FBI at War (1940s)

In every important city throughout the United States, borders of men whose job is to see rather than to be seen, to listen rather than to talk, and to act when they act with swiftness and certainty. They are the men of the FBI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the most widely known of all US law enforcement agencies. At the head of each of the FB1 field officers is a special agent in charge who is responsible in his district for the war against crime which the bureau is perpetually waging. [music] Though the FBI is concerned only with offenses against federal laws, its influence is felt in every community. for it works in close cooperation and consultation with the nation's sheriffs and constables, state troopers and city police, many of whom it has helped to train. At Washington in the Department of Justice building is the center of the FBI's nationwide activities. [music] In these busy offices, which operate on a basis of 24 hours a day, a huge staff of men and women is employed to help direct and coordinate the work of some 3,000 special agents in the field. >> FBI headquarters. >> One moment, please. I'll give you Mr. Hoover. >> Heading up this organization is the number one Gman, the famed John Edgar Hoover. As director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Hoover has built up his organization from a relatively obscure agency of the Department of Justice into one of the best known institutions of its kind in the world. In the course of a long campaign to make law enforcement a science and a profession, Director Hoover and his resourceful aids have developed crime detection methods and facilities unsurpassed anywhere. In the FBI laboratories, new scientific discoveries are constantly being applied to techniques and equipment which are employed with striking efficiency by experts in the field of criminology. [music] In the hands of these men, a microscopic scrutiny of a speck of dirt from a gear wheel or of the fibers and a bit of fuse may be enough to solve a major crime. >> [music] >> To provide men skilled in crime detection, the bureau maintains an academy at Quantico, Virginia, where it trains its agents. All special agents must begin by learning how to defend themselves in whatever situation they may encounter. They must become expert in the use of the firearms the bureau provides for their protection. For at any time an FBI agent in the field may have to shoot his way out of a tight corner, and under such circumstances, accurate marksmanship is a matter of self-preservation. >> [music] >> But in the laboratory, the student agent, coming to grips with the problem of crime detection, learns that science supplies the most potent weapons at his disposal. How spectrographic analysis of dust found in clothing may link a suspect to the scene of his crime. How by microchemical analysis, minute steel filings can be traced to their source are but a part of the agents routine education. It was such rigorous training, such expert use of scientific techniques that helped the FBI to achieve its remarkable record in World War II during which not one major act of sabotage was successfully carried out by enemy operatives. By intercepting German microfilm, by painstakingly decoding the messages of access spies, and by countless other applications of skill and hard work, FBI agents outwitted the enemy thousands of wartime cases today on record in the bureau's files. Reconstructed from these files is the case of one August Balmire, which reveals not only some of the methods of German agents in this country, but the effectiveness of counter espionage by the FBI. [music] [music] As proprietor of a small restaurant catering to German Americans, August Balmire had done well, but he felt no gratitude to the country of his adoption. [music] Like other Nazis, he considered Americans to be an inferior people. [music] Regularly, the back room at thmyers was used as the Saturday night meeting place of the local German American bund. [music] [music] To one of these meetings came a young FBI agent bringing with him concealed among groceries a portable radio transmitter. The ties of blood that bind us to the German fatherland can never be broken. Always before our responsibilities as naturalized Americans, we must place our duties to the fatherland. Our highest mission must be to serve our great and beloved her and bring to the United States the blessings of the new order, national socialism. [screaming] Evans, I spent all last night going over the reports on the local Nazis. >> That's quite a job. >> How about this man, August Bombmire? >> He's the big shot in this district. All right. >> Yes, Mrs. Ba. Oh, yes, sir. 5 minutes. No, no. I take a taxi. Goodbye. The investigation of August Bowmeer embodies procedures employed in countless other cases. Procedures representative of FBI methods and techniques. [music] Surveillance soon showed that Bowmeer was in contact with a high-ranking Nazi. >> [music] [bell] [music] >> Sorry, gentlemen. We're closed for tonight. >> I'd like to see the proprietor. >> Are you Mr. Balmire? >> Yes. >> Can we speak a minute? Come with me, gentlemen. [music] >> I bring you greetings from Rans. How is he? >> Hi. I >> You're supposed to keep us here until our arrangements are made. I fixed up a special room in the cellar. It's not too nice. Anything better than a pleasant camp? >> Watch your step going down. [music] [music] been hund acting as though something terrible is on his mind. He's suspicious of everything. >> He's even afraid to use a phone. Yesterday, he was doubling back trying to discover if he was being tailed. Miller, it may be a long shot, but if you can convince Bombmire that these credentials are not forged and came straight from Germany, we'll be in on something hot. Let's see. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> What we have gentlemen? >> Let me speak to the proprietor. >> Yes, sir. [music] >> Yes. What can I do for you? >> You're Mr. Balma? >> Yes. I bring you greetings from Ransaw. How is he? >> Excuse me. Hope you'll have some word for me tomorrow. We will see. [music] Gates. >> Fine. Fine. Here's Ethlav. [bell] Once inside Balmire's establishment, Miller was in a position to pick up what evidence he needed. [music] >> [music] >> An important hall were rolls of microfilm containing secret information destined for Germany together with various informative documents. Miller's now convinced that one of the notches Bowmire is hiding has been told how to contact a big espionage group. Where? That's what we'd like to know. >> Scott, just as soon as we find out the time and location of the rendevous, we'll grab the prisoner. >> Yes, sir. >> Hello. Just a minute, please. Mr. Balmire. Yes. Immediately. Daron wants him ready now. I'll be h it up. Pile it up. [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] [bell] [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> Please [music] steady stand up there now. Any tables back here? It's full out front. >> Mr. Balmer. [music] No. No. We're federal officers. Everyone remain seated. >> Come on. Hurry up. Come on out of there. You hurry up. All right. Get out of here. Come on. >> [music] >> With the arrest of August Balmire and with a roundup under similar circumstances of hundreds like him, with a seizure across the country of vast quantities of firearms, ammunition, and high explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation achieved the destruction of the spy ring Adolf Hitler had intended to be one of his potent weapons in paralyzing American democracy. >> [music] >> Today, the men of the FBI, whose activities extend out from Washington to the remotest corners of the land, are playing as vital a part in the nation's battle against crime as they played in the greater war against the armed forces of the Axis. Out of this war, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has emerged better equipped than ever to take the lead in coping with the lawless forces undermining the nation's internal peace and security. Through its policy of working in cooperation with local police, the FBI under its able director is helping to raise the standards of law enforcement everywhere to meet the challenge of the postwar crime wave. And in the task of leadership that lies ahead of them, the men of the FBI are determined that they shall continue to be known by their motto, fidelity, bravery, integrity. [music]