Otto Skorzeny (June 12, 1908 – July 6, 1975) was an
SSThe , abbreviated SS- or - was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the Führer's "Praetorian Guard," the Nazi Party's "Shield Squadron" and a force that, fielding almost a million men ,...
-
ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
in the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
Waffen-SSThe Waffen-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside the Wehrmacht Heer regular army, but was never formally part of it...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he commanded a rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator
Benito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini,
KSMOM GCTE was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by...
from captivity. Skorzeny was also the leader of
Operation GreifOperation Greif was a special false flag operation commanded by Waffen-SS commando Otto Skorzeny during the Battle of the Bulge. The operation was the brainchild of Adolf Hitler, and its purpose was to capture one or more of the bridges over the Meuse river before they could be destroyed...
, in which German soldiers were to infiltrate through enemy lines, using their opponents' uniforms and customs. At the end of the war, Skorzeny was part of the
Werwolf guerrilla movementWerwolf was the name given to a last-ditch Nazi plan, developed during the closing months of the Second World War, to create a German commando force which would operate behind enemy lines as the Allies advanced through Germany itself...
.
Although charged with breaching the
1907 Hague ConventionThe Hague Conventions were international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague, Netherlands in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the Geneva Conventions, among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of...
in relation with Operation Greif, the Dachau Military Tribunal acquitted Skorzeny after the war. Skorzeny fled from his holding prison in 1948, first to
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, and then to
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. A German court
denazifiedDenazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering impotent the...
him in 1952.
Prewar years
Otto Skorzeny was born in
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
into a middle-class
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n family which had a long history of military service. In addition to his native German, he spoke excellent French and English. In his teens, Otto once complained to his father of the austere lifestyle that his family was suffering from by mentioning he had never tasted real butter in his life due to the depression that plagued Austria after its defeat in
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. His father prophetically replied, "There is no harm in doing without things. It might even be good for you not to get used to a soft life." Thus his underprivileged upbringing helped make him the feared commando that he became
http://homepages.ius.edu/RVEST/SkorzenyDr2.htm. He was a noted
fencerAcademic fencing or Mensur is the traditional kind of fencing practiced by some student corporations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and recently to a minor extent in Latvia, Poland and Flanders as well.-Technique:...
as a university student in Vienna. He engaged in thirteen personal combats. The tenth resulted in a wound that left a dramatic scar - known in
academic fencingAcademic fencing or Mensur is the traditional kind of fencing practiced by some student corporations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and recently to a minor extent in Latvia, Poland and Flanders as well.-Technique:...
as a
Schmiss (German for "gash") - on his cheek.
In 1931 Skorzeny joined the
Austrian Nazi PartyAustrian National Socialism was a Pan-Germanic movement that was formed at the beginning of the 20th century. The movement took a concrete form on November 15, 1903 when the German Worker's Party was established in Austria with its secretariat stationed in the town of Aussig.-German Worker's Party...
and soon became a member of the Nazi
SAThe , abbreviated SA , functioned as a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party...
. A
charismaThe word charisma refers to a trait found in persons whose personalities are characterized by a personal charm and magnetism , along with innate and powerfully sophisticated abilities of interpersonal communication and persuasion...
tic figure, Skorzeny played a minor role in the
AnschlussThe ' , also known as the ', was the 1938 de facto annexation of Austria into Greater Germany by the Nazi regime....
on March 12, 1938, when he saved the Austrian President
Wilhelm MiklasWilhelm Miklas was an Austrian politician who served as the third President of Austria from 1928 until its annexation by Nazi Germany in the Anschluss 1938.-Early life:...
from being shot by Austrian Nazis.
The Eastern Front
After the
1939 invasion of PolandThe Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II...
, Skorzeny, then working as a
civil engineerA civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering, one of the many professions of engineering. Originally a civil engineer worked on public works projects and was contrasted with the military engineer, who worked on armaments and defenses...
, volunteered for service in the German Air Force (the
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
), but was turned down on grounds of age. He then joined Hitler's bodyguard regiment, the Leibstandarte
Adolf Hitler as an officer-cadet.
In 1940, as an SS
UntersturmführerUntersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the German Schutzstaffel first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of Sturmführer which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921...
, he impressed his superiors by designing ramps to load tanks on ships. He then fought in Holland, France, and the Balkans, where he achieved distinction by forcing a large Yugoslav force to surrender, following which he was promoted to
ObersturmführerObersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
in the
Waffen-SSThe Waffen-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside the Wehrmacht Heer regular army, but was never formally part of it...
.
Skorzeny went to war in Russia with the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich and subsequently fought in several battles on the
Eastern FrontThe Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of war between the European Axis powers, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia and Finland , and the Soviet Union which encompassed central and eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9...
. In October 1941, he was in charge of a "technical section" of the German forces during the
Battle of MoscowThe Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a 600 km sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942...
. His mission was to seize important buildings of the Communist Party, including the NKVD headquarters at
LubyankaLubyanka or Lubianka may refer to:*Lubyanka Square, Moscow*Lubyanka , former KGB headquarters and prison at Lubyanka Square, Moscow*Lubyanka , a metro station in MoscowPlaces in Poland called Lubianka...
, and the Central Telegraph and other high priority facilities, before they could be destroyed. The mission was canceled as the German forces failed to capture the Soviet capital.
In December 1942, Skorzeny was hit in the back of the head by shrapnel from Russian Katyusha artillery rockets. He refused all first aid except for a few aspirin, a bandage, and a glass of schnapps. A few hours later Skorzeny rejoined his unit but his health deteriorated, and continuous headaches and stomach pains forced him to evacuate for proper medical treatment. He was awarded the
Iron CrossThe Iron Cross was a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany, which was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813 in Breslau...
for
braveryCourage, also known as bravery, will, intrepidity, and loyalty, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation...
under fire and sent to Vienna to recover. While in Vienna, he read all the published literature he could find on commando warfare, and forwarded to higher command his ideas on unconventional commando warfare.
Skorzeny's proposals were to develop units specialized in such unconventional warfare, including partisan-like fighting deep behind enemy lines, fighting in enemy uniform, sabotage attacks, etc. In April 1943 Skorzeny's name was put forward by
Ernst KaltenbrunnerErnst Kaltenbrunner was a senior Austrian official during World War II, holding the offices of Chief of the RSHA, and President of Interpol. He was the highest-ranking SS leader to face trial, having the full rank of Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS...
, the new head of the RSHA, and Skorzeny met with
Walter SchellenbergWalter Friedrich Schellenberg was a German SS-Brigadeführer who rose through the SS to become, following the abolition of the Abwehr in 1944, head of foreign intelligence....
, head of the SD (the SS foreign intelligence service). Schellenberg charged Skorzeny with command of the schools organized to train operatives in sabotage, espionage, and paramilitary techniques. Skorzeny was appointed commander of the recently created Waffen Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal stationed near Berlin. (The unit was later renamed SS Jagdverbände 502, and in November 1944 again to SS Combat Unit "Center", expanding ultimately to five battalions.)
Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal's first mission was in summer 1943.
Operation Francois saw Skorzeny send a group by parachute into
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
to make contact with the dissident mountain tribes and used to sabotage Allied supplies of materiel being sent to the Soviet Union. However, commitment among the rebel tribes was suspect, and Operation Francois was deemed a failure.
Operations by Skorzeny
- Operation Francois- Co-ordination of Partisan operations in Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
.
- Operation Oak (Unternehmen Eiche, September 1943) - The rescue of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini,
KSMOM GCTE was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by...
.
- Operation Long Jump - A proposed attempt to assassinate the "Big Three" (Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt) during the 1943 Tehran Conference.
- Operation Knight's Leap (Unternehmen Rösselsprung, May 1944) - An attempt to capture Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz Tito (Cyrillic script: Јосип Броз Тито, (7 or 25 May 1892 – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. He was Secretary-General (later President) of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (1939–80), and went on to lead the World War II...
alive.
- Operation Armored Fist
Operation Panzerfaust, known as Unternehmen Eisenfaust in Germany, was a military operation to occupy the Kingdom of Hungary conducted in October 1944 by the German Military Forces . The operation was also known as Operation Mickey Mouse...
(Unternehmen Panzerfaust a.k.a. Unternehmen Eisenfaust, October 1944) - The kidnapping of Miklós Horthy, Jr.Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya II was the younger son of Hungarian regent Admiral Miklós Horthy and, until the end of World War II, a politician.-Biography:...
, son of Hungarian Regent, Admiral Miklós HorthyMiklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944...
, to force Admiral Horthy to resign as head of stateHead of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state...
in favor of the pro-Nazi leader of the Arrow Cross PartyThe Arrow Cross Party was a national socialist pro-Nazi party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which ruled Hungary as the Hungarian State from October 15, 1944 to January 1945...
, Ferenc SzálasiFerenc Szálasi was the leader of the National Socialist Arrow Cross Party - Hungarist Movement, the "Leader of the Nation" , and the de facto Prime Minister of the Hungarian State for the final three months of Hungary's participation in World War II...
.
- Operation Griffin
Operation Greif was a special false flag operation commanded by Waffen-SS commando Otto Skorzeny during the Battle of the Bulge. The operation was the brainchild of Adolf Hitler, and its purpose was to capture one or more of the bridges over the Meuse river before they could be destroyed...
(Unternehmen Greif, December 1944) - A false flagFalse flag operations are covert operations conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations which are designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of...
operation to spread disinformationDisinformation is false or inaccurate information that is spread deliberately. It is synonymous with and sometimes called Black propaganda. It may include the distribution of forged documents, manuscripts, and photographs, or spreading malicious rumors and fabricated intelligence...
during the Battle of the BulgeThe Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive , launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes Mountains region of Belgium , France and Luxembourg on the Western Front...
.
- Werewolf SS
Werwolf was the name given to a last-ditch Nazi plan, developed during the closing months of the Second World War, to create a German commando force which would operate behind enemy lines as the Allies advanced through Germany itself...
- A planned Nazi underground resistance movement in Allied-occupied EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
.
The liberation of Mussolini
In July 1943, he was personally selected by Hitler from among six German Air Force (
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
) and German Army (
Wehrmacht Heer) special agents to lead the operation to rescue Italian dictator
Benito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini,
KSMOM GCTE was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by...
, who had been overthrown and imprisoned by the Italian government.
Almost two months of cat-and-mouse followed as the Italians moved Mussolini from place to place to frustrate any rescuers. There was a failed attempt to rescue Mussolini on 27.07.1943. The Ju 52 that the crew was aboard was shot down in the area of Pratica di Mare. Otto Skorzeny and his crew managed to bailout, except for one young Oberjäger. For reasons unknown, he wasn’t able to make it out of the plane. He perished in the crash and is now buried in the war cemetery in
PomeziaPomezia is a municipality in the province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. In 2008 it had more than 58,000 inhabitants.-History:The town was built entirely new near the location of ancient Lavinium on land resulting from the final reclamation of the Pontine Marshes under Benito Mussolini, being...
. Mussolini was first held in a villa on La Maddalena, near
SardiniaSardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . The area of Sardinia is . The nearest land masses to the island are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia, and the Spanish Balearic Islands...
. Skorzeny was able to smuggle an Italian-speaking commando onto the island, and a few days later he confirmed Mussolini was in the villa. Skorzeny then flew over in a
Heinkel He 111The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
to take aerial photos of the location. The bomber was shot down by Allied fighters and crash-landed at sea, but Skorzeny and the crew were rescued by an Italian destroyer. Mussolini was moved soon after.
Information on Mussolini's new location and its topographical features were finally secured by
Herbert KapplerHerbert Kappler , was an Obersturmbannführer in the SS, an officer of the Gestapo, and head of German police and security forces in Rome during World War II...
. Kappler reported Mussolini was held in the Campo Imperatore Hotel at the top of the
Gran SassoGran Sasso d'Italia is a mountain located in the Abruzzo region of central Italy . The Gran Sasso forms the centerpiece of the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park which was established in 1993 and holds the highest mountains in continental Italy south of the Alps and is part of the...
mountain, and only accessible by cable car from the valley below. Skorzeny flew again over Gran Sasso and took pictures of the location with a handheld camera. An attack plan was formulated by General
Kurt StudentKurt Student was a German Luftwaffe general who fought as a fighter pilot during the First World War and as the commander of German Fallschirmjäger during the Second World War.-Biography:...
, Harald Mors (a paratrooper battalion commander), and Skorzeny.
On September 12, Operation Oak (
Unternehmen Eiche), was carried out perfectly according to plan. Mussolini was rescued without firing a single shot. Flying out in a
Storch airplaneThe Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was a small German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II, and production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market...
, Skorzeny escorted Mussolini to
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
and later to
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
. The exploit earned Skorzeny fame, promotion to Major and the
Knight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
.
Mussolini created a new Fascist regime in northern Italy, the
Italian Social RepublicThe Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini. The RSI exercised official sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...
(
Repubblica Sociale Italiana).
Operation Long Jump
"Operation Long Jump" was the codename given to the unsuccessful plot to assassinate the "Big Three" (
Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953...
,
Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
, and Franklin Roosevelt) at the 1943
Tehran ConferenceThe Tehran Conference was the meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill between November 28 and December 1, 1943, most of which was held at the Soviet Embassy in Tehran, Iran. It was the first World War II conference among the Big Three in which Stalin was present...
. The plot was approved by Hitler and headed by
Ernst KaltenbrunnerErnst Kaltenbrunner was a senior Austrian official during World War II, holding the offices of Chief of the RSHA, and President of Interpol. He was the highest-ranking SS leader to face trial, having the full rank of Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS...
. German intelligence had learned of the time and place of the conference in mid-October 1943, after breaking a US Navy code. Otto Skorzeny, as the man who always seemed to have luck on his side, was chosen by Kaltenbrunner to head the mission.
However, Soviet intelligence first became aware of the plot when legendary Soviet spy
Nikolai KuznetsovNikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov was a Soviet intelligence agent and partisan who operated in the occupied Ukraine during World War II.He was born into a peasant family in the Yekaterinburg region...
got SS
Sturmbannfuhrer Hans Ulrich von Ortel to tell him about the operation while drunk. Six German radio operators were dropped by parachute and made their way to
TehranTehran is the capital and largest city of Iran, and the administrative center of Tehran Province. Tehran is a sprawling city at the foot of the Tochal mountain range with an immense network of highways unparalleled in Western Asia...
, but were eventually found by Soviet agents led by
Gevork VartanianGevork Vartanian was an intelligence agent. In 1930, he moved to Iran with his family and in 1940, he joined the Soviet Foreign Intelligence Service. In 1955, he graduated from the Institute of Foreign Languages, Yerevan...
. However, one of the Germans realized they were under surveillance and the operation was called off; Skorzeny himself considered the intelligence coming from Tehran to be inadequate and did not believe the complex scheme could have worked.
Operation Rösselsprung
In the spring of 1944, Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal was redesignated
SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502 was Nazi Germany's main special forces unit from 1943-1944.Formed in June 1943, the unit was commanded by Otto Skorzeny and was based at Friedenthal just north of Berlin, consisting originally of the three hundred members of the former Sonder Lehrgang zbv Friedenthal...
with Skorzeny staying on as commander. They were assigned to
Operation Rösselsprung, a commando operation meant to capture
Yugoslav PartisanThe Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II resistance movement engaged in the fight against Axis forces and their collaborators in Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav People's Liberation War from 1941 to 1945...
leader
Josip Broz TitoJosip Broz Tito Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz Tito (Cyrillic script: Јосип Броз Тито, (7 or 25 May 1892 – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. He was Secretary-General (later President) of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (1939–80), and went on to lead the World War II...
at his headquarters near
DrvarDrvar is a town and municipality in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, located on the road between Bosansko Grahovo and Bosanski Petrovac, also near Glamoč. It is administratively part of Canton 10 of the Federation.-Name:...
. Hitler knew that Tito was receiving Allied support and was aware that either British or American troops might land in Dalmatia with support from the Communist NOVJ (the "Partisan People's Liberation Army Of Yugoslavia"). Killing or capturing Tito would not only hinder this, it would give a badly needed boost to the morale of Axis forces in the Balkans.
Skorzeny was involved in planning
Rösselsprung and was intended to command it. However, he argued against implementation after he visited
ZagrebZagreb is the capital and the largest city of Croatia. Zagreb is the cultural, scientific, economic and governmental center of Croatia, and a global city. According to the city government, the population of Zagreb in 2008 was 804,200...
and discovered that the operation had been compromised through the carelessness of German agents in the NDH (the satellite Independent State of Croatia).
Rösselsprung was put into action nonetheless, but it was a complete disaster. The first wave of paratroopers, following heavy bombardment by the Luftwaffe, jumped between Tito's hideout in a cave and the town of
DrvarDrvar is a town and municipality in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, located on the road between Bosansko Grahovo and Bosanski Petrovac, also near Glamoč. It is administratively part of Canton 10 of the Federation.-Name:...
; they landed on open ground and many were promptly shot by members of the partisan headquarters Escort Battalion, a unit numbering fewer than a hundred soldiers. The second wave of paratroopers missed their target and landed several miles out of town. Tito was gone long before paratroopers reached the cave; a trail at the back of the cave led to the railway tracks where Tito boarded a train that took him safely to
JajceJajce is a city and municipality located in the central part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity...
. In the meantime, the Partisan 1st Brigade, from the 6th Partisan Division Lika, arrived after a twelve-mile (nineteen-kilometer) forced march and attacked the Waffen-SS paratroopers, inflicting heavy casualties.
The July 20 1944 plot against Hitler
On July 20 1944, Skorzeny was in Berlin when an
attempt on Hitler's lifeThe 20 July plot of 1944 was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, inside his "Wolf's Lair" field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi regime...
was made. Anti-Nazi German Army officers tried to seize control of Germany's main decision centers before Hitler recovered from his injuries. Skorzeny helped put down the rebellion, spending 36 hours in charge of the Wehrmacht's central command centre before being relieved.
Hungary and Operation Panzerfaust
In October 1944, Hitler sent Skorzeny to
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
after receiving word that Hungary's Regent, Admiral
Miklós HorthyMiklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944...
, was secretly negotiating with the
Red ArmyThe Red Army The Red Army The Red Army was the Soviet government’s revolutionary militia beginning in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the USSR. Since 1946, after the Second World War, it was called the Soviet Army.The 'Red...
. The surrender of Hungary would have cut off the million German troops still fighting in the Balkan peninsula. Skorzeny, in a daring "snatch" codenamed
Operation PanzerfaustOperation Panzerfaust, known as Unternehmen Eisenfaust in Germany, was a military operation to occupy the Kingdom of Hungary conducted in October 1944 by the German Military Forces . The operation was also known as Operation Mickey Mouse...
(known as
Operation Eisenfaust in Germany), kidnapped Horthy's son
Miklós Horthy, Jr.Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya II was the younger son of Hungarian regent Admiral Miklós Horthy and, until the end of World War II, a politician.-Biography:...
and forced his father to resign as
head of stateHead of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state...
. A pro-Nazi government under
dictatorA dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power with military control but, without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
Ferenc SzálasiFerenc Szálasi was the leader of the National Socialist Arrow Cross Party - Hungarist Movement, the "Leader of the Nation" , and the de facto Prime Minister of the Hungarian State for the final three months of Hungary's participation in World War II...
was then installed in Hungary. In April 1945, after German and Hungarian forces had already been driven out of Hungary, Szálasi and his
Arrow Cross PartyThe Arrow Cross Party was a national socialist pro-Nazi party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which ruled Hungary as the Hungarian State from October 15, 1944 to January 1945...
-based forces continued the fight in Austria and
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava...
. The success of the operation earned Skorzeny promotion to
ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
.
Operation Greif and Eisenhower
As part of the German Ardennes offensive in late 1944 ("The Battle of the Bulge") Skorzeny's English speaking troops were charged with infiltrating Allied lines dressed and equipped as American soldiers in order to produce confusion to support the German attack. For the campaign, Skorzeny was the commander of a composite unit; the 150th SS Panzer Brigade.
As planned by Skorzeny,
Operation GreifOperation Greif was a special false flag operation commanded by Waffen-SS commando Otto Skorzeny during the Battle of the Bulge. The operation was the brainchild of Adolf Hitler, and its purpose was to capture one or more of the bridges over the Meuse river before they could be destroyed...
involved about two dozen German soldiers, most of them in captured American Jeeps and dressed as American soldiers, who would penetrate American lines in the early hours of the
Battle of the BulgeThe Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive , launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes Mountains region of Belgium , France and Luxembourg on the Western Front...
and cause disorder and confusion behind the Allied lines. A handful of his men were captured and spread a rumour that Skorzeny personally was leading a raid on Paris to kill or capture General Eisenhower, who was not amused by having to spend Christmas 1944 isolated for security reasons. Eisenhower retaliated by ordering an all-out manhunt for Skorzeny, with "Wanted" posters distributed throughout Allied-controlled territories featuring a detailed description and a photograph.
Skorzeny spent January and February 1945 commanding regular troops in the defence of the German provinces of
East PrussiaEast Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia...
and
PomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East. It is inhabited...
, as an acting major general. Fighting at
SchwedtSchwedt is a city in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the largest city of the district Uckermark near the Oder river on the border with Poland....
on the Oder River, he received orders to
sabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions...
a bridge on the
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
at
RemagenRemagen is a town in Germany in Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler. It is about a one hour's drive from Cologne , just south of Bonn, the former West-German capital. It is situated on the River Rhine. There is a ferry across the Rhine from Remagen every 10–15 minutes in the summer...
. His frogmen tried but failed. For his actions in the East, primarily in the defence of
FrankfurtFrankfurt is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located on the Oder River, on the German-Polish border directly opposite the town of Słubice which was a part of Frankfurt until 1945. At the end of the 1980s it reached a population peak with more than 87,000 inhabitants...
, Hitler awarded him one of Germany's highest military honours, the
Oak Leaves to the Knight's CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
. He was then sent on an inspection tour along the rapidly deteriorating Eastern front.
Operation Werwolf and surrender
With German defeat inevitable, Skorzeny played an instrumental role in selecting and training recruits for a
stay-behindIn a stay-behind operation, a country places secret operatives or organisations in its own territory, for use in the event that the territory is overrun by an enemy. If this occurs, the operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement, or would act as spies from behind enemy lines...
Nazi organization, the
WerwölfeWerwolf was the name given to a last-ditch Nazi plan, developed during the closing months of the Second World War, to create a German commando force which would operate behind enemy lines as the Allies advanced through Germany itself...
(Werewolves), who would engage in
guerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
against the occupying
AlliesThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . The involvement of the Allies in World War II was either natural and inevitable they were invaded or under the direct threat of invasion by the Axis or compelled by concerns that the Axis powers...
. However, Skorzeny quickly realized that the Werewolves were too few in number to become an effective fighting force and instead used them to set up the "
ratlinesRatlines were systems of escape routes for Nazis and other fascists fleeing Europe at the end of World War II. These escape routes mainly led toward safe havens in South America, particularly Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, and Chile. Other destinations included the United States and perhaps Canada...
", a secret "
underground railroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century Black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists who aided the...
" that helped leading Nazis escape after
Germany's surrenderThe German Instrument of Surrender was the legal instrument that established the armistice ending World War II in Europe. It was signed by representatives of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the Allied Expeditionary Force and Soviet High Command on May 7 and May 8, 1945. The date is known in the...
.
Besides organising the "ratlines," which would form the basis of the supposed
ODESSAODESSA, is believed to have been an international Nazi network set up towards the end of World War II by a group of SS officers in order to avoid their capture and prosecution for war crimes...
network after the war, Skorzeny had been employed since August 1944 by high-ranking Nazis and German industrialists to hide money and documents, some of which was buried in the mountains or dropped in the lakes of
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, and some shipped overseas.
Skorzeny surrendered on May 16, 1945, feeling that he could be useful to the Americans in the forthcoming
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
. He emerged from the woods near
Salzburg' is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its...
, Austria and surrendered to a Lieutenant of the
US 30th Infantry RegimentThe 30th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment.- Lineage :*Constituted 2 February 1901 in the Regular Army as the 30th Infantry...
.
Post World War II
He was held as a
prisoner of warA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a combatant who is held in continuing custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
for more than two years before being tried as a war criminal at the Dachau Trials in 1947 for allegedly violating the
laws of warThe law of war is a body of law concerning acceptable justifications to engage in war and the limits to acceptable wartime conduct...
in the Battle of the Bulge. He and officers of the
Panzer Brigade 150Panzer Brigade 150 or SS Panzer Brigade 150 was a formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II that was formed to take part in the Ardennes offensive, it was unusual in that it was formed from all parts of the German Armed Forces, the 2.500 men in the brigade were formed from; 1.000 from the...
were charged with improperly using American uniforms to infiltrate American lines. Skorzeny was brought before a US military court in Dachau on 18 August 1947. He and nine fellow officers of the 150th Panzer Brigade would face charges of improper use of military insignia, theft of US uniforms, and theft of Red Cross parcels from prisoners of war. The trial lasted over three weeks. The charge of stealing Red Cross parcels was dropped for lack of evidence. Skorzeny admitted to ordering his men to wear American uniforms. On the final day of the trial, 9 September, Allied
Wing CommanderWing Commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above Squadron Leader and immediately below Group Captain...
F. F. E. Yeo-ThomasWing Commander Forest Frederick Edward Yeo-Thomas, GC, MC & Bar, Croix de Guerre , Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur, was the British Special Operations Executive agent codenamed "The White Rabbit" during World War II...
, winner of the
Military CrossThe Military Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
and the
Croix de guerreThe croix de guerre is a military decoration of both France and Belgium, where it is also known as the Oorlogskruis . It was first created in 1915 in both countries and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins...
, and a former Allied
Special Operations ExecutiveThe Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct warfare by means other than direct military engagement...
agent, testified that he had worn German uniforms behind enemy lines. Realising that to convict Skorzeny could expose their own agent to the same charges, the tribunal acquitted the ten defendants, the military tribunal drawing a distinction between using enemy uniforms during combat and for other purposes including deception. They could not prove that Skorzeny had given any orders to actually fight in US uniform.
Skorzeny was detained in an internment camp at
DarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century...
awaiting the decision of a
denazificationDenazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering impotent the...
court.. On July 27 1948 he escaped from the camp with the help of three former SS officers dressed in US Military Police uniforms who entered the camp and claimed that they had been ordered to take Skorzeny to Nuremberg for a legal hearing. Skorzeny afterwards maintained that the US authorities had aided his escape, and had supplied the uniforms.
Skorzeny hid out at a farm in Bavaria which had been rented by Ilse Lüthje, the niece of
Hjalmar SchachtDr. Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht was the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank under the Weimar Republic, and President of the Reichsbank between 1933 and 1939...
(Hitler's former finance minister), for around 18 months, during which time he was in contact with
Reinhard GehlenReinhard Gehlen was a General in the German Army during World War II, who served as chief of intelligence-gathering on the Eastern Front. After WWII, he was recruited by the United States military to set up a spy ring directed against the Soviet Union , and eventually became head of the West...
, and together with
Hartmann LauterbacherHartmann Lauterbacher was a high area leader of the Hitler Youth, as well as Nazi Gauleiter of the Gau of South Hanover-Braunschweig and an SS Gruppenführer....
(former deputy head of the
Hitler YouthThe Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung .-Origins:The first NSDAP-related organization of German youth was the Jugendbund...
) recruited for the Gehlen Organization.
Skorzeny was photographed at a café in the Champs Elysées in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 13 February 1950, and the photo appeared in the French press the next day, causing him to retreat to Salzburg, where he met up with German veterans and also filed for divorce so that he could marry Ilse Lüthje. Shortly afterwards, with the help of a
Nansen passportNansen passports were internationally recognized identity cards first issued by the League of Nations to stateless refugees. Designed in 1922 by Fridtjof Nansen, in 1942 they were honored by governments in 52 countries and were the first refugee travel documents...
issued by the Spanish government, he moved to
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
, where he set up a small engineering business.
Skorzeny had also been spending time in Egypt. In 1952 the country had been taken over by the CIA-backed General Mohammed Naguib. Skorzeny was sent to Egypt the following year by former General
Reinhard GehlenReinhard Gehlen was a General in the German Army during World War II, who served as chief of intelligence-gathering on the Eastern Front. After WWII, he was recruited by the United States military to set up a spy ring directed against the Soviet Union , and eventually became head of the West...
, who was now working for the CIA, to act as Naguib's military advisor. Skorzeny recruited a staff made up of former SS officers to train the Egyptian army. Among these Nazis were SS General Wilhelm Farmbacher, Panzer General Oskar Munzel,
Leopold GleimLeopold Gleim was a Colonel and SS Standartenführer in Warsaw during the Second World War. He was for a time head of the Gestapo Department for Jewish Affairs in Poland...
, chief of Hitler's personal guard, and Joachim Daemling, former chief of the Gestapo in Dusseldorf joined Skorzeny in Egypt. In addition to training the army, Skorzeny also trained Arab volunteers in commando tactics for possible use against British troops stationed in the Suez Canal zone. Several Palestinian refugees also received commando training, and Skorzeny planned their initial strikes into Israel via the Gaza Strip in 1953-1954. One of these Palestinians was
Yasser ArafatMohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority, and leader of the Fatah political...
.
Using the cover names of Robert Steinbacher and Otto Steinbauer, and supported by either Nazi funds (or according to some sources Austrian Intelligence), he set up a secret organization named
Die SpinneDie Spinne, translated as The Spider, was the "leading post-war SS organization led by Otto Skorzeny" , Hitler's commando chief, as well as Nazi intelligence officer Reinhard Gehlen, who was later instrumental in the formation of the post-war German intelligence agency, the BND...
which helped as many as 600 former SS men escape from Germany to Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia, and other countries. As the years went by, Skorzeny, Gehlen, and their network of collaborators gained enormous influence in Europe and Latin America, Skorzeny travelling between
Franquist SpainFrancisco Franco became the dictator of Spain when he defeated the Republican government in the Spanish Civil War. Franco declared an official end of hostilities on April 1, 1939, and reworked the name of the republic into the “Spanish State,” a new moniker attempting to distinguish the new regime...
and
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
, where he acted as an advisor to President
Juan PerónJuan Domingo Perón was an Argentine general and politician, elected three times as President of Argentina, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency. He was overthrown in a military coup in 1955...
, his aim to foster the growth of a fascist "
Fourth ReichThe Fourth Reich is a term used to describe a theoretical future successor of the Third Reich. The term had currency in the 1960s and 1970s because several West German political figures, such as Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, had had ties to the Third Reich regime...
" centered in Latin America.
Skorzeny also acted as an advisor to the leadership of the Spanish neo-Nazi group
CEDADECEDADE was a Spanish neo-Nazi group founded in West Germany in 1965 before moving to Barcelona the following year....
, which had been established in 1966, and which counted him as one of its founding fathers.
Like thousands of other former Nazis, Skorzeny was declared
entnazifiziert (
denazifiedDenazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering impotent the...
)
in absentiaIn absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use it usually pertains to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.-In absentia in common law legal systems:...
in 1952 by a West German government arbitration board, which now meant he could travel from Spain into other Western countries. He spent part of his time between 1959 and 1969 in Ireland, where he bought Martinstown House, a farm in
County KildareCounty Kildare is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Leinster and was named after the town of Kildare . Kildare is the 25th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and ninth largest in terms of population...
in 1959. He also had property in
MallorcaMajorca is the largest island of Spain . It is located in the Mediterranean Sea and part of the Balearic Islands archipelago. The name derives from Latin insula maior, "larger island"; later Maiorica....
.
Paladin Group
In the 1960s Skorzeny set up the
Paladin GroupThe Paladin Group was a far-right organization founded in 1970 in Spain by former SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny. It conceived itself as the military arm of the anti-Communist struggle during the Cold War...
, which he envisioned as "an international directorship of strategic assault personnel
[that would
] straddle the watershed between paramilitary operations carried out by troops in uniforms and the political warfare which is conducted by civilian agents". Based near
AlicanteAlicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of the Alacantí, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 331,750, estimated , ranking as the...
, Spain, the Paladin Group specialized in arming and training guerrillas, and their clients included the
South African Bureau of State SecurityThe South African Bureau of State Security was established in 1969 and replaced by the National Intelligence Service in 1980. The Bureau's job was to monitor national security...
and
Muammar al-GaddafiMuammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi
1 has been the de facto leader of Libya since a coup in 1969....
. They also carried out work for the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 and some of their operatives were recruited by the Spanish Interior Ministry to wage clandestine war against Basque separatists. The Soviet news agency
TASSThe Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union , was the central agency for collection and distribution of internal and international news for all Soviet newspapers, radio and television stations...
alleged that Paladin was involved in training US
Green BeretsThe United States Army Special Forces, also known as Green Berets, is a Special Operations Force of the United States Army tasked with five primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, and counter-terrorism. The first two emphasize...
for Vietnam missions during the 1960s, but this is considered unlikely.
Death
In 1970, a cancerous tumor was discovered on Skorzeny's spine. Two tumors were removed in
HamburgHamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the sixth-largest city in the European Union...
, but the surgery left him paralyzed from the waist down. Vowing to walk again, Skorzeny spent long hours with a physical therapist, and within six months was back on his feet. The years following were hard for Skorzeny, as he realised his final days were approaching.
Otto Skorzeny finally succumbed to cancer on 7 July, 1975 in Madrid at the age of 67. He was cremated. His ashes were later brought to Vienna and interred in the Skorzeny family plot at
Döblinger FriedhofThe Döbling Cemetery is a cemetery in the 19th district of Vienna, Döbling.- Location :The cemetery lies in the south of Döbling on the border to Währing in the Katastralgemeinde of Oberdöbling, in the Hartäckerstraße...
.
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