-recognized archival principles, German
authorities may undertake in the future to reorganize some BDC holdings
from their current biographic ordering in an attempt to restore the files
to their original provenance. Such a reorganization, if undertaken, would
be incomplete and misguided without a concordance that would permit the
German authorities to reconstruct the BDC biographic organization. Some of
the BDC collections may at some point be distributed or consolidated to
complement or complete existing collections held in Germany. However, per
the Note Verbale accompanying our agreement, "collections contained within
the Berlin Document Center will not be moved from their current location
absent prior consultation with the United States authorities and . . . the
Agreement will continue to pertain to the documents . . . wherever they may
eventually be located."
Access in the United States
No microfilming project of this kind and scale has ever taken place
before. It is the result of careful planning and produces films of the
highest quality. (This state-of-the-art project has been highly praised by
international specialists, and the BDC consults regularly with German
agencies and archives that are planning similar projects.) The U.S.
National Archives is satisfied that microfilm as a medium is capable of
rendering faithful copies of BDC documents. We know of no instances of BDC
documents that could not be microfilmed legibly due to lack of contrast. As
with anything involving human beings that is the product of literally tens
of millions of single actions, the microfilm produced by the BDC will
likely contain some errors (a carefully-planned quality assurance program
is designed to identify and correct all but the most random and isolated
ones). Any system designed to check the completeness of each individual
frame of microfilm would entail staggering costs. Our agreement with
Germany provides for access to the originals for the purpose of correcting
whatever errors may have crept into films.
The NARA will review for release by Autumn 1994 those series of
microfilmed BDC files that are now most actively studied, namely, SS
officers' personnel files and the NSDAP master membership files. The
Archives intends to open access to the 32 series on a rolling basis, as the
user microfilm copies of each series are produced, over an expected two
years or less starting July 1, 1994.
Chronology
April 1945 Large caches of Nazi Party documents intended for
destruction are discovered at a paper mill near Munich, in a
salt mine near Berchtesgaden, and at other locations in
Germany. These are consolidated in Berlin with other
captured documents under the supervision of U.S. military
authorities.
1948-49 Captured German Foreign Ministry records, including many
that predated the Nazi regime, are removed from Berlin
during the airlift and stored at Whaddon Hall, England. The
transfer of these documents, which were _not_ BDC holdings,
to FRG control was later the subject of the 1956 Hallstein-
Dowling exchange of notes and analogous agreements with
Great Britain and France.
October 1952 Nearing the close of war crimes trials and denazification
actions, the USG establishes its intention to return seized
German documents. Those documents whose release could
endanger national security or whose contents dealt with the
Nazi Party are to remain in U.S. control, "except where such
transfer would not jeopardize the democratic way of life in
the Federal Republic."
March 1967 The BDC's possession of information on Chancellor
Kiesinger's Nazi past is publicized and causes tension in
U.S.-FRG relations. Consultations with the FRG, Britain,
and France on placing the BDC under German supervision begin
but deadlock in 1968 due to U.S. concern over private
scholars' access to the holdings. At the time, only three
of the BDC's 32 Biographic Collections ("series") have been
microfilmed in their entirety.
1968-1972 Further BDC collections are microfilmed.
June 1979 Formal negotiations convene in Berlin and lead in 1980
Washington talks to an ad referendum agreement, never
formalized, under which the FRG and U.S. agree in principle
that the BDC should be transferred to FRG control when
microfilming of its entire holdings is accomplished.
1987-88 A large-scale theft of BDC documents is discovered. The
resulting focus on the BDC reveals many perceived weaknesses
in security and management which become the subject of
German Bundestag hearings. Some documents are recovered and
security at the BDC is improved. The return of the BDC
again becomes an issue.
1988 Planning begins for resumption of the microfilming project.
The FRG Government guarantees complete funding.
Microfilming resumes in June 1989.
April 1989 The Bundestag resolves unanimously that the BDC should be
transferred to German control. Informal discussions of a
turnover resume.
October 1992 Acting Secretary of State Kanter approves Circular 175
authority to carry out the concluding negotiations
concerning the transfer. An accompanying memorandum of law
identifies the statutory authority (44 U.S.C. Section 3302;
36 CFR Section 1228.60) to turn over title to the BDC's
holdings to the FRG.
June 1993 Negotiations conclude. State Department officials continue
to consult with NARA and with interested private groups on
the projected turnover. Embassy Bonn staff also in
consultation with the U.S. Holocaust Museum and other
parties.
October 1993 Agreement is signed in Berlin October 18, 1993, accompanied
by a Note Verbale treating employment terms for German BDC
employees, official USG access, and the need for U.S.-FRG
consultation prior to the removal of BDC holdings to another
location.
December 1993 Congress notified of the agreement and provided a precis of
its contents, pursuant to the Case-Zablocki Act.