Simple Sabotage Field ManualUnited States. Office of Strategic Services
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Simple Sabotage Field Manual
United States. Office of Strategic Services
Sabotage
(b) Since the effect of his own acts is limited, the saboteur may
become discouraged unless he feels that he is a member of a large,
though unseen, group of saboteurs operating against the enemy or the
government of his own country and elsewhere. This can be conveyed
indirectly: suggestions which he reads and hears can include
observations that a particular technique has been successful in this or
that district. Even if the technique is not applicable to his
surroundings, another’s success will encourage him to attempt similar
acts. It also can be conveyed directly: statements praising the
effectiveness of simple sabotage can be contrived which will be
published by white radio, freedom stations, and the subversive press.
Estimates of the proportion of the population engaged in sabotage can
be disseminated. Instances of successful sabotage already are being
broadcast by white radio and freedom stations, and this should be
continued and expanded where compatible with security.
(c) More important than (a) or (b) would be to create a situation in
which the citizen-saboteur acquires a sense of responsibility and
begins to educate others in simple sabotage.
(2) _Encouraging Destructiveness_
It should be pointed out to the saboteur where the circumstances are
suitable, that he is acting in self-defense against the enemy, or
retaliating against the enemy for other acts of destruction. A
reasonable amount of humor in the presentation of suggestions for
simple sabotage will relax tensions of fear.
(a) The saboteur may have to reverse his thinking, and he should be
told this in so many words. Where he formerly thought of keeping his
tools sharp, he should now let them grow dull; surfaces that formerly
were lubricated now should be sanded; normally diligent, he should now
be lazy and careless; and so on. Once he is encouraged to think
backwards about himself and the objects of his everyday life, the
saboteur will see many opportunities in his immediate environment which
cannot possibly be seen from a distance. A state of mind should be
encouraged that anything can be sabotaged.
(b) Among the potential citizen-saboteurs who are to engage in physical
destruction, two extreme types may be distinguished. On the one hand,
there is the man who is not technically trained and employed. This man
needs specific suggestions as to what he can and should destroy as well
as details regarding the tools by means of which destruction is
accomplished.
(c) At the other extreme is the man who is a technician, such as a
lathe operator or an automobile mechanic. Presumably this man would be
able to devise methods of simple sabotage which would be appropriate to
his own facilities. However, this man needs to be stimulated to
re-orient his thinking in the direction of destruction. Specific
examples, which need not be from his own field, should accomplish this.
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