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In the years following World War II, the newly formed state of Israel found itself surrounded by hostile neighbors and faced a growing threat from Egypt. In the early 1960s, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser developed a ballistic missile program with the help of German scientists, including people who worked on weapons programs for Nazi Germany. Israel was determined to stop them. Mossad launched a covert campaign to disrupt the Egyptian missile program, targeting scientists and the network that supported them through intimidation, sabotage, and covert operations. But Israeli intelligence needed someone who could penetrate this network. Someone the Germans trusted. Someone with the connections, experience, and
reputation to get close to them. So Mossad recruited one of the most incredible agents imaginable. Otto Skorzeny, former Nazi lieutenant colonel of the Waffen- SS. A commando who was personally awarded by Adolf Hitler after his spectacular rescue of Benito Mussolini. A soldier who was once called the most dangerous man in Europe. Less than 20 years after the Holocaust, one of Hitler's most famous saboteurs was secretly working for the Jewish state's intelligence service. So, who was Otto Skorzeny? And how did he become one of Hitler's most famous operatives? How did a former SS officer manage to escape the ruins of Nazi Germany, become an international arms dealer and intelligence operative? And perhaps most surprising of all: why did the
Israeli Mossad recruit a man who once served Adolf Hitler? Marine Corps veteran and filmmaker, and today on this episode of Forgotten History, we're going to try to answer these questions. The beginning of the most difficult 26 days in the history of the Marine Corps With confidence in our armed forces. The 36th President of the United States died this afternoon. children and women here, and cancel it. Otto Skorzeny was born in Vienna, Austria, on June 12, 1908, into a middle-class family. engineer, and Skorzeny later followed a similar path, studying engineering at the Vienna University of Technology. But another part of university life left a
much more noticeable mark. Skorzeny began to engage in academic fencing, a tradition popular among German and Austrian student fraternities. Unlike modern sports fencing, these duels were fought with sharp blades. The fighters wore protective gear, including steel goggles to protect their eyes, but much of their faces remained exposed. Facial scars were considered signs of courage. Skorzeny participated in numerous duels and received a prominent scar on the left side of his face, which became one of his defining features. Years later, Skorzeny claimed that the experience taught him something about fear.
Courage, he said, is not the absence of fear. It is the ability to remain calm when there is something to fear. This lesson came in handy for him. The Austria of Skorzeny's youth was a country struggling to find its own identity. The once-powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed after World War I, leaving behind a much smaller republic beset by political strife and economic instability. Like many Austrian nationalists, Skorzeny supported the idea of unifying Austria with a greater Germany. In 1931, he joined the Austrian Nazi Party. Seven years later, Adolf Hitler made this unification a reality. In March 1938, German troops entered Austria during the Anschluss, annexing the country to Nazi Germany. Skorzeny welcomed the annexation and soon attempted to
join the Luftwaffe. He wanted to become a pilot, but at almost 193 cm tall and at the age of 30, Skorzeny was deemed unfit for flight training. Instead, in 1939 he joined the Waffen- SS. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Skorzeny headed east as part of the 2nd SS Panzer Division. There he experienced the brutal reality of the Eastern Front. The conditions were extremely difficult. By the winter of 1941, German forces were struggling with bitter cold, mounting casualties, and fierce resistance from Soviet troops.
Skorzeny himself was wounded when a fragment hit him in the back of the head. Although he initially remained in service, persistent headaches from his wound, combined with chronic gallbladder disease, eventually forced him to evacuate from the Eastern Front. He returned to Germany, where his career took an unexpected turn. The Waffen-SS began to develop methods of unconventional warfare: sabotage, infiltration, and diversionary operations behind enemy lines. Skorzeny's confident personality and willingness to take risks made him a natural candidate. In 1943, he was transferred to the newly created SS Special Operations Unit. Within months, Skorzeny's name became known to Adolf Hitler. And Skorzeny
received the task that made him famous throughout the world. By the summer of 1943, the tide of the war began to turn against the Axis powers. In North Africa, German and Italian troops were defeated. Allied troops landed in Sicily, and the position of Italy itself became increasingly vulnerable. For Benito Mussolini, the consequences were immediate. On July 25, 1943, King Victor Emmanuel III dismissed Mussolini from his post as Prime Minister and ordered his arrest. After more than two decades in power, the Italian dictator suddenly became a prisoner of his own government. For Adolf Hitler, the overthrow of his closest European ally was unacceptable. He ordered Mussolini to be found and rescued.
The problem was finding its location. The Italians constantly moved Mussolini from one place to another, hoping to prevent the Germans from finding out where he was being held. German intelligence was looking for him, while Hitler considered several officers who could lead a rescue operation. One of these officers was Skorzeny. Skorzeny later recalled being summoned to headquarters and personally interrogated by the Fuhrer. Hitler eventually selected him to participate in the search and rescue efforts for Mussolini. After weeks of searching, German intelligence
finally discovered that Mussolini was being held at the Hotel Campo Imperatore, a remote mountain resort high in the Gran Sasso mountains in central Italy. This place seemed almost impregnable for assault. The hotel was located over 6,000 feet above sea level and was usually only accessible by cable car. Italian troops were guarding Mussolini, and any conventional attack in the mountains would have given his guards enough time to transport or kill him. The Germans chose a different approach. They were supposed to arrive by air. On September 12, 1943, a detachment of German paratroopers and SS commandos boarded gliders and were towed to Gran Sasso. The ground operation was commanded by Luftwaffe Major Harald Morse, and the air assault
was led by Lieutenant Georg Freiherr von Berlepsch. Skorzeny accompanied the assault group with a contingent of SS men. As the gliders approached the mountain, they detached from the tow planes and descended to the hotel. There was no proper runway there. The pilots had to land their aircraft in the rugged terrain around the resort, dangerously close to rocks, buildings, and the edge of the mountain. Within minutes, German troops surrounded the hotel. Skorzeny burst inside. The Italian guards, faced with the sudden appearance of German troops and ordered not to resist by the Italian general Fernando Soleti, whom Skorzeny had brought with him,
offered virtually no resistance. Not a single shot was fired. Skorzeny soon reached Mussolini and announced: "Duce, the Fuhrer has sent me to free you." Mussolini replied that he knew that his friend Adolf Hitler would not abandon him. Mussolini was free. Photos of the tall, scarred Skorzeny standing next to the rescued Italian dictator spread around the world. Hitler promoted Skorzeny and awarded him the Knight's Cross. Almost overnight, he became one of By 1944, Germany was losing the war. The Western Allies had landed in France, the Red Army was advancing from the east, and some of Hitler's allies were looking for ways to escape before they were completely destroyed. One of these countries was Hungary. Hungary joined the Axis powers in 1940 and
participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union. But as German forces retreated into Central Europe, Hungary's leader, Regent Admiral Miklós Horthy, began looking for a way to make peace with the Allies. Hitler could not allow this to happen. Hungary remained strategically important to Germany, and its transition to the other side would open another path to the heart of the Reich. In March 1944, German troops occupied Hungary, effectively turning the Horthy government into a puppet regime. But Gorthi continued secret negotiations with the Soviet Union. By October, Hitler decided to act. He turned to Skorzeny again. The operation was called " Panzerfaust", or " armored fist".
Skorzeny arrived in Budapest and began preparing to seize control of the Hungarian government. If Gorthi attempted to leave Germany, Skorzeny arrived in Budapest and began preparing to seize control of the government if Gorthi dared to turn his back on Germany. But first the Germans targeted someone who was very close to the regent, his son. Miklos Jr. was in contact with representatives of Josip Broz Tito's Yugoslav Partisan leadership, and was led to believe that he was going to another secret meeting. But it was a trap. On October 15, 1944, Skorzeny and his men launched the attack. After a brief exchange of fire, the younger Gorty was captured, wrapped in a carpet, and taken to Germany as a prisoner. His father was faced with an obvious threat, but Gorty
acted decisively anyway. Later that day, he announced on Hungarian radio that his government had agreed to an armistice with the Soviet Union and ordered Hungarian troops to cease fire. Hitler reacted immediately. German forces moved to capture key positions throughout Budapest. The next morning, Skorzeny led German troops to Castle Hill, the seat of the Gorthi government. Skorzeny approached with tanks, armored vehicles, and German soldiers. Gorty's defense was hopelessly weaker than the attackers. After limited resistance, the Germans took control of the castle With his son in German hands and Budapest under military control, Horthy was forced to abandon his attempt to exit the war and resign as regent. The Germans
replaced his government with one led by Ferenc Szalaszy, head of the Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross Party. Hungary remained in the war on the side of Germany. Operation Panzerfaust was another success. Skorzeny's reputation continued to grow, and Hitler was about to give him his most daring task to date. The Battle of the Bulge was about to begin. By December 1944, Nazi Germany was fighting for survival. Hitler decided to put the rest of his reserves on the line in a final major offensive in the West. German troops were to attack through the dense Ardennes forests, break through American lines, cross the Meuse River, and ultimately capture the Belgian port of Antwerp. Hitler
hoped that the offensive would divide the British and American armies and perhaps force the Western Allies to negotiate. This attack would become known as the Ardennes Operation. But within the large-scale German offensive was another smaller and highly unusual operation. Hitler summoned Skorzeny and personally gave him the task. The operation was codenamed "Greif", which means " Griffon" in German. Skorzeny was ordered to assemble special forces equipped with captured American uniforms , weapons, and equipment. German soldiers who spoke English were to infiltrate the Allied rear under the guise of American troops. Once behind enemy lines, they were to wreak havoc. They could change road signs, cut communications, spread disinformation, and
seize important bridges before a German offensive. Skorzeny began forming a unit that became the 150th Tank Brigade. But there was a problem. The German army simply did not have enough captured American equipment to create the force that Skorzeny envisioned. Even finding Germans who could speak English convincingly proved difficult. Thousands of people were tested, but only a handful were fluent in English. The best English speakers were united into small sabotage groups. On December 16, 1944, the German offensive began. Skorzeny's saboteurs crossed the front line and entered American-held territory. Their actual military achievements were limited. But psychologically, Operation Griffon was extremely effective.
Rumors quickly spread that German soldiers disguised as Americans were operating behind Allied lines. American troops set up checkpoints and began interrogating anyone who seemed suspicious. The soldiers asked questions that they thought only Americans knew the answers to. Who won the World Series? What is the capital of Illinois? What league did a certain baseball team play in? This system was far from perfect. General Omar Bradley was even temporarily detained after he correctly answered that the capital of Illinois was Springfield. The soldiers who interrogated him mistakenly thought it was Chicago. Even British Field Marshal
Bernard Montgomery was briefly detained after rumors that Skorzeny's men might pose as senior Allied commanders. Then the rumors became even more disturbing. Captured German saboteurs claimed that Skorzeny's men were sent to Paris to assassinate General Dwight Eisenhower. Security around Eisenhower was significantly tightened, and for a time the Supreme Allied Commander was effectively locked in his own headquarters. Skorzeny's reputation itself became a weapon. Eventually, the German offensive stalled. During the battle, Skorzeny was wounded again when fragments of an artillery shell hit him in the face. Many of his saboteurs were captured, and for
some, captivity meant death. German soldiers caught behind American lines wearing US uniforms were tried as spies, and several were shot. Skorzeny survived, but Nazi Germany did not last long. Within months, Hitler was dead, Berlin fell, and the Third Reich ceased to exist. The war that had made Skorzeny an international celebrity was over. And now the Allies have put him on the list of most wanted criminals. On May 16, 1945, Skorzeny surrendered to American troops in Austria. He was thoroughly interrogated and later transported to Nuremberg, where he testified as a witness during the post-war trials. But soon Skorzeny himself stood
trial. In August 1947, he, along with nine other German officers, appeared before the American military tribunal at Dachau. The central issue was Operation Gryphon. The indictment accused Skorzeny and his subordinates of violating the laws of war by using American uniforms during the Battle of the Bulge. Skorzeny never denied that he gave the order to wear it. Instead, his defense argued that wearing an enemy uniform for the purpose of infiltration and deception was not in itself a war crime. The key question was whether German soldiers were actually fighting disguised as Americans. Then the defense presented an unexpected witness. Air Commander
Forest Yeo-Thomas was a decorated British intelligence officer who worked for the. Yeo-Thomas testified that allied operatives also used enemy uniforms during covert operations. Using an enemy's uniform to mislead the enemy could be considered a legitimate military trick. But waging a battle in this form is another matter. However, the prosecution failed to prove that Skorzeny ordered his men to enter battle disguised as American soldiers. Skorzeny and the other defendants were acquitted, but he was not released. The German authorities demanded that he be detained during the denazification procedure, so he was transferred to an internment camp in Darmstadt. Later, on
July 27, 1948, three former SS men infiltrated the camp, disguised as US military police. They stated that they had orders to take Skorzeny away for court hearings. Skorzeny simply walked out with them, becoming a free man. For several months, Skorzeny was in hiding. He eventually left Germany and by 1950 had settled in Spain, where the government of General Francisco Franco created much more comfortable conditions for the former Nazi officer. Skorzeny settled in Madrid. He worked as an engineer and businessman. However, his military reputation gave him something much more valuable than an engineering degree. that were looking for people who knew how to act outside of the generally accepted rules. The war was over, but Otto Skorzeny's career was
not. In fact, the strangest part of his life was just beginning. Only a few years ago, people like Skorzeny were enemies of the United States and Britain. The Soviet Union had now become the main threat to the West, and military experience, intelligence contacts, and a deep hatred of communism could make yesterday's enemies useful again. Skorzeny's reputation opened doors. He traveled throughout Europe and developed business interests that extended far beyond Spain. He established connections in Latin America, particularly in Argentina, where President Juan Perón maintained close relations with a number of Europeans serving the Axis powers.
Skorzeny met with Peron and became an advisor to the Argentine president. Skorzeny was also Eva Perón's bodyguard and played an important role in helping former Nazis settle in South America. His network soon spread to the Middle East. In 1952, a group of Egyptian military officers overthrew King Farouk. The following year, Skorzeny traveled to Egypt, where the new government was trying to modernize and strengthen its armed forces. Egypt has hired a number of former German military officers and specialists. Skorzeny helped recruit former personnel who could provide the Egyptians with military knowledge. German veterans assisted in training Egyptian forces and reorganizing elements of the
military and security apparatus. Skorzeny's own experience made him particularly valuable in unconventional methods of warfare. People were trained in sabotage, infiltration, and special operations tactics. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, President Gamal Abdel Nasser had become one of the most influential political figures in the Arab world. Nasser also considered Israel his enemy. Egypt sought to obtain modern weapons capable of challenging the young Jewish state. Among the foreign specialists involved in the assistance were German scientists and engineers. Some of them worked on advanced weapons programs during World War II. In the early 1960s, German specialists assisted Egypt with the development of missiles and shells. For Israel, this was a
worrying development. Israeli intelligence wanted to know who these scientists were and how the Egyptian weapons program worked. Mossad needed someone who could infiltrate the network, someone who was trusted by former Nazis. There was an obvious candidate- Otto Skorzeny. The Mossad launched an aggressive campaign to disrupt Egypt's missile program. German scientists were monitored and threatened. Bombs were sent in letters. The activities of shell companies that supplied resources for the Egyptian program were investigated.
Israeli agents gathered information about everyone involved. However, intelligence was difficult to obtain. The Germans who worked for Egypt were suspicious of outsiders. However, they had no suspicions about Skorzeny. Skorzeny was one of them. This made him extremely valuable to the Mossad. According to testimony from former Israeli intelligence officers, the Mossad initially considered Skorzeny as a potential target. But instead they decided to recruit him. Israeli agents came out to Skorzeny in Madrid. The details of the first meeting vary in different sources, but Skorzeny apparently immediately realized that the Israelis could just as easily have come to kill him. He agreed to talk, but wanted
something in return. He demanded guarantees that Israel would not touch him and wanted the famous Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal to remove his name from the archives. It was an extraordinary arrangement. Less than 20 years before, Skorzeny had served Adolf Hitler as an SS officer. Now he worked for Israel. Skorzeny provided information about German scientists working for Egypt and companies supplying equipment. He used his reputation and connections to gain access to people who would never knowingly cooperate with Israeli intelligence. Skorzeny traveled to Egypt and obtained additional information about the weapons development program. And on September 11, 1962,
one of the Germans associated with the Egyptian program disappeared. His name was Heinz Krug. He left his office in Munich and was never seen again. For decades, no one knew what happened to him. Then an According to former sources in Israeli intelligence, Skorzeny's relationship with Mossad may have gone far beyond simply providing information. They claimed that he killed Krug on behalf of Israel. Later research by Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman confirmed that Krug was killed by a Mossad team, but Skorzeny himself was not the perpetrator. Whatever happened to Heinz Krug, Skorzeny's cooperation with Israeli intelligence continued.
He provided information about German personnel involved in Egypt's weapons programs and helped Mossad penetrate a network that would have been extremely difficult for Israeli agents to penetrate on their own. Ultimately, the campaign achieved its goal. By the mid-1960s, many German specialists had left Egypt, and the missile program they had been hired to develop had largely collapsed. Meanwhile, Skorzeny returned to his life in Spain. He continued to engage in international business, arms trading, and military consulting. He felt at ease in the strange world of former military men, intelligence officers, and political figures that
defined his career after the war. His relationship with Israel was probably purely pragmatic. He was useful to the Mossad. And for Skorzeny, the collaboration provided protection, connections, and another opportunity to participate in the secret operations that made him famous. In 1970, Skorzeny was diagnosed with cancer. After the operation, his health gradually deteriorated. On July 5, 1975, Otto Skorzeny died in Madrid. He was 67 years old. He started out as an Austrian engineering student with a scar from a fencing duel. He fought on the Eastern Front. He helped rescue Benito Mussolini from a mountaintop. He kidnapped the son of the Hungarian ruler. He sent German saboteurs behind American lines in American uniforms.
He moved among dictators, arms dealers, military personnel, and spies. And, ultimately, he provided intelligence to the Mossad. Perhaps Skorzeny's greatest talent was not penetrating enemy lines or organizing sabotage. Maybe it was the ability to become useful. When one regime disappeared, he found another government or another client who needed what he knew. A soldier once called the most dangerous man in Europe survived the collapse of the Third Reich, escaped from prison, and found himself in the mysterious world of the Cold War. Less than 20 years after serving Adolf Hitler, Otto Skorzeny was already working for Israel. If there was any lesson in Skorzeny's extraordinary life, it was probably this one. In the shadowy world of espionage, ideology
can be extremely flexible. Yesterday's enemy may become tomorrow's useful asset. Sometimes it seems like it's worth keeping your friends close and your enemies even closer. Share your thoughts on Otto Skorzeny in the comments below. Thank you for watching "Forgotten History." Please like, share, and subscribe. If you have any comments or ideas for the show, we would love to hear them. Thank you again.
