telligence Agency photo analysts dis-
covered the Auschwitz-Birkenau files just
before they were due to be shipped to the
National Archives. Wolfe was called in for
a secret briefing in anticipation of their
release. "Using modern enhancement
techniques, close cropping, blow-ups and
adding labels," Wolfe says, "these guys pro-
duced something very interesting based on
what we now know, showing the death
camp in operation. I told them they had to
put things in context, or it would look like
the United States had information far
clearer than anything we actually had. But
the photos were released anyway in that
condition, and that's exactly the impres-
sion the world rceived."
Wolfe also was consulted when revela-
tions surfaced about Kurt Waldheim. "The
records on Waldheim were certainly here,"
Wolfe says, "but somebody needed a
reason to dig into them again. Why would
anyone look for an obscure lieutenant nam-
ed Waldheim, particularly when for years
he claimed that after being wounded in
Russia he spent the rest of the war work-
ing on his dissertation. The answer is, he
was running for president of Austria,
somebody says that he lied, and now
there's a reason to go into the same records
for a new interpretation."
World Jewish Congress researchers con-
tacted the National Archives "very early
in the game," Wolfe says. "They explained
that his memoirs lied about his wartime
record, he was really in the Balkans. They
didn't know which unit, only that he serv-
ed with Gen. Alexander Loehr," Wolfe ex-
plains. "I knew Loehr was executed in 1947
as a war criminal for his part in the
destruction of Belgrade, and that the anti-
partisan campaign there was one of the dir-
tiest of the war. The question was, how did
Waldheim fit in? The evidence was scat-
tered through almost 20 rolls of microfilm
— each with more than 1,000 documents.
"I advised them where to search. When
they found information leading somewhere
and they needed help I was always ready
to oblige. For example, when the cryptic
listing, '03; appears next to Waldheim's
name, what does that mean? It means, he
is a staff officer in charge of interrogations.
But that doesn't mean he personally inter-
rogated anyone, he could have just
evaluated the interrogations. On the other
hand, it doesn't rule it out either."
Ultimately, WJC and other researchers
located essential documentation in the Na-
tional Archives to expand their charges
against Waldheim. Wolfe is careful however
not to lend his own interpretation to the
Waldheim documentation. "The guidance
was ours, the interpretations were theirs,"
Wolfe says. Qualifying carefully that he is
giving personal opinion, not speaking as
a government archivist, Wolfe says, "Thus
far, it's a lot of circumstantial evidence
against Waldheim. He may have been
responsible, as he claims, for merely con-
solidating the interrogation reports.
Perhaps there's enough for an indictment,
but I haven't seen enough yet for a convic-
tion. And a good prosecutor is reluctant to
make an indictment unless he can win a
conviction. One should make charges
where there is solid proof. From a tactical
point of view, it is better to build a case
than to 'PR' your case.
"Now people are still searching," Wolfe
adds, "more evidence may turn up. The
Yugoslays felt it was enough to indict him
as a war criminal. Apparently, the United
Nations War Crimes Commission did also.
But under our system of justice, merely be-
ing listed as a war criminal is not proof.
What we really have is Waldheim suppress-
ing information and his gradual admis-
sions. We know he was a liar. But we need
more facts before we know whether he was
just an obscure officer, or actually a war
criminal"
"Why would anyone look
for an obscure
lieutenant named
Waldheim, particularly
when for years he
claimed that after being
wounded in Russia he
spent the rest of
the war working on
his dissertation?"
While the United Nations has rightly
come under attack by historians for keep-
ing its War Crimes Commission documents
closed, as an archivist Wolfe understands
its thinking. "The U.N. Commission
reports include a lot of preliminary lists.
And in such cases, you don't release the
names of people not yet found guilty. Some
people appearing on those U.N. lists ac-
tually were anti-Nazis who ended up there
by mistake.
The U.S. Army made similar lists during
the same period," he explains. "But we us-
ed to clean up our lists regularly when we
discovered we had nothing on the people,
or that it was a mistake. These preliminary
post-war lists were compiled during the
most chaotic times, often based on
unverified reports from various Allied
countries."
Indeed, every archive restricts material
using different criteria, including the
stipulations of the donor. More than a half
century after the rise of Hitler, there are
still Holocaust-era documents classified in
various public and private archives around
the world. In rare instances, this includes
the National Archives, where such restric-
tions are made by either Wolfe or his staff.
For example, until recently, the files on
Adolf Eichmann's relationship with a
Hagana man named Feivel Polkes were
kept restricted to protect privacy. "I
restricted that microfilm years ago," Wofle
recalls, "because I was not then able to
determine to what extent private lives of
family members would be affected by the
disclosures, and whether Polkes was still
alive." The documents finally were opened
up after efforts by this reporter.
Although Holocaust-era material in
Israeli archives is almost totally unre-
stricted, exceptions exist there as well. For
example, until a few years ago, the
Eichmann interrogations, including his
ramblings about Zionist intermediaries,
were classified at the Israel State Archives.
"But that was a public trial," Wolfe says.
"Official interrogations in such a case
belong to the public. That material should
have been available from the outset."
Are there other Waldheim-type time-
bombs lurking in the oblong boxes and
microfilm reels of the National Archives?
"There can't be many more," Wolfe says,
"because generally they only become im-
portant when the person is alive. Most of
these people are dead now But nobody
knows. All I can say is that if anyone sud-
denly needs to check, we have the
documents here."
That isn't always an easy condition to
maintain. As a federal bureaucracy, the Na-
tional Archives is subject to the same
budget cutting as the rest of government.
Wolfe has been a constant champion of
keeping Holocaust documentation preserv-
ed and available, and the archives manag-
ment is of like mind. "There are Holocaust
revisionists and neo-Nazis who every day
try to deny the Holocaust and even the
eyewitnesses. But they cannot deny the
writings of the perpetrators themselves. So
we must keep the documentation alive."
Wolfe's devotion to his work springs
from far more than simple archival profes-
sionalism. Among the world's archivists,
Wolfe stands out less as a paper perfec-
tionist than a deeply compassionate man,
whose awful present tense is safeguarding
the history of six millions Jews.
In that regard, Wolfe has a warning that
he suggests be inscribed on the cor-
nerstone of the Holocaust Museum, on
whose advisory board he sits: "The
Holocaust needs no exaggeration. It is
beyond exaggeration. And to embroider
the facts in any way is itself a sin against
the martyrs."0
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