[1], He was given a Roman Catholic funeral Mass in Madrid on 7 August 1975. Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's favourite killer, was a colonel in the German Waffen-SS. No, I’m not kidding. Australian scientists make breakthrough in stem cell research, Morning political briefing with Alison Carabine, NSW Education Minister rejects Fed Govt's proposal to withdraw funding from state schools, Victims fear alleged 'cover-up' of sexual abuse will not be revealed, The story of Otto Skorzeny: the Nazi commando who killed for Israel, Fears for Arrium workers as steel maker rejects $1.2 billion deal to re-capitalise debt, Download The story of Otto Skorzeny: the Nazi commando who killed for Israel (6.18 MB). [70], Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Learn how and when to remove this template message, the last remaining intact bridge across the Rhine at Remagen, unsuccessfully attacked a nearby Allied pontoon bridge between Kripp and Linz, assassinating German rocket scientist Heinz Krug, "How did Hitler's scar-faced henchman become an Irish farmer? In October 1941, he was in charge of a "technical section" of German forces during the Battle of Moscow. Skorzeny later provided intelligence to Mossad, Israel’s external intelligence service, on ex-Nazi scientists working for the Egyptian government. The top Moslems, top Jews and top Nazis all work together, when it comes to criminal activity. [19] Hitler supposedly gave the command of the operation to Ernst Kaltenbrunner, chief of the RSHA, who, in turn, ceded the mission to Skorzeny. [21]:193, In early 1944, Sonderverband z.b.V. [31] Hitler awarded him one of Germany's highest military honours, the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.[32]. The charge of stealing Red Crossparcels was dropped for lack of evidence. His surname is of Polish origin, and Skorzeny's distant ancestors came from a village called Skorzęcin in Greater Poland region. The trial lasted over three weeks. An SS officer and personal favourite of Adolf Hitler worked as a hitman for Israeli spy agency Mossad, it is claimed. Some of its operatives were recruited by the Spanish Interior Ministry to wage a clandestine war against the terrorist group ETA. However, commitment among the rebel tribes was suspect, and Operation François was deemed a failure. [8] Skorzeny's proposals were to develop units specialized in such warfare, including partisan-like fighting deep behind enemy lines, fighting in enemy uniform, sabotage attacks, etc. Skorzeny led Operation Greif in which German soldiers infiltrated Allied lines by using their opponents' uniforms, equipment, language and customs. On the final day of the trial, 9 September, F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas, a former British SOE agent, testified that he and his operatives wore German uniforms behind enemy lines; the Tribunal acquitted the ten defendants. This facility was later evacuated to Boitzenburg, in Pomerania, and was eventually transferred to Jagdverband Ost. [8] He then joined Hitler's bodyguard regiment, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH). A lot more about Skorzeny is now known: In August 1944, top Nazi officials made in a secret reunion in Strasbourg, France. [30][33], Skorzeny was detained in an internment camp at Darmstadt awaiting the decision of a denazification court. His mission was to seize important buildings of the Communist Party, including the NKVD headquarters at Lubyanka, and the central telegraph office and other high priority facilities, before they could be destroyed. [45] Reporting on the Matara story, the major Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronot said that it had confirmed the story from their own senior Mossad source. SS Lieutenant Colonel Otto Skorzeny was an extraordinary military man who specialized in guerrilla warfare and commando-style raids during World War II. That is why he turned to Skorzeny, the Nazi hero. Victims of the Nazis. [22][23] Skorzeny claimed his name was used only to add credibility to the story because the NKVD knew his renowned record as an SS commando would make the existence of such an operation more plausible. FAK 203 also established a Byelorussian camp at Insterburg, which was run by Major Gerullis. One Kildare resident recalled Skorzeny as someone who "wasn't particularly friendly and [who] didn't really mix with local people". [6], In 1931 Skorzeny joined the Austrian Nazi organization and soon became a member of the Nazi SA. In 1948, the Americans helped Skorzeny to escape from an internment camp. [1][51] Skorzeny also owned property on Majorca. [citation needed] On 17 March, he received orders to sabotage the last remaining intact bridge across the Rhine at Remagen following its capture by the Allies, but the bridge collapsed that same day, and the naval demolitions squad prepared instead unsuccessfully attacked a nearby Allied pontoon bridge between Kripp and Linz. [40], According to some authors, he traveled between Spain and Argentina, where he acted as an advisor to President Juan Perón[41][1] and as a bodyguard for Eva Perón,[40][1] while fostering an ambition for the "Fourth Reich" to be centered in Latin America. He was 67 years old. A charismatic figure, Skorzeny played a minor role in the Anschluss on 12 March 1938, when he saved the Austrian President Wilhelm Miklas from being shot by Austrian Nazis. Skorzeny's participation allowed the Mossad to step up its efforts against the scientists in Egypt. The extraordinary story of Skorzeny’s work for Israel is documented for the first time in the latest edition of the magazine, Forward. Skorzeny afterwards maintained that the US authorities had aided his escape, and had supplied the uniforms. [citation needed] Skorzeny died of lung cancer on 5 July 1975 in Madrid. He is chiefly known for his risky liberation of the ousted Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from the Abruzzi Apennines, where he was confined by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, in 1943. Question, Why did Otto Skorzeny help the Mossad? Skorzeny sent a group by parachute into Iran to make contact with the dissident mountain tribes to encourage them to sabotage Allied supplies of material being sent to the Soviet Union via the Trans-Iranian Railway. Lt-Col Otto Skorzeny, once described by British and American intelligence as “the most dangerous man in Europe”, was secretly recruited by Mossad after …