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Blog

November 3, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

Book Discussion on Double Agent

(CSPAN) Peter Duffy talked about his book, Double Agent: The First Hero of World War II and How the FBI Outwitted and Destroyed a Nazi Spy Ring, in which he recounts the life of William Sebold, the first double agent in FBI history, who infiltrated a ring of Nazi spies in New York City. In his book, […]

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October 29, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

In Cold War, U.S. Spy Agencies Used 1,000 Nazis

(New York Times) In the decades after World War II, the C.I.A. and other United States agencies employed at least a thousand Nazis as Cold War spies and informants and, as recently as the 1990s, concealed the government’s ties to some still living in America, newly disclosed records and interviews show. At the height of […]

Filed Under: Blog, History News

October 17, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

The Witness

David Greenglass

By Ray Batvinis In his fiery summation to the jury the defense counsel accused the witness of a most vile form of treachery charging that “any man who will testify against his own flesh and blood, his own sister, is repulsive, is revolting.” The chief prosecutor, in turn, calmly took an opposite view. The witness […]

Filed Under: Blog, History News

October 15, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

“America in WWII” magazine book review

Book review by John Stanchak in the October 2014 issue of  “America in WWII” magazine of  Hoover’s Secret War against Axis Spies: FBI Counterespionage During World War II: ALL THE COMBATANTS in World War II feared there were foreign agents within their ranks, so they sponsored and supported special intelligence organizations that rooted out enemy […]

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October 14, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

“World War II” magazine book review

Book Review by Tim Weiner in the November/December 2014 issue of “World War II” magazine: HOOVER’S SECRET WAR AGAINST AXIS SPIES: FBI Counterespionage during World War II By Raymond J. Batvinis. 312 pp. Kansas, 2014. $34.95. DOUBLE AGENT: The First Hero of World War II and How the FBI Outwitted and Destroyed a Nazi Spy […]

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October 9, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

The Congressman Who Spied for Russia: The strange case of Samuel Dickstein

(Politico) . . . .The authors also revealed that Stalin had a spy in Congress, an exasperating character who once “blazed up very much, claiming that if we didn’t give him money he would break with us,” according to his Soviet contact. To this day, Sam Dickstein is the only known U.S. representative to have […]

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October 9, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

Tramp Revisited

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of attending a talk at the International Spy Museum where my dear friend Peter Duffy spoke about his new book, Double Agent. Duffy, a talented writer who lives in New York City, recounts the story of an American citizen named William Gottlieb Sebold, a German who came to America […]

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October 6, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

But at What Cost?

Last week I read with great interest two articles in The Washington Post. The first one appearing on Friday covering FBI director James Comey’s press conference was captioned “FBI Chief Slams Apple, Google over Encryption”. The second was Cyrus Vance’s September 28 Op-Ed piece entitled “Can you catch me now? Good.” Both officials voiced outrage […]

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September 29, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

EVENT: “Double Agent” book talk – Oct 7

I would recommend Double Agent: The First Hero of World War II and How the FBI Outwitted and Destroyed a Nazi Spy Ring by Peter Duffy. He will be giving a book talk at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC on October 7, 2014 at noon: Double Agent: The First Hero of World War […]

Filed Under: Blog, Events

September 25, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

EVENT: The Burglary that Exposed the FBI’s Secret Surveillance Program – Oct 27

I will be part of a panel at the International Spy Museum on October 27, 2014 about the 1971 break-in of the FBI’s office in Media, Pennsylvania. Here’s all the details from the museum and how you can attend: – – – More than four decades ago, under the cover of night, a group of […]

Filed Under: Blog, Events

September 25, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

Talk at the State Department

On September 11, 2014, I had the honoring of speaking about my book, “Hoover’s Secret Wars Against Axis Spies: FBI Counterintelligence During World War II,”at the Ralph J. Bunch Library at the US State Department in Washington, DC. I talk about why I wrote the book, what is in it, the unique sources I tapped into and, because of […]

Filed Under: Blog, Video

September 25, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

Watergate: Forty Years Later

A first-person account of Watergate by Angelo Lano (FBI: 1960-1989) in The Grapevine, published by The Society of Former Agents of the FBI. Watergate: Forty Years Later (.pdf) The nature of an FBI agent’s work is anonymous. Usually it involves collecting facts, often with a team of agents whose names will disappear in a myriad of files over the […]

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September 25, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

Benson House: A Secret Revealed

This is the article I wrote for The Grapevine (Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI publication) about the Benson House on Long Island and its FBI connection. Benson House: A Secret Revealed (.pdf) It is nothing more than a dirty block of concrete stuck in the dark and dank basement floor of a hundred-year-old house. […]

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August 29, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

Book Review: Duncan Lee–A Very Un-Principled Boy

A Very Principled Boy: The Life of Duncan Lee, Red Spy and Cold Warrior

My review of A Very Principled Boy: The Life of Duncan Lee, Red Spy and Cold Warrior by Mark A. Bradley. “I want to say categorically that I am not and have never been a Communist and that I have never divulged classified information to any unauthorized person.”—Duncan Lee Duncan Chaplin Lee offered this statement […]

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August 29, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

EVENT: British Patriot or Soviet Spy? Oct 17

I will be part of a panel examining the Richard Hollis case: British Patriot or Soviet Spy? Clarifying a Cold War Mystery A demonstration of new analytic techniques to examine the controversial case of whether Britain’s former MI5 Director General, Roger Hollis, was or was not a Soviet agent. Friday, October 17, 2014 4:00-6:30 PM The […]

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August 29, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

Book Review: “A Spy Among Friends”

A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre

My review of “A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal” by Ben Macintyre British author and columnist Ben Macintyre first burst on to the American scene in 2007 with “Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal,” the story of  British crook and con-man Eddie Chapman who became one of MI5’s […]

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July 26, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

Review by Retired FBI Executive Edward Appel, Sr

Ed Appel Sr, retired senior FBI Supervisory Special Agent and Director of Counterintelligence and Security Programs at the National Security Council, recently wrote a review of “Hoover’s Secret War Against Axis Spies” on Amazon and graciously gave the book five stars: As a retired member of the US Intelligence Community, I found Ray Batvinis’ Hoover’s Secret […]

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July 26, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

Book Reviewed in The Weekly Standard

My new book,  “Hoover’s Secret War Against Axis Spies,” has just been reviewed in The Weekly Standard: http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/hoover-war_797355.html Hoover at War How the G-man beat the Germans at their own game THE WEEKLY STANDARD, AUG 4, 2014, VOL. 19, NO. 44 BY DAVID AIKMAN Ever since the death of J. Edgar Hoover in 1972, journalists and disparate authors […]

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June 18, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

VIDEO: Batvinis lecture on new book about FBI Counterespionage during WWII

The Institute of World Politics videotaped the lecture I recently gave about my new book, Hoover’s Secret War against Axis Spies: FBI Counterespionage During World War II.

Filed Under: Blog, Video

June 10, 2014 By Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD

FBI Recognizes WWII Counterintelligence Landmark in New York

During World War II, FBI agents and radio technicians lived and worked undercover at Benson House, secretly transmitting coded messages that the Nazis believed came from their own spies.  A plaque placed at Benson House in honor of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion recognizes the counterintelligence efforts of FBI employees during WWII.  (FBI) In […]

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About

Historical FBI Studies by Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD, author of "The Origins of FBI Counterintelligence" and "Hoover's Secret War Against Axis Spies: FBI Counterintelligence During World War II."

 

A retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent, Ray is now a historian and educator specializing in the discipline of counterintelligence as a function of statecraft.

Copyright 2024 Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD | Website by CJKCREATIVE.COM

 

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