In 1943, many in Italy began to realize that the unnecessary war into which Benito Mussolini had drawn the country was practically lost, and the continuation of hostilities would only lead to an increase in the already considerable casualties. On May 13, the Italian army, led by General Messe, surrendered in Tunisia. On the night of July 9-10, 1943, the allied Anglo-American troops began an operation to seize Sicily. Even the leadership of the Italian fascist party now understood that the war must be ended on any terms, because every day of hostilities would worsen Italy's position in future peace negotiations. The "mutiny" in the fascist party was led by Dino Grandi. He began to demand the convocation of the Grand Fascist Council, which had not met since 1939. This council, held on July 24, demanded the resignation of Mussolini. The high command was to pass into the hands of the king - Victor Emmanuel III. The next day, Mussolini was summoned to an audience with the king, at which he was arrested. Marshal Pietro Badoglio became the head of government.
Nobody knew what to do with the prisoner, just in case they decided to hide him more securely. Badoglio later said that his main task at first was to bring Italy out of the war with minimal consequences, and, just in case, to save Mussolini's life.
It was not at all easy to get Italy out of the war with dignity. After some thought, the new government decided that the best solution would be to declare war on Germany. As a result, the Italian soldiers, who were in the territories controlled by Germany, were immediately "taken prisoner." Hitler, who already had enough problems, flew into a rage. Attempts were made to establish contact with Mussolini. On July 29, 1943, Mussolini turned 60, and Field Marshal Kesselring asked Badoglio to meet with the Duce to give him a personal gift from Hitler - Nietzsche's collected works in Italian. Badoglio politely replied that he would "gladly do it himself." After that, Hitler gave the order to prepare an operation to free his unlucky ally. At first, he was inclined towards the military operation "Schwartz", which involved the violent seizure of Rome and the arrest of the king, members of the new cabinet of the government and the Pope (whom Hitler suspected of having links with the Anglo-Saxons). But just at this time, a grandiose battle on the Kursk Bulge was taking place, which absorbed all the resources of the Reich, and therefore the idea of sabotage operation Eiche ("Oak") arose - the abduction of Mussolini, who should then lead the Italian military units, which remained "loyal to the allied duty."
6 people were presented to the Fuhrer as candidates for the leadership of the operation. Hitler first asked them if they knew Italy.
“I've been to Italy twice,” said Otto Skorzeny.
The second question asked by Hitler: "What do you think of Italy?"
“I am an Austrian, my Fuhrer,” Skorzeny replied.
With this answer, he hinted to the Fuhrer that any Austrian should hate Italy, which, following the results of World War I, annexed South Tyrol. Hitler, who was himself an Austrian, understood everything and approved Skorzeny. But who was this tall, brutal Austrian with an ugly scar on his left cheek?
Otto Skorzeny: the beginning of the journey
Otto Skorzeny was born on June 12, 1908 in Austria. His surname, similar to Italian, is actually Polish - once it sounded like Skozheny. He received his education at the Vienna Higher Technical School. In his student years, Skorzeny had the fame of an inveterate duelist, in total he had 15 duels, one of which he “earned” his famous scar (however, some historians sarcastically hint that in this case Skorzeny confused a duel with a drunken fight). He joined the NSDAP in 1931 - on the recommendation of Kaltenbrunner (another very famous Austrian of the III Reich). In 1934, Skorzeny joined the 89th SS standard, in which he distinguished himself during the Anschluss of Austria - he arrested President Wilhelm Miklas and Chancellor Schuschnigg. He was an active participant in the events of Kristallnacht (November 10, 1938). Skorzeny began World War II from the very bottom. In 1939 he was a private in Hitler's personal sapper battalion. In 1940 he was at the front with the rank of non-commissioned officer (untersharferyur) - he was a driver in the "Das Reich" division. In March 1941 he was promoted to SS Untersturmfuir (first officer rank). Took part in the war with the Soviet Union. In August 1941 he suffered from dysentery, and in December - an attack of acute cholecystitis, due to which he was evacuated from the front and sent for treatment to Vienna. He never returned to the front, at first he served in the Berlin Reserve Regiment, then he asked for tank courses. So, imperceptibly, he rose to the rank of captain - Hauptsturmführer. In April 1943, Skorzeny's career soars up, even though he himself is unaware of it. He is appointed commander of special forces, designed for reconnaissance and sabotage operations behind enemy lines. And already in July of the same year, as we know, he receives a super-responsible assignment to free Mussolini.
Search for duce
Disguised as a Luftwaffe officer, Skorzeny arrived in Italy. He chose the headquarters of Field Marshal Kesselring, located about 16 km from Rome, as the place of his stay. Behind him came his subordinates from the sabotage school in Friedenthal and the soldiers of the special training parachute battalion of Major Otto Harald Morse.
Soon it was found out that immediately after the arrest, Mussolini was taken by ambulance to the barracks of the Roman carabinieri. But the place of detention of the Duce was constantly changing. Mussolini took turns "sitting" on the corvette "Persephone", on the island of Ponza, was a prisoner at the naval bases of La Spezia and the island of Santa Maddalena. It was on the last island that Skorzeny's scouts found him. But here Skorzeny and his subordinates were unlucky: the Duce was taken out of the island literally on the day of the discovery of the Weber villa, where he was. On the other hand, Skorzeny could thank fate: if information about Mussolini's next transfer had not been received in time, his people would have to storm an empty villa. Mussolini's last prison was the luxury hotel Campo Emperor in the Gran Sasso mountains, which could only be reached by cable car.
Besides Mussolini, 250 carabinieri were "guests" of this hotel. One can only marvel at the energy and luck of Skorzeny, who managed to "unwind the ball" of these movements and, literally, "find a needle in a haystack." But do not forget that he did not act alone, a tremendous amount of work was done by the officers of the Rome police chief, SS Obersturmbannführer Herbert Kappler.
Operation Oak
As we remember, the hotel in which the arrested Duce was kept could only be reached by cable car, which was practically unrealistic for an armed sabotage group. Another option was to send the capture group through the air - with the help of gliders. It was also very risky, but, nevertheless, there was, albeit a small, chance of success. From southern France, 12 cargo gliders were delivered to the Italian Praktica di Mare airfield, specially designed for landing saboteurs behind enemy lines. Each of them could accommodate 9 people in full combat gear. As part of the capture group, there were only 16 Skorzeny's subordinates, 90 more were put at his disposal by General Student. In addition to the German paratroopers, the Italian general Soletti was also supposed to fly - it was assumed that he would give the carabinieri the order not to shoot. Another battalion was to capture the cable car lift station. The flight was scheduled for September 12, 1943 at 13.00, and at 12.30 the airfield was attacked by the Allied aviation, which nearly disrupted the action. Losses began at the very first stage: 2 gliders, hitting fresh craters on the airfield, turned over during takeoff, 2 more, being overloaded, fell on the way (one of them was already "at the finish line", on the territory of the hotel). The Germans lost 31 people killed and 16 wounded. One of the gliders that did not take off was navigator, therefore, who took control of Skorzeny had to improvise - in order to navigate the terrain, he made “observation” holes in the bottom of the glider with a knife. Further, everything did not go according to plan: the landing area was very small, and, even worse, the pilots saw a lot of stones on it. Skorzeny had to take responsibility upon himself, and, contrary to the categorical order of the Student, to order to sit down on the ground from a dive. In his memoirs, he left this description of the events of that day:
“When the massive building of the Campo Imperatore Hotel appeared below, I gave the order:“Put on your helmets! Unhook the towing ropes!” A moment later the deafening roar of the engines disappeared, and only the wings of the landing glider whizzed through the air. The pilot took a sharp turn, looking out for the landing pad. An extremely unpleasant surprise awaited us. What we took for a triangular lawn from a height of 5000 meters turned out to be a steep triangle-shaped slope on closer inspection. I thought in perplexity: "Yes, it is just right to arrange a springboard! I commanded:" Hard landing. As close to the hotel as possible”. The pilot, without hesitation for a second, put the glider on the right wing, and we fell down like a stone. "Will the flimsy structure of the glider withstand such an overload?" - I thought with some dismay. Meyer threw a brake parachute, and then a powerful impact on the ground followed, the gnashing of metal and the crackle of breaking wooden wings. I held my breath and closed my eyes … The glider jumped for the last time and froze, exhausted.
The glider landed 18 meters from the hotel.
Let's "listen" to another story by Skorzeny:
"We are attacking" Campo Emperor "! On the run, I mentally praised myself for the fact that I categorically forbade opening fire without a signal. I heard the measured breathing of my guys behind my back, and I knew that I could completely and completely rely on them … The capture group burst into The Italian sentry, who was in a state of stupor, finally turned to stone, hearing the phrase thrown in Italian on the move: "mani in alto" - "hands up" We ran into the open door and found the carabinieri sitting behind the radio. a chair, he himself was on the floor, and I broke the radio with a blow of an automatic rifle butt. It turned out that it was impossible to get into the interior from this room, and we had to return to the street. We ran along the facade of the building, turned a corner and rested on a terrace 2, 5-3 meters. Oberscharführer Himmel put his back, I flew up like a bullet, and the others quickly followed me. I looked around the facade and saw in one of the windows on the second floor the well-known face of the Duce. from now it was possible to finally calm down - the operation was not wasted and should end in luck. I shouted: "Get away from the window!" We burst into the hotel lobby at the moment when the Italian soldiers tried to run out of it into the street. There was no time for delicate treatment, so I calmed the fastest of them with a couple of good blows with the butt of a machine gun. Two heavy machine guns, installed right on the floor of the lobby, finally calmed them. My people do not even shout, but growl in terrible voices: "Mani in alto!"
Unbeknownst to Skorzeny, Lieutenant of the Carabinieri Albert Fayola had received an order from Marshal Badolla to kill the Duce if anyone tried to free him. Just at this time, he and Lieutenant Antichi were in Mussolini's room, who assured them that in the event of his death, not only they, but all the carabinieri would not be able to survive. Breaking down the door, Skorzeny and SS-Untersturmführer Schwerdt finally broke into Mussolini's quarters. Schwerdt led the discouraged Italian officers out of the room, and Skorzeny announced his mission to the Duce. The deed was actually done, but other German gliders were still landing at the hotel. Morse's paratroopers immediately suppressed two machine-gun points, losing two soldiers in the process. Meanwhile, the carabinieri who had come to their senses, who were outside the hotel, opened fire on the building, but the Italian commandant obediently hung out a white flag and even offered Skorzeny a glass of red wine - "for the health of the winner." Moreover, soon Skorzeny, leaving Mussolini in the rest room, ordered to set tables with a large amount of wine, to which both German soldiers and carabinieri were invited.
But only half the battle was done: Mussolini should have been taken to the territory controlled by the Reich. For evacuation, it was planned to seize the Avilla di Abruzzi airfield at the entrance to the valley at the Skorzeny signal - three He-111 aircraft were to land on it. This plan was not implemented due to problems with radio communications - the pilots did not receive a signal to take off. Two small planes tried to land nearby. One crashed on the plain at the cable car station. The last hope was the 2-seater Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, which was to land directly at the hotel.
The paratroopers and the Italians who came to their aid cleared the area from the stones, which was supposed to serve as an airstrip. Despite the objections of the pilot, Skorzeny boarded the plane with the Duce. Because of the overweight, Mussolini even had to leave a suitcase with secret letters, with which he hoped to blackmail American and British gentlemen, including Churchill, who wrote to Duce: "If I were Italian, I would become a fascist." The Stork, though with difficulty, nevertheless took off. Skorzeny recalls:
“Gerlach, an emergency landing ace, was not particularly happy when he learned that he would have to evacuate the Duce. But when it turned out that I was going to fly with the Duce too, he firmly stated: "This is technically impossible. The aircraft's carrying capacity does not allow taking three adults on board." My short but well-reasoned speech seemed to have convinced him, and I made an informed decision, fully aware of the burden of responsibility I had taken upon myself, deciding to go on the little "Storch" along with the Duce and Gerlach. But could I have done otherwise and have sent Mussolini alone? If anything had happened to him, Adolf Hitler would never have forgiven me for such an inglorious end to the operation. The only thing left for me then is to put a bullet in my forehead."
But maybe Skorzeny just really didn't want to stay in the mountains? And, on the contrary, really wanted to personally report to Hitler about the success and "hand in hand" to hand him over to Mussolini? Otherwise, the envious people were pushed aside, reporting to the adored Fuhrer that Skorzeny was just a stupid performer, who was only required to punctually fulfill the points of the program invented by more intelligent people. Despite the overload, Gerlach managed to reach the German-controlled airfield in Rome, from where Skorzeny and Mussolini already reached Vienna with great comfort, then to Munich, and finally to Hitler's headquarters, who personally met them (September 15, 1943.).
It should be said that on the same day, September 12, 18 Skorzeny saboteurs took the Mussolini family from Rocca del Caminate to Rimini, from where she had reached Vienna before the Duce.
And what happened to the parachutists left by Skorzeny? It was decided to go down to the valley along the same cable car. For insurance against "unforeseen accidents", two Italian officers were placed in each cabin. On 13 September they arrived in Frascatti, bringing with them 10 wounded.
The impression from Skorzeny's action was simply overwhelming. Goebbels declared this operation "a heroic feat of the SS troops", and Himmler - "a cavalry charge of the SS". Skorzeny was promoted to SS Sturmbannfuehrer and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
Other awards were a permanent invitation to the "tea at midnight" (which Skorzeny avoided, but then, when he began to write his memoirs, he was very sorry) and a gold Pilot Badge from Goering. From Mussolini he received a sports car and a gold pocket watch with the letter "M" made of rubies and engraved on the case "1943-12-09" (they were taken from Skorzeny by the Americans who had arrested him on May 15, 1945).
It was then that Skorzeny received the unofficial title of "Hitler's favorite saboteur", who began to entrust him with the most difficult and delicate cases.
Hitler's favorite saboteur
Luck hasn't always been on Skorzeny's side, which is not surprising given the complexity of the missions. So, it was he who was entrusted with the leadership of Operation Long Leap, which involved the assassination of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill in Tehran. As you know, the leaders of the USSR, USA and Great Britain returned home safely.
Another large-scale operation by Skorzeny was the Knight's Ride - an attempt to capture or assassinate JB Tito in the spring of 1944. On May 25, after a massive bombing of the city of Dvar and the surrounding mountains, SS paratroopers landed near the city. Several hundred SS men, led by Skorzeny, entered the battle with the superior forces of the partisans - and managed to push them back and capture Dvar. However, Tito managed to escape by cave passages and mountain paths known only to the locals.
In July 1944, during the conspiracy of Colonel Staufenberg, Skorzeny was in Berlin. He took an active part in suppressing the rebellion and for 36 hours, until the restoration of communication with the headquarters of the Fuhrer, kept under his control the headquarters of the army of the reserve of ground forces.
From August 1944 to May 1945, Skorzeny coordinated assistance to the "Colonel Sherman's detachment" operating in the encirclement, which was generously supplied with weapons, equipment, food and medicine (Operation Magic Shooter). More than 20 scouts were sent to the area of operation of this detachment. In fact, this whole multi-month saga with Sherman's detachment was a game of Soviet intelligence, codenamed "Berezina".
But the operation "Faustpatron" (October 1944) ended in complete success: Skorzeny managed to kidnap the son of the Hungarian dictator Horthy in Budapest, whom Hitler suspected of intending to make peace with the USSR. Horthy had to resign, handing over power to the pro-German government of Ferenc Salasi.
In December of the same year, during the Ardennes counteroffensive, Skorzeny led the large-scale Operation Vulture: about 2,000 German soldiers dressed in American uniforms and speaking English, who were given captured American tanks and jeeps, were sent to the rear of American troops for sabotage. Hitler even hoped for the capture of General Eisenhower. This action was not successful.
In January-February 1945, we already see Skorzeny in the rank of Obersturmbannfuehrer: now he is no longer a saboteur, but the commander of the regular Wehrmacht units participating in the defense of Prussia and Pomerania. In his subordination are the "Center" and "Nord-West" fighter battalions, the 600th parachute battalion and the 3rd tank-grenadier battalion. For his participation in the defense of Frankfurt an der Oder, Hitler managed to award him with the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. At the end of April 1945 Skorzeny leaves for the "Alpine Fortress" (Rastadt-Salzburg region), Kaltenbrunner appoints him to the post of head of the military department of the RSHA. After the end of the war, Skorzeny again meets with Kaltenbrunner - in a cell in one of the prisons. He came to the Nuremberg trials not as an accused, but as a witness for the defense of Fritz Sauckel - SS Obergruppenfuehrer, Labor Commissioner, one of the main organizers of forced labor in the Third Reich. Skorzeny actively collaborated with US intelligence under the pseudonym Able. In August 1947, not without the help of American curators, he was acquitted and already from July 1948 he began to do his favorite thing - he supervised the training of American agents-paratroopers. He died at the age of 67 in Madrid, a few months before the death of Franco, who patronized him. Thanks to his memoirs and the works of Western publicists, Skorzeny received the nicknames "the main saboteur of World War II" and "the most dangerous man in Europe."
One of the journalists in the early 90s, deciding to flatter the Soviet organizer of the partisan war - Colonel IG Starinov, dared to call him "Russian Skorzeny".
“I am a saboteur, and Skorzeny is a braggart,” Starinov replied.
Another commander of Operation Oak, Major Otto Harald Morse, also did not live in poverty after the war: in the German Bundeswehr, he rose to the rank of colonel at the General Headquarters of the Allied Armed Forces in Europe. He died in 2011.
