[The Anniston Star, Anniston, AL, Sun, Feb 3, 1946, Page
17]
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Ritzy Prison Camp
This
week the most elite prison camp in Germany is scheduled to go out of
existence. Whether it finally does so or not is another
matter. Actually, it isn't a prison camp, but a virtual
resort center where several hundred high-ranking Nazis and former SS
men are paid by the U.S. Government, entertained with movies, fed
good rations, permitted to see their families and treated to boar
hunting.
Reason behind the establishment of this extraordinary "prison camp"
was an attempt to secure Nazi documents. The plan began prior
to V-E Day, when SHAEF organized a top-secret project known as
"operation gold cup." The 508th Parachute Infantry regiment
was coached to parachute into Berlin, take over the highest offices
of Hitler's government, seize important documents and arrest key
officials.
In the end "operation gold cup" never went through due to the fact
that Russian artillery pounded Reich buildings in Berlin to ruins,
and due to the fact that the Russians were given the initial job of
occupying Berlin.
After the Berlin occupation, however, Military Intelligence set up
a ritzy prison campo near Kassel, collected various Nazi records,
and put top SS men and officials in the camp to interpret them.
The plush rations and entertainment given the prisoners was in the
nature of a bribe to get them to give away Nazi secrets.
Recently, government officials decided that Nazi coddling had gone
far enough, and a directive was issued discontinuing the Kassel camp
by February 1. Recently, however, the center was full, and
with so few signs of approaching liquidation that many in Germany
figured it would be continued beyond this week's deadline.
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