General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: GScholz on March 28, 2016, 07:10:22 PM
Title: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: GScholz on March 28, 2016, 07:10:22 PM
Quote
On September 11, 1962, a German scientist vanished. The basic facts were simple: Heinz Krug had been at his office, and he never came home.
The only other salient detail known to police in Munich was that Krug commuted to Cairo frequently. He was one of dozens of Nazi rocket experts who had been hired by Egypt to develop advanced weapons for that country.
HaBoker, a now defunct Israeli newspaper, surprisingly claimed to have the explanation: The Egyptians kidnapped Krug to prevent him from doing business with Israel.
But that somewhat clumsy leak was an attempt by Israel to divert investigators from digging too deeply into the case — not that they ever would have found the 49-year-old scientist.
We can now report — based on interviews with former Mossad officers and with Israelis who have access to the Mossad’s archived secrets from half a century ago — that Krug was murdered as part of an Israeli espionage plot to intimidate the German scientists working for Egypt.
Moreover, the most astounding revelation is the Mossad agent who fired the fatal gunshots: Otto Skorzeny, one of the Israeli spy agency’s most valuable assets, was a former lieutenant colonel in Nazi Germany’s Waffen-SS and one of Adolf Hitler’s personal favorites among the party’s commando leaders. The Führer, in fact, awarded Skorzeny the army’s most prestigious medal, the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, for leading the rescue operation that plucked his friend Benito Mussolini out from the hands of his captors.
Rest of the story here: http://forward.com/news/336943/ht/
Interesting story. Would make a great spy thriller.
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: BuckShot on March 28, 2016, 08:07:35 PM
The full article is a great read. I started reading it to find out how he got that scar.
Thanks for posting.
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: PJ_Godzilla on March 28, 2016, 08:16:53 PM
I'm withholding judgment at this time because, based on what I've read, it is exceedingly difficult to tell exactly where Skorzeny's true loyalties lie. There are various accounts that he was with the Mossad or at least cooperated and provided them information, yet, given his work in Egypt post war, I still harbor some doubt.
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: GScholz on March 28, 2016, 08:46:48 PM
No reason to withhold judgement. Skorzeny was a die hard Nazi all his life. And while that is not a crime in itself, he's certainly not a person I would invite to dinner. Working for the Israelis was something he did for his own selfish reasons. And the reason Mossad recruited him rather than assassinate him was because they needed him and his contacts. Necessity makes for strange bedfellows.
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: Brooke on March 29, 2016, 02:18:47 AM
Interesting link. Thanks.
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: PJ_Godzilla on March 29, 2016, 04:58:51 AM
No reason to withhold judgement. Skorzeny was a die hard Nazi all his life. And while that is not a crime in itself, he's certainly not a person I would invite to dinner. Working for the Israelis was something he did for his own selfish reasons. And the reason Mossad recruited him rather than assassinate him was because they needed him and his contacts. Necessity makes for strange bedfellows.
But that's my point, Scholz. Who is convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. I'm speaking, btw, just about his post-war actions, not of him as a person (obviously dangerous and fanatical).
If you had been put up to something by the Mossad unwillingly, wouldn't you give them only what was required to placate them? The only thing he'd be useful for is something like an assassination - and, even then, I'd want certain physical proof he'd actually killed the guy. Supposedly, the deal was that, if he did that, they'd call the war-crimes dogs off, but I guess Wiesenthal reneged or wouldn't agree.
Meanwhile, I would agree that his record during the war and especially after the war in South America, South Africa, Ireland, Spain, etc, all indicate a die-hard Nazi.
I'd certainly have him for dinner, just to try to get him loaded enough to tell a few good stories - though there would doubtless be a nervous moment or two.
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: GScholz on March 29, 2016, 05:29:08 AM
Skorzeny was a man without a country. And he sold his services, mostly in an advisory role to many countries including non-fascist countries like Greece and even the USA. However, I can't imagine him working for Israel if it wasn't for the chance he saw at getting off Mossad's hit list. I cannot respect the man for his politics and bigotry, but I can respect his accomplishments as a soldier. And I have not seen any evidence that he or anyone under his command was directly involved in the Shoah; I'm not a big fan of thought crimes or guilt by association. That said... Murdering people for the Mossad isn't exactly kosher either.
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: zack1234 on March 29, 2016, 10:22:47 AM
Pipz calls them Moosad :)
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: PJ_Godzilla on March 29, 2016, 01:45:02 PM
I call Zack a Man without a Country. His typical m.o.: hits, arranged by the vengeful, against the unsuspecting. The worst part is his weapon of choice. He tends to run his victims through with a kind of pork sword, you see. Fanatical, ruthless, unrelenting...
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: zack1234 on March 29, 2016, 02:34:49 PM
I let you know I am not light on my feet and do not like windy walks with chaps :old:
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: pipz on March 29, 2016, 03:25:37 PM
I let you know I am not light on my feet and do not like windy walks with chaps :old:
touche!
:old:
:rofl
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: GScholz on March 30, 2016, 11:50:12 PM
Some interesting interviews with Skorzeny... A man who had a rather fabulous painting of himself hanging on the wall. His French is better than his English, but this was clearly a man of ambition and very egocentric. Not surprising. The interview in French is also quite revealing in how he felt about Hitler and Mussolini.
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: zack1234 on March 31, 2016, 01:34:54 AM
Apparently Skorzeny had a thing for his valet :old:
Title: Re: Otto Skorzeny - Feared Nazi commando and ... Mossad agent?
Post by: FLOOB on April 01, 2016, 02:59:46 AM
Goodfellas and Bringing Out the Dead were two of his best imo.