Cold War Intelligence & Tradecraft Files
A collection of Cold War intelligence tradecraft, propaganda and counterinsurgency records: the FBI's 1953 monograph on Soviet intelligence cover techniques, CIA propaganda operations against Soviet diplomats, the "Defeating Urban Violence" counterinsurgency manual, regional intelligence briefs, and the WWII file on OSS spy Fritz Kolbe ("George Wood"). Each document is reproduced in full with a verifiable SHA-256 fingerprint.
Documents in this collection
FBI: Soviet Intelligence Travel & Cover Techniques (1953)
A 1953 FBI counterintelligence monograph cataloging how Soviet intelligence used diplomatic, trade, press and Red Cross cover to infiltrate agents abroad.
CIA Files: Fritz Kolbe, the OSS Spy 'George Wood'
The CIA file on Fritz Kolbe ('George Wood') — the German diplomat who smuggled 2,600 secret documents from Hitler's Foreign Office to the OSS in WWII.
CIA Manual: Defeating Urban Violence (Counterinsurgency)
A CIA counterinsurgency guidance publication, 'Defeating Urban Violence,' outlining Cold War systems for anticipating and countering urban unrest.
CIA Propaganda Strategy on Soviet Diplomats in Congo (1963)
Declassified 1963 CIA cable regarding the arrest of Soviet diplomats in the Congo and instructions for generating international publicity to discredit the Sovi…
CIA Brief on Cold War Regional Tensions (1963)
A 1963 CIA intelligence brief covering geopolitical developments in Cyprus, the Kenya-Somalia border conflict, Ghana-USSR relations, and Indian politics.
CIA Global Operational Divisions and Distribution Structure
A declassified CIA administrative document detailing internal routing, organizational divisions, and global distribution channels for agency intelligence recor…
CIA Operations and Asset Management, SALT Station
A declassified CIA document detailing operational intelligence, contact management, and strategic support protocols for field stations and local organizational…
CIA Administrative Record on Document Handling Procedures
A declassified CIA administrative record containing fragmented text and internal routing codes. The document is largely illegible and lacks substantive content.
The CIA's 'Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual' — 1983 Interrogation Manual
The CIA's controversial 1983 'Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual' — the Honduras interrogation manual at the center of a 1990s Congressional scandal. …
1956 NSC Briefing: A Soviet-Bloc Defector Reveals Khrushchev's Secret Speech Fallout
A 1956 NSC briefing built on a Soviet-bloc defector's account of Khrushchev, Molotov and Bulganin clashing over de-Stalinization inside a secret Kremlin plenum…
CIA List of American Cold War Defectors and Convicted Spies, 1960s
A CIA roster of 18 American Cold War defectors and convicted Soviet spies from the 1960s, including NSA code clerks and a State Department officer. SHA-256 ver…
CIA Memo on McGeorge Bundy's 1964 Counterintelligence Recommendations
A 1964 CIA memo on National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy's counterintelligence reform recommendations, with input from Deputy Defense Secretary Cyrus Vance.…
CIA 'Near East-Africa Brief,' October 1963: Algeria-Morocco Border War, Congo, Kenya, Iraq
A 14 October 1963 CIA daily intelligence brief spanning the Algeria-Morocco border war, Soviet aid to Somalia, Congo unrest, Kenya tensions and an Iraq coup th…
CIA Cable on David Sanchez Morales's 1971 Travel to the Vietnam Station
A 1971 CIA travel cable for David Morales, the CIA officer tied to anti-Castro operations and long a figure of JFK-conspiracy interest, departing the Vietnam s…
FBI Four-Way Name Check Memo, 1947
A December 1947 FBI four-way name-check memo, signed by Security Branch chief Robert H. Cunningham — one of the archive's earliest-dated declassified records.
CIA Clearance Backlog Report: 'Cases Over 90 Days,' 1962
A 1962 CIA memo listing personnel security-clearance cases pending over 90 days — a rare look at the Agency's internal vetting bureaucracy. SHA-256 verified or…
CIA Officer Harold Swenson's Retirement Application, 1967
The 1967 federal retirement paperwork of Harold Swenson, a CIA Europe Division operations officer and WWII Marine Corps combat veteran. SHA-256 verified origin…
CIA Security Review of a Job Candidate From a Multi-Generation CIA Family, 1973
A 1973 CIA security memo vetting a job candidate whose father, mother and sister were all CIA staff employees — a rare multi-generation Agency family record.
CIA Officer L.H. Wigren Cables on Obtaining a Soviet Tourist Visa, 1964
A 1964 CIA cable by officer L.H. Wigren — the same officer who wrote the Agency's Oswald travel memo — probing Soviet tourist visa processing times. SHA-256 ve…
CIA Technical Services Division Requests a Genuine Mexican Tourist Card, 1963
A 1963 CIA Technical Services Division cable requesting a real Mexican tourist card with a current arrival stamp — genuine CIA document-forgery tradecraft.
CIA Cable Traces Erwin Arvey, Son of Chicago Political Boss Jake Arvey, 1963
A 1963 CIA Mexico City cable requesting background traces on Erwin Arvey, son of Chicago political boss Jake Arvey, signed by officers King and Whitten.
Ex-CIA Analyst's 1986 Op-Ed: 'Sometimes, Assassination Is the Right Way'
A 1986 Washington Post op-ed by a former CIA analyst defending assassination as policy, citing Castro — preserved in CIA press files. SHA-256 verified original…