ABVER-3: METHODS OF COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES ON THE TERRITORY OF THE USSR (June 1941 - February 1942)

Abstract

The key to the successful operation of any army is the well-organized work of its units responsible for counterintelligence. In the Wehrmacht, this function was assigned to abwehr-3 – one of the departments of abwehr (German military intelligence and counterintelligence). The source base is based on captured German documents, a set of which was found in the funds of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time documents are introduced into scientific circulation that were previously inaccessible to the scientific community and the public. The article analyzes the methods used by the Abwehr-3 in the period from June 1941 to February 1942 in the occupied Soviet territories. The activities of the German counterintelligence to suppress enemy propaganda, the Abwehr method of preserving state secrets, and instructions on the behavior of Wehrmacht soldiers in captivity that were in force during the Second World War are considered. Such an Abwehr-3 method as conspiracy is considered in detail, the main requirements for the storage of secret documents in the Wehrmacht are given. It is shown that officers of the Abwehr-3 performed the role of censors in Nazi Germany. The main scientific result: the authors showed that the work of the German counterintelligence was strictly regulated and placed on a fairly high methodological level. This conclusion emphasizes the fact that on the fields of the secret war, Soviet intelligence was confronted by a serious enemy, which was possible to defeat only with high professionalism and devotion to duty.