Karl Wolf is a SS general who became widely known in the Soviet Union thanks in part to the writer Julian Semenov and his novel “Seventeen Moments of Spring”, which shot the self-titled 12-episode television movie, which was released 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 beginning of the way
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolf was born on May 13, 1900 in Darmstadt (German Empire) in the family of a court adviser. When he was 17 years old, he voluntarily joined the army. At the end of World War I, he already had the rank of lieutenant and such awards as the Iron Cross of I and II degrees.
Wolf managed to try himself in peaceful life - it was a commercial and banking sector. This choice of occupations was not accidental: 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 company engaged in trade and law activities.
Career
Like most of the cadres 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, whom his subordinates loved and respected. In early September 1933 he was appointed adjutant of Heinrich Himmler himself, the Reichsführer SS.
It must be said that Wolf Karl never specifically studied military affairs. His school was war itself. In reality, he was more interested in banking, and in particular, financing of the SS. This was easiest for him to do, since he had close ties with German business circles. 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 directors of various companies and ordinary citizens who not only supported Nazi politics, but also helped her with finances. Wolf also took an active part in creating SS symbols, developed on the basis of Teutonic mysticism.
Connecting link
Starting in 1936, Karl Wolf became the closest ally and confidant of Himmler. It was he who, over the course of several years, maintained the connection between his boss and Hitler. Himmler greatly appreciated his co-worker 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 relationship deteriorated somewhat. The reason for their disagreement was the divorce and remarriage of Wolf. But, despite this, Hitler's confidence in him was still unlimited. In the fall 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 - adviser to the fascist government Benito Mussolini.
Start of negotiations
Anticipating 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 plays the role of a link. He manages to make the necessary contact through Pope Pius XII. In early March 1945, Wolf first met in Ascon, Switzerland, with a group of Americans led by Allen Dulles, where they discussed the surrender of the German army on the Apennines.
In view of the fact that Washington and Moscow were allies at that time, on March 12, the Americans decided to inform the Soviet government of the negotiations that had begun. Upon learning of this, Stalin demanded that his representatives participate in them, but was refused. Later, the US ambassador to the Soviet Union, Harriman, explained this decision by saying that the United States was afraid of a breakdown in negotiations due to unattainable conditions that representatives from the USSR could put forward.
The final stage
Meanwhile, rumors that Karl Wolf is in dialogue with the Americans reached Bormann, who tried to use this trump card in his game against Heinrich 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 authority of Wolf himself, as well as about the ability of the SS to organize such a large-scale event as the surrender of German troops stationed in fascist Italy. Such mistrust was due to the fact that Field Marshal A. Kesselring was commanding 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 Hitler 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 a long-awaited truce. On April 29, he, together with Fittinghof, signed all the conditions for the surrender of fascist troops on the Apennines.
Post war biography
Karl Wolf, contrary to common sense, after the surrender 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 held in Switzerland, he made it clear that after the fall of Hitler he expects to receive the post of Minister of the Interior in the new German government. But, contrary to his expectations, he was arrested by the Americans and convicted in Germany in 1946.
The sentence hit him: four years of 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 participating in the negotiations at the end of the war, as well as Allen Dulles' personal petition, Wolf was saved. Otherwise, the former Nazi general, as a war criminal, would have been assigned a place in the dock in Nuremberg next to his former boss Kaltenbrunner. Moreover, the Allies had every reason for this.
Why didn’t the Americans do this? But the fact is that in this situation, Wolf could tell a completely different version regarding both the surrender in Italy and the negotiations themselves, which could differ significantly from the official one presented by Allen Dulles. Moreover, the possible recognition of the former general could adversely 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 idea seems true, because immediately after the resignation of Dulles, which occurred in 1961 as a result of a failed attempt by the Americans to invade Cuba, Karl Wolf was again arrested. This time, the German authorities charged him with complicity in the extermination of more than 300 thousand people. Here we were talking about the deportation of Polish Jews to concentration camps located near the village of Treblinka. Wolf, as one would expect, of course, denied any involvement in the Holocaust, alluding to his forgetfulness.
The court hearings on this case lasted several years. In the end, in September 1964, a sentence was passed: 15 years in prison. However, the former Hitler general Karl Wolf was released much earlier - in 1971. The reason for early release is for health reasons. He died in mid-July 1984 in the city of Rosenheim (Bavaria, Germany).