New Zealand spy agency releases wartime & communist files

The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service has released a new tranche of declassified historical records, including material dating back to the 1930s.

This is the third group of historical records published under the agency's declassification programme. It covers individuals investigated around the Second World War, along with additional files on the Communist Party of New Zealand spanning several decades.

The agency holds records from all organisations responsible for New Zealand's security intelligence since 1919. More recent investigations often cannot be disclosed, but historical files can sometimes be opened after review.

Before release, each document is examined line by line to check current classification settings and remove information that remains protected, including the identities of intelligence sources, the names of current or former staff members, some personal information, and some operational methods.

Wartime files

Among the newly opened material are files on Desmond de Renzy, an Auckland clerk whose case drew official attention before the Second World War. He worked for a shipping agency and had access to Auckland Wharf.

The records describe de Renzy as a young man fascinated by espionage who built what investigators later saw as an imagined world of intrigue. That interest led him to offer his services to Germany, although the files indicate he saw himself as a double agent rather than someone betraying New Zealand.

Police handled the case cautiously. After opening an investigation, officers persuaded him to stop his activities and stayed in occasional contact with him.

Material from 1940 and 1941 shows de Renzy later admitted he had remained in touch with German contacts because he feared the consequences of cutting off communication. The files say he passed details of shipping movements through visiting Japanese merchant vessels.

Officials concluded the information he supplied was innocuous. Apart from losing access to the wharf, he faced no further action.

Another set of files concerns Karl Pallo, an Estonian immigrant who arrived in New Zealand in 1929 to represent a French company and later remained as its agent. He married Maria, who was born in Latvia and was regarded by authorities as a Baltic German, and the couple became naturalised New Zealand citizens.

In 1935, Pallo established an engineering company. After the outbreak of the Second World War, he won New Zealand government contracts to manufacture munitions.

The files show the couple then became the subject of rumours about their loyalty because of their Baltic background. The investigation led to their appearance before the Alien Tribunal.

The records suggest the case was complicated by the fact that Mrs Pallo still had relatives in Nazi-occupied Poland, some of whom were seen as Nazi supporters. The Pallos denied being Nazi sympathisers and said business associates had spread the allegations in an attempt to have Pallo interned and take over his company.

In the end, the couple avoided internment. Pallo continued to run the business, although Mrs Pallo was restricted from travelling outside Wellington.

Communist records

The latest release also expands the material available on the Communist Party of New Zealand. The files span the 1920s to the 1980s and include work by both the intelligence service and its predecessor, the New Zealand Police Special Branch.

The party remained of long-term interest to authorities because of its stated support for violent revolution and its rejection of democratic government. The newly released material includes policy documents on industry and trade unions, parliamentary and local body elections, and the public service, armed services, universities, and professions.

The files add to records already made public in earlier releases. The agency says official interest in the Communist Party of New Zealand declined after Ombudsman Sir Guy Powles recommended in 1975 that greater priority be given to espionage and terrorism.

The service said some of the material may be difficult to read through a modern lens, but it sees the records as part of a broader effort to provide greater context for New Zealand's history.