Karl Wolf is an SS general who became widely known in the Soviet Union largely thanks to the writer Yulian Semenov and his novel Seventeen Moments of Spring, which was based on the 12-episode TV movie of the same name, which was released on the screens of the country in 1973. However, this was just a screen character, and the real biography of Wolf Karl, the main dates and events that took place in his life, will be described later in this article.
The start of the journey
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolf was born on May 13, 1900 in Darmstadt (German Empire) in the family of a legal adviser. When he was 17 years old, he voluntarily joined the army. At the end of the First World War, he already had the rank of lieutenant and such awards as the Iron Cross I and II degrees.
Wolf managed to try himself in a peaceful life - it was a commercial and banking sector. This choice of occupation was not made by chance: this was largely facilitated by his marriage to the daughter of one of the largest German industrialists, von Rentheld, which took place in 1923. Soon he opened his own firm, engaged in commercial and legal activities.
Career
Like most of the regular military of the former German Empire, Karl Wolf was among the Nazis. He joined the SS and the NSDAP quite late - in 1931. However, during his short service, he managed to gain a reputation as a calm, self-confident and sociable person, who was very loved and respected by his subordinates. In early September 1933, he was appointed adjutant to Heinrich Himmler himself, the Reichsfuehrer SS.
It must be said that Wolf Karl never specifically studied military affairs. War itself was his school. In fact, he was more interested in banking, and in particular, the financing of the SS. It was easiest for him to do this, since he had close ties with the business circles of Germany. According to some reports, it was he who became the main initiator of the creation of the so-called Circle of Friends of the SS. This organization included both the directors of various firms and ordinary citizens who not only supported the Nazi policy, but also helped it with finances. Wolf also took an active part in the creation of the symbols of the SS, developed on the basis of the Teutonic mysticism.
Connecting link
Starting from 1936, Karl Wolf became Himmler's closest associate and confidant. It was he who for several years carried out communication between his boss and Hitler. Himmler greatly appreciated his employee and considered him his best friend. This is evidenced by the fact that Wolf accompanied him almost everywhere: on numerous trips, at meetings, and even during visits to the "death camps".
In 1943, their relationshipworsened somewhat. The reason for their quarrel was the divorce and remarriage of Wolf. But despite this, Hitler's confidence in him was still boundless. In the autumn of 1943, Wolf received a new appointment and left for Italy. Here he becomes the supreme Fuhrer of the police and the SS, and two months later - an adviser to the fascist government of Benito Mussolini.
Begin negotiations
Expecting the imminent collapse of the Third Reich, Schellenberg, together with Himmler, decided to establish contact with the American intelligence services. And again, the same reliable and proven Wolf acts as a link. He manages to establish the necessary contact through Pope Pius XII. In early March 1945, Wolf first met in Swiss Ascona with a whole group of Americans led by Allen Dulles, where they discussed the surrender of the German army in the Apennines.
Due to the fact that Washington and Moscow were allies at that time, on March 12, the Americans decided to inform the Soviet government about the negotiations that had begun. Upon learning of this, Stalin demanded that his representatives also participate in them, but was refused. Later, the American ambassador to the Soviet Union, Harriman, explained this decision by saying that the United States was afraid of a breakdown in negotiations due to unrealistic conditions that could be put forward by representatives from the USSR.
Final stage
Meanwhile, rumors that Karl Wolff was in dialogue with the Americans reached Bormann, who tried to use this trump card in his game againstHeinrich Himmler, who, together with Schellenberg, managed to save the negotiation process at the very last moment.
During the dialogue, the Americans did not leave doubts about the powers of Wolf himself, as well as the ability of the SS to organize such a large-scale event as the surrender of German troops stationed on the territory of fascist Italy. Such distrust was due to the fact that Field Marshal A. Kesselring commanded the German formations at that time.
Surrender
In order to dispel the last doubts of the Americans, Wolf had to provide his new allies with maps of the location of Nazi troops in Italy. In the future, it was these documents that helped the United States develop an optimal plan for attacking the Apennine Peninsula.
At the end of April 1945, when the victorious allied offensive in Italy began, Wolf finally received all the necessary powers in order to conclude the long-awaited truce. On April 29, together with Vietinghoff, he signs all the conditions for the surrender of the Nazi troops in the Apennines.
Post-war biography
Karl Wolf, contrary to common sense, after the capitulation of Nazi Germany and its occupation by the Allied forces did not hide, but, on the contrary, hoped for a pardon and even some compensation from the winners. Even during the negotiations in Switzerland, he made it clear that after the fall of Hitler he expected to receive in the new Germangovernment minister of the interior. But, contrary to his expectations, he was arrested by the Americans and convicted in Germany in 1946.
The verdict startled him: four years in labor camps. Karl Wolf was released in 1949. Despite the fact that during his imprisonment he lost almost everything, already in the early 1950s his material well-being reached the level that he had in his best years.
Second arrest
Richard Brightman, a historian at Harvard University, believes that thanks to participation in the negotiations that took place at the end of the war, as well as the personal intercession of Allen Dulles, Wolf was spared his life. Otherwise, the former Nazi general, as a war criminal, would have been prepared for a place in the dock in Nuremberg next to his former boss K altenbrunner. Moreover, the allies had every reason to do so.
Why didn't the Americans do it? But the fact is that in this situation, Wolf could tell a completely different version, concerning both the surrender in Italy and the negotiations themselves, which could differ significantly from the official one presented by Allen Dulles. In addition, the possible confessions of the former general could negatively affect the reputation of the US Office of Strategic Services, on the basis of which the CIA was created, and cause irreparable harm to the entire allied coalition.
This thought seems to be correct, since immediately after the resignation of Dulles, which occurred in 1961 as a result of a failed attempt by the Americansinvade Cuba, Karl Wolff was again arrested. This time, the German authorities charged him with complicity in the extermination of more than 300 thousand people. Here it was about the deportation of Polish Jews to concentration camps located near the village of Treblinka. Wolf, as expected, of course, denied his involvement in the Holocaust, citing his forgetfulness.
The court hearings on this case lasted for several years. In the end, in September 1964, the sentence was pronounced: 15 years in prison. However, the former Nazi General Karl Wolf was released much earlier - in 1971. The reason for early release is for he alth reasons. He died in mid-July 1984 in Rosenheim (Bavaria, Germany).
