John Taylor (1921 – 2008)

Born in 1921, John Taylor came to work for the National Archives in Washington in September 1945, with the official ending of World War II, just in time to familiarize himself with the waves of historic documents as they were classified or released over the subsequent decades. During the 63 years that he maintained his role as military archivist, Taylor developed an encyclopedic knowledge of the materials he preserved – not only of their content but of their location which is key to any successful search. Once, when I visited him in his office in the stacks of the old NARA building in downtown Washington and mentioned the name of an unknown Gulag prisoner from 1947, he pointed to a paperback index from the Shanghai police records and said: “Look in there! His name is somewhere near the back!” And it was.

For a journalist, researcher, writer and historian – John Taylor’s knowledge, memory and love of the materials he oversaw was critical to producing a work that was well-informed and current, bordering on state of the art. The National Archives has a collection of 857 books on intelligence and espionage, based largely of research at the Archives, all of which cite Taylor’s invaluable help in the acknowledgments. In 1997, he was honored by the Japanese Embassy for his assistance to Japanese historians. In 2003, he received the “lifetime achievement award from the Scone Foundation, which honors unknown professionals. In 2006, he received the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society Distinguished Service Award and was also honored by the National Intelligence Study Center for his guidance to authors writing about U.S. , British and Russian intelligence.

John Taylor’s guidance to the Independent Investigators work in American archives cannot easily be measured. As over the years, questions regarding Wallenberg’s mission in Budapest on the part of the American government – especially involving any military connections – John Taylor spent hours in session with the researchers updating himself on the current hypothesis and findings and keeping a well-informed watch over newly released materials that would make a difference. Aware of Independent Investigators to have American official documents declassified, he was quick to point out follow up materials about to be released – resulting from these initial efforts. No one ignored his calls to return to NARA, nor his introductions to other scholars in related fields whose expertise could cast light on this ambiguous case.

John Taylor died on September 20, 2008. While his health had been declining over the years, he continued to work at the National Archives in College Park Maryland even until a week before his death. As he aged in years but not in strength of mind, when asked when he planned to retire he would say: “Not this week.”