W alter Friedrich Schellenberg - SS Brigadeführer, Major General of the Police and SS troops. He became the youngest leader of the Third Reich. Hitler had already staged a "beer coup" and was writing "Mein Kampf" when W alter had just entered the fifth grade at a school in Luxembourg. Many viewers know this person thanks to the role played by Oleg Tabakov in the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring". Then the majority liked that charming Schellenberg, and even his niece years later wrote a letter to the actor in which she flattered about his game.
Youth
Schellenberg W alter was born on January 16, 1910. Place of birth is the town of Saarbrücken. W alter became the seventh child in the family. Schellenberg's father was the director of a piano factory. In 1923 the family had to move to Luxembourg. The reason for the move was the deterioration of the economic situation due to the war. In Luxembourg, my father had a branch of his factory, where he continued to work.
Until 1929, W alter Schellenberg studied at a real school, where he was interested in history, and especially the Renaissance. By the age of twenty-three, he received a bachelor's degree in art history. This, as Semyonov pointed out. Yu, veryhelped him a lot during World War II, when he robbed Italian museums.
Bonn University and joining the NSDAP
Young W alter Schellenberg, whose biography is very rich and interesting, continued his studies at the University of Bonn. At first he entered the Faculty of Medicine, but then he decided to study law, he was not interested in politics. This choice of a young man was influenced by the instructions of his father, who was inclined towards the humanities and economics. The student was able to pass the exam for a lawyer in March 1933.
At the same time, one of the teachers persuaded W alter to join the NSDAP. W alter Schellenberg decided to do this only for career reasons and for the sake of the black SS uniform that he liked. In addition, he had sympathy for Hitler, who was trying to restore the greatness of Germany. Then he began working in various courts.
W alter wrote various works on history for students who were in the SS. Reports on German legislation interested Heydrich, and he invited Schellenberg to work in his department. Soon the man managed to gain confidence in Himmler, who served as the head of the RSHA. Once Schellenberg W alter saved his life by pulling him away from a loosely closed door on an airplane.
Career advancement
In 1935, Schellenberg (photos are presented in the article) began to fulfill the duties of the referendary of the Gestapo, namely its branch in Berlin. In the autumn of the same year, he went to work in the central office of the SD. There becamework in the central filing cabinet, compiled reports on various foreign policy topics. In 1937, he received the position of government adviser in the Ministry of the Interior.
In 1938 he created a project aimed at reforming the police structure of the Reich. The project was developed on the orders of Heydrich, but was not accepted by Himmler, who was afraid of disagreements with Hess.
In 1937, a member of the NSDAP decided to leave the Catholic faith. In the same year, he organized the "Kitty Salon", which played the role of a brothel for diplomats. However, the difference between this place and similar ones was that it was equipped with listening devices.
Schellenberg's office
Many people are familiar with Hollywood films, in particular, with thrillers. It was on the scenery from the film of this genre that the office in which W alter Schellenberg worked looked like. The memoirs perfectly described his situation. There was a large table in the office, on which a huge number of telephones were located. Small listening devices were hidden everywhere, which worked at the slightest sound or rustle. It was almost impossible to notice them. The office was secured with electrical alarms protecting safes, windows, and every entrance. She worked at night, that is, when Schellenberg left his workplace. In the case of approaching the room, it worked, and the soldiers arrived at the alarm.
The table could be said to be a small fortress. Its design included machine guns that could fire at the entire office. In the case of opening the door, the trunks were immediately aimed in its direction. It was enough to press the button to shoot. In addition, there was another button that allowed you to warn the guards of the danger, and they, in turn, blocked every entrance.
Beginning of World War II
In 1938, W alter Schellenberg took an active part in the annexation of Austria to Germany, generating reports for the leadership of the German intelligence service regarding Italy's position on this issue. In March, he was sent to Vienna, where he obtained information and materials from Austrian counterintelligence, and was also involved in ensuring the protection of Adolf Hitler. Already in the autumn he went to Dakar in order to obtain information about the French Navy.
Schellenberg, whose photo was not published in the newspapers at that time, was not a major Nazi leader. In addition, even his name was not known to many. However, he had a high enough position to be aware of all political events, and also had information about the actions of Hitler and the heads of the occupied countries.
In addition to the general management of intelligence, which was carried out by the German Nazis, W alter was also directly involved in operations. They entered the history of the Second World War, so it is worth at least briefly dwelling on the most famous.
Operation Venlo
In the autumn of 1939, German intelligence began a "game" with the Intelligence Service. With the help of a Dutch spy, the Germans managed to send disinformation to the British, allowing them to understand that there were a number of oppositionists in the ranks of the Wehrmacht whoassociated with the West. This was done in order to identify several spies working in Germany.
Schellenberg was also involved. Fate threw him in different places; this time he went to Holland disguised as a member of the opposition.
In his younger years, W alter did not have an expressive general appearance, so he attracted Dr. Crinis for this role, who was ideal for the operation. The exploration went well. Schellenberg W alter and Crinis had several productive meetings with members of the British intelligence - Captain Best and Major Stevenson. And suddenly it became known about the assassination attempt on Hitler. The Fuhrer suggested that the British were trying to kill him, and ordered Best and Stevenson to be captured. W alter himself did not agree with this order, but was obliged to obey. The capture of the British occurred during one of the meetings in the Dutch town of Venlo. During the meeting, SS soldiers arrived and transported the British to German territory.
The guilt of Best and Stevenson could not be proved, but when they got into the Gestapo, the British gave out a lot of useful information.
This operation during the Second World War was called "Venlo". Germany accused Holland of violating neutrality and invaded her lands on May 10, 1941. Holland capitulated four days later.
Best and Stevenson were imprisoned in a concentration camp where they were until the end of the war.
On the eve of the attack on the USSR
Before the start of the war with the Soviet Union, there were several months left, and Schellenberg threw all his strength intothe formation and dispatch of spies to the USSR. At the same time, the work of counterintelligence against the Russians was intensified. In addition to diplomats, special attention began to be paid to emigrants. Of the three immigrants, one was an agent of W alter. The main goal of these spies was to work in the occupied territory of the USSR. Schellenberg wrote about the work done in his memoirs, stating that German counterintelligence was able to uncover many routes of couriers and the location of transmitters. In addition, it was said that it was known about the methods of work of agents. However, perhaps W alter simply bragged, because before the start of the war, Russian agents did not suffer heavy losses in Germany.
Invasion of the USSR
On June 22, 1941, Schellenberg received a service assignment to the post of head of intelligence abroad. Soon, W alter became convinced that his intelligence did not provide correct information about the state of affairs in the Soviet Union. The resistance and actions of the partisan detachments came as a complete surprise.
Soon, W alter took up the organization of more successful intelligence work. He collected and threw into the rear detachments of Russian prisoners of war. They were well trained and tested, but, as Schellenberg later admitted, most of them were captured by the NKVD.
W alter involved in the fight against the Soviet army persons who had gone over to the side of the Germans, in particular, Vlasov. Shelenberg's memoirs subsequently told how the Germans created a unit of prisoners of war ("Druzhina"), which was able to destroy the SS detachment,guarding the prisoners, and joined the partisans. In general, the partisans caused a lot of problems for the entire German army.
Adolf Hitler demanded from Schellenberg data on partisan detachments, their assignments and so on. He was surprised that in the Soviet Union he was met with huge resistance and large-scale guerrilla warfare. In his report, W alther called the brutality of the troops the main reason for the emergence of resistance. However, the report was rejected by Hitler.
In addition, the report was also rejected, which spoke about the revision of the conduct of military operations on the territory of the Soviet Union, since the potential of the enemy was underestimated. In addition, the experts who were involved in the preparation of this report were arrested. Later, Schellenberg managed to defend his employees, but he could not convince either the Fuhrer or Himmler of his innocence.
Red Chapel
In 1942, German counterintelligence discovered and destroyed a large-scale Russian intelligence network, which was given the name "Red Chapel". In fact, there were two such networks: one - in Berlin, the second - in Brussels. Schellenberg also made a lot of efforts in the matter of exposure. A "radio game" was started with the help of captured transmitters. Although W alter himself admitted that in order to ingratiate himself, he had to send reliable information for several months. However, the Russian intelligence officers realized that a "game" was being played with them, and began to act according to the situation. It turns out that the destruction of the network was just luck, but in the futureall attempts were unsuccessful and did not bring any benefit.
Last stages of the war
The end of the war was approaching. The blows inflicted on the German troops confirmed Schellenberg's doubts about the outcome of the Second World War. W alter was ready to negotiate even with the Soviet Union. However, first there was a meeting with an American diplomat. Subsequently, Himmler was very unhappy with these contacts with the enemy.
Instead of negotiations, the Reichsfuehrer SS offered to assassinate Stalin. For this, several military personnel were recruited and sent to the rear, but the task was failed, since the agents were caught on the same day. The assassination was to be carried out with a radio-controlled mine. Subsequently, radio communications were carried out on their behalf with German intelligence.
At this time, W alter witnessed some statements by Adolf Hitler related to the options for ending the war. He stated that in the event of defeat, the German people would confirm their biological abnormality and the impossibility of further existence.
However, W alter Schellenberg did not abandon attempts to hold peace talks. So, at the end of 1944, a secret meeting between Himmler and the former President of Switzerland took place. The result was the release of 200 Jews from concentration camps in exchange for tractors and medicines, which Germany especially needed.
Schellenberg, with the help of the Red Cross, was able to obtain permission for the export of captured French women who were in the Ravensbrück camp.
May 5, 1945, Admiral Doenitz, who succeeded Hitler as headgovernment, sent Schellenberg to Stockholm. Thus ended his service.
After the surrender of Germany, W alter managed to find refuge with Count Bernadotte. At the same time, he began to draw up all the reports on the negotiations that had been going on in recent months.
Nuremberg trials
Nazi criminals (although not all) suffered a well-deserved punishment. The International Military Tribunal recognized the aggression of fascist Germany as the gravest crime of an international character and had a significant impact on the final defeat of Nazism. But first things first.
Soon, the allies put forward a demand for the extradition of Schellenberg, who was to stand trial. After some time, he arrived at the Nuremberg Trials. Nazi criminals were represented by such persons as Goering, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, and many others (Himmler had poisoned himself by that time). Schellenberg himself was a witness at that trial. He himself was tried in 1947. Many charges were dropped from him. W alter was a member of the SS and SD, which were recognized as criminal organizations. He also had to be punished for the execution of Russian prisoners of war.
The attempts to help prisoners in the final stages of the war contributed to the mitigation of the sentence. The court issued a verdict: six years in prison, but the prisoner was released in 1951 due to a surgical operation. He then settled in Switzerland and began writing memoirs. W alter Schellenberg,"Labyrinth" which is quite famous, managed to create quite interesting memoirs. However, he was soon forced to leave the state at the request of the police. After that, he moved to Italy, namely to the small town of Pallanzo.
Shellenberg died on March 31, 1952 in a clinic in Turin, where he was preparing for liver surgery. At the time of his death, W alter was forty-two years old.
