>     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

>             ENCLOSURE

>                                                     OA 53-37
>     -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>                              A REPORT ON COMMUNIST BRAINWASHING

>         The report that follows is a condensation of a study by train-
>     ing 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 re-
>     moved 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  personal-
>     ity. 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 individ-
>     ual and changing his behaviour and personality integration. The fol-
>     lowing 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 im-
>     personal, "incarcerative" machinery in which he is enmeshed. The in
>     -dividual 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 controll-
>     ing system is a major factor in the controlling of his behavior.The con-
>     trolled adult is forced to accept the fact that food, tobacco,praise,
>     and the only social contact that he will get come from the very in-
>     terrogator 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 hallucinat-
>     ions.

>          4. Discovery that there is an acceptable solution to his prob-
>     lem 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 pre-
>     pared to make major changes in their value-system. This is an
>     automatic rather than voluntary choice. They have lost their a-
>     bility 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 de-
>     sirable 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)

>                                        2

>                                                     OA 53-37

>     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.

>     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,hos-
>     tility, 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 con-
>     flict, 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 induc-
>     ing 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 it-
>     self.

>                                        3

>                                                    OA 53-37

>          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 indi-
>     vidual 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 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 iso-
>     lation 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 stimulation
>     (i.e.,grayness of walls,lack of sound,absence of social contact,etc.).
>     Experimental subjects exposed to this condition have reported vivid hal-
>     licinations 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 con-
>     trol. 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. May 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

>                                        4

>                                                     OA 53-37

>     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. "Conveyor belt"
>     interrogation that last 50-60 hours will make almost any individual com-
>     promise, 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." for-
>     getfulness, 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 con-
>     trol usually follows a pattern. No food and little or no water is per-
>     mitted 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 re-
>     lieved in being able to share their sense of guilt. Those   individuals

>                                        5

>                                                     OA 53-37

>     however, who have adjusted to handling their guilt internally have dif-
>     ficulty 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, how-
>     -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     ever, 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:

>                 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, up-
>     sets 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 contempti-
>     ble.

>                 e. Conviction as a war criminal appears to be a potent factor
>     in creating despair in the individual. One official analysis of the pres-
>     sures 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 aware-
>     ness 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.

>                                        6

>                                                     OA 53-37

>     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,possi-
>     ble 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 inter-
>     rogation and autobiographical ,material, the reports of the prisoner's be-
>     haviour in confinement, and tentative "personality typing" by the interro-
>     gators, provide the basis upon which exploitation plans are made.

>          There is a major difference between preparation for elicitation and
>     for brainwashing .Prisoners exploited through elicitation must retain suffi-
>     cient 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 interro-
>     gation. 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

>                                                     OA 53-37

>          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.

>          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 inter-
>     rogator 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 in-
>     terrogator stalks from the room. These surprising changes create doubt
>     in the prisoner as to his very ability to perceive another person's moti-
>     vations correctly. His next interrogation probably will be marked by im-
>     passivity 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

>                                              8

>                                                     OA 53-37

>     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 us-
>     ually 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 unpredict-
>     bility. 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 happen-
>     ing inside himself.

>          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 min-
>     imal sleep. He may undergo torture that tends to create internal con-
>     flict. 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 "collabo-
>     rated" 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.

>                                        9

>                                                     OA 53-37

>          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 kill-
>     -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     ing even in wartime. The usual justification is on the grounds of neces-
>     sity 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 question-
>     ing along this line until the prisoner begins to question the very fun-
>     damentals 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 intolerable pressure. Ac-
>     tually, 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 confes-
>     sion. 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 re-
>     write 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

>                                       10

>                                                     OA 53-37

>     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, pro-
>     tect his cohorts, or gain some other goal.

>             b. The individual should be taught how to achieve the most favor-
>     able 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 restric-
>     tions 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 some-
>     times indicate that he might compromise on some little point to help the
>     interrogator in return for more favorable treatment, may be useful in-
>     deed. 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.

>                                       11

>                                                     OA 53-37

>             f. The trainee should obtain knowledge about communist "carrots"
>     as well as "sticks." The communists keep certain of their promises and al-
>     ways 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. The trainee can gain much from learning something about in-
>     ternal conflict and conflict-producing mechanisms. He should learn to
>     recognize when someone is trying to arouse guilt feelings and what be-
>     havioural 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 inter-
>     rogate for information are those who have experienced previous interroga-
>     tions. Practice in being the victim of interrogation is a sound train-
>     ing 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 unex-
>     pected 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. Evi-
>     dently 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.

>                                              12

>                                                     OA 53-37

>          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 in-
>     dicated that one of the most effective ways of 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 ex-
>     ample of a senior grade military officer. He has the knowledge of sensitive
>     strategic intelligence which it is his duty to protect. He has the respon-
>     sibility 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 as-
>     sures 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 conflict. 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 brain-
>     washing process must be differentiated clearly from general education
>     methods for thought-control or mass indoctrination, and elicitation.

>                                       13

>                                                     OA 53-37

>          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 in-
>     dividual emotional reactions to brainwashing techniques rather than to-
>     -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     ward thwarting the techniques themselves.

>         15 August 1955

>                                              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

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

>                             SECRET                          CD 1131
>                                                             PAGE 1

>                     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 indi-
>         cates 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. 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,

>                                     SECRET          CD  1131
>                                                     PAGE 2

>         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

>                                                     PAGE 3

>             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.

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