Engelbert-Gottlieb Letters: Part 1

These are the letters that were passed between Sidney Gottilieb (he/him), Chief of the Chemical Division at the Central Intelligence Agency, and Dr. Levi Levi, living as Dr. Johan Engelbert and teaching at George Mason University, during May of 1953.

Dear Dr. Johan Engelbert
I am writing you for your opinion on this reel that I have enclosed in this package. I trust you will be able to find a projector to use it on. Please be careful with that reel since we don’t have any copies. This reel, known by the codename WIDESHUT, was found in the mail of the Ambassador to Austria on May 1st this year. You might have already heard rumors of it through the grapevine. Please do not contribute to these rumors by talking to anyone else about this and send your messages back only through secure channels.
Sincerely,
Sidney Gottlieb

Dear Sidney Gottlieb,
I am glad you came to me with this film. This is exactly what I was working with when I did my completely apolitical experiments for the Wehrmacht in occupied Austria. I could see in this film some of the techniques we used then being used on these captured fresh young German girls. It seems to Soviets have learned our superior Germanic techniques. I am unsure how much of what we see is real and what is stimulated. The cunnilingus seems to be real and throughly enjoyed by both parties. The liquid being injected into the thighs and buttocks of these unwilling but curious maidens could be testosterone like the film claims, but we cannot be sure exactly. There is some movie magic going on with the quick results. Hormones would naturally take time to affect a person, no matter his or her birth sex. However, they would cause a lady to achieve a fetching mustache, along with other body hair. What is most fascinating is the use of hypnosis in this film. These German women are too proud of their femininity, of being for the three Ks of Kinder, Küche, Kirche ^[1] to adopt the boyish androgyny of Soviet women, and yet we see them do exactly this in the film. Even though they resist their new programming, in the end they are helpless to submit and become a new, better type of woman. A woman that is more like a man.
Now, we do not want the Soviet Union to have a power like this. We must not ignore this film as just fantasy from the Communists. They might be planning on doing this en mass to our women if they invade or worse - if they infiltrate us. We must throughly investigate this.
I have a proposal to do an experiment recreating the circumstances of the experiment on the film. I will take twelve women, randomly chosen from a block near me. There is an abandoned girls camp in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland that could probably be purchased cheaply. I can use this location to isolate these women for a month while I experiment on them. After that, they will go home to their families while I observe them. Please consider my proposal before it is too late.
Enclosed is your reel, no worse for wearing. As you said, I have not shown it to anyone else.
Sincerely,
Dr. Johan Engelbert

Dear Dr. Johan Engelbert,
I received your letter today. I find your take on the film very enlightening. You are quite passionate about this topic and I think you are the right person to put in charge of this project. However, I wonder about your choice of twelve local women from one block for experiment. Would it not be better if you chose a group from Puerto Rico who you could pay quite cheaply for this experiment? Why these white upper-middle class women in Northern Virginia? How will you get them to agree to this? Why twelve and not another number? Please explain before I work to get your funding.
Sincerely,
Sidney Gottlieb

Dear Sidney Gottlieb,
I can understand why you would think that Borican women would be better test subjects. However, I have carefully considered this and I think it would be more economical to use subjects closer to home, literally in my case. I know the psychology of these women well. They trust me, especially in the case of the wife of Dr. Richard Ten, a colleague of mine though he is in the Computer Science department. They will believe me that I mean to run a program of self-improvement at that abandoned girls camp. Americans love self-improvement, and I don’t think the women of Puerto Rico have learned these American ways enough. These upper-middle-class white Anglo women are the most similar in psychic profile to the German women in that film that I could find without moving to East Germany. They have an inherent femininity not found in other groups. I am starting at the cusp of femininity, not the bottom. If I can make these women masculine, the Soviets can do it to anyone born with a vagina.
In addition, I have examined the leylines in my neighborhood and discovered that the L-shaped cul de sac where these twelve housewives live is the most fortuitous place to start my quest. Their horoscopes look good as well, with each woman being born in a different month. My tarot readings also keep bringing up the Knight of Cups which I don’t need to tell you is a good sign.^[2] Finally, twelve is the most auspicious number for this group, since it is the same as the disciples of Christ, the tribes of Israel, and the labors of Hercules.
This all may seem queer to you now but I am sure you will agree too when you see my results. It is important that we start on this matter as soon as possible and we can’t do that if I have to set up shop in San Juan. Please tell me you agree so I can start work.
Sincerely,
Dr. Johan Engelbert

Dear Dr. Johan Engelbert,
I have read your letter and I have decided that you have considered the entire matter throughly. More throughly than I would have. All my objections have been answered. I will make sure your project gets the funding it deserves.
I also hope to see you at my folk dance recital this Saturday at the Fairfax Community Center at 11pm. We are doing Slovenian dance this week.^[3]
Sincerely,
Sidney Gottlieb