                    (word processor parameters LM=8, RM=78, TM=2, BM=2)
                          Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
                               Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
                                        PO BOX 1031
                                    Mesquite, TX 75150

                                      August 17, 1990

                     courtesy of the Psychology Forum at 214-368-5474

                                         MIND4.ZIP

                        (others references related to this document
                              can be freely found on KeelyNet
                         under MIND1.ZIP, MIND2.ZIP and MIND3.ZIP)

           --------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Brainwashing and the CIA
           --------------------------------------------------------------------

                  SEE NOTES AT END FOR INFO ON SOURCES OF THESE DOCUMENTS

                                CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
                                   WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

                         OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR       25 APR 1956

           -------------------------------------------------------------------

                   MEMORANDUM FOR: The Honorable J. Edgar Hoover
                                   Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

                   SUBJECT       : Brainwashing

                        The attached  study  on brainwashing was prepared by my
                   staff in response to the increasing acute interest in the
                   subject throughout the intelligence and security components
                   of the Government. I feel you will find it well worth your
                   personal attention.

                        It represents the thinking  of  leading psy-chologists,
                   psychiatrists and intelligence specialists, based in turn on
                   interviews with  many  individuals  who  have  had  personal
                   experience with  Communist  brainwashing,  and  on extensive
                   research and testing.

                        While individuals specialists  hold  divergent views on
                   various aspects of this most complex subject,  I believe the
                   study reflects  a  synthesis  of  majority expert opinion. I
                   will, of course, appreciate  any  comments on it that you or
                   your staff may have.

                                                     (signed)
                                                   Allen W. Dulles
                                                      Director

                                          Page 1

           --------------------------------------------------------------------

                            A REPORT ON COMMUNIST BRAINWASHING

               The report that follows is a condensation of a study by training
           experts of the  important  classified  and  unclassified information
           available on this subject.

           BACKGROUND

              Brainwashing, as a technique, has been used for centuries and
           is no mystery to psychologists.  In this sense, brainwashing means
           involuntary re-education of basic beliefs and values.

              All people  are being re-educated  continually.  New  information
           changes one's beliefs.  Everyone has experienced to  some degree the
           conflict that ensues  when  new  information  is not consistent with
           prior belief.

              The experience of the brainwashed  individual differs in that the
           in-consistent information is   forced  upon  the  individual   under
           controlled conditions after the possibility of critical judgment has
           been removed by a variety of methods.

              There is no question that an individual can be broken psycholog-
           ically by captors with knowledge and willingness to persist in tech-
           niques aimed at   deliberately   destroying  the  integration  of  a
           personality.

              Although it is probable that everyone reduced to such a confused,
           disoriented state will respond to  the  introduction of new beliefs,
           this cannot be stated dogmatically.

           PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN CONTROL AND REACTION TO CONTROL

              There are  progressive  steps  in  exercising  control   over  an
           individual and changing his behaviour and personality integration.

               The following five steps are typical of behaviour changes in any
           controlled individual:

                1.  Making  the  individual aware of control is the first stage
                    in changing his behaviour.  A  small child is made aware of
                    the physical and psychological control of  his  parents and
                    quickly recognizes  that  an  overwhelming  force  must  be
                    reckoned with.
                    So, a controlled adult comes  to recognize the overwhelming
                    powers of  the  state  and the impersonal,  "incarcerative"
                    machinery in   which   he   is   enmeshed.  The  individual
                    recognizes that definite limits have been put upon the ways
                    he can respond.

           (Approved for Release)          (62-80750-2712X)
           (Date: 8 FEB 1984)

                                                           OA 53-37

                2. Realization of his complete  dependence upon the controlling
                   system is a major factor in the controlling of his behavior.

                                          Page 2

                   The controlled adult is forced to accept the fact that food,
                   tobacco,praise, and the only social contact that he will get
                   come from  the  very interrogator who exercises control over
                   him.

                3. The awareness of control  and  recognition  of dependence re
                   sult in causing internal conflict and breakdown  of previous
                   patterns of behaviour.
                   Although this  transition can be relatively mild in the case
                   of a child, it is almost  invariably  severe  for  the adult
                   undergoing brainwashing.  Only an individual  who  holds his
                   values lightly can change them easily.
                   Since the   brainwasher-interrogators   aim   to   have  the
                   individuals undergo profound  emotional  change,  they force
                   their victims to seek out painfully what is  desired  by the
                   controlling individual.
                   During this  period  the  victim  is likely to have a mental
                   breakdown characterized by delusions and hallucinations.

                4. Discovery  that  there is  an  acceptable  solution  to  his
                   problem is  the  first  stage  of reducing the  individual's
                   conflict.
                   It is characteristically reported by victims of brainwashing
                   that this discovery led to an overwhelming feeling of relief
                   that the  horror  of  internal conflict would cease and that
                   perhaps they would not, after all, be driven insane.
                   It is at this point that  they  are  prepared  to make major
                   changes in  their value-system. This is an automatic  rather
                   than voluntary  choice.  They  have lost their ability to be
                   critical.

                5. Reintergration of values and identification with the cont-
                   rolling system is the final  stage in changing the behaviour
                   of the controlled individual.
                   A child who has learned a new, socially desirable  behaviour
                   demonstrates its  importance by attempting to as apt the new
                   behaviour to a variety of  other  situations. Similar states
                   in the brainwashed adult are (SECTION DELETED BY CIA)
                   pitiful.
                   His new value-system, his manner of perceiving,  organizing,
                   and giving  meaning  to  events, is virtually independent of
                   his former  value  system.   He  is  no  longer  capable  of
                   thinking or  speaking in concepts other than  those  he  has
                   adopted.
                   He tends to identify by expressing thanks to
                   his captors for helping him see the light.
                   Brainwashing can be achieved without using illegal
                   means.
                   Anyone willing  to  use  known  principles  of  control  and
                   reactions to  control  and   capable  of  demonstrating  the
                   patience needed  in  raising  a  child can probably  achieve
                   successful brainwashing.

                                          Page 3

           COMMUNIST CONTROL TECHNIQUES AND THEIR EFFECTS

              A description of usual communist control techniques follows.

              1. Interrogation. There are at least two ways in which "interro-
                 gation" is used:

                    a. Elicitation, which is designed to get the individual to
                       surrender protected    information,   is   a   form   of
                       interrogation.  One major difference between elicitation
                       and interrogation used  to  achieve brainwashing is that
                       the mind of the individual must be kept  clear to permit
                       coherent, undistorted     disclosure     of    protected
                       information.

                    b. Elicitation for the purpose of brainwashing consists of
                       questioning, argument,      indoctrination,     threats,
                       cajolery, praise,  hostility,  and  a variety  of  other
                       pressures. The  aim  of  this interrogation is to hasten
                       the breakdown of the  individual's  value  system and to
                       encourage the substitution of a different  value-system.
                       The procurement  of  protected  information is secondary
                       and is used as a device  to  increase  pressure upon the
                       individual. The term "interrogation" in  this paper will
                       refer, in  general,  to this type. The "interrogator" is
                       the individual who conducts  this  type of interrogation
                       and who  controls  the  administration   of   the  other
                       pressures. He is the protagonist against whom the victim
                       develops his conflict, and upon whom the victim develops
                       a state  of  dependency as he seeks some solution to his
                       conflict.

              2. Physical Torture and Threats of Torture. Two types of physical
                 torture are distinguishable more by their psychological effect
                 in inducing conflict than by the degree of painfulness:

                    a. The first type is one  in which the victim has a passive
                       role in  the pain inflicted on him (e.g.,beatings).  His
                       conflict involves the decision of whether or not to give
                       in to demands in order to avoid further pain. Generally,
                       brutality of  this  type  was  not  found to achieve the
                       desired results. Threats  of  torture  were  found  more
                       effective, as  fear  of  pain  causes  greater  conflict
                       within the individual than does pain itself.

                    b. The  second  type of torture is represented by requiring
                       the individual to stand in one spot for several hours or
                       assume some  other  pain-inducing   position.   Such   a
                       requirement often   engenders   in  the   individual   a
                       determination to  "stick  it  out." This internal act of
                       resistance provide a  feeling  of  moral  superiority at
                       first.
                       As time  passes  and  his  pain  mounts,   however,  the
                       individual becomes  aware  that  it  is his own original
                       determination to resist  that is causing the continuance
                       of pain.
                       A conflict  develops within the individual  between  his
                       moral determination  and  his  desire  to  collapse  and
                       discontinue the pain. It is this extra internal

                                          Page 4

                       conflict, in  addition  to  the conflict over whether or
                       not to give in to the demands made of him, that tends to
                       make this  method  of  torture  more  effective  in  the
                       breakdown of the individual personality.

              3. Isolation. Individual differences in reaction to isolation are
                 probably greater than to any other method.
                 Some individuals  appear  to  be  able to withstand  prolonged
                 periods of  isolation  without  deleterious  effects,  while a
                 relatively short period of  isolation  reduces  others  to the
                 verge of  psychosis.  Reaction varies with the  conditions  of
                 the isolation cell.
                 Some sources  have  indicated  a  strong reaction to filth and
                 vermin, although  they  had   negligible   reactions   to  the
                 isolation.
                 Others reacted  violently  to  isolation  in relatively  clean
                 cells. The  predominant  cause of breakdown in such situations
                 is a lack of sensory stimulati n  (i.e.,  grayness  of  walls,
                 lack of sound, absence of social contact, etc.).
                 Experimental subjects exposed to this condition  have reported
                 vivid hallicinations  and  overwhelming  fears of losing their
                 sanity.

              4. Control of Communication. This is one of the most effective
                 methods for creating a sense of helplessness and despair. This
                 measure might  well  be  considered  the  cornerstone  of  the
                 communist system of control.
                 It consists   of   strict   regulation  of  the   mail,reading
                 materials, broadcast  materials,  and social contact available
                 to the individual.  The need  to  communicate is so great that
                 when the  usual  channels  are  blocked,  the individual  will
                 resort to   any   open   channel,  almost  regardless  of  the
                 implications of using that particular channel.
                 Many POWs in Korea, whose only  act  of "collaboration" was to
                 sign petitions and "peace appeals," defended  their actions on
                 the ground  that  this  was  the  only  method  of letting the
                 outside world know they were still alive.
                 Many stated that their morale  and  fortitude  would have been
                 increased immeasurably  had  leaflets  of  encouragement  been
                 dropped to them.
                 When the  only  contact  with  the  outside  world  is via the
                 interrogator, the prisoner comes to develop extreme dependency
                 on his  interrogator  and hence  loses  another  prop  to  his
                 morale.

                 Another wrinkle  in  communication  control  is  the  informer
                 system.  The recruitment of informers in POW camps discouraged
                 communication between  inmates. POWs who feared that every act
                 or thought of resistance would  be  communicated  to  the camp
                 administrators, lost faith in their fellow man and were forced
                 to "untrusting  individualism."  Informers   are   also  under
                 several stages of brainwashing and  elicitation to develop and
                 maintain control over the victims.

              5. Induction of Fatigue. This is a well-known device for breaking
                 will power  and  critical  powers  of judgment. Deprivation of
                 sleep results in more intense  psychological debilitation than
                 does any other method of engendering fatigue.  The  communists
                 vary their methods.

                                          Page 5

                 "Conveyor belt"  interrogation that last 50-60 hours will make
                 almost any individual compromise,  but  there  is  danger that
                 this will kill the victim.
                 It is safer to conduct interrogations of 8-10  hours  at night
                 while forcing  the  prisoner  to  remain awake during the day.
                 Additional interruptions   in   the  remaining  2-3  hours  of
                 allotted sleep quickly reduce the most resilient  individual .
                 Alternate administration  of  drug  stimulants and depressants
                 hastens the process of fatigue  and sharpens the psychological
                 reactions of excitement and depression.

                 Fatigue, in  addition  to reducing the will  to  resist,  also
                 produces irritation  and fear that arise from increased "slips
                 of the  tongue."  forgetfulness,   and  decreased  ability  to
                 maintain orderly thought processes.

              6. Control of Food, Water and Tobacco. The controlled individual
                 is made   intensely   aware   of  his  dependence   upon   his
                 interrogator for  the  quality  and  quantity  of his food and
                 tobacco. The  exercise  of  this  control  usually  follows  a
                 pattern.
                 No food and little or no water is permitted the individual for
                 several days prior to interrogation. When the  prisoner  first
                 complains of  this  to  the interrogator, the latter expresses
                 surprise at such inhumane treatment.  He makes a demand of the
                 prisoner.  If the latter complies,he receives  a good meal. If
                 he does  not,  he  gets a diet of unappetizing food containing
                 limited vitamins,minerals, and calories.
                 This diet is supplemented occasionally  by the interrogator if
                 the prisoner  "cooperates."  Studies of controlled  starvation
                 indicate that the whole value-system of the subjects underwent
                 a change.   Their  irritation  increased  as  their ability to
                 think clearly decreased.  The  control of tobacco presented an
                 even greater  source  of  conflict for heavy smokers.  Because
                 tobacco is  not  necessary  to  life, being manipulated by his
                 craving for it can in the individual a strong sense of guilt.

              7. Criticism  and  Self-Criticism.   There   are   mechanisms  of
                 communist thought    control.   Self-criticism    gains    its
                 effectiveness from  the  fact  that although it is not a crime
                 for a man to be wrong, it is  a major crime to be stubborn and
                 to refuse  to learn. Many individuals feel intensely  relieved
                 in being able to share their sense of guilt.
                 Those individuals however, who have adjusted to handling their
                 guilt internally  have  difficulty  adapting  to criticism and
                 self-criticism. In brainwashing,  after  a sufficient sense of
                 guilt has  been created in the individual, sharing  and  self-
                 criticism permit  relief.  The  price  paid  for  this relief,
                 however, is loss of individuality and increased dependency.

              8. Hypnosis and Drugs as Controls. There is no reliable evidence
                 that the communists are making  widespread  use  of  drugs  or
                 hypnosis in brainwashing or elicitation. The exception to this
                 is the  use  of common stimulants or depressants  in  inducing
                 fatigue and "mood swings."

              9. Other  methods of control, which when used in conjunction with
                 the basic processes, hasten  the  deterioration  of prisoners'
                 sense of values and resistance are:

                                          Page 6

                    a. Requiring   a  case  history  or  autobiography  of  the
                       prisoner provides   a   mine   of  information  for  the
                       interrogator in    establishing    and     "documenting"
                       accusations.

                    b. Friendliness  of  the interrogator, when least expected,
                       upsets the prisoner's  ability  to  maintain  a critical
                       attitude.

                    c. Petty  demands, such as severely limiting  the  allotted
                       time for  use  of toilet facilities or requiring the POW
                       to kill hundreds of flies, are harassment methods.

                    d. Prisoners are often humiliated  by refusing them the use
                       of toilet facilities during interrogator until they soil
                       themselves.  Often prisoners were not permitted to bathe
                       for weeks until they felt contemptible.

                    e. Conviction  as a war criminal appears  to  be  a  potent
                       factor in   creating  despair  in  the  individual.  One
                       official analysis  of   the  pressures  exerted  by  the
                       ChiComs on   "confessors"   and   "non-confessors"    to
                       participation in bacteriological warfare in Korea showed
                       that actual  trial  and  conviction  of "war crimes" was
                       overwhelmingly associated with breakdown and confession.

                    f. Attempted  elicitation   of   protected  information  at
                       various times  during the brainwashing process  diverted
                       the individual  from  awareness  of the deterioration of
                       his value-system.
                       The fact that, in most  cases,  the ChiComs did not want
                       or need such intelligence was not known to the prisoner.
                       His attempts to protect such information was made at the
                       expense of hastening his own breakdown.

           THE EXERCISE OF CONTROL: A "SCHEDULE" FOR BRAINWASHING
           --------------------------------------------------------------------

                From the  many  fragmentary  accounts reviewed,  the  following
           appears to be  the  most  likely  description  of what occurs during
           brainwashing.

                In the period immediately following  capture,  the  captors are
           faced with the problem of deciding on best ways of  exploitation  of
           the prisoners.  Therefore, early treatment is similar both for those
           who are to  be  exploited  through  elicitation and those who are to
           undergo brainwashing.  Concurrently   with  being  interrogated  and
           required to write   a  detailed  personal  history,   the   prisoner
           undergoes a physical    and   psychological   "softening-up"   which
           includes: limited unpalatable     food     rations,withholding    of
           tobacco,possible work details,  severely inadequate  use  of  toilet
           facilities, no use   of   facilities   for   personal   cleanliness,
           limitation of sleep such as requiring  a  subject  to  sleep  with a
           bright light in his eyes.

                Apparently the  interrogation  and autobiographical  ,material,
           the reports of   the   prisoner's   behaviour  in  confinement,  and
           tentative "personality typing" by  the  interrogators,  provide  the
           basis upon which exploitation plans are made.

                                          Page 7

                There is a major difference between preparation for elicitation
           and for brainwashing  .Prisoners  exploited through elicitation must
           retain sufficient clarity  of   thought   to   be   able   to   give
           coherent,factual accounts.

                In brainwashing , on the other hand, the first  thing  attacked
           is clarity of  thought.  To  develop  a  strategy  of  defense,  the
           controlled individual must determine  what  plans have been made for
           his exploitation. Perhaps  the  best  cues he can get  are  internal
           reactions to the pressures he undergoes.

                The most  important  aspect  of the brainwashing process is the
           interrogation. The other pressures  are  designed  primarily to help
           the interrogator achieve his goals. The following states are created
           systematically within the individual . These may vary  in order, but
           all are necessary to the brainwashing process:

                1. A  feeling  of  helplessness  in attempting to deal with the
                   impersonal machinery of control.

                2. An initial reaction of "surprise."

                3. A feeling of uncertainty about what is required of him.

                4. A developing feeling of dependence upon the interrogator .

                5. A sense of doubt and loss of objectivity.

                6. Feelings of guilt.

                7. A questioning attitude toward his own value-system.

                8. A feeling of potential "breakdown,"  i.e.,that  he  might go
                   crazy.

                9. A need to defend his acquired principles.

               10. A final sense of "belonging" (identification).

                A feeling  of  helplessness  in  the  face  of  the  impersonal
                machinery of   control   is  carefully  engendered  within  the
                prisoner. The individual who receives the preliminary treatment
                described above not only begins  to  feel  like an "animal" but
                also feels that nothing can be done about it.  No  one pays any
                personal attention  to  him.  His complaints fall on deaf ears.
                His loss of communication, if  he  has been isolated, creates a
                feeling that he has been "forgotten."

                Everything that   happens  to  him  occurs  according   to   an
                impersonal time schedule that has nothing to do with his needs.
                The voices and footsteps of the guards are muted. He notes many
                contrasts,e.g.,his greasy,unpalatable  food  may  be  served on
                battered tin dishes by guards immaculately dressed in white.

                The first steps in "depersonalization"  of  the  prisoner  have
                begun. He  has  no  idea what to expect. Ample  opportunity  is
                allotted for him to ruminate upon all the unpleasant or painful
                things that  could  happen  to  him.   He  approaches  the main
                interrogator with mixed feelings of relief and fright.

                                          Page 8

                Surprise is  commonly  used  in  the  brainwashing process. The
                prisoner is rarely prepared for the fact that the interrogators
                are usually friendly and considerate  at first. They make every
                effort to demonstrate that they are reasonable human beings.

                Often they apologize for bad treatment received by the prisoner
                and promise to improve his lot if he, too, is  reasonable. This
                behaviour is not what he has steeled himself for.  He lets down
                some of his defenses and tries to take a reasonable attitude.

                The first  occasion  he  balks  at  satisfying a request of the
                interrogator, however,  he is  in  for  another  surprise.  The
                formerly reasonable  interrogator  unexpectedly  turns  into  a
                furious maniac.

                The interrogator  is  likely  to  slap the prisoner or draw his
                pistol and  threaten  to shoot  him.   Usually  this  storm  of
                emotion ceases  as  suddenly  as it began and the  interrogator
                stalks from  the room. These surprising changes create doubt in
                the prisoner  as  to  his  very  ability  to  perceive  another
                person's motivations correctly. His next interrogation probably
                will be marked by impassivity in the interrogator 's mien.

                A feeling  of  uncertainty  about what is required  of  him  is
                likewise carefully  engendered within the individual . Pleas of
                the prisoner to learn specifically of what he is accused and by
                whom are side-stepped by the  interrogator.

                Instead, the prisoner is asked to tell why he thinks he is held
                and what he feels he is guilty  of.  If  the  prisoner fails to
                come up  with  anything,  he  is  accused  in  terms  of  broad
                generalities (e.g., espionage, sabotage,acts of treason against
                the "people").

                This usually provokes the prisoner to make some statement about
                his activities.   If  this  take  the  form  of a denial, he is
                usually sent to isolation on  further decreased food rations to
                "think over" his crimes. This process can be repeated again and
                again.

                As soon as the prisoner can think of something  that  might  be
                considered self-incriminating,    the    interrogator   appears
                momentarily satisfied. The prisoner  is asked to write down his
                statement in his own words and sign it.

                Meanwhile a strong sense of dependence upon the interrogator is
                developed. It  does not take long for the prisoner  to  realize
                that the  interrogator  is  the  source of all punishment , all
                gratification, and   all   communication.   The   interrogator,
                meanwhile, demonstrates his unpredictbility. He is perceived by
                the prisoner as a creature of whim.

                At times, the interrogator can be pleased very  easily  and  at
                other times  no effort on the part of the prisoner will placate
                him. The prisoner may begin  to  channel  so  much  energy into
                trying to   predict   the   behaviour   of  the   unpredictable
                interrogator that  he  loses  track of what is happening inside
                himself.

                                          Page 9

                After the  prisoner  has  developed the above psychological and
                emotional reactions to a sufficient  degree,  the  brainwashing
                begins in earnest.

                First, the  prisoner's  remaining  critical faculties  must  be
                destroyed.  He  undergoes  long, fatiguing interrogations while
                looking at a bright light. He  is  called  back again and again
                for interrogations after minimal sleep.

                He may undergo torture that tends to create internal  conflict.
                Drugs may  be used to accentuate his "mood swings." He develops
                depression when the interrogator  is  being  kind  and  becomes
                euphoric when  the  interrogator  is  threatening   the  direst
                penalties.

                Then the  cycle  is  reversed.  The prisoner finds himself in a
                constant state of anxiety which prevents him from relaxing even
                when he is permitted to sleep.   Short periods of isolation now
                bring on visual and auditory hallucinations.

                The prisoner feels himself losing his objectivity.   It  is  in
                this state  that  the prisoner must keep up an endless argument
                with the interrogator.  He may be faced with the confessions of
                other individuals who "collaborated" with him in his crimes.

                The prisoner seriously begins  to  doubts  his own memory. This
                feeling is heightened by his inability to recall  little things
                like the  names of the people he knows very well or the date of
                his birth. The interrogator patiently  sharpens this feeling of
                doubt by more questioning. This tends to create a serious state
                of uncertainty  when  the  individual  has  lost  most  of  his
                critical faculties.

                The prisoner  must  undergo  additional  internal conflict when
                strong feelings  of  guilt  are  aroused  within  him.  As  any
                clinical psychologist is aware, it is not at all  difficult  to
                create such  feelings.   Military  servicemen  are particularly
                vulnerable.

                No one can morally justify killing  even in wartime.  The usual
                justification is on the grounds of necessity or self-defense.

                The interrogator  is careful to circumvent such  justification.
                He keeps the interrogation directed toward the prisoner's moral
                code.

                Every moral vulnerability is exploited by incessant questioning
                along this  line until the prisoner begins to question the very
                fundamentals of his own value-system.

                The prisoner must constantly  fight  a  potential breakdown. He
                finds that  his  mind  is "going blank" for longer  and  longer
                periods of  time.  He can not think constructively. If he is to
                maintain any  semblance  of psychological  integrity,  he  must
                bring to  an end this state of interminable internal  conflict.
                He signifies a willingness to write a confession.

                If this   were  truly  the  end,  no  brainwashing  would  have
                occurred.  The individual would simply have given in to

                                          Page 10

                intolerable pressure.    Actually,   the  final  stage  of  the
                brainwashing process  has  just  begun.   No  matter  what  the
                prisoner writes  in  his  confession  the interrogator  is  not
                satisfied.

                The interrogator questions every sentence of the confession. He
                begins to edit it with the prisoner.  The prisoner is forced to
                argue against   every   change.   This   is   the   essence  of
                brainwashing.

                Every time that he gives in on  a point to the interrogator, he
                must rewrite  his whole confession. Still the  interrogator  is
                not satisfied.    In  a  desperate  attempt  to  maintain  some
                semblance of integrity and to  avoid  further brainwashing, the
                prisoner must begin to argue that what he has already confessed
                to is true.

                He begins to accept as his own the statements  he  has written.
                He uses   many  of  the  interrogator's  earlier  arguments  to
                buttress his position. By this  process,identification with the
                interrogator's value-system becomes complete.

                It is  extremely  important  to  recognize that  a  qualitative
                change has  taken  place  within  the prisoner. The brainwashed
                victim does not consciously change his value-system; rather the
                change occurs despite his efforts.  He  is  no more responsible
                for this change than is an individual who "snaps"  and  becomes
                psychotic. And  like  the  psychotic,  the prisoner is not even
                aware of the transition.

           DEFENSIVE MEASURES OTHER THAN ON THE POLICY AND PLANNING LEVEL

              1.  Training  of  Individuals potentially  subject  to  communist
                  control.

                  Training should provide for the trainee a realistic appraisal
                  of what control pressures the communists are  likely to exert
                  and what the usual human reactions are to such pressures. The
                  trainee must  learn the most effective ways of combatting his
                  own reactions to such pressures  and he must learn reasonable
                  expectations as to what his behaviour should be.

                  Training has  two  decidedly  positive  effects;   first,  it
                  provides the trainee with ways of combatting control; second,
                  it provides the basis for developing an immeasurable boost in
                  morale.

                  Any positive  action that the individual can take, even if it
                  is only slightly effective, gives him a sense of control over
                  a situation that is otherwise controlling him.

               2.  Training must provide the individual with the means of
                   recognizing realistic goals for himself.

                      a. Delay in yielding may be the only achievement that can
                         be hoped for. In any  particular  operation, the agent
                         needs the support of knowing specifically  how long he
                         must hold  out  to  save  an  operation,  protect  his
                         cohorts, or gain some other goal.

                                          Page 11

                      b. The  individual  should  be  taught how to achieve the
                         most favorable treatment  and  how  to behave and make
                         necessary concessions to obtain minimum penalties.

                      c. Individual  behavioural  responses   to   the  various
                         communist control pressures differ markedly.

                         Therefore, each trainee should know his own particular
                         assets and    limitations    in   resisting   specific
                         pressures.  He can learn  these  only under laboratory
                         conditions simulating the actual pressures he may have
                         to face.

                      d. Training must provide knowledge of the  goals  and the
                         restrictions placed upon his communist interrogator.

                         The trainee  should  know  what  controls  are  on his
                         interrogator and to what extent he can manipulate
                         the interrogator. For example, the interrogator is not
                         permitted to  fail   to   gain  "something"  from  the
                         controlled individual. The knowledge  that,  after the
                         victim has proved that he is a "tough nut to crack" he
                         can sometimes  indicate  that  he  might compromise on
                         some little point to  help  the interrogator in return
                         for more favorable treatment, may be useful indeed.

                         Above all,  the potential victim of communist  control
                         can gain  a  great  deal of psychological support from
                         the knowledge that the communist interrogator is not a
                         completely free agent  who  can  do  whatever he wills
                         with his victim.

                      e. The trainee must learn what practical  cues  might aid
                         him in   recognizing   the   specific   goals  of  his
                         interrogator. The    strategy   of   defense   against
                         elicitation may differ markedly from  the  strategy to
                         prevent brainwashing.   To  prevent  elicitation,  the
                         individual may  hasten   his   own   state  of  mental
                         confusion; whereas,    to    prevent     brainwashing,
                         maintaining clarity    of    thought    processes   is
                         imperative.

                      f. The trainee should  obtain  knowledge  about communist
                         "carrots" as  well  as "sticks." The  communists  keep
                         certain of their promises and always renege on others.

                         For example,  the  demonstrable  fact that "informers"
                         receive no  better   treatment  than  other  prisoners
                         should do much to prevent this particular evil. On the
                         other hand, certain meaningless concessions
                         will often get a prisoner a good meal.

                      g. In particular, it should be emphasized  to the trainee
                         that, although  little  can  be  done  to  control the
                         pressures exerted upon  him,  he  can  learn something
                         about controlling his personal reactions  to  specific
                         pressures.

                                          Page 12

                         The trainee  can  gain  much  from  learning something
                         about internal   conflict    and    conflict-producing
                         mechanisms. He should learn to recognize  when someone
                         is trying   to   arouse   guilt   feelings   and  what
                         behavioural reactions  can  occur  as  a  response  to
                         guilt.

                      h. Finally, the training must teach some methods that can
                         be utilized in thwarting particular communist  control
                         techniques:

                Elicitation. In  general,  individuals  who  are the hardest to
                             interrogate for  information  are  those  who have
                             experienced previous interrogations.  Practice  in
                             being the  victim  of  interrogation  is  a  sound
                             training device.

                Torture.     The  trainee  should  learn  something  about  the
                             principles of pain and shock. There  is  a maximum
                             to the amount of pain that can actually be felt.

                             Any amount  of pain can be tolerated for a limited
                             period of time.  In  addition,  the trainee can be
                             fortified by the knowledge that  there  are  legal
                             limitations upon the amount of torture that can be
                             inflicted by communist jailors.

                Isolation.   The   psychological   effects   of  isolation  can
                             probably be thwarted best by mental gymnastics and
                             systematic efforts  on  the part of the isolate to
                             obtain stimulation for his neural end organs.

                Controls on  Food  and Tobacco. Foods given by  the  communists
                             will always   be   enough  to  maintain  survival.
                             Sometimes the victim gets unexpected opportunities
                             to supplement  his  diet  with  special  minerals,
                             vitamins and other nutrients (e.g.,"iron" from the
                             rust of prison bars).

                             In some  instances,  experience   has  shown  that
                             individuals could  exploit  refusal  to  eat. Such
                             refusal usually  resulted  in  the transfer of the
                             individual to a hospital where he received vitamin
                             injections and nutritious food.

                             Evidently attempts of this kind to  commit suicide
                             arouse the    greatest    concern   in   communist
                             officials. If   deprivation   of  tobacco  is  the
                             control being exerted. the victim  can  gain moral
                             satisfaction from  "giving  up" tobacco.  He can't
                             lose since he is not likely to get any anyway.

                Fatigue.     The trainee should  learn reactions to fatigue and
                             how to  overcome  them  insofar as  possible.  For
                             example, mild  physical exercise "clears the head"
                             in a fatigue state.

                Writing Personal Accounts and  Self-Criticism.  Experience  has
                             indicated that one of the most effective ways of

                                          Page 13

                             combatting these  pressures  is  to enter into the
                             spirit with an overabundance of enthusiasm.
                             Endless written    accounts   of   inconsequential
                             material have  virtually  "smothered"  some  eager
                             interrogators.In the  same spirit, sober, detailed
                             self-criticisms  of  the  most  minute  "sins" has
                             sometimes brought good results.

                Guidance as  to  the  priority of positions he  should  defend.
           Perfectly compatible responsibilities  in the normal execution of an
           individual's duties may  become   mutually   incompatible   in  this
           situation.

                Take the example of a senior grade military officer. He has the
           knowledge of sensitive strategic intelligence which  it  is his duty
           to protect. He  has  the  responsibility of maintaining the physical
           fitness of his  men  and  serving  as  a  model  example  for  their
           behaviour. The officer may go to the camp commandant  to protest the
           treatment of the  POWs and the commandant assures him that treatment
           could be improved if he will swap  something for it. Thus to satisfy
           one responsibility he must compromise another.

                The officer,  in  short,  is  in a constant state  of  internal
           con lict.  But if  the officer is given the relative priority of his
           different responsibilities, he is supported by the knowledge that he
           won't be held accountable for any  other  behaviour  if  he does his
           utmost to carry  out his highest priority responsibility.  There  is
           considerable evidence that  many  individuals  tried to evaluate the
           priority of their  responsibilities   on  their  own,  but  were  in
           conflict over whether   others  would  subsequently   accept   their
           evaluations. More than one individual was probably brainwashed while
           he was trying to protect himself against elicitation.

           CONCLUSIONS

                The application  of  known psychological principles can lead to
           an understanding of brainwashing.

                1.  There  is  nothing  mysterious  about  personality  changes
                    resulting from the brainwashing process.

                2.  Brainwashing   is   a   complex  process.   Principles   of
                    motivation, perception,    learning,    and   physiological
                    deprivation are needed to  account for the results achieved
                    in brainwashing.

                3.  Brainwashing   is  an  involuntary  re-education   of   the
                    fundamental beliefs   of  the  individual.  To  attack  the
                    problem successfully,  the  brainwashing  process  must  be
                    differentiated clearly from general education  methods  for
                    thought-control or mass indoctrination, and elicitation.

                4. It appears possible for the individual,through training,to
                   develop limited  defensive  techniques against brainwashing.
                   Such defensive measures are  likely  to be most effective if
                   directed toward thwarting individual emotional  reactions to
                   brainwashing techniques  rather  than  to ward thwarting the
                   techniques themselves.  15 August 1955

                                          Page 14

           ====================================================================

           (note Declassified)

                                          SECRET

                                CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
                                   WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

                                        19 JUN 1964

                                                  (Commission No. 1131)

                   MEMORANDUM FOR: Mr. J. Lee Rankin
                                   General Counsel
                                   President's Commission on the
                                   Assassination of President Kennedy

                   SUBJECT       : Soviet Brainwashing Techniques

                   1.  Reference is made to your memorandum of 19 May 1964,
                       requesting that  materials relative to Soviet techniques
                       in mind conditioning and  brainwashing be made available
                       to the Commission.

                   2.  At my request, experts on these subjects within the CIA
                       have prepared a brief survey of Soviet  research  in the
                       direction and control of human behavior, a copy of which
                       is attached.  The  Commission  may retain this document.
                       Please note that the use  of certain sensitive materials
                       requires that a sensitivity indicator be affixed.

                   3.  In the immediate future, this Agency will make available
                       to you a collection of overt and classified materials on
                       these subjects, which the Commission may retain.

                   4.  I hope that these documents will be responsive to the
                       Commission's needs.

                                                           (SIGNED)

                 (DECLASSIFIED)                            Richard Helms
                   (By C.I.A.)                          Deputy   Director   for
           Plans
               (letter of ___________)
               (---------------------)

               Attachment

               CD  1131                 SECRET

                                          Page 15

           MEMORANDUM

               SUBJECT: Soviet Research and Development in the Field of
                        Direction and Control of Human Behavior.

                       1.  There   are   two   major  methods  of  altering  or
                           controlling human  behavior,  and  the  Soviets  are
                           interested in both.

                           The first    is    psychological;     the    second,
                           pharmacological. The  two  may be used as individual
                           methods or for mutual reinforcement.

                           For long-term control  of  large  numbers of people,
                           the former method is more promising than the latter.

                           In dealing  with  individuals, the  U.S.  experience
                           suggests the pharmacological approach (assisted
                           by psychological   techniques)  would  be  the  only
                           effective method.

                           Neither method would  be  very  effective for single
                           individuals on a long term basis.

                       2.  Soviet   research  on  the  pharmacological   agents
                           producing behavioral effects has consistently lagged
                           about five years behind Western research.

                           They have been interested in such research, however,
                           and are  now  pursuing research on such chemicals as
                           LSD-25, amphetamines, tranquillizers, hypnotics, and
                           similar materials.

                           There is no present  evidence  that the Soviets have
                           any singular, new, potent drugs to force a course of
                           action on an individual.

                           They are  aware,  however,  of the tremendous  drive
                           produced by drug addiction, and PERHAPS could couple
                           this with psychological direction to achieve control
                           of an individual.

                       3.  The  psychological aspects of behavior control would
                           include not  only  conditioning  by  repetition  and
                           training, but such things as hypnosis,  deprivation,
                           isolation, manipulation of guilt feelings, subtle or
                           overt threats, social pressure, and so on.

                                          Page 16

                           Some of the newer trends in the USSR are as follows:

                           a. The  adoption  of  a  multidisciplinary  approach
                              integrating biological,social    and    physical-
                              mathematical research  in  attempts   better   to
                              understand, and   eventually,  to  control  human
                              behavior in  a  manner  consonant  with  national
                              plans.

                           b. The  outstanding  feature,  in  addition  to  the
                              inter-disciplinary approach, is a new concern for
                              mathematical approaches  to  an  understanding of
                              behavior.

                              Particularly notable  are  attempts to use modern
                              information theory, automata theory, and feedback
                              concepts in interpreting the mechanisms  by which
                              the "second  signal  system,"  i.e.,  speech  and
                              associated phenomena, affect human behavior.

                              Implied by this  "second  signal  system,"  using
                              INFORMATION inputs  as  causative  agents  rather
                              than chemical  agents,  electrodes  or other more
                              exotic techniques    applicable,    perhaps,   to
                              individuals rather than groups.

                           c. This new trend, observed in the early Post-Stalin
                              Period, continues. By 1960 the word "cybernetics"
                              was used  by  the Soviets to designate  this  new
                              trend.

                              This new science is considered by some as the key
                              to understanding  the human brain and the product
                              of its    functioning--psychic    activity    and
                              personality--to the  development   of  means  for
                              controlling it   and  to  ways  for  molding  the
                              character of the "New Communist Man".

                              As one Soviet author  puts it: Cybernetics can be
                              used in  "molding  of  a child's  character,  the
                              inculcation of   knowledge  and  techniques,  the
                              amassing of  experience,   the  establishment  of
                              social behavior  patterns...all  functions  which
                              can be  summarized  as  'control'  of  the growth
                              process of   the   individual."   1/Students   of
                              particular disciplines  in  the   USSR,  such  as
                              psychologist and  social scientists, also support
                              the general cybernetic trend. 2/ (Blanked by CIA)

                       4.  In summary, therefore, there is no evidence that the
                           Soviets have any  techniques  or  agents  capable of
                           producing particular behavioral patterns  which  are
                           not available in the West.

                           Current research  indicates  that  the  Soviets  are
                           attempting to develop  a  technology for controlling
                           the development  of  behavioral patterns  among  the
                           citizenry of the USSR in accordance with politically
                           determined requirements of the system.

                                          Page 17

                           Furthermore, the  same  technology can be applied to
                           more sophisticated  approaches  to  the  "coding" of
                           information for transmittal to population targets in
                           the "battle for the minds of men."

                           Some of the more esoteric techniques such as ESP or,
                           as the   Soviets   call   it,   "biological   radio-
                           communication", and  psychogenic agents such as LSD,
                           are receiving some  overt  attention with, possibly,
                           applications in mind for individual behavior control
                           under clandestine conditions.

                           However, we   require  more  information   than   is
                           currently available   in   order   to  establish  or
                           disprove planned or  actual  applications of various
                           methodologies by Soviet scientists to the control of
                           actions of articular individuals.

                                      References

               1.  Itelson,  Lev,  "Pedagogy: An Exact Science?"  USSR  October
                   1963,
                   p. 10.
               2.  Borzek, Joseph, "Recent Developments in Soviet Psychology,"
                   Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 15, 1964, p. 493-594.

                                          SECRET          CD  1131

                   The  first  letter  and  attachment  are   from
                   DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS  1984  microfilms  under MKULTRA (84)
                   002258, published by  Research  Publication  Woodbridge,  CT
                   06525.  Some  original  markings were not retyped,  but  the
                   content is the same.

                   The  second  letter  and  attachment  are  from   the
                   Warren Commission  documents.

                   Notice should  be  paid to the different tone Helms gives to
                   his letter,  keeping in mind  he was found guilty  of  lying
                   to Congress.   He  places  greater  emphasis   on   "Soviet"
                   practices and  tries  to  diminish  breakthroughs  gained by
                   Americans.

                   Some  thought   should  be   given  as  to  WHY  the  Warren
                   Commission  sought  such documents  (remembering  that ALLEN
                   DULLES  was   a   member  of  that  Commission).   They were
                   exploring the Manchurian candidate  theory.

                   It  was revealed during  the   Church  Committee hearings of
                   1975 that  Helms  had been in charge of Project  AMLASH,   a
                   program  to  assassinate  Castro (Cuba),Trujillo  (Dominican
                   Republic), Diem (RVN), Schneider (Chile) using MAFIA figures
                   John Roselli and Santos Trafficante to do the job.

                   Care was used to insure  lines  appear  in  same  length and
                   order.  Page length will have to be adjusted  if  you desire
                   to print  this.  Look  for  other  specials soon. David John
                   Moses.
                                           FINIS
                                          Page 18