Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny
Otto Skorzeny
	Skorzeny in 1943
Birth name	Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny
Born	12 June 1908; Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died	5 July 1975 (aged 67); Madrid, Spain
Allegiance	Nazi Germany (1932–1945) ; Francoist Spain (1950–1975) ; Peronist Argentina ; United Arab Republic (military advisor to Nasser) ; Israel (alleged agent for the Mossad)
Service/branch	Schutzstaffel
Rank	Obersturmbannführer, intelligence agent
Commands held	Sonder Lehrgang Oranienburg; SS Panzer Brigade 150;
Battles/wars	World War II Eastern Front; Operation Oak; Operation Panzerfaust; Battle of the Bulge (Operation Greif);
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Other work	Civil engineer

Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including the removal from power of Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy and the Gran Sasso raid which rescued Benito Mussolini from captivity. Skorzeny led Operation Greif in which German soldiers infiltrated Allied lines wearing their enemies' uniforms. As a result, he was charged in 1947 at the Dachau Military Tribunal with breaching the 1907 Hague Convention, but was acquitted.

Skorzeny escaped from an internment camp in 1948, hiding out on a Bavarian farm as well as in Salzburg and Paris before eventually settling in Francoist Spain. In 1953, he served as a military advisor to Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. He was allegedly an advisor to Argentinian president Juan Perón.^[2]^[3] In 1963, Skorzeny was allegedly recruited by the Mossad and conducted operations for the agency. Skorzeny died of lung cancer on 5 July 1975 in Madrid at the age of 67.

^ Gilbert, Adrian (25 June 2019). "Kursk: Clash of Armor". Waffen-SS: Hitler's Army at War. Da Capo Press (published 2019). p. 248. ISBN 9780306824661. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
^ Cite error: The named reference haaretz2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Crutchley, Peter (30 December 2014). "How did Hitler's scar-faced henchman become an Irish farmer?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2016.

[1] Gilbert, Adrian (25 June 2019). "Kursk: Clash of Armor". Waffen-SS: Hitler's Army at War. Da Capo Press (published 2019). p. 248. ISBN 9780306824661. Retrieved 28 March 2023.

[haaretz2016-2] Cite error: The named reference haaretz2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[BBC-3] Crutchley, Peter (30 December 2014). "How did Hitler's scar-faced henchman become an Irish farmer?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2016.

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