Skorzeny in Argentina

[sandeepmukherjee196]

Thanks Marcus for helping us to track his actual movements in the given period.

Thanks Annelie for your post. I was always curious about authentic info on his OSS / CIA connection. Now we have the Surete too ! Hmm interesting. It is interesting and pertinent to note that in post war germany, Gen Remer's Reich Party had won 16 seats in Lower Saxony on an anti West agenda. Remer is reported to have said that his cadre would act as traffic policemen to guide Russian troops on their way to the Rhine !

So the post war Nazi circle appears to have been split down the middle right? With Skorzeny and co ( not to mention Gehlen) collaborating with West and others going a different way

Ciao
Sandeep

[dshaday]

Hi Sid

That is useful, as it puts Skorzeny in Europe in early 1950.

If Skorzeny was in Argentina before October 1954, it would most likely appear to have been in the period between early 1949 and early 1950.

Other visits between 1950 and 1954 are still theoretically possible, perhaps on different travel documents, but he was heavily engaged in the Middle East for much of that time, so they would have to be fleeting.

If it can be established Skorzeny was elsewhere over 1949-1950, this would call into question his widely reported sojourn in Argentina in the former year.

Sadly, Skorzeny's widow burnt a lot of paperwork just after his death. The documents on the auction web site are only what was left. Thank goodness there are still quite a few.

As for Skorzeny's travels, there is that mixed document lot (sold for $22,000 plus commission) with the tantalising mention of :

" a list of his travels from 1950-73, including Cuba, Angola, Cairo, Kenya, Jordan and Paraguay; bogus Finnish identification papers issued to Skorzeny ca. 1947, in blank; bogus "Certificate of Discharge" issued to Skorzeny under his alias "Rolf Steinbauer" and so signed by him, back-dated to Apr. 12, 1947,"

Regards

Dennis

[Beau sabreur]

There is no evidence that Skorzeny went to Argentina but was well aware of the activities going on there. He did live in Spain and was considered an important asset that did provide certain bits of information to those allied against the Soviet Union based on the belief that a takeover of Western Europe was entirely possible. All the Russians had to do was to move sufficient men and equipment west. Der Spiegel revealed part of the story.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/ger ... 69015.html

Skorzeny was of course in Argentina. I have a photo of him taken at the Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires, signed by him.

[Sid Guttridge]

When?

[Annelie]

Another link which includes his stay in Argentina and Ireland.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-30571335

His life story would make for interesting movie.

[Beau sabreur]

When?

January 21, 1955. He mentioned he was in Buenos Aires also in October 1954

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Beau Sabruer,

Thanks.

That would presumably be on one of the business trips mentioned earlier in the thread (with links to photos).

It is a possible visit in early 1949 with supposedly military aims I wonder about.

There seems precious little hard evidence that Skorzeny ever had a military role in Argentina.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Beau sabreur]

The info I mentioned was taken from a letter Skorzeny sent to my father together with the signed photo in civilian clothes taken at the hotel in Buenos Aires. I read in this forum messages to the effect that he was living in the Palomar air base. While I don't remember right now more details, it sounds unlikely that he was there as he had no connection to the Luftwaffe. I do know that Adolf Galland and H.U. Rudel (whom I met personally) were indeed there.

I think Skorzeny went a few times to Argentina to visit president Peron and to cater for business.
Cheers!

[michael mills]

I was wondering about the reason for the level of interest in Skorzeny's life after the war, when he was essentially just a private individual living on the edge of respectability.

From what I have read, it would appear that a lot of the stories about him are based on his own autobiography, in which his wartime exploits and post-war activities are suspected of being highly exaggerated and over-dramatized.

For example, I have read that he was not actually in command of the Luftwaffe infantry unit that rescued Mussolini from the Gran Sasso in 1943, and that he essentially went along for the ride, grabbing all the glory for himself.

That being so, I am left wondering how many of the stories about his post-war activities, eg his alleged role as military advisor to various Arab and South American governments, or as leader of powerful and influential groups of German exiles plotting a "Fourth Reich", are actually fictional, in the "Boys from Brazil" category.

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Michasel,

So do I!

Skorzeny was a great self-promoter and traded heavily on the soubriquet of "The Most Dangerous Man in Europe" after the war.

In fact he was primarily a political animal and it was this that helped get him promoted to positions of military prominence.

Skorzeny himself never went behind enemy lines. He was essentially an internal enforcer within occupied Axis Europe.

The contrast between Skorzeny, who left no post-war military imprint in Argentina (except literally in the book list of publications by Argentina's Circulo Militar), and Adolf Galland, who did, is noticeable.

But then, we don't actually seem to know why, or how often, or for how long Skorzeny was actually there. Yet this hasn't stopped rumours about him being Peron's bodyguard or training Argentine special forces.

Skorzeny needs a new biography, so we don't have to rely so heavily on his own self-promoting memoirs and breathless hagiographies largely reliant on them.

Cheers,

Sid.

[dshaday]

Hi

For example, I have read that he was not actually in command of the Luftwaffe infantry unit that rescued Mussolini from the Gran Sasso in 1943, and that he essentially went along for the ride, grabbing all the glory for himself.

Taking all the glory was an underhanded thing to do.
He was obviously in trouble because Hitler had personally ordered him to rescue Mussolini, and Himmler was on his back. Yet he was not really in charge of the raid - the Luftwaffe was. He had to do something. That is probably why he made sure he was always with Mussolini and in all the main photos - to look like he was a major player- and even jeopardised the mission by flying out with Mussolini.

But then, we don't actually seem to know why, or how often, or for how long Skorzeny was actually there. Yet this hasn't stopped rumours about him being Peron's bodyguard or training Argentine special forces.

That is also why we should not rumour about Skorzeny, post-war military imprints in Argentina and comparisons to Galland.
How about we talk about Skorzeny, Argentina and verifiable facts.

Dennis

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Dennis,

Yup. We should not rumour about Skorzeny. On the contrary, we should track the rumours down to source to see if they have any substance, which is what is being attempted on this thread.

The post-war military imprint was Skorzeny's own memoirs, published by the Circulo Militar of the Argentine Officers Club.

The comparison with Galland is apt. Galland certainly did undertake a military role in Argentina and had lasting impact. Skorzeny seems, on the basis of current evidence here, not to have played a military role and to have left no military legacy in Argentina. But then Galland was more of a professional military man than was Skorzeny, so this need surprise nobody.

Cheers,

Sid.