On March 15, 1942, at one of the meetings in Berlin, Adolf Hitler announced that by the summer of this year the Russian campaign would be successfully completed by Germany.
- We will dismember Russia and make her kneel, - as if chopping the air with his palms, the Fuhrer announced. - The border will be in the Urals!
He hoped for the success of the offensive in the Caucasus, a breakthrough to the oil fields of Baku, Grozny and Maikop, access to the Volga and the blockade of this most important waterway of the European part of the Soviet Union, along which ships with food and, most importantly, oil products were flowing in a continuous flow.
These plans were not destined to come true, and the temporary successes of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front failed to turn the tide of the war. On May 26, it became known about the conclusion of an agreement between the USSR and England on an alliance in the war against Germany. Heinrich Himmler, who closely followed the development of events, contacted Reinhard Heydrich, who was in Prague.
“I want to know your opinion,” said the Reichsfuehrer SS. - Who can be the best Special Assignment Team Leader? Are you ready to propose a candidate?
"Faithful Henry" did not believe at all in the possibility of a successful completion of the military campaign in the East during this year. It may be possible to achieve some success, but to finally finish off the Russians, it takes a lot of effort and time. Therefore, in connection with the emergence of the anti-Hitler coalition, it was necessary to prepare on the line of their department for serious operations. When the Fuhrer gives the task, you must already be in all weapons. Even one successful terrorist act or reconnaissance operation can seriously affect the course of hostilities and the further destinies of the world.
“Otto Skorzeny will do,” Heydrich replied.
“Okay,” Himmler agreed. - Think about who can replace him if something happens.
Most likely, this was their last conversation. On the morning of May 29, 1942, British agents attempted to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich as he was driving through the old narrow streets. On June 4, Reinhard Heydrich died of his wounds. But the Reichsfuehrer SS did not forget his recommendation. After the solemn funeral of Heydrich, the Reichsfuehrer asked Walter Schellenberg, who headed the VI Directorate of the RSHA Ausland SS:
- Tell me, whom can you suggest as the leader of the special group being created?
“Otgo Skorzeny,” Schellenberg replied without hesitation.
Himmler nodded silently and walked away. In principle, he was also satisfied with Skorzeny's candidacy, but there was no need to rush: it is always preferable to wait and see how events begin to develop.
Development was not long in coming: on August 23, German troops launched a large-scale offensive against Stalingrad, intending to cut the Volga. At the same time, there were fierce battles in the Caucasus.
At the end of October, when it was already clear that the Wehrmacht was stuck in Stalingrad and bogged down in a difficult battle, the allied Anglo-American forces under the command of General Montgomery suddenly launched an offensive near Al-Alamein in North Africa. On November 5, in a decisive battle, they inflicted a heavy defeat on General Rommel's units. Literally a day later, the Anglo-Americans began an amphibious operation in Africa, and on November 19, the Red Army launched a powerful counteroffensive at Stalingrad and dealt a series of serious blows to the Wehrmacht. The situation there became critical, the Reichsfuehrer understood: if he does not want to be late, it is time to start implementing his plans. Schellenberg received a special assignment from the Reichsfuehrer SS, and the well-coordinated machine of the "black order" quickly started spinning.
At the end of the year, thousands of prisoners from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp were selected for special construction work, which was carried out without interruption, in any weather, in three shifts, round the clock in a row. The prisoners built a high - about three meters - solid and long stone wall around the ancient Friedenthal castle, located eighty kilometers from Berlin. On the other side of the secret Nazi facility, literally a few minutes leisurely walk, is the Sachsenhausen death camp.
Upon completion of the work, the "builders" were destroyed. Several rows of spirals of barbed wire were stretched along the crest of the stone wall, through which a high-voltage current was passed, as in the fences of death camps. In addition, the wall was guarded by patrols and dogs specially trained to hunt people. What was hidden in the mysterious and so closely guarded castle located almost in the very center of Germany?
The SS men chose Friedenthal Castle to host special training courses for members of the special assignment group, which was personally led by Otto Skorzeny on the orders of SS Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler. In fact, these courses were a secret special school for the training of super-saboteurs, ready to perform any task anywhere in the world. To train the best saboteurs, Skorzeny personally and specialists from the SS sabotage and reconnaissance units developed an extensive program, approved at the highest level by the leadership of the RSHA.
Unlike many "educational institutions" of the Abwehr, the courses at the Friedenthal castle were taken mainly by Germans and mainly by members of the SS. Exceptions were extremely rare. And if the Abwehr relied on the massiveness of the transfer of agents, not sparing the "material" of prisoners and traitors, then Skorzeny's people preferred to cook a unique "piece goods", where each cadet was worth a dozen in all respects.
All future members of the SS Special Assignment Group received extensive training. It included classes in almost all sports and, without fail, horse riding. The cadets perfectly mastered the skills of driving all brands of cars, motorcycles, special vehicles and construction equipment. They learned to operate steam locomotives, motorized tires, motor boats and boats. Piloting of airplanes and gliders was also taught.
Particular attention was paid to the study of self-defense and attack techniques, as well as shooting training. Members of the group were trained in shooting all types of weapons, including mortars, light weapons, and tank cannons. The light small arms of the armies of all countries and the civilian model are not even worth mentioning. They taught me to be good with cold weapons, jump with a parachute, do topography and quickly studied foreign languages, among which preference was given to English, Russian and Spanish. All this was considered “general training”, which had to be mastered perfectly in the shortest possible time. The special course involved the study of more serious things and the acquisition of skills in conspiratorial work, recruiting agents, creating underground subversive organizations, planning and carrying out coups d'état.
Much attention was paid to sabotage work: training in the manufacture of explosives from improvised means, the use of time mines and, then considered a secret novelty, plastic explosives, the choice of tactics at various objects. For example, at refineries, docks, defense factories, and so on. Each member of the group was required to be able to successfully work alone, even without having anything in hand.
Skorzeny's pets and methods of "express interrogation" passed, learning sophisticated torture to immediately obtain information of interest to the reconnaissance and sabotage unit. They also taught how to “clean up” people by staging suicide by hanging, “accident” on the railroad when a person falls under a train, taught how to drown in water, moreover, in various reservoirs, how to poison, and so on.
It was not in vain that the SS leadership chose the castle Friedenthal, not far from Sachsenhausen, as the location for the secret "murderer's university". The camp commandant constantly supplied the castle with "living material" from prisoners, on which, in specially equipped rooms, the members of the Group practiced their skills in using weapons, using torture, methods of murder and interrogation.
Walter Schellenberg constantly showed a keen interest in the activities of the secret courses at the Friedenthal castle and personally checked the course of the training process, as well as the knowledge and skills acquired by the students. An entire brigade of highly trained SS specialists involved in Operation Bernhardt to manufacture counterfeit British pounds sterling and US dollars worked tirelessly to prepare for certain members of the Group forged documents that were no different from the genuine ones. Walter Schellenberg has personally selected a number of people who have undergone intensive training and have shown excellent results for deep implementation in several countries.
The transfer of these reconnaissance saboteurs was carried out by various methods: mainly by submarines to South America and, through neutral Switzerland, to other countries that also did not take part in the war. For example, to Sweden. There is evidence from Western researchers that SS agents even reached Australia and New Zealand.
Apparently, most of these agents were never discovered: they were sent mainly not to Russia, but to Latin and North America. Most likely, later these people switched to communication with the department of General Gehlen, who headed the post-war intelligence of the FRG, and fruitfully collaborated with him: Gehlen was also a Hitlerite general. How many and where exactly such agents Walter Schellenberg managed to introduce during the remaining two years of the war is still unknown.
Documentation of the secret courses of the Friedenthal castle has practically not survived, and a little of the remaining was very quickly taken overseas by the American special services. It is not even known how many "piece goods" Skorzeny prepared. Moreover, several streams worked on the courses and, along with the "ordinary" saboteurs-scouts, they specially trained extra-class spies.
The successful operation of the secret courses of Friedenthal Castle can be evidenced by such well-known operations as "Greif" - directed against General Eisenhower, or "Mickey Mouse". It was carried out by Skorzeny in 1944 in Hungary and was aimed at kidnapping the family of the dictator Horthy. The group worked brilliantly, and the losses amounted to only seven people, although they had to act in a foreign country and take a real fortress. Operation Aikhe in 1943 to liberate Mussolini was no less successful and became a textbook long ago.
Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of covert operations in which members of the Skorzeny Group took part remained unknown: for sure, the leadership of the RSHA carried out, planned and again carried out many actions of a different nature, including the rescue of Nazi functionaries at the end of the war. And also on the concealment of the treasures plundered by the "black order" and the destruction of documents compromising the SS. Caches were laid, people were taken out of Germany, unnecessary and dangerous witnesses were destroyed, appointments and safe houses, cover documents were prepared in advance, bank accounts were opened.
Skorzeny's pets took an active part in all these secret dirty deeds. And the list of their deeds is far from complete. However, it is unlikely that it will be possible to get to the secrets of the Group and reveal all the secrets of the Friedenthal castle.
Otto Skorzeny himself survived and after the war lived for a long time in Madrid, where he wrote several volumes of memoirs, but as a true professional he does not reveal any secrets in them and presents himself in the best possible light. The secrets of Friedenthal Castle and its curia Skorzeny, Schellenberg and Himmler took with them …
