Walter Friedrich Schellenberg - SS Brigadeführer, Major General of the Police and SS Troops. He became the youngest leader of the Third Reich. Hitler had already made a “beer coup” and was writing “Kampf Mine” when Walter just went to the fifth grade of a college in Luxembourg. Many viewers know this personality due 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 Walter was born on January 16, 1910. Place of birth is the town of Saarbrücken. Walter became the seventh child in the family. Schellenberg's father was the director of the 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, his father was a branch of his factory, where he continued to work.
Until 1929, Schellenberg Walter 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 Semenov pointed out. Yu., Helped him a lot during the Second World War, when he robbed Italian museums.
University of Bonn and entry into the NSDAP
The young Walter Schellenberg, whose biography is very rich and interesting, continued his studies at the University of Bonn. At first he entered the medical faculty, but then decided to study law, was not interested in politics. Such a choice of a young man was influenced by the instruction of his father, who was inclined to the humanities and economics. The student was able to pass the exam for law in March 1933.
At the same time, one of the teachers persuaded Walter to join the NSDAP. Schellenberg Walter 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 to work in various courts.
Walter wrote various history works for students who were members of the SS. Reports on German law interested Heydrich, and he invited Schellenberg to work in his department. Soon, the man managed to enter into confidence in Himmler, who served as the head of the RSHA. Once, Schellenberg Walter saved his life by pulling back from a loose door in an airplane.
Career
In 1935, Schellenberg (photos are presented in the article) began to fulfill the duties of the Gestapo referendum, namely its branch in Berlin. In the autumn of that year, he went to work in the central office of the SD. There he began to work in a central file cabinet, drafted 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 Reich police structure. The project was developed by order of Heydrich, but was not accepted by Himmler, who was afraid of disagreements with Hess.
In 1937, a member of the NSDAP decided to withdraw from 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 study
Many are familiar with Hollywood paintings, in particular with thrillers. The cabinet in which Walter Schellenberg worked was exactly like the scenery from a film of this genre. Memoirs perfectly described his surroundings. In the office there was a large table on which a huge number of telephones were located. Everywhere were hidden small listening devices that worked at the slightest sound or rustle. It was almost impossible to notice them. The cabinet was secured with an electrical alarm protecting safes, windows and every entrance. She worked at night, that is, when Schellenberg left the workplace. In the case of approaching the room, it worked, and the soldiers arrived in alarm.
The table, one might say, was a small fortress. Its design included machine guns that could shell the entire cabinet. If the door was opened, the trunks immediately aimed in her direction. For a shot it was enough to press the button. In addition, there was another button that allowed to warn the guards about the danger, and those, in turn, blocked each entrance.
The beginning of World War II
In 1938, Walter Schellenberg took an active part in the accession of Austria to Germany, generating reports for the leadership of the German special services regarding the position in Italy on this issue. In March, he was sent to Vienna, where he obtained information and materials from the counterintelligence of Austria, and was also involved in protecting Adolf Hitler. Already in the fall he went to Dakar in order to obtain information about the French Navy.
Schellenberg, whose photo was not published in newspapers at the time, was not a major Nazi leader. In addition, even his name was few known. However, he was in a position high enough to keep abreast of all political events, and also had information about the actions of Hitler and the leaders of the occupied countries.
In addition to the general intelligence leadership carried out by the Nazis in Germany, Walter was directly involved in operations. They went down in the history of World War II, so it’s worth at least briefly dwelling on the most famous.
Operation Venlo
In the fall of 1939, German intelligence began a “game” with the Intelligence Service. With the help of a Dutch spy, the Germans managed to send misinformation to the British, allowing them to understand that there are a number of opposition members in the ranks of the Wehrmacht who are associated with the West. This was done in order to calculate several spies working in Germany.
Schellenberg was also involved. Fate threw him in different places; this time he went to Holland under the guise of a member of the opposition.
In his youth, Walter did not have an expressive general appearance, so he attracted Dr. Krinis to this role, who was ideally suited for the operation. Intelligence went well. Schellenberg Walter and Krinis held several productive meetings with members of the British intelligence - Captain Best and Major Stevenson. And suddenly it became known about the attempt on Hitler. The Führer suggested that the British tried to kill him, and ordered the capture of Best and Stevenson. Walter 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.
Guilty of Best and Stevenson could not be proved, but, once in the Gestapo, the British gave a lot of useful information.
This operation during the Second World War was called "Venlo". Germany accused Holland of violating neutrality and invaded its lands on May 10, 1941. Four days later, Holland surrendered.
The detention center of Best and Stevenson was the concentration camp in which they were until the end of the war.
In anticipation of the attack on the USSR
Before the war with the Soviet Union, several months remained, and Schellenberg threw all his strength into the formation and sending of spies to the USSR. Along with this, counterintelligence work against the Russians was strengthened. In addition to diplomats, they began to pay special attention to emigrants. Of the three settlers, one was an agent of Walter. 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 Germany’s counterintelligence was able to uncover many courier routes and the location of the transmitters. In addition, it was said that it was known about the methods of work of agents. However, perhaps Walter simply boasted, 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 was appointed to the position of chief of intelligence abroad. Soon, Walter made sure that his intelligence did not provide accurate information about the situation in the Soviet Union. A complete surprise was the resistance and actions of partisan detachments.
Soon, Walter took up the organization of a more successful intelligence work. He collected and threw back troops from Russian prisoners of war. They were well prepared and tested, but, as Schellenberg later admitted, most of them were captured by the NKVD.
Walter attracted to the fight against the Soviet army those who sided with the Germans, in particular, Vlasov. Shelenberg’s memoirs later told how the Germans created a part of the prisoners of war (“Druzhina”), which was able to destroy the SS detachment guarding the prisoners, and joined the partisans. In general, partisans brought the whole German army a lot of problems.
Adolf Hitler demanded from Schellenberg data on partisan detachments, their appointments and so on. He was surprised that in the Soviet Union he was met with great resistance and a large-scale guerrilla war. In his report, Walter called the brutality of the troops the main cause of resistance. However, the report was rejected by Hitler.
In addition, the report was rejected, which talked about the revision of the conduct of military operations on the territory of the Soviet Union, since the enemy’s potential was underestimated. In addition, experts who drafted this report were arrested. Schellenberg later managed to defend his workers, but neither the Führer nor Himmler could convince him of his rightness.
The Red Chapel
In 1942, German counterintelligence discovered and destroyed a large-scale Russian agent network, which was given the name Red Chapel. Actually, there were two similar networks: one in Berlin, the second in Brussels. Schellenberg put a lot of effort into exposing. A "radio game" was launched using captured transmitters. Although Walter himself admitted that in order to gain confidence, it took several months to send reliable information. However, the Russian intelligence officers understood that a “game” was being waged with them, and began to act accordingly. It turns out that the destruction of the network was just luck, but in the future all attempts were unsuccessful and did not bring any benefit.
The last stages of the war
The end of the war was approaching. The attacks on German troops confirmed Schellenberg's doubts about the outcome of World War II. Walter was ready to negotiate even with the Soviet Union. However, a meeting with an American diplomat was first held. Subsequently, Himmler was very dissatisfied with these contacts with the enemy.
Instead of negotiations, the Reichsfuhrer SS proposed an attempt on the assassination of Stalin. To do this, several servicemen were recruited, who were sent to the rear, but the task was failed, since the agents were caught on the same day. The murder was to be accomplished using a radio-controlled mine. Subsequently, radio communications with German intelligence were carried out on their behalf.
At this time, Walter witnessed some statements by Adolf Hitler related to options for ending the war. He said that in case of defeat, the German people will confirm their biological abnormality and the impossibility of further existence.
However, Schellenberg Walter did not give up attempts to conduct peace talks. So, at the end of 1944, a secret meeting was held between Himmler and the former president of Switzerland. 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 to export captured French women who were in Ravensbrück camp.
On May 5, 1945, Admiral Doenitz, who succeeded Hitler as head of government, sent Schellenberg to Stockholm. Thus ended his service.
After the surrender of Germany, Walter managed to find refuge with Count Bernadotte. Then he began to compile all the reports on the negotiations that were conducted in recent months.
Nuremberg trials
Nazi criminals (though not all) suffered a well-deserved punishment. The international military tribunal recognized the aggression of fascist Germany as a grave crime of an international nature 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 appear before the court. After a while, he arrived at the Nuremberg trials. Nazi criminals were represented by such people as Goering, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, as well as many others (Himmler had already been poisoned by that time). Schellenberg himself witnessed that process. The trial itself took place in 1947. Many charges were dropped from him. Walter was a member of the SS and the SD, which were recognized as criminal organizations. He also had to be punished for shooting Russian prisoners of war.
The mitigation of the sentence was facilitated by attempts to help prisoners in the final stages of the war. The court issued a verdict: six years in prison, but the prisoner was released in 1951 due to surgery. He then settled in Switzerland and set about writing memoirs. Walter Schellenberg, whose "Labyrinth" is well known, 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.
Schellenberg died March 31, 1952 in a clinic in Turin, where he was preparing for surgery on the liver. Walter was forty-two years old at the time of his death.