Customer Reviews

Hitler's Secret War in South America, 1939-1945: German Military Espionage and Allied Counterespionage in Brazil

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This book gave you a good case study of how far reaching the
Nazi empire was in the world. The Nazis had been able to develop an extensive spy network in South America.The book also points
out the complicity of South American businessmen and South
American military officers with the Nazis.You also get the inside
story of the efforts to destroy this spy network that was established by the Nazis in South America. This is an informative
and eye opening book about the Nazis in South America.It would shock you to learn how strong they had become in South America.
Read this.

The author does a good job of presenting German intelligence efforts in Latin America. What is striking is how amatuer hour the whole effort was. Most of the Germans involved were given a few months or even weeks training and sent off to take advantage of their connections or area knowledge in South America. Almost all were "V" men or what we would call agents or assets, not profesional intelligence officers or case officers. They had almost no "adult supervision" and it shows. There was no compartmentation or operational security. The various rings intermingled and competed. It was no wonder they were rolled up in short order after Pearl Harbor. A good read for anyone interested in either intelligence or World War II. My complaint is the book touches on many agent networks without making them stand out. They all blend together. "So and so" sent subsource "so and so" to Recefe (Natal, Sao Paulo) to report on the "American airfields/shipping" appears time after time without enough background information to give the nets individual personalities so the reader can really keep track. Hitler's Spies: German Military Intelligence in World War II

Today, here in Brazil, I wet to the seventh day catholic mass of a general, that was a brazilian veteran of World War II.About this book, that I read about twenty years ago, I must tell you that this book is far from amazing, but it remains with uses.In fact, all nazist, fascist, axist,etc. espionage and secret services were, a complete failure.Even here in Brazil, Hitler's secret service wasn't match for allied counterespionage.In Rio de Janeiro, the brazilian police sent to prision, a spie from Austria, with a lot of documents.