Press/Journalists

Press Release
Press Release · Tuesday, October 24, 2000

Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group
Thomas H. Baer, Los Angeles

Richard Ben-Veniste, Washington DC

John E. Collingwood, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Elizabeth Holtzman, New York

Michael J. Kurtz (Chair), National Archives and Records Administration

Harold J. Kwalwasser, Office of the Secretary of Defense

William H. Leary, National Security Council

Kenneth J. Levit, Central Intelligence Agency

David Marwell, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Eli M. Rosenbaum, Department of Justice

William Z. Slany, Department of State


Press Release
October 24, 2000
Edward J. Drea to Join Historical Advisory Panel of Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group

Press Contacts:
Giuliana Bullard 703-532-1477
Susan Cooper 301-837-1700

College Park, MD. . . Dr. Michael Kurtz, Assistant Archivist at the National Archives and Chair of the Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group (IWG), announced the appointment of Edward J. Drea to the IWG Historical Advisory Panel.

"As the IWG embarks on its second phase-to declassify war crimes records of the Japanese and Far East-we feel fortunate to have the assistance of Dr. Drea," said Dr. Kurtz. "His expertise on the Japanese Imperial Army and his knowledge of U.S. and Japanese records will greatly benefit the IWG's efforts."

Dr. Drea has dedicated much of his professional life to the study of military history and Japanese military affairs. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York; a master's degree in history from Sophia University of Tokyo, Japan; and a Ph.D. in modern Japanese history from the University of Kansas. Dr. Drea has taught at the U.S. Army War College, the U.S. Army Command and Staff College, the University of Kansas East Asian Center, and The George Washington University. He also served four years in the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence officer with tours in Japan and Vietnam.

As Chief of the Research and Analysis Division of the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington, D.C. from 1990 to 1997, Dr. Drea responded to a variety of inquiries related to the U.S. Army and World War II. He and his staff worked with researchers to document evidence of Nazi and Japanese atrocities for Congressional, media, and Department of Defense projects and provided extensive research support to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Since 1997, Dr. Drea has worked under contract for the Office of the Historian for the Secretary of Defense. His published works include MacArthur's ULTRA: Codebreaking and the War Against Japan, 1942-1945 and In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army.

President Clinton established the Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group (IWG) in January 1999, through Executive Order 13110. The group has been charged with declassifying and making available criminal records of the Nazi government and its allies, subject to specified restrictions. Additional information about the IWG and the Historical Advisory Panel is available at the IWG website at www.archives.gov/iwg/.

For additional PRESS information, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (301) 837-1700 or by e-mail.

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