At the end of World War II, Nazi Germany was defeated, and the Nuremberg Trials sentenced many senior Nazi officers to death. However, one Nazi officer escaped punishment, and instead of being executed, he lived a prosperous and enjoyable life in his old age. He was known as the king of Nazi special forces and the most cattle war criminal in the German army. Who is he? He was the German knife-faced war criminal—
Skolzny.
Otto Skolzner
Born in Vienna on 12 June 1908, Otto Skorzny was a Slav whose father was an engineer and came to a wealthy family. Skolzner was taught by his father from an early age, deliberately allowing him to temper his mind in the face of adversity and cultivate his strong will and character. Skolzner learned to survive in the wild from an early age and is extremely capable of surviving on his own.
In 1926, at the age of 18, Skolzner was admitted to the University of Vienna, at this time Skolzny was 1.92 meters tall and strong. At the University of Vienna, Skolzner fought 14 duels with men, and in the 10th duel, the left side of his face was stabbed with a sword by his opponent with a long bloody slit, which was the only time Skorzny lost his hand, leaving a long scar after the wound recovered. Skolzner called the scar a "scar of honor," and he has since earned the nickname Scarface.
German Special Forces
In 1931, after graduating from university, Skolzner joined the Austrian Nazi organization and became a stormtrooper. At the outbreak of World War II, the 31-year-old Skolzner learned to fly a fighter jet, and he wanted to be a fighter pilot. But the Germans rejected him on the grounds that he was too old, and Skolzner was depressed for a long time. In February 1940, Skolzny joined the Elite SS Second Imperial Division.
In April 1942, Skolzner followed the Second Imperial Division in the German invasion of the Balkans, and in August was transferred to the front line to fight the Soviets. During a battle, Skolzny was hit in the head by Fragments of a Soviet Katyusha rocket, and Skolzny was so tenacious that he survived after being seriously wounded. During this battle, he received a medal of commendation from the Iron Cross.
Hitler and Mussolini
In the spring of 1943, Skolzner was secretly taken to SS command. It turned out that the Small Special Forces of the British Army in the North African Theater," commando, often sneaked up on German bases, and the Germans were troubled by this. Hitler was fascinated by the "Lawrence of Arabia" and decided to establish his own Komand to retaliate against the Allied forces. To build a special forces, there must be an elite to organize. Skolzny was thus favored, and his life gradually reached its peak.
In April 1943, Skolzner was appointed commander of The Fredenthal Unit, Germany's first special forces force. When Skolzner became commander, he began to select elite soldiers from the SS, Brandenburg, the Air Force, and other services to train special forces. He soon formed 2 battalions of Special Forces, all of whom were among the elite, with extensive combat experience and proficiency in at least English and French. Skolzner's training of special forces is a devilish training, and he requires special forces to be strong-willed and physically strong, especially fierce and fast enough.
Rescue operations
In July 1943, a military coup d'état took place in Italy, and Hitler's partner Mussolini was arrested. After his arrest, Mussolini was held in a prison on the island of Punta in the Bay of Gaeta, west of Naples. Hitler then ordered Skolzny's special forces to rescue Mussolini. On September 12, Mussolini devised an adventurous rescue from the Grand Sasso Mountains with glider landing rescue. After the operation began, 12 gliders operated according to the established objectives, and they unknowingly landed around the room where Mussolini was being held, and the two teams of men and horses quickly began to rescue Mussolini. When Mussolini saw Skolzner, he hugged him tightly and shouted, "I knew Hitler hadn't abandoned me!" ”
The "Operation Oak Tree" that rescued Mussolini was finally completed. Skolszny successfully rescued Mussolini, completing one of the most daring rescue operations in German history, Skolzny received heroic welcomes in Berlin and Vienna, and even British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had to praise his rescue operation as a heroic and fearless performance. Skolzner was promoted to colonel, and people called him "King of Special Forces."
150 Armored Brigade
After the Ardennes Campaign began, Hitler considered the capture of the Meuse Bridge crucial, as it would cut off allied ties between Belgium and the Dutch, and thus encircle Montgomery's 21st Army entering the Netherlands. In order to capture the bridge over the Meuse, Hitler ordered the formation of a special forces unit, the 150th Armored Brigade, mixed with Allied forces near the Meuse, to unexpectedly occupy the bridge and cause confusion among the American troops, a plan known as "Operation Griffin". The commander of this operation was Skolzny.
Skolzner soon camouflaged the U.S. Armored Brigade into the Meuse Bridge with 5 Leopard tanks, 6 armored vehicles, 6 armored personnel carriers and 5 assault artillery vehicles, as well as 2 Shermans, 2 American armored vehicles, less than 10 Jeeps and trucks. The day before the Ardennes campaign began, 44 Germans disguised as Americans mingled in the Rear of the U.S. Army to create chaos. More than 30 soldiers infiltrated the U.S.-occupied Meuse River Bridge several times, and 18 soldiers were arrested and executed for revealing their identities. Due to the shortage of armored vehicles, Operation Griffin did not stage a large-scale tank battle, but the infiltration of Skolzny was successful.
Captured German special forces
Skolzner also organized 300 German paratroopers disguised as American troops to attack the headquarters of U.S. Commander Eisenhower and assassinate Eisenhower. Skolzny's assassination plan spread within the Allied forces for a time, and the upper allied commanders and the lower ordinary soldiers were panicked. Skolzny's camouflaged special forces were quite powerful, and even because the camouflage was too real, some of the disguised German soldiers were strafed and bombed by German aircraft.
The atmosphere of terror spread within the Allies, the Allies were suspicious of each other, and even The American General Bruce Clark was mistakenly arrested by his own people and locked up in a warehouse for more than 5 hours of interrogation. Admiral Breley, commander of the U.S. 12th Army, recalled that "about 500,000 U.S. soldiers, when they met, were like cats and mice, staring at each other with wide eyes and suspicious of each other." U.S. Commander Eisenhower had to leave the headquarters and move to the palace of Versailles to hide from plainclothes spies in Skolzne. Eisenhower said bitterly, "Skolzner is the most dangerous man in Europe!" ”
Executed German special forces
In December 1944, Skolzner was recalled to Berlin and promoted to major general, the 150th Panzer Brigade was disbanded, the Fredenthal Special Forces he had created were dead and scattered, and the end of the Third Reich was coming. Skolzner knew that German defeat was inevitable, and while promising Himmler's order to stay in Berlin, he quietly brought out a large amount of dollars and jewelry from Berlin, which he distributed to his men and let them escape for their lives.
After dividing up the money, Skolzner hid in a ski hut in the mountains with his men, Radel and others. The hut was stocked with grain, meat and vegetables, as well as plenty of liquor. Skolzner hid in this hut and waited for the end of the war.
Skolzner promotional books
In July 1945, Skolzner came down the hill with two of his men to surrender, and many of his colleagues had been executed as war criminals, but he was unscathed, and he gained a few pounds on the mountain, and the news of his surrender became sensational news. On 18 August 1947, Skolzner was imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp in Darmstadt in central Germany. In the prisoner-of-war camp, the Allies tried to release him six times, but for various reasons failed to do so.
Skolzny was impatient to wait in the camp, and in July 1948 Skolzny used his special forces talents to escape from the camp by hiding under a truck. After escaping from the POW camp, he went to Spain and obtained a Spanish passport and the status of an engineer. At the end of the same year, Skolzner borrowed money to open an industrial technology company and became the boss.
Mrs. Perón
In 1952, Skolz was pardoned for civil war criminals, and Skolzny came to Egypt to serve as an adviser to Egyptian President Nasser. Soon after, Skolzner went to Argentina. In Argentina, Skolzner was close to the beautiful president, Mrs. Perón, and it was rumored that he had an ambiguous relationship with Mrs. Perón. He helped Perón assemble the most ferocious secret police force in South America, acting as His wife's personal bodyguard, and thwarted several assassinations of Perón. Skolzner became the guarantor of Madame Perón's rule over Argentina.
President Perón had so much trust in Skolzny that she gave a portion of her property to Skolzne. The amount of money amounted to tens of millions of dollars, and Skolzner became a multimillionaire with this money. But Skolzner lived frugally and never spent a dime on a dime. He deposited the money in the bank and used huge interest to save nazi colleagues in prison, saving more than 100 people. He also assigned work to the rescued and paid them living expenses.
Skolzny in his later years
A few years later, when Mrs. Perón stepped down, Skolzner returned to Spain, opened dozens of supermarket chains, and became a successful businessman. On July 5, 1975, "Europe's most dangerous man" Skolzner died in Madrid at the age of 67 due to a recurrence of injuries. In accordance with his last wishes, he was buried in the Doblinger Cemetery in Vienna, accompanied by his mother's grave.
Skolzner is known as "the most dangerous man in Europe", he is the king of German special forces, he is undoubtedly the most cattle German war criminal, his life has experienced a number of roles such as special forces, generals, engineers, politicians, businessmen and so on, saved a fuehrer, assassinated a president (Eisenhower), helped two presidents (Nasser, Juan Perón), and a female president (Isabel Perón) ambiguous, in his later years became a rich man with tens of millions of dollars, rescued more than 100 Nazi brothers, and finally returned to Vienna.
The most dangerous man in Europe
His life is a legendary life, and his life trajectory is a miracle.
bibliography:
1. "The Most Dangerous Man in Europe"
2. The Legend of Skolzny