1948 US State Takeover Of Germany Survey Mission Restricted Denazification For Sale

Original 1948 U.S. State Department / Army occupation documents relating to postwar Germany, including Reed Harris material, Berlin administrative records, travel orders via USS America, and a complete Allied denazification questionnaire (Fragebogen).

1948 U.S.  – Staye takeover of Germany (State Dept / Army)

A coherent group of original documents from early 1948 documenting the U.S. transition to civilian and administrative control in occupied Germany.

This is not a random assortment, but a working

file set showing how occupation policy was implemented in practice.

Contents:

1. Planning & Mission Structure

• State Department memoranda (Jan 1948) marked RESTRICTED

• Survey Mission to Germany

• Survey Team list with phone and room numbers.

2. Personnel & Deployment

• U.S. Army travel orders (March 1948)

• Transport via USS America

• Route: New York → Cherbourg → Paris → Berlin

• Civil Affairs / Military Government assignment

• Multi-page orders including official authorization signature

3. Civil Administration Transition Packet (March 1948)

• Department of State press release No. 163 dated March 3, 1948

• Survey Group Leaves for Germany to Study Civil Administration

• Original stapled packet tied to the survey mission

• Department of State Outgoing Telegram marked RH Information Copy

• Internal roster of mission members by function

 • Economics

 • Political Operations

 • Displaced Persons

 • Legal

    • Transportation

 • Budgets & Fiscal

 • Personnel Administration

 • Foreign Affairs

• Demonstrates planning for transfer from military occupation to civilian State Department authority in Germany

• Includes original Delegation of The United States of America baggage / conference tag

4. Mission Transit / Injury Report (March 1948)

• Retained carbon copy letter from Berlin to U.S. Lines, Paris regarding injury aboard S.S. America

• Documents eastbound mission travel from New York to Cherbourg en route to Germany

• Reports treatment at U.S. Army hospital in Berlin

• X-rays showed three broken ribs with bruising and strains

• Names witnesses as members of the U.S. State Department Survey Mission to Germany

• Firsthand evidence of travel hazards and real conditions faced by personnel entering occupied Germany

• Handwritten retention notation indicating file copy preserved for Reed Harris

5. Berlin Administrative Material

• Military Government contact and courier sheets (Berlin)

• APO / communication structures

• Finance and logistical documentation

• Receipts and on-site administrative records

6. Reed Harris-Associated Documents

• Signed administrative forms (currency exchange, etc.)

• Security clearance document (Tempelhof Air Base)

• Additional paperwork placing Harris in Berlin during mission

7. Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

• Complete multi-panel Allied Military Government form

• Used to document:

  -Nazi Party and affiliated organization membership

  -Military service and political activity

  -Economic and property history

• Central instrument of civilian screening in occupied Germany

17 total documents/packets

These documents relate to the early postwar occupation period, when U.S. authorities transitioned from military control to structured civilian administration.

The lot illustrates:

• Interagency coordination (State Dept / Army)

• Personnel deployment into occupied Germany

• Administrative control systems in Berlin

• Civilian screening and denazification processes

Condition:

• Original period documents (not reproductions)

• Age toning, edge wear, and staple marks present

• Fold wear on larger forms (Fragebogen)

• Carbon copies show expected transfer ghosting

• Overall legible and structurally sound

All items are original and were kept together as part of a single working group of papers. Sold as a unified lot.