by Sasha Uzunov

Newly declassified Australian government file released by the National Archives of Australia reveals a Nazi German Prisoner of War, Dr Gottfied Eissfeldt, held in Australia during WWII was allowed to return to Germany after the war ended.

Later information reveals Dr Eissfeldt was a leading Nazi Party official and intelligence asset in the German diaspora in strategically important middle eastern country of Iran (then known as Persia) and who was captured along with the rest of the German community and deported, some to Australia.

In August 1941 in a joint British-USSR operation, neutral Persia (Iran) was invaded and the pro German ruler Shah (King) Reza Pahlavi deposed, replaced by his son Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi who was later overthrown in 1979 by the Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini.

Dr Eissfeldt, an economist by training, downplayed his Nazi party links during his post war de-Nazification hearing before an Australian official.

According to Dr Adrian O’Sullivan, an author who has written about Nazi German intelligence operations in wartime Iran, Dr Eissfeldt was the Nazi Party’s legal advisor in Iran and the leader of the party cell in Tehran, the capital. He was the manager of the big German electrical firm, AEG.

Dr Eissfeldt was also nominated by the German Ambassador for a top Nazi government medal for his service but was captured by the joint British-Soviet military force and put on a ship for Australia and in interment.

He spent time in a Prisoner of War Camp in South Australia and later in Tatura, a rural town in Victoria. In 1947 he was allowed to return to Germany, via US Navy ship the USS General Stuart Heintzelman.