The Prima Dossier

About the Book

55 years later, with the CIA and State Department still suppressing a shameful chapter of World War II annals, a former intelligence officer taps into documented historical fact as backdrop for a gripping tale of intrigue and deception.

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During World War II,hundreds of thousands of Soviets deserted to the German side. Known as Vlasov's Army, the force was controlled by the Wehrmacht's intelligence genius, General Reinhard Gehlen. In 1945, as the Red Army entered Berlin, Gehlen  and his 'Org' fled with their archives to a Bavarian hideout. En route, "The Prima Dossier", Gehlen's roster of the turncoat army vanished, setting off a search that would frustrate the CIA and KGB for years to come.

To assure U.S. access to an intelligence bonanza, SHAEF sends Lieutenant Steve Koehler and 3 German-speaking GI's, uniformed as SS troopers, through enemy lines to maintain surveillance on Gehlen until Seventh Army can break through. The team accomplishes its mission with the loss of one American life.

At war's end, the surviving GI's are deeply embittered to see Gehlen welcomed, not as a prize PW, but as a valued partner whom the OSS has long been cultivating. Seeing him flown off to Virginia in the uniform of an American major general, they are convinced of a sell-out by the cynical spooks and vow to seek redress for the injustice.

In 1950, Koehler learns of "Operation Bloodstone". a State Department-CIA scheme to bring thousands of Nazi thugs into the U.S. as allies for World War III. Koehler throws his long-delayed payback punch and, in a riveting end-game, the long-missing "Dossier" surfaces to thwart the outrageous pardoning of wanted war criminals.[    

About the Author

Born 1919 in Baltimore, Maryland, educated in Baltimore public school system, graduated from the University of Maryland, receiving a B.S. in Economics in 1940. Entered U.S. Army in 1941, earning a commission in the Signal Corps. Served in the European theater as a Signals Intelligence officer attached to the XVIII Airborne Corps and, later, in the Pacific theater as part of the advance echelon preparing the invasion of Japan. Exchanged uniform for adman’s gray flannel in 1946 and, after a 40-year career managing accounts of such advertisers as R.J. Reynolds, Seagram’s, Munich Lowenbrau Beer and Revlon, was Vice-Chairman and principal of a leading New York advertising agency. Selling his interest in the agency business in 1986, he has since traveled extensively as consultant to European marketers of consumer goods. Resides in Manhattan with his wife, the former Suzanne E. Gebhart.