--- description: The U.S. government used about 1,000 Nazis as spies during the Cold War, according to a new report title: Cold War: FBI, CIA Had Nazi Spies image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Cold War](/tag/cold-war/) ## Cold War Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Had 1,000 Nazi Spies During Cold War by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 27, 2014 12:40 PM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 27, 2014 12:40 PM CUT The U.S. government used about 1,000 Nazis as spies during the Cold War, [according to a new report](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/us/in-cold-war-us-spy-agencies-used-1000-nazis.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"), including one who was among the highest-ranking members of the Hitler’s Third Reich. The [New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/us/in-cold-war-us-spy-agencies-used-1000-nazis.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"), citing interviews and declassified records, reports that the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation not only actively recruited Nazis, but also refused to share information they had on Nazis living in the U.S. with other government officials. “U.S. agencies directly or indirectly hired numerous ex-Nazi police officials and East European collaborators who were manifestly guilty of war crimes,” said Norman Goda, a University of Florida historian. “Information was readily available that these were compromised men.” [_Read more at the Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/us/in-cold-war-us-spy-agencies-used-1000-nazis.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3541068/cold-war-nazi-spies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3541068/cold-war-nazi-spies/"},"headline":"U.S. Had 1,000 Nazi Spies During Cold War","datePublished":"2014-10-27T12:40:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:01:26.945Z","description":"“Information was readily available that these were compromised men”","url":"https://time.com/3541068/cold-war-nazi-spies/","keywords":["Cold War","FBI","intelligence","CIA"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cold-war/","name":"Cold War"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3541068/cold-war-nazi-spies/","name":"U.S. Had 1,000 Nazi Spies During Cold War"}}]}] ```