Otto Skorzeny
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Mussolini was liberated by Luftwaffe paratroopers. Skorzeny had been in Italy trying to locate Mussolini, but to no avail - the eventual finding of the place where "Il Duce" was held captive wasn't his merit. Actionally, he almost ruined the entire operation when he insisted to accompany Mussolini on his flight into safety. The plane almost crashed because it was overloaded. Skorzeny, however, immediately informed Himmler that it was him who had liberated Mussolini. So Himmler could claim another success, Göring going away empty-handed...
I think he died in 1975, after he went in France.
He took part in a interview in a french radio, and was assaulted by un unknown man in the subway with a riding crop.
When assaulted, he said that he "only served his country and his Führer."
He wrote 4 books about what he did, saying in some that he hitler asked him to plan an action to took Petain out of France in case of civil war. He also had this idea : -may be it was in the battle of Ardennes but not sure-.
He knew some us troops were about to arrive in the battlefield. He dressed some german with american clothes, and send
them meeting the american and sending them in a wrong way. It worked.
For all the french, you can also read his biography by Jean Mabire : "Skorzeny : l'homme le plus dangereux d'Europe", Editions Grancher.
He took part in a interview in a french radio, and was assaulted by un unknown man in the subway with a riding crop.
When assaulted, he said that he "only served his country and his Führer."
He wrote 4 books about what he did, saying in some that he hitler asked him to plan an action to took Petain out of France in case of civil war. He also had this idea : -may be it was in the battle of Ardennes but not sure-.
He knew some us troops were about to arrive in the battlefield. He dressed some german with american clothes, and send
them meeting the american and sending them in a wrong way. It worked.
For all the french, you can also read his biography by Jean Mabire : "Skorzeny : l'homme le plus dangereux d'Europe", Editions Grancher.
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Skorzeny, Dipl.-Ing. Otto (1908-1975) [SS-Standartenführer] -- Group Leader in the Reich Security Main Office (Gruppenleiter in Reichssicherheitshauptamt) at Berlin 1943; commander, Special Band for special assignments "Friedenthal" (Kdr. des Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal) 1943; rescued Italian leader Benito Mussolini 12 Sept 1943; kidnapped Hungarian leader Admiral Miklos Horthy 17 Oct 1944; commander of SS Hunting Bands (Kdr. der SS-Jagdverbände) 1945 [Knights Cross 1943; Oakleaves 1945] {captured by American troops in Styria, Austria 15 May 1945 (LT 18 May 1945:e); arraigned on torture and murder charges by an American military tribunal at Dachau 24 Jun 1947 (NYT 25 Jun 1947:15:2); put on trial August 1947 (NYT 19 Aug 1947:8:2; NYT 26 Aug 1947:12:4); acquitted of war crimes by American military tribunal at Dachau 9 Sept 1947; arrested by West German authorities; escaped from internment camp at Darmstadt 25 Jul 1948 to Spain (NYT 28 Jul 1948:10:6); founded SS fugitive assistance organization ODESSA; acquitted of robbery and murder charges by a court in Vienna, Austria in 1958; died at Madrid of bronchial cancer 5 Jul 1975 (NYT 8 Jul 1975:34:1; NYT 17 Jul 1975:32:3). (Fascist Italy 506; Who's Who pps. 286-8; SS: Roll of Infamy p. 161; ABR-SS).}
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Otto Skorzeny
Here is what Time magazine for July 21, 1975 had to say....
The Deadly Spider
He was a brazen Nazi SS colonel whom Allied commanders once considered "the most dangerous man in Europe." A towering (6-foot-4) man with savage dueling scars that crisscrossed the left side of his face, he became a personal favorite of Adolf Hitler and a hero to Germany for his audacious exploits. With only a handful of troops, he rescued Benito Mussolini from a mountaintop prison after the Italian dictator was ousted in 1943, and he kept the entire Allied command in a state of nervous alert for weeks by planting rumors of a plot to assassinate Dwight Eisenhower. Last week, Otto Skorzeny, who escaped from a prison camp while awaiting trial and was never successfully prosecuted for wartime crimes, died at his home in Spain of bronchial cancer at the age of 67 - still fiercely loyal to Hitler and Nazi Germany.
Skorzeny's most celebrated feat by far was his rescue of Mussolini from a heavily guarded hotel on a plateau 6,000 feet up in the Abruzzi mountains. He led a glider attack on the seemingly impregnable fortress, and when the gliders ground into the earth only yards away from the front of the hotel, the Italian carabinieri were so stunned that they surrendered almost immediately. Skorzeny marched up to Mussolini and announced, "Duce, the Führer has sent me as a token of his loyal friendship." The two then climbed into a tiny spotter plane and - with the aging dictator wedged between Skorzeny's knees - escaped to a reunion with Hitler.
Most of Skorzeny's exploits, however, were outright failures, including his attempt to infiltrate English-speaking German troops behind Allied lines before the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. U.S. Army officers got wind of the plan and military police trapped German agents in American uniforms with such questions as "Who sleeps with Jiggs?" and "Who is Pruneface?"** Skorzeny later insisted that the infiltration attempt never included a plot to kill Eisenhower, but the Supreme Allied Commander was briefly confined to his Paris headquarters while a look-alike, Lt. Col. Baldwin Smith, was used as a double.
Torture: Skorzeny could be as cruel as he was daring. After rebellious German officers failed in their attempt to kill Hitler in the "Generals' plot" of July 20, 1944, Skorzeny stopped a wave of executions - in order to torture the suspects into revealing details of the plot. He also once complained, "The ovens at Auschwitz were too small, just big enough for two people." In 1948, while imprisoned in West Germany, he escaped and eventually settled in Spain. Thanks in part to his marriage to a niece of Hitler's Economics Minister Hjalmar Schacht, Skorzeny amassed a fortune in real estate and export-import dealings. He was said to have organized a postwar Nazi network called Die Spinne (The Spider) to aid former SS officers who escaped at the end of the war and also to have been involved in illegal arms traffic to Africa and the Middle East. Even in exile, Skorzeny remained a fanatical Nazi. Shortly before his death, Skorzeny remarked, "I am proud to have faithfully served my country and the Führer."
**
Answers: (1) Maggie and (2) a criminal in the Dick Tracy comic strip
The Deadly Spider
He was a brazen Nazi SS colonel whom Allied commanders once considered "the most dangerous man in Europe." A towering (6-foot-4) man with savage dueling scars that crisscrossed the left side of his face, he became a personal favorite of Adolf Hitler and a hero to Germany for his audacious exploits. With only a handful of troops, he rescued Benito Mussolini from a mountaintop prison after the Italian dictator was ousted in 1943, and he kept the entire Allied command in a state of nervous alert for weeks by planting rumors of a plot to assassinate Dwight Eisenhower. Last week, Otto Skorzeny, who escaped from a prison camp while awaiting trial and was never successfully prosecuted for wartime crimes, died at his home in Spain of bronchial cancer at the age of 67 - still fiercely loyal to Hitler and Nazi Germany.
Skorzeny's most celebrated feat by far was his rescue of Mussolini from a heavily guarded hotel on a plateau 6,000 feet up in the Abruzzi mountains. He led a glider attack on the seemingly impregnable fortress, and when the gliders ground into the earth only yards away from the front of the hotel, the Italian carabinieri were so stunned that they surrendered almost immediately. Skorzeny marched up to Mussolini and announced, "Duce, the Führer has sent me as a token of his loyal friendship." The two then climbed into a tiny spotter plane and - with the aging dictator wedged between Skorzeny's knees - escaped to a reunion with Hitler.
Most of Skorzeny's exploits, however, were outright failures, including his attempt to infiltrate English-speaking German troops behind Allied lines before the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. U.S. Army officers got wind of the plan and military police trapped German agents in American uniforms with such questions as "Who sleeps with Jiggs?" and "Who is Pruneface?"** Skorzeny later insisted that the infiltration attempt never included a plot to kill Eisenhower, but the Supreme Allied Commander was briefly confined to his Paris headquarters while a look-alike, Lt. Col. Baldwin Smith, was used as a double.
Torture: Skorzeny could be as cruel as he was daring. After rebellious German officers failed in their attempt to kill Hitler in the "Generals' plot" of July 20, 1944, Skorzeny stopped a wave of executions - in order to torture the suspects into revealing details of the plot. He also once complained, "The ovens at Auschwitz were too small, just big enough for two people." In 1948, while imprisoned in West Germany, he escaped and eventually settled in Spain. Thanks in part to his marriage to a niece of Hitler's Economics Minister Hjalmar Schacht, Skorzeny amassed a fortune in real estate and export-import dealings. He was said to have organized a postwar Nazi network called Die Spinne (The Spider) to aid former SS officers who escaped at the end of the war and also to have been involved in illegal arms traffic to Africa and the Middle East. Even in exile, Skorzeny remained a fanatical Nazi. Shortly before his death, Skorzeny remarked, "I am proud to have faithfully served my country and the Führer."
**
Answers: (1) Maggie and (2) a criminal in the Dick Tracy comic strip
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"scars due to dagger dueling"
The scars on Otto Skorzeny's face resulted from the ritual known as the "Mensur", a fencing match considered a rite of passage for German Students that were members of University fraternal organisations. ("Verbindungen", also "Burschenschaften" or "Corps") Before ww2 the vast majority of German Students belonged to such organisations, which were banned by the allies after the war until 1956. Often the facial scars inflicted during the Mensur were considered badges of honor. Walther Schellenberg had a similar scar.
These organisations, and the "Mensur", still exist to this day.
These organisations, and the "Mensur", still exist to this day.
- Georges JEROME
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scarring
Gauleiter Paul WegenerMatt wrote:I recall reading a quote from Skorzenzy saying that his only regret from the war was not winning.
I also found his facial scars fascinating, apparently due to dueling with daggers pre-war in Munich. Someone on here also posted pictures of other well known Nazis with similar scarring.
Matt
Gauleiter Adolf Wagner
Gauleiter Dr Rainer
Kaltenbrunner
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Please look the section of Original item on sale in SS Computers Research:
http://members.rogers.com/ssocr/webtv_index_800.html
He have a Death/Funeral Notice of Otto Skorzeny.
July 5, 1975
Saludos,
http://members.rogers.com/ssocr/webtv_index_800.html
He have a Death/Funeral Notice of Otto Skorzeny.
July 5, 1975
Saludos,
Re: Otto Skorzeny
I think this is the right thread to post in, correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm reading "Otto Skorzeny's special missions" and I was wondering in what language he wrote it in. I'm reading it in English, but there is no translator-note to be found, not even a name. Did he translate it himself? Or did the translators back in the 60's not sign their work?
Also sharing this photo I found in the book, don't think it has been published before.
I'm reading "Otto Skorzeny's special missions" and I was wondering in what language he wrote it in. I'm reading it in English, but there is no translator-note to be found, not even a name. Did he translate it himself? Or did the translators back in the 60's not sign their work?
Also sharing this photo I found in the book, don't think it has been published before.
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Re:
Found reference to this book in story about Eichmann escape:Zachary wrote:What was the ODESSA?
Zach
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/11/germa ... e-capture/
The Real Odessa: Smuggling the Nazis to Peron's Argentina
by Uki Goni
From his comments in the article it should be a good book. Good reviews on Amazon (1 presented)
Argentine journalist Uki Goni -- author of "The Real Odessa," which chronicles the postwar flight of Nazi criminals to South America -- told AOL News that he wasn't surprised West German agents had discovered Eichmann's whereabouts by 1952.
"The idea that the Nazis arrived in Argentina and faded into the jungle somewhere is just not the case," he said. "There was quite a strong German community in Buenos Aires with its own newspapers and restaurants. So when the new arrivals came after the war, everyone knew exactly who they were, and they went to the same restaurants as everybody else."
Goni adds that West Germany's foreign intelligence service, then known as the Gehlen Organization, had nothing to gain by nabbing Eichmann.
REVIEW
Everyone has heard about the myth of Odessa, the secret organization with hidden contacts intended to provide sanctuary for the worst Nazi criminals after the end of the Second World War
After six of years of deep research in Argentina and Europe, Mr. Goñi shows clearly how the actual Odessa operated smuggling Nazis from the Old continent to the South American secluded country, unveiling a contact network made by pro-Nazi Peron Argentine government assistants, corrupted diplomats, first rescued Nazi criminals with new identities back in Europe, far right Europe politicians acting as liaisons and priests of the Catholic Church in the Vatican
Every interview, record, event and character mentioned is cited with its reference source allowing the reader to delve further in every single topic of his choice
Many novels are written about the Nazi war criminals and their secrecy as a marketing tool in order to attract avid suspense readers and make run of the mill bestsellers, unlike those stories, this is an objective and factual work written as a documentary that can be used in any college course as a contemporary history text book.
Great job
Re: Otto Skorzeny
Hi,
in the personal file Skorzeny no mention of the fact that he was the chief of RSHA VI/S. Why?
When is found a RSHA VI/S?
in the personal file Skorzeny no mention of the fact that he was the chief of RSHA VI/S. Why?
When is found a RSHA VI/S?
Re: Otto Skorzeny
Postscript:
Skorzeny life http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32178
Skorzeny life http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32178
Re: Otto Skorzeny
Here is less known post-war photo of Otto Skorzeny (1945). Someone might like it.
Michal
Michal
Re: Otto Skorzeny
Unusual Skorzeny in SS black service dress.
Photo:http://ww2-militarystore.yolasite.com/o ... -eiche.php
Photo:http://ww2-militarystore.yolasite.com/o ... -eiche.php
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