British media: Mistakes in US intelligence work have contributed to the formation and spread of Nazi rumors of "Alpine fortresses"

Source: Global Times

The British "Guardian" reported on the 4th that according to the latest revelations by historians, the famous lie "Alpine Fortress" concocted by Nazi Germany during World War II actually stemmed from the mistakes of the Allied intelligence work. For the formation and spread of this rumor, Dulles, then director of the US Strategic Intelligence Bureau, seemed to have an unshirkable responsibility.

In the later stages of World War II, the German army became increasingly passive, and in the case of the imminent attack of the Soviet and Allied forces on both sides, a so-called "Alpine fortress" was created in Austria, with the purpose of diverting the attention of the Soviet and Allied forces away from the German mainland. Under the hype of Goebbels, then Nazi propaganda minister, even Churchill and Roosevelt believed that "Germany has transferred 100,000 elite soldiers, excellent equipment, and a large amount of national wealth to the Alps of Austria and Bavaria, where fortifications are impregnable."

But Berghardt, an expert of German descent at the U.S. Army's Military History Center, said in his new book that the "Alpine Fortress" seems to be the "inspiration" provided by the Allies: in 1944, the Military Intelligence Of the German SS accidentally intercepted a message to the effect that the Allied side was worried that the Axis Congress would use the high mountains to resist dangerously, and the source of this information was likely to be Dulles. At the time, Dulles did not realize that his encrypted communications had been cracked, while repeatedly ignoring warnings from British allies. According to the book, a British spy scolded: "You can't tell this fool (Dulles) that the Germans probably have cracked this information and used it to concoct false information!" (Gao Wenyu)