Top 10 Facts about Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny. photo from Wikimedia

Top 10 Facts about Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny was born in1908 in Vienna to a middle-class Austrian family. His family had a long history of military service.  Otto was well known to be a fencer and a member of the German national Burschenschaft.

By then he was a university student in Vienna. He was an engineering student  when fought 15 ritual saber duels and this how he received a permanent scar on  his face

Otto was a Nazi SS officer. He gained fame after the rescue of Benito Mussolini from confinement at Campo Imperatore in the Abruzzi mountains. This is where he was imprisoned by Marshal Pietro Badoglio.

He died of cancer in Madrid in 1975. He had two funerals held. one was in a chapel in Spain’s capital. While another was to bury his cremated remains in the Skorzeny family plot in Vienna.

1. Otto Skorzeny  saved the president of Wilhelm Miklas  from  the Austrian Nazis 

Otto Skorzeny, photo by Ege Wikimedia

After Otto joined the Austrian Nazi Organization in 1932.  Later in 1934,  he became a member of the Austrian branch of the elite Nazi Sturmabteilung. Enhance made him a charismatic figure and this made Skorzeny play a minor role in Anschluss in 1938.  According to his account, he helped to save the Austrian President Wilhelm from being shot by the Austrian Nazis.

2. Otto worked as  a civil engineer

After the invasion of Poland in 1939, he was working as a civil engineer. He volunteered for services in the German Air Force but he turned down for the reason that he was considered too tall and old since he was 31year old for aircrew training.

3. He joined the German army

Otto Skorzeny, photo by Ege Wikimedia

Otto joined the German Army as an artillery officer in 1940. This was when there was a western offensive. He served with SS and saw action in Netherland and France.

 After Otto impressed his superiors by designing ramps with which was to load tanks into the ship he e was then promoted to a second lieutenant. Otto and his troop raced to Holland in the German invasion of the west.

He was also sent to Yugoslavia for the Balkan Campaign. Where Otto and his troops captured 54 men and 3 officers in Yugoslavia. This made him be promoted again to be the first lieutenant.

He also participated in the operation of Barbarossa which was the invasion of the Soviets in 1941. And he won an award for bravery. After this is when the days in the military ended because he was wounded on the back of his head.

He was aware it was serious until the constant headaches and case of gall bladder attack prevent him from the return to his regiment. Otto was released for the specialization of treatment in Germany and this is where the doctor told him he won’t able to fight again.

4. Skorzeny gained fame after the  rescue of  Benito Mussolini

Otto Skorzeny gained after rescuing Benito Mussolini 1n 1943. This was after Adolf Hitler ordered Otto to track Benito. Skorzeny used the information provided by his agent and informants this was after the investigation was done. 

Mussolini was transported around Italy by his captors and then later he was imprisoned at campo Imperatore hotel in the Apennine mountains. Otto Skorzeny and the SS troops joined the paratrooper to rescue Mussolini in a high-risk glider mission. They landed near the hotel where Benito was being held

Mussolini was freed and Otto flew him to safety. This made him be promoted to Lieutenant colonel. He was given operational control of Hitler’s SS special force. Otto was also awarded Germany’s highest honor the knight cross.

5. He was imprisoned and tried as a war criminal at the Dachau trials

Otto Skorzeny, photo from Wikimedia

Otto Skorzeny was arrested by the American troops in 1945 for violating the law of war. The nine officers and he were tried before the US military Tribunal in Dachau in 1947. They faced charges of improper use of US military insignia, theft of US uniforms, and the theft of Red Cross Parcels from the US.

The trial lasted three weeks. Otto admitted to ordering his men to wear US uniforms though his defense argued that it was a tactic that was legitimate. While the other charge for stealing Red cross  Parcel was dropped because there was a lack of evidence.

6. Otto Skorzeny, later escaped the prison

He was detained in the internment camp at Darmstadt as he wait for the decision of the denazification court. Otto escaped from the camp in 1948 with the help of the three former SSS  officers.  They were dressed in US military police uniforms.

These officers entered the camp with claims that they have ordered Otto Skorzeny to take for a legal hearing. Afterward, he managed to escape and went to live in Spain where he received the protection of General Francisco Franco.

7. He became a  Military advisor to various government

Otto Skorzeny and Peron (center) photo from Wikimedia

Otto Skorzeny was sent to Egypt by a former General Reinhard Gehlen in 152 after Egypt was taken over by General Mohammed Naguib. Former general Reinhard acted as the Naguib’s military adviser.

Otto recruited a staff made up of former SSS and Wehrmacht officers to train the Egyptian army. He also trained the Arab volunteers in commando tactics to use against the British troops. Also, Otto Skorzeny traveled between Spain and Argentina where he acted as an advisor to President Juan Peron and a bodyguard for Eva Peron.

8. Otto was the founder and advisor  to the leadership of Spanish neo Nazi group CEDADE

The Spanish neo Nazi group CEDADE was established in 1966. Otto Skorzeny was the founding member of the group. It was coordinating international activity and publishing. CEDADE headquarters were located in Barcelona and a branch was held in Madrid in 1973. The group has 2500 Spanish members.

9. Otto Skorzeny set up the Paladin Group

Otto established the Paladin Group in the 1960s which visualized the international directorship of strategic assault personnel. It would get on with the watershed between the paramilitary operation carried out by troops in uniform and political warfare. This is conducted by civilian agents.

It was based near Alicante Spain. The paladin group focused on arming and training guerrillas. Their clients included the South African Bureau of State security and Muammar Gaddafi.  The group also carried out the work for the Greek Military Junta of 1967-1974.

10. He also established a secret organization named Die Spine

Otto Skorzeny, photo from Wikimedia

According to sources of Austrian, Otto started a secret organization which was known as Die Spine. It helped as many as 600 former SS men escape from Germany to Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Bolivia