Dan McCallum – Annotated Bibliography

  1. Bellant, Russ. Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party. Boston: South End Press, 1991.

Much of Bellant’s book covers topics outside the scope of my research area but his detailing of the ties between former collaborators – particularly Nikolai Nazarenko – and the Republican Party is extremely useful in demonstrating the ideological and personal continuity between Nazi and Cold War anti-communism.

2. Davies II, Edward J., & Smelser, Ronald. The Myth of the Eastern Front: The Nazi-Soviet War in American Popular Culture. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Davies & Smelser examine the pervasive influence of former Nazis, especially ex-Wehrmacht, on the American popular consciousness during the Cold War. Most relevant to my topic is the discussion on the spreading of racist and inaccurate myths concerning Soviet soldiers in the memoirs of many ex-Nazis, myths which were often shared by US troops stationed in Cold War Europe.

3. Rossoliński-Liebe, Grzegorz. Stepan Bandera: The Life and Afterlife of a Ukrainian Nationalist – Fascism, Genocide, and Cult. Stuttgart: ibidem Press, 2014.

Chapter 6 onwards of this book provides invaluable information about the flight of Bandera and the broader OUN/UPA after the defeat of the Nazis and their subsequent expansion into anti-communist/Ukrainian nationalist organising in the US and Western Europe, as well as the alliances forged with Western governments.

4. Simpson, Christopher. Blowback: America’s Recruitment of Nazis and Its Effects on the Cold War. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988.

Simpson’s book is by no means a perfect source due to some spurious conclusions, but his extensive use of primary sources provide an invaluable account of how many ex-Nazis made their way into the United States as well as the roles many of them would go on to play – as well as a discussion of the ideological effect the introduction of many bona-fide fascists was bound to have.

5. Tromly, Benjamin. “Émigré Politics and the Cold War: The National Labor Alliance (NTS), United States Intelligence Agencies and Post-War Europe”. Contemporary European History 29, no. 1 (2020), pp. 44-59

Tromly has written widely on the topic of anti-communist Russian collaborators – this monograph examines the role of former ROA members in anti-communist politics in the post-war US, especially their relationship with the purge of suspected communists from the US labour movement.

6. United States, Central Intelligence Agency, Russian Emigré Organizations. 1951, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp80-01445r000100420001-1

One of many CIA documents on the topic, this is a run-through of every anti-communist Russian exile organisation deemed as relevant by the CIA, and the connection of many with Nazi collaborators and fascist politics. It also details the support the U.S. government provided for many of them.

7. United States, Central Intelligence Agency, Information Report: Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania. 1949, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp82-00457r003500720004-4

Another CIA document, this report examines the political composition of the anti-Soviet Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania. This body had an on-and-off collaboration with Nazi colonial authorities and went on to play an important role in Western Cold War operations in Lithuania.

2 thoughts on “Dan McCallum – Annotated Bibliography”

  1. Fascinating to see how the CIA might have seen Nazi-sympathisers as useful allies behind the Iron curtain.
    Two things strike me though – are you suggesting that the Republican party and US politics was infiltrated by/sympathetic to Nazi ideology, or that the US administrations were prepared, purely pragmatically, to collaborate with anti-Communists, even if they were Nazi/fascist/extreme nationalist forces? There is a danger of these two being conflated it seems – you need to decide which is of interest at this early stage

  2. Good work, Dan, on getting started on a bibliography!

    What would you say are the most likely biases of CIA sources? In other words, what would they have you as a historian believe if you could only use this kind of primary sources?

    A more complex question you may already be seeing on your horizon is who was using who (and for what). Former Nazis playing the US government (CIA, other agencies) for asylum/livelihood/advancement in return for collaboration against the Communists/Soviets in the Eastern Bloc and beyond? Republican politicians using former Nazis in their assault on suspected/alleged Communist infiltration in the US government (or/also, its control by the Democratic Party)? The US government using former Nazis in the fight against Communists anywhere in return for asylum/livelihood/advancement?

    All the best,
    Dr Toth

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