Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny (June 12th 1908, Vienna - July 7th 1975, Madrid) is a soldier of especially known Commando German for its daring missions carried out at the time of the Second world war for the account of Adolf Hitler.

Biography

Youth

Skorzeny is born in Vienna in an Austrian family from the middle-class, with a long military past. It is of German native tongue but speaks very well French and English. Being member of a irregular force of students anticommunists, it will become Engineer. A sport of students, show of duel to the sword, it, very running at the time, marks it of a scar to the face.

It joined the Austrian Nazi party in 1931, then SA. Charismatic character, Skorzeny plays a minor part at the time of the Anschluss of the March 12th 1938 where it saves the Austrian president Wilhelm Miklas which was about to be made kill by fanatics Nazis.

Second world war

In 1938, It joined a motorized formation of the S, then integrates the unit of elite, the the 1st division S Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler attached to the Division S Das Reich.

In April 1941, it is promoted Hauptsturmfürher at the time of the Opération Barbarossa where it manages to make many prisoners.

The April 20th 1943, it is again promoted and becomes responsible for the new unit commando of elite Friedenthal .

During the summer 1943, it receives like instruction, of Adolf Hitler in person, to find Benito Mussolini, then imprisoned in Italy, and to release it. Within the framework of the Operation Eiche, it then carries out a survey of ground which enables to locate him the secret place where the Duce is imprisoned and organizes secretly its release. The September 12th 1943 with 14:00 (7 hours after the hour envisaged), it delivers Mussolini of its prison at the top of the Gran Sasso in Italy whereas this last is imprisoned and supervised by several Italian soldiers who received the order to carry out it in the event of escape bid. Those however do not do anything for preventing some. The success of this airborne operation is due to the effect of surprise, but also to technical capabilities of the “Stork of Reich”, a plane able to take off in less than 70 m and to land in less than 20 m, with which Mussolini escaped.

It also took part in the Opération Rösselsprung in April and May 1944 aiming at capturing Tito to disturb the movement in favor communist in Yugoslavia. Tito succeeds in however escaping and the operation shows a failure whose Skorzeny will try to be outdistanced thereafter.

With the request express of Führer, it multiplies the missions inside the enemy lines. Most spectacular of them, the Operation Greif, was to create a group of false American soldiers with an aim of sowing confusion in the back lines of the Alliés during the Bataille of the Ardennes in December 1944, thus operating one of the first attacks False flag of the war. Skorzeny sowed so much the disorder in the American back lines which one feared that it tries to assassinate the Commander-in-chief of the allied forces in Europe, the American general Eisenhower. The operation is not however a success according to Skorzeny: a majority of the 600 men, with the competences in English insufficient and supported by a defective logistics, quickly is captured or killed.

Towards the end of the war, it will take part in the creation of Die Spinne (the spider), charged to take care of the good escape of old the S towards the Italy.

At the end of the war, it is Standartenführer and, for its exploits, decorated with the German sheets of oaks.

With German rendering in 1945, it is imprisoned for its Nazis activities but was discharged loads retained against him. Thereafter, he became a prosperous business man, primarily in the trade of Arme S.

Post-war period

After the war, its own organization, the “Bruderschaft” (the fraternity ), is transformed into ODESSA, an organization charged to manage the funds recovered by old the S and to thus make it possible to ensure their future life materially.
En 1970 it creates with Gerhard Hartmut von Schubert an organization of fight anticommunist based in pro-Franco Spain , which organizes attacks and recruits Mercenaire S: the Paladin group . He also devoted himself to the traffic of weapons, via his Atlantico company located in the pro-Franco Spain.
Il dies the July 7th 1975 of a Cancer with Madrid.

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