German Agents Infiltrated Red Cross in Withheld OSS Files

By Harlan Pryce · August 9, 2026

Spies in the Red Cross and leaks that risked firing squads for operators stayed hidden in records the US government previously withheld, including files on chemical warfare in Europe.

A catalogue entry from the US National Archives describes a series titled "Washington Office Documents Previously Withheld." These are not the records' own pages, but the archival scope-and-content description of files maintained by the Strategic Services Unit (SSU) and its predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

Public record identifies the OSS as the second non-departmental civilian intelligence agency of the United States, established during World War II to coordinate espionage, propaganda, and subversion behind enemy lines. The catalogue entry confirms that the withheld records reflect the full breadth of this mandate, spanning nearly every functional limb of the organization.

X-2 and the Field Stations

The records list files from several key branches: the Secret Intelligence (SI) Branch, the Special Operations (SO) Branch, and the Counter-Intelligence (X-2) Branch. For those of us who have spent time in the field, the X-2 designation is the one that carries the most weight. X-2 was the shield—the part of the house dedicated to spotting double agents, scrubbing assets, and neutralizing enemy penetration.

The catalogue's reach is global, noting files from field stations in London, Bern, Paris, Rome, and Shanghai. In the mid-1940s, a station chief in Bern or Rome operated with a degree of autonomy that would be unthinkable in today's oversight environment. They were the primary points of contact for the "personalities" mentioned in the records—the French intelligence figures in File 15 and the Italian spies and counter-intelligence assets listed in File 29. When a record refers to "personalities," it usually means the agency was tracking the psychological profile, loyalties, and reliability of individuals who could either make or break a theater operation.

Todt and the Red Cross

The specific files highlighted in the archival description suggest a focus on the underside of the Axis war machine. File 267 covers the Todt organization—the Third Reich's massive civil and military engineering arm responsible for the Atlantic Wall and other fortifications. To know the Todt organization was to know the physical footprint of German ambition in Europe.

More intriguing is File 190, which concerns "German enemy agents in the International Red Cross." Penetrating a neutral humanitarian organization is a grim necessity of war, regardless of which side is doing it. The file's existence confirms that the Red Cross was a legitimate theater for intelligence collection and enemy infiltration.

The scope of the withheld documents also extends to the technical and the clandestine. File 102 deals with chemical warfare production in France, Belgium, and Holland, while File 73 covers both OSS personnel and "special weapons and devices." The intersection of personnel files and weapons development in a single file number suggests a tight coupling between the operators and the gear they carried into the field.

Drew Pearson's Leaks

One entry in the catalogue stands out for anyone who values operational security. File 65 deals with "Drew Pearson OSS document leaks." Pearson was a journalist who built a career by mining government secrets, often relying on sources who viewed "the public's right to know" as more important than the survival of a network in the field.

The fact that the OSS maintained a dedicated file on these leaks indicates that the agency was fighting a secondary internal war against indiscretion while simultaneously trying to map the "who's who in liberated France" (File 212). The tradecraft of the era required absolute silence; a leak in Washington could lead to a firing squad in occupied territory.

Other entries in the series point to specific, unresolved geopolitical tensions of the period. File 13 tracks Irish prisoners-of-war in Germany, and File 16 covers the Hungarian resistance movement. The record does not explain the specific intelligence value of the Irish POWs, only that they were a subject of interest to the Washington office.

Related records held elsewhere in the archives provide further context, such as photographs of the OSS headquarters in Kunming, China, and the administrative correspondence of Deputy Chief Allan Evans. However, the "Previously Withheld" series remains the primary map of the agency's most sensitive interests. The catalogue entry lists a "Boston Series" in Files 94-97 and the "Dawes Mission" in File 75, but it leaves the contents of these specific files unexamined. Whether those files contain evidence of domestic surveillance or diplomatic maneuvering remains an open question.