Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny PDF Author: Stuart Smith
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472829476
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
This first book to reassess the myth and the realities of Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's favourite commando. SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny became a legend in his own time. 'Hitler's favourite commando' acquired a reputation as a man of daring, renowned for his audacious 1943 mission to extricate Mussolini from a mountain-top prison. Skorzeny's influence on special operations doctrine was far-reaching and long-lasting – in 2011, when US Navy SEALs infiltrated Pakistan to eliminate Osama Bin Laden, the operational planning was influenced by Skorzeny's legacy. Yet he was also an egoist who stole other men's credit (including for the seminal rescue of Mussolini), brave and resourceful but also an unrepentant Nazi and a self-aggrandizing hogger of the limelight. Stuart Smith draws on years of in-depth research to uncover the truth about Skorzeny's career and complex personality. From his background as a student radical in Vienna, to his bloody service with the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front, his surprise rebirth as a commando, and his intriguing post-war career and mysterious fortune, this book tells Otto Skorzeny's story in full – warts and all – for the first time.

Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny PDF Author: Stuart Smith
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472829476
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 410

Get Book Here

Book Description
This first book to reassess the myth and the realities of Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's favourite commando. SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny became a legend in his own time. 'Hitler's favourite commando' acquired a reputation as a man of daring, renowned for his audacious 1943 mission to extricate Mussolini from a mountain-top prison. Skorzeny's influence on special operations doctrine was far-reaching and long-lasting – in 2011, when US Navy SEALs infiltrated Pakistan to eliminate Osama Bin Laden, the operational planning was influenced by Skorzeny's legacy. Yet he was also an egoist who stole other men's credit (including for the seminal rescue of Mussolini), brave and resourceful but also an unrepentant Nazi and a self-aggrandizing hogger of the limelight. Stuart Smith draws on years of in-depth research to uncover the truth about Skorzeny's career and complex personality. From his background as a student radical in Vienna, to his bloody service with the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front, his surprise rebirth as a commando, and his intriguing post-war career and mysterious fortune, this book tells Otto Skorzeny's story in full – warts and all – for the first time.

Skorzeny

Skorzeny PDF Author: Charles Whiting
Publisher: Leo Cooper Books
ISBN:
Category : Marshals
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
Skorzeny was one of the most daring figures of the 20th Century. His exploits included the rescue of Mussolini from his mountain prison, a brief affair with Eva Peron, a blackmail attempt on Winston Churchill and the kidnapping of the son of the wartime dictator of Hungary. Eisenhower declared him The most wanted man in Europe. Charles Whiting

My Commando Operations

My Commando Operations PDF Author: Otto Skorzeny
Publisher: Schiffer Military History
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 504

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Book Description
The memoirs of the legendary Skorzeny appear here in its first unabridged English edition. Skorzeny's fame began with the successful raid to free Benito Mussolini from the Gran Sasso, Italy in 1943. His elite commandos surprised Italian guards in a daring daytime raid. Hitler presented Skorzeny with the Knight's Cross for this operation. Not only is this raid explained in minute detail, many of Skorzeny's previously unknown operations in all European and Russian theatres of World War II are given in detailed accounts. Operation Griffin - the innovative use of German Kommandos dressed as American soldiers working behind enemy lines - during the Ardennes Offensive in 1944 is given in-depth coverage, as is Skorzeny's rememberances on the Malmedy massacre. Skorzeny also offers his insights into the mysterious Rudolf Hess mission to England in May 1941, and offers a behind the scenes look at German and Russian secret military intelligence, and the workings of Canaris and Gehlen.

The Skorzeny Papers

The Skorzeny Papers PDF Author: Ralph P. Ganis
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1510708421
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 577

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Book Description
In The Skorzeny Papers, the author reveals the details of the post-World War II activities of former SS Commando Otto Skorzeny. Considered by British and American Allied forces as “the most dangerous man in Europe,” Skorzeny planned and led numerous daring missions throughout the war. The story in this book was extracted by Major Ganis from Skorzeny’s personal papers. The evidence reveals that Skorzeny gradually and methodically became involved in US intelligence and covert operations during the Cold War. But Skorzeny’s network had a greater point of destiny in November 1963, when it was utilized to carry out the most tragic mission in history. This story would have been lost had Skorzeny not kept meticulous records of his businesses and contacts, which were fronts for US covert activity. In the end, The Skorzeny Papers reveal the intriguing web of secret organizations and people linked to the events culminating in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Freeing Mussolini

Freeing Mussolini PDF Author: Óscar González López
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1526719991
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
The untold inside story of the audacious Nazi plot to rescue il Duce from an Allied prison. The operation to free Mussolini, who was being held prisoner in a high mountain hotel on the summit of Gran Sasso, Italy, in September 1943, is without a doubt one of the most spectacular operations not only of the Second World War, but in all military history. German paratroopers, the Wehrmacht’s elite, were responsible for organizing the rescue in record time, and executing a daring and perfectly synchronized operation between land and airborne detachments. Surprise and speed were the Fallschirmjäger’s main weapons, surprising the Italian garrison guarding il Duce. For political reasons Otto Skorzeny, the clever SS officer, also participated in the operation, leading a dozen of his commandos. Propaganda and his connections with Himmler made him into the false hero of the mission, over-emphasizing his role in the whole search and rescue operation. Based on the testimony of several protagonists in this incredible operation, as well as analyzing major documents (letters, reports by General Kurt Student, etc.) and the abundant literature available on the subject, this book dismantles the “Skorzeny Myth” and reveals the truth of what really happened in a mission that even Churchill called “one of great daring.”

Ardennes 1944 Peiper & Skorzeny

Ardennes 1944 Peiper & Skorzeny PDF Author: Jean-Paul Pallud
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472800370
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Book Description
From the earliest planning stages of the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes, Hitler was convinced of the importance of taking the Meuse bridges. He resolved that, when his forces broke through the US lines, one special unit should be dressed in American uniforms and issued with American weapons and vehicles. In this guise they could take advantage of the surprise and shock of the breakthrough, and move forward to the Meuse bridges as if they were retreating Americans. Jean-Paul Pallud details their organisation and the fateful sequence of events that followed.

For Germany

For Germany PDF Author: Otto Skorzeny
Publisher: R. James Bender Publishing
ISBN: 9780912138930
Category : Nazis
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Military History and Collectibles; Otto Skorzeny only rose to the rank of Colonel in the SS, yet is one of the best known and colorful figures of the Third Reich, in large part because of the faith Hitler had in the tall Austrian engineer. Many books have been written about his career, to include autobiographies, but before he died in 1975 he personally entrusted Bender Publishing with the formidable task of producing the most detailed, up-dated and best illustrated version of his incredible life story. A quarter of a century later, after painstaking research into the text and a hunt for unpublished illustrations, the ultimate story of "Scarface" Skorzeny, "the most dangerous man in Europe" and Hitler's "commando extraordinary" is finally available. Complete with an exhaustive index, providing biographical details not found in the text, this is likely to be the last word on this larger than life personality, one of the great characters of World War II.

Commando Extraordinary

Commando Extraordinary PDF Author: Charles Foley
Publisher: Bantam Books
ISBN: 9780553281590
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Out of print for 9 years, this incredible story recounts the exploits of Hitler's favorite commando, SS Col. Otto Skorzeny. From snatching Mussolini from an "impenetrable" mountain to the rescue of a doomed German division in the Balkans, here is the complete story of Skorzeny.

Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny PDF Author: Stuart Smith
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472829468
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
This first book to reassess the myth and the realities of Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's favourite commando. SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny became a legend in his own time. 'Hitler's favourite commando' acquired a reputation as a man of daring, renowned for his audacious 1943 mission to extricate Mussolini from a mountain-top prison. Skorzeny's influence on special operations doctrine was far-reaching and long-lasting – in 2011, when US Navy SEALs infiltrated Pakistan to eliminate Osama Bin Laden, the operational planning was influenced by Skorzeny's legacy. Yet he was also an egoist who stole other men's credit (including for the seminal rescue of Mussolini), brave and resourceful but also an unrepentant Nazi and a self-aggrandizing hogger of the limelight. Stuart Smith draws on years of in-depth research to uncover the truth about Skorzeny's career and complex personality. From his background as a student radical in Vienna, to his bloody service with the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front, his surprise rebirth as a commando, and his intriguing post-war career and mysterious fortune, this book tells Otto Skorzeny's story in full – warts and all – for the first time.

Fugitives

Fugitives PDF Author: Danny Orbach
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1643138960
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Shrouded in government secrecy, clouded by myths and propaganda, the enigmatic tale of Nazi fugitives in the early Cold War has never been properly told—until now. In the aftermath of WWII, the victorious Allies vowed to hunt Nazi war criminals “to the ends of the earth.” Yet many slipped away to the four corners of the world or were shielded by the Western Allies in exchange for cooperation. Most prominently, Reinhard Gehlen, the founder of West Germany's foreign intelligence service, welcomed SS operatives into the fold. This shortsighted decision nearly brought his cherished service down, as the KGB found his Nazi operatives easy to turn, while judiciously exposing them to threaten the very legitimacy of the Bonn Government. However, Gehlen was hardly alone in the excessive importance he placed on the supposed capabilities of former Nazi agents; his American sponsors did much the same in the early years of the Cold War. Other Nazi fugitives became freelance arms traffickers, spies, and covert operators, playing a crucial role in the clandestine struggle between the superpowers. From posh German restaurants, smuggler-infested Yugoslav ports, Damascene safehouses, Egyptian country clubs, and fascist holdouts in Franco's Spain, Nazi spies created a chaotic network of influence and information. This network was tapped by both America and the USSR, as well as by the West German, French, and Israeli secret services. Indeed, just as Gehlen and his U.S sponsors attached excessive importance to Nazi agents, so too did almost all other state and non-state actors, adding a combustible ingredient to the Cold War covert struggle. Shrouded in government secrecy, clouded by myths and propaganda, the tangled and often paradoxical tale of these Nazi fugitives and operatives has never been properly told—until now.