Operation Neptune | |
Russian | Операция«Нептун» |
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Romanization | Operatsiya "Nyeptun" |
Operation Neptune was a 1964 disinformation operation by the secret services of Czechoslovakia (State Security) and the Soviet Union (KGB) and involved fake Nazi-era documents that were found in submerged chests.
Operation Neptune's objectives were to discredit Western politicians by revealing the names of former Nazi informants whom they were still using as spies in Eastern Europe and to place pressure on West Germany to extend the statute of limitations on the prosecution of war criminals,including extending the statute of limitations. [1] [2] [3]
In 1964,the Czechoslovak State Security publicly claimed to have discovered Nazi-era intelligence files hidden beneath the surface of Černéjezero,a Czech Republic lake in the Šumava,on the border with West Germany.
The four chests containing the papers were supposedly discovered during the making of a documentary in the presence of members of the Western press. In fact,State Security itself had placed them there in collaboration with the KGB. [4] [3]
The apparent discovery was a disinformation operation,the largest conducted by the State Security. The fake papers were found in sunken chests,which had been carefully doctored to appear as if they had been submerged since World War II. The chests had been brought from the Soviet Union. The agent who led the divers to make the discovery and who had originally placed them in the lake,Ladislav Bittman,later known as Lawrence Martin-Bittman,defected to the West in 1968 and published a book on the plot. [3] [5] [6] [1] [7]
One scholar argues that the papers were possibly genuine although the former Czechoslovak spy Josef Frolík described them in his 1975 memoirs as forgeries. [8] [9]
The operation also succeeded in worsening relations between Germany and Italy,as the names published included people who had lived in Germany and worked against Italy during the war. The operation had some temporary success. [10] [3] [6]
The Czech civilian intelligence agency posted the files on Operation Neptune on its website. [3]
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Black propaganda is a form of propaganda intended to create the impression that it was created by those it is supposed to discredit. Black propaganda contrasts with gray propaganda,which does not identify its source,as well as white propaganda,which does not disguise its origins at all. It is typically used to vilify or embarrass the enemy through misrepresentation.
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Who's Who in CIA is a book written by the East German journalist Julius Mader and published in East Berlin in 1968,under Stasi auspices and probably with KGB assistance. Mader was employed by the East German military publishing house and apparently had access to some information on CIA officers that was not publicly available. The book purported to identify about 3,000 active agents of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. It was modeled after other Who's Who guides.
Černéjezero in the Bohemian Forest is the largest and deepest natural lake in the Czech Republic.
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The Interagency Active Measures Working Group was a group led by the United States Department of State and later by the United States Information Agency (USIA). The group was formed early during the Reagan administration,in 1981,as an effort to counter aggressive Soviet disinformation.
Herbert "Herb" Romerstein was an American ex-communist and historian who became a writer specializing in anticommunism and was appointed Director of the U.S. Information Agency’s Office to Counter Soviet Disinformation and Active Measures. As an author he is best known for his book The Venona Secrets.
Lawrence Martin-Bittman,formerly known as Ladislav Bittman,was an American artist,author,and retired professor of disinformation at Boston University. He was best known for his 1983 book,The KGB and Soviet Disinformation:An Insider's View.
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The KGB and Soviet Disinformation:An Insider's View is a 1983 non-fiction book by Lawrence Martin-Bittman,a former intelligence officer specializing in disinformation for the Czech Intelligence Service and retired professor of disinformation at Boston University. The book is about the KGB's use of disinformation and information warfare during the Soviet Union period.
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Richard Paul Mitchell (1925–1983) was a history professor at the University of Michigan and a foreign intelligence officer. He is the author of 27 works in 90 publications in 4 languages,and the award-winning book The Society of the Muslim Brothers.