View source for Otto Skorzeny

{{Short description|Austrian Waffen-SS officer (1908–1975)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Otto Skorzeny
| image         = Otto Skorzeny portait.jpg
| caption       = Skorzeny in 1943
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1908|6|12|df=y}}
| birth_name    = Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1975|7|5|1908|6|12 |df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Vienna]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_place   = [[Madrid]], [[Francoist Spain|Spain]]
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = {{flag|Nazi Germany|name=Germany}} (1932–1945) <br /> {{flag|Francoist Spain|name=Spain}} (1950–1975) <br />{{flag|Argentina}}<ref group=Note name=Note01/> <br /> {{flagdeco|Egypt|1952}} [[Republic of Egypt (1953–1958)|Egypt]]<ref group=Note name=Note02/> <br /> {{flagicon|Israel|size=22px}} [[Israel]]<ref group=Note name=Note03/>
| branch        = {{flagicon|Schutzstaffel|size=22px}} [[Schutzstaffel]] <br /> {{flagicon image|Mossad.png|size=22px}} [[Mossad]]<ref group=Note name=Note03 <br /> 
| rank          = SS-''[[Standartenführer]]'' of the Reserves
| servicenumber = <!----[[SS]] #295,979---->
| unit          = 
| commands      = {{ubl|[[Sonderlehrgang Oranienburg]]|[[SS Panzer Brigade 150]]}}
| battles       = {{tree list}}
* [[World War II]]
** [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]{{specify|date=February 2025}}
** [[Operation Oak]]
** [[Operation Panzerfaust]]
** [[Battle of the Bulge]]
*** [[Operation Greif]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards        = [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves]]
| laterwork     = Civil engineer{{sfn|Gilbert|2019|p=248}}
}}

'''Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny''' (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-''[[Standartenführer]]'' in the ''[[Waffen-SS]]'' during [[World War II]]. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including the [[Operation Panzerfaust|removal from power]] of [[Regent of Hungary|Hungarian Regent]] [[Miklós Horthy]] and the [[Gran Sasso raid]] that 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 trials|Dachau Military Tribunal]] with breaching the [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|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 [[Spain]]. In 1953, he served as a military advisor to the Egyptian president [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]]. He was allegedly an advisor to Argentinian president [[Juan Perón]].<ref name="haaretz2016"/><ref name=BBC>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-30571335|title=How did Hitler's scar-faced henchman become an Irish farmer?|last1=Crutchley|first1=Peter|date=30 December 2014|publisher=BBC News|access-date=25 December 2016|archive-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230221057/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-30571335|url-status=live}}</ref> Skorzeny acted as an agent of [[Mossad]], allegedly assisting with the execution of actions such as [[Operation Diamond]]. He died of [[lung cancer]] on 5 July 1975 in [[Madrid]] at the age of 67.

==Early life==
Otto Skorzeny was born in [[Vienna]] into a middle-class [[Austrians|Austrian]] family which had a long history of military service. His surname is of [[Polish people|Polish]] origin, and Skorzeny's distant ancestors came from [[Skorzęcin]] in the [[Greater Poland]] region, eventually immigrating to [[East Prussia]].{{sfn|Skorzeny|1995|p=40}}

In addition to his native German, he spoke excellent French and was proficient in English. In his teens, Skorzeny once complained to his father about the austere lifestyle the family was enduring; his father replied, "There is no harm in doing without things. It might even be good for you not to get used to a soft life."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepages.ius.edu/RVEST/SkorzenyDr2.htm|title=IU Southeast : Indiana University Southeast|website=Homepages.ius.edu|access-date=25 December 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625233117/http://homepages.ius.edu/RVEST/SkorzenyDr2.htm|archive-date=25 June 2013}}</ref>

He was a noted [[Fencing|fencer]] as a member of a German-national ''[[Burschenschaft]]'' while studying at the [[Technical University of Vienna]]. He engaged in fifteen personal combats. The tenth resulted in a wound that left a dramatic [[duelling scar]]—known in [[academic fencing]] as a ''Schmiss'' (German for "smite" or "hit")—on his cheek.{{sfn|Foley|1999|p=30}}

In May 1932, Skorzeny joined the [[Austrian National Socialism|Austrian Nazi organization]] and soon became a member of the Austrian branch of the Nazi ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' (SA) in February 1934. A [[charisma]]tic figure, Skorzeny played a minor role in the [[Anschluss]] on 12 March 1938 when, according to his own account, he saved the Austrian President [[Wilhelm Miklas]] from being shot by Austrian Nazis.{{sfn|Wagner|Tomkowitz|1971|p=170}}

==Eastern Front==
After the 1939 [[Invasion of Poland]], Skorzeny, then working as a [[civil engineer]], volunteered for service in the German Air Force (the [[Luftwaffe]]), but was turned down because he was considered too tall at {{convert|1.94|m|ftin}} and too old (31 years in 1939) for aircrew training.<ref name="williamson">{{harvnb|Williamson|2009|p=[https://archive.org/details/germanspecialfor00libg/page/n21 20]}}.</ref> He then joined the Waffen-SS, training with Hitler's bodyguard regiment, the [[Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]] (LSSAH).<ref>{{cite web|title=Otto Skorzeny|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/otto-skorzeny|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org|publisher=1998 - 2019 American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise|access-date=4 May 2019|archive-date=4 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504224545/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/otto-skorzeny|url-status=live}}</ref>

Skorzeny took part in the invasion of the [[Soviet Union]] with the [[SS Division Das Reich]] and subsequently fought in several battles on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]. In October 1941, he was in charge of a "technical section" of German forces during the [[Battle of Moscow]]. His mission was to seize important buildings of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]], including the [[NKVD]] headquarters at [[Lubyanka Building|Lubyanka]], and the central telegraph office and other high priority facilities, before they could be destroyed. He was also ordered to capture the sluices of the [[Moscow Canal|Moscow-Volga Canal]] because Hitler wanted to turn Moscow into a huge [[artificial lake]] by opening them.<ref>Ganzenmüller, Jörg (18 July 2011). ''[http://www.zeit.de/zeit-geschichte/2011/02/Kriegsziele-Generalplan-Ost/seite-2 Blockade Leningrads: Hunger als Waffe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428083153/https://www.zeit.de/zeit-geschichte/2011/02/Kriegsziele-Generalplan-Ost/seite-2|date=28 April 2019}}''. Zeit Online; retrieved 6 November 2011 (in German).</ref> The missions were cancelled since German forces had failed to capture the Soviet capital.{{sfn|Nagorski|2007|p=[https://archive.org/details/greatestbattlest0000nago/page/202 202]}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Alber-183-25, Otto Skorzeny.jpg|thumb|upright|Skorzeny as commander of the ''Waffen SS [[Sonder Lehrgang Oranienburg|Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal]]'' special forces unit, 1943]]

In January 1942, Skorzeny was hit in the back of the head by shrapnel; he was evacuated to the rear for treatment. He had previously been awarded the [[Iron Cross|Iron Cross, Second Class]] while fighting in the Yelnya bridgehead. Recuperating from his injuries he was given a staff role in [[Berlin]], where he developed his ideas on unconventional commando warfare.<ref name=williamson/> 

Strategically and tactically, Skorzeny's proposals were to develop units specialized in such warfare{{how|date=February 2025}}, including partisan-like fighting deep behind enemy lines, fighting in enemy uniform, sabotage attacks, etc.{{clarification needed|date=February 2025}}{{fact|date=February 2025}} In April 1943 Skorzeny's name was put forward by [[Ernst Kaltenbrunner]], the new head of the [[Reich Security Main Office]] (RSHA), and Skorzeny met with [[Walter Schellenberg]], head of Amt VI, Ausland-SD (the SS foreign intelligence service department of the RSHA); Schellenberg charged Skorzeny with command of the schools organized to train operatives in sabotage, espionage, and paramilitary techniques.{{fact|date=February 2025}} Skorzeny was appointed commander of the recently created ''Waffen SS [[Sonder Lehrgang Oranienburg|Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal]]'' stationed near Berlin (the unit was later renamed [[SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502|SS Jagdverband 502]], and in November 1944 again to SS Combat Unit "Centre", expanding ultimately to five battalions).<ref name=mitcham>{{harvnb|Mitcham|2008|p=29}}.</ref>{{additional citations needed|date=February 2025}}

The unit's first mission was [[Operation François]] in mid-1943. Skorzeny sent a group by parachute into Iran to make contact with the dissident mountain tribes to encourage them to sabotage Allied shipments to the Soviet Union via the [[Trans-Iranian Railway]]. However, commitment among the rebel tribes was suspect, and Operation François was deemed a failure.{{sfn|Skorzeny|1950|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}}

==Operations by Skorzeny==
* [[Operation François]] – Co-ordination of guerrilla operations in [[Imperial State of Iran|Iran]].
* [[Gran Sasso raid|Operation Oak]] (''Unternehmen Eiche'', September 1943) – rescue of Italian dictator [[Benito Mussolini]].
* [[Operation Long Jump]] – A planned operation to assassinate the "Big Three" ([[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]], and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]]) during the 1943 Tehran Conference. The plot was uncovered before its inception. Skorzeny denied that this operation had ever existed.
* [[Operation Knight's Leap]] (''Unternehmen Rösselsprung'', May 1944) – An attempt to capture [[Josip Broz Tito]] alive.
* [[Operation Panzerfaust|Operation Armoured Fist]] (''Unternehmen Panzerfaust'' a.k.a. ''Unternehmen Eisenfaust'', October 1944) – kidnapping of [[Miklós Horthy Jr.]] to force his father, Admiral [[Miklós Horthy]], to resign as [[Regent of Hungary]] in favor of [[Ferenc Szálasi]], the pro-[[Nazi]] leader of the [[Arrow Cross Party]].
* [[Operation Greif|Operation Griffin]] (''Unternehmen Greif'', December 1944) – A [[false flag]] operation to spread [[disinformation]] during the [[Battle of the Bulge]].
* [[Werwolf|Werwolf SS]] – A planned Nazi underground resistance movement in [[Allies of World War II|Allied]]-occupied Europe.

===Liberation of Benito Mussolini===
{{Main|Gran Sasso raid}}
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2021}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503C-15, Gran Sasso, Mussolini vor Hotel.jpg|right|thumb|Skorzeny (centre, binoculars hanging from neck) with the liberated Mussolini – 12 September 1943]]

On the [[25 Luglio|night between 24 and 25 July 1943]], a few weeks after the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] and [[Bombing of Rome in World War II|bombing of Rome]], the Italian [[Grand Council of Fascism]] voted a [[motion of no confidence]] (''Ordine del Giorno'' [[Dino Grandi|Grandi]]) against [[Benito Mussolini]]. On the same day, [[Victor Emmanuel III|the king]] replaced him with Marshal [[Pietro Badoglio]]<ref name="fital">{{harvnb|Whittam|2005|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}}</ref> and had him arrested.<ref name="prisonrescue">{{harvnb|Annussek|2005|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}}</ref>

Hitler ordered military operations to liberate Mussolini, and, as was his common procedure, he issued similar orders to competing organisations within the German military. So he ordered Skorzeny to track Mussolini, and simultaneously ordered the paratroop General [[Kurt Student]] to execute the liberation.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

Mussolini was being transported around Italy by his captors (first to [[Ponza]], then to [[La Maddalena]], both small islands in the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]]).{{fact|date=February 2025}} Intercepting a coded Italian radio message, Skorzeny used the reconnaissance provided by SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' [[Herbert Kappler|Herbert Kappler's]] network of agents and informants (helped with counterfeit British [[Banknotes of the pound sterling|bank notes]] with a face value of £100,000, forged under [[Operation Bernhard]]). It was determined that Mussolini was being imprisoned at Campo Imperatore Hotel, a ski resort at [[Campo Imperatore]] in Italy's Gran Sasso massif, high in the Apennine Mountains.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

On 12 September 1943, Skorzeny and 16 SS troopers joined the ''[[Fallschirmjäger (World War II)|Fallschirmjäger]]'' to rescue Mussolini in a high-risk glider mission. Ten [[DFS 230]] gliders, each carrying nine soldiers and a pilot, towed by [[Henschel Hs 126]] planes started between 13:05 and 13:10 from the [[Pratica di Mare Air Base]] near Rome. The leader of the airborne operation, paratrooper-[[Oberleutnant]] Georg Freiherr von Berlepsch, entered the first glider, Skorzeny and his SS troopers sat in the fourth and fifth glider. To gain height before crossing the close by [[Alban Hills]] the leading three glider-towing plane units flew an additional loop. All following units considered this manoeuvre unnecessary and preferred not to endanger the given time of arrival at the target. This led to the situation that Skorzeny's two units arrived first over the target.<ref name="López">{{harvnb|López|2007|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}}</ref>{{additional citations needed|date=February 2025}} Meanwhile, the valley station of the funicular railway leading to the Campo Imperatore was captured at 14:00 in a ground attack by two paratrooper companies led by Major [[Harald Mors|Otto-Harald Mors]], who was commander-in-chief of the whole raid. They also cut all telephone lines. At 14:05 the airborne commandos landed their ten DFS 230 gliders on the mountain near the hotel; only one crashed, causing injuries.{{fact|date=February 2025}} The ''Fallschirmjäger'' and Skorzeny's special troopers overwhelmed Mussolini's captors (200 well-equipped ''[[Carabinieri]]'' guards) without a single shot being fired; this was also due to the fact that General [[Fernando Soleti]] of the ''Polizia dell' Africa Italiana'', who flew in with Skorzeny, told them to stand down.{{fact|date=February 2025}} Skorzeny attacked the radio operator and his equipment and stormed into the hotel, being followed by his SS troopers and the paratroopers. Ten minutes after the beginning of the raid, Mussolini left the hotel, accompanied by the German soldiers. At 14:45, Major Mors accessed the Hotel via the funicular railway and introduced himself to Mussolini.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503C-04, Gran Sasso, Fieseler Fi 156 »Storch«.jpg|thumb|[[Fieseler Fi 156 Storch]] used to rescue Mussolini]]

Subsequently, Mussolini was to be flown out by a [[Fieseler Fi 156]] [[STOL]] plane. Although under the given circumstances the small plane was overloaded, Skorzeny insisted on accompanying Mussolini, thus endangering the success of the mission. After an extremely dangerous but successful lift-off, they flew to Pratica di Mare. There they continued immediately, flying in a [[Heinkel He 111]] to Vienna, where Mussolini stayed overnight at the [[Hotel Imperial]]. The next day he was flown to [[Munich]] and on 14 September he met Hitler at the [[Wolf's Lair]] [[Führer Headquarters]] near Rastenburg.<ref name="Kuby">{{harvnb|Kuby|1982|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}}.</ref>{{additional citations needed|date=February 2025}}

The landing at Campo Imperatore was in fact led by First Lieutenant Georg Freiherr von Berlepsch, commanded by Major Otto-Harald Mors and under orders from General Kurt Student, all ''Fallschirmjäger'' (German air force paratroop) officers; but Skorzeny stewarded the Italian leader right in front of the cameras.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}} After a pro-SS propaganda coup at the behest of ''[[Reichsführer-SS]]'' [[Heinrich Himmler]] and propaganda minister [[Joseph Goebbels]], Skorzeny and his special forces (''SS-Sonderverband z. b. V. "Friedenthal"'') of the ''[[Waffen-SS]]'' were granted the majority of the credit for the operation.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

===Operation Long Jump===
{{Main|Operation Long Jump}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J07994, Berlin, Skorzeny, Reinhardt, Zschirnt, Körner.jpg|thumb|Skorzeny (2nd from left), 3 October 1943]]

"Operation Long Jump" was the alleged [[code name]] given to a plot to assassinate the "Big Three" ([[Joseph Stalin]], [[Winston Churchill]], and [[Franklin Roosevelt]]) at the 1943 [[Tehran Conference]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rbth.ru/articles/2007/11/29/lion_and_bear.html|title=How "The Lion And The Bear" Were Saved|author=Nikolai Dolgopolov|work=Russia Beyond The Headlines |publisher=Rossiiskaya Gazeta|date=29 November 2007|access-date=9 June 2009|archive-date=10 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710001757/http://rbth.ru/articles/2007/11/29/lion_and_bear.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Hitler supposedly gave the command of the operation to Ernst Kaltenbrunner, chief of the [[Reich Security Main Office|RSHA]], who, in turn, ceded the mission to Skorzeny. Knowledge of the whole scheme was presented to the Western Allies by Stalin's NKVD at the Tehran Conference. The Soviets said they had learned about its existence from counter-espionage activities against [[Abwehr|German intelligence]]. Their agents had found out the Nazis knew the time and place of this meeting because they had cracked a US naval code. According to the NKVD, the assassination plot was foiled after they identified the German spies in Iran forcing Skorzeny to call off the mission due to inadequate intelligence.<ref name="dealing">{{harvnb|O'Sullivan|2010|pp=203–04}}.</ref>

Following Tehran, the story was treated with incredulity by the British and Americans who dismissed it as Soviet propaganda.<ref name="dealing"/> Skorzeny supported this view by stating in his post-war memoirs that no such operation ever existed.<ref name="Skorzeny">{{harvnb|Skorzeny|2007|pp=190–92}}.</ref> He said the story about the plans being leaked to Soviet spy [[Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov|Nikolai Kuznetsov]] by an SS-''[[Sturmbannführer]]'' named Hans Ulrich von Ortel was a Soviet invention; Hans Ulrich von Ortel never existed.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=How 'Uncle Joe' Bugged FDR|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol47no1/article02.html|first=Gary|last=Kern|year=2003|journal=Studies in Intelligence|publisher=[[Center for the Study of Intelligence]]|volume=47|issue=1|access-date=18 June 2012|archive-date=5 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905050153/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol47no1/article02.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=havas>{{harvnb|Havas|1967|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}}</ref> Skorzeny claimed his name was used only to add credibility to the story because the NKVD knew his record as an SS commando would make the existence of such an operation more plausible.{{sfn|Skorzeny|2007|p=193}}

===Raid on Drvar===
{{Main|Raid on Drvar}}
{{one source|section|date=January 2023}}

In early 1944, ''Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal'' was re-designated SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502 with Skorzeny staying on as commander. They were assigned to ''[[Operation Rösselsprung (1944)|Operation Rösselsprung]]'', known subsequently as the [[Raid on Drvar]]. ''Rösselsprung'' was a commando operation meant to capture the [[Democratic Federal Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] commander-in-chief, Marshal [[Josip Broz Tito]], who had also recently been recognized by the Allies as the [[Yugoslav prime minister]]. Marshal Tito led the [[Yugoslav Partisans|Yugoslav Partisan]] resistance army from his headquarters near the [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnian]] town of [[Drvar]], in the centre of a large area held by the Partisans.<ref>Eyre, Wayne D. ''Operation Rösselsprung and the Elimination of Tito, 25 May 1944: A Failure in Planning and Intelligence Support.'' http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a403840.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221062457/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a403840.pdf|date=21 February 2017}}, p. 6</ref>

Hitler knew Tito was receiving Allied support and was aware that either British or American troops might land in [[Dalmatia]] along the [[Adriatic]] coastline with support from the Partisans. Killing or capturing Tito would not only hinder this, it would give a badly needed boost to the morale of Axis forces engaged in [[occupied Yugoslavia]]. Skorzeny was involved in planning ''Rösselsprung'' and was intended to command it. However, he argued against implementation after he visited [[Zagreb]] and discovered that the operation had been compromised through the carelessness of German agents in the Nazi-affiliated [[Independent State of Croatia]] in occupied Yugoslav territory.

''Rösselsprung'' was put into action nonetheless, but it was a complete disaster. The first wave of paratroopers, following heavy bombardment by the Luftwaffe, jumped between Tito's hideout in a cave and the town of Drvar; they landed on open ground and many were promptly shot by members of the [[Tito Escort Battalion]], a unit numbering fewer than a hundred soldiers. The second wave of paratroopers missed their target and landed several miles out of town. Tito was long gone before paratroopers reached the cave; a trail at the back of the cave led to the railway tracks where Tito boarded a train that took him safely to [[Jajce]]. In the meantime, the Partisan 1st Brigade, from the 6th ''Lika'' Partisan Division, arrived after a twelve-mile (nineteen-kilometre) forced march and attacked the Waffen-SS paratroopers, inflicting heavy casualties.

===Hungary and Operation Panzerfaust===
{{Main|Operation Panzerfaust}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-680-8283A-30A, Budapest, Otto Skorzeny, Adrian v. Fölkersam.jpg|thumb|Otto Skorzeny (left), [[Adrian von Fölkersam]] (middle), in Budapest, 16 October 1944]]

In October 1944, Hitler sent Skorzeny to Hungary after receiving word that the [[Regent of Hungary]], Admiral [[Miklós Horthy]], was secretly negotiating with the [[Red Army]]. The surrender of Hungary would have cut off the million German troops still fighting in the [[Balkans]].

Skorzeny, in a daring "snatch" codenamed [[Operation Panzerfaust]] (known as ''Operation Eisenfaust'' in Germany), kidnapped Horthy's son [[Miklós Horthy Jr.]] and forced his father to resign as [[head of state]]. A pro-Nazi government under dictator [[Ferenc Szálasi]] was then installed in Hungary. In April 1945, after German and Hungarian forces were driven out of Hungary, Szálasi and his [[Arrow Cross Party]]-based forces continued the fight in [[Allied-occupied Austria|Austria]] and [[Slovak Republic (1939-1945)|Slovakia]]. The success of the operation earned Skorzeny promotion to ''[[Obersturmbannführer]]''.{{sfn|von Preradovich|1987|p=317}}

===Operation Greif and the German defeat===
{{Further|Operation Greif|Defence of Schwedt Bridgehead}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R81453, SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny an der Oder retouched.jpg|thumb|left|Skorzeny in Brandenburg visiting the [[500th SS Parachute Battalion]], February 1945]]

As part of the German Ardennes offensive in late 1944 ([[Battle of the Bulge]]), Skorzeny's English-speaking troops were charged with infiltrating American lines disguised in American uniforms in order to produce confusion to support the German attack. For the campaign, Skorzeny was the commander of a composite unit, the [[Panzer Brigade 150|150th SS Panzer Brigade]]. As planned by Skorzeny, [[Operation Greif]] involved about two dozen German soldiers, most of them in captured American Jeeps and disguised in American uniforms, who would penetrate American lines in the early hours of the Battle of the Bulge to cause disorder and confusion.<ref name=delaforce>{{harvnb|Delaforce|2006|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}}</ref> Skorzeny was well aware that under the [[Hague Convention of 1907]], any of his men captured while wearing American uniforms would be executed as [[Espionage|spies]] and this possibility caused much discussion with Generaloberst [[Alfred Jodl]] and Field Marshal [[Gerd von Rundstedt]].{{sfn|Mitcham|2008|p=30}}

A handful of his men were captured and spread a rumour that Skorzeny personally was leading a raid on Paris to kill or capture General [[Dwight Eisenhower|Eisenhower]], who was not amused by having to spend Christmas 1944 isolated for security reasons. Eisenhower retaliated by ordering an all-out [[Manhunt (military)|manhunt]] for Skorzeny, with "Wanted" posters distributed throughout Allied-controlled territories featuring a detailed description and a photograph.{{sfn|Lee|1999|p=32}} In all, twenty-three of Skorzeny's men were captured behind American lines and sixteen were executed as spies for contravening the [[rules of war]] by wearing enemy uniforms.{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=58}}<ref name="MissouriLawReview">{{harvnb|Koessler|1959}}</ref>

Skorzeny spent February 1945 as an acting major general commanding about 5,000 troops, only some of which were his SS commandos and paratroopers, during the [[Defense of Schwedt Bridgehead|defense of the Schwedt Bridgehead]] on the River Oder.{{sfn|Smith|2018|p=212}} On 17 March, he received orders to [[sabotage]] [[Ludendorff Bridge|the last remaining intact bridge across the Rhine at Remagen]] following its [[Battle of Remagen|capture by the Allies]], but the bridge collapsed that same day, and the naval demolitions squad that had been preparing its destruction instead [[Battle of Remagen#Frogmen dispatched|unsuccessfully attacked a nearby Allied pontoon bridge between Kripp and Linz]].<ref name=rottman>{{harvnb|Rottman|2013|p=36}}.</ref> Hitler awarded him one of Germany's highest military honours, the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross|Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross]].{{sfn|Scherzer|2007|p=708}}

==Post-war==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2016}}

===Dachau trials===
[[File:Otto Skorzeny.jpg|thumb|upright|Waiting in a cell as a witness at the [[Nuremberg trials]] – 24 November 1945]]

Skorzeny was interned for two years before being tried as a [[War crime|war criminal]] at the [[Dachau trials]] in 1947 for allegedly violating the [[Law of war|laws of war]] during the Battle of the Bulge. He and nine officers of the Panzerbrigade 150 were tried before an American [[Military justice|military tribunal]] in Dachau on 18 August 1947. They faced charges of improper use of American military insignia, theft of American uniforms, and theft of [[Red Cross parcel]]s from American POWs.{{fact|date=February 2025}} The trial lasted over three weeks. The charge of stealing [[Red Cross]] parcels was dropped for lack of evidence. Skorzeny admitted to ordering his men to wear American uniforms, but his defence argued that as long as enemy uniforms were discarded before combat started, such a tactic was a legitimate ''[[ruse de guerre]]''.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

On the final day of the trial, 9 September, [[F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas]], a former British [[Special Operations Executive|SOE]] agent, testified in defence of Skorzeny and his operatives wearing American uniforms behind enemy lines, claiming that the Western Allies had actively contemplated carrying out exactly the same kind of "false flag" operations; the Tribunal subsequently acquitted the ten defendants. The Tribunal drew a distinction between using enemy uniforms during combat and for other purposes including deception and were unable to prove that Skorzeny had given any orders to actually fight in American uniforms.<ref name="MissouriLawReview"/><ref>{{Cite news|author=Staff|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E16F83E5E17738DDDA90994D1405B8788F1D3|title=Court Holds Former SS Officer and Seven Aides Did Not Violate the Rules of War During Battle of Bulge|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=10 September 1947|access-date=11 February 2017|archive-date=19 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019230939/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E16F83E5E17738DDDA90994D1405B8788F1D3|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Escape from prison ===
Skorzeny was detained in an internment camp at [[Darmstadt]] awaiting the decision of a [[denazification]] court.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Token from Der Fuhrer|newspaper=Time|date=9 August 1948|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,794446,00.html|access-date=27 July 2021|archive-date=27 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727174521/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,794446,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On 27 July 1948, he escaped from the camp with the help of three former SS officers dressed in American military police uniforms who entered the camp and claimed that they had been ordered to take Skorzeny to Nuremberg for a legal hearing. Skorzeny afterwards maintained that American authorities had aided his escape and had supplied the uniforms.{{sfn|Lee|1999|pp=42–43}}

Skorzeny hid out at a farm in Bavaria which had been rented by Countess Ilse Lüthje, the niece of [[Hjalmar Schacht]] (Hitler's former finance minister), for around 18 months, during which time he was in contact with [[Reinhard Gehlen]], and together with [[Hartmann Lauterbacher]] (former deputy head of the [[Hitler Youth]]) recruited for the [[Gehlen Organization]].{{sfn|Lee|1999|pp=43–44}} Skorzeny was photographed at a café on the [[Champs Elysées]] in Paris on 13 February 1950. The photo appeared in the French press the next day, causing him to move to [[Salzburg]], where he met up with German veterans and also filed for divorce so that he could marry Lüthje.{{sfn|Lee|1999|p=45}}

Shortly afterwards, with the help of a [[Nansen passport]] issued by the Spanish government, he moved to [[Madrid]], where he set up a small engineering business.<ref>Hierro, P.d. (2022). The Neofascist Network and Madrid, 1945–1953: From City of Refuge to Transnational Hub and Centre of Operations. Contemporary European History, 31(2), 171-194. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960777321000114</ref> In April 1950, the publication of Skorzeny's memoirs by the French newspaper ''[[Le Figaro]]'' caused 1,500 communists to riot outside the journal's headquarters.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,812612,00.html|access-date=27 July 2021|title=The Press: Fools & Opposition|magazine=Time|date=5 June 1950|archive-date=27 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727174520/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,812612,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Military advisor ===
{{Further information|Relations between Nazi Germany and the Arab world|Latin_America_during_World_War_II#Axis_activity}} 
[[File:Otto Skorzeny y Peron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Skorzeny (left) and [[Juan Perón]] (center)]]

In 1952, when Egypt was taken over by General [[Mohammed Naguib]], Skorzeny was sent to [[Egypt]] the following year by former General [[Reinhard Gehlen]] (who was now working indirectly for the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]) to act as Naguib's military adviser. Skorzeny recruited a staff made up of former SS and Wehrmacht officers to train the Egyptian army. Among these officers were former Wehrmacht generals [[Wilhelm Fahrmbacher]] and [[Oskar Munzel]]; the head of the [[Gestapo]] Department for Jewish Affairs in occupied Poland [[Leopold Gleim]]; and Joachim Daemling, former chief of the Gestapo in Düsseldorf. In addition to training the army, Skorzeny also trained Arab volunteers in commando tactics for possible use against British troops stationed in the Suez Canal zone. Several Palestinian refugees also received commando training, and Skorzeny planned their raids into Israel via the Gaza Strip in 1953–1954. One of these Palestinians was [[Yasser Arafat]]. He stayed on to serve as an adviser to Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]].{{clarify timeframe|date=April 2025}}<ref>Infield, Glenn B. ''Skorzeny: Hitler's Commando'', NY: St. Martin's Press, 1981. <!-- ISSN/ISBN needed -->{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2023}}<ref name=PL>John S. Craig. [https://books.google.com/books?id=xNMVVsHEm5cC "Peculiar liaisons: in war, espionage, and terrorism in the twentieth century"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331161415/https://books.google.com/books?id=xNMVVsHEm5cC|date=31 March 2019}}, Algora Publishing, 2005; {{ISBN|0-87586-331-0}}/{{ISBN|978-0-87586-331-3}}. pg. 163</ref>{{refn|"...early in the Egyptian-American relationship, we began to suspect that Nasser was employing experts other than those we provided...Our suspicions were confirmed when former SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny dropped in on our station chief in Madrid to inform him that he had been approached by the Military Attache in the Egyptian Embassy there to request his assistance in recruiting German army officers who might find Egypt a convenient place to hide out from Nazi hunters. Could the CIA help? Indeed, we could. With Otto's help, the CIA officer working with General Gehlen in Pullach chose some German generals, colonels and majors who were so stupid that they could be counted upon to screw up the Egyptian army so thoroughly that it wouldn't be able to find its way from Cairo to Ismailia, let alone fighting the British after arriving there...Most of them (the Nazis) were anti-Arab, although they had the wit to conceal that fact."{{sfn|Copeland|1989|p=181}}|group="Note"}}

According to some authors, he traveled between Spain and Argentina, where he acted as an advisor to President [[Juan Perón]]<ref name="haaretz2016"/><ref name=BBC/> and as a bodyguard for [[Eva Perón]],<ref name=PL/><ref name=BBC/> while fostering an ambition for the "[[Fourth Reich]]" to be centred in Latin America.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Barbie's Postwar Ties With U.S. Army Detailed|newspaper=[[Boston Globe]]|date=14 February 1983}}</ref>{{sfn|Infield|1981|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}}{{sfn|Wechsberg|1967|pp=81, 116}}

=== Recruitment by Mossad ===
The Israeli security and intelligence magazine ''Matara'' published an article in 1989 claiming that Skorzeny had been recruited by [[Mossad]] in 1963 to obtain information on German scientists who were working on an Egyptian project to develop rockets to be used against Israel. Reporting on the ''Matara'' story, the major Israeli daily newspaper ''[[Yedioth Ahronot]]'' said that it had confirmed the story from their own senior Mossad source.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} Former Mossad head [[Isser Harel]] confirmed the story that former Nazis were recruited to provide intelligence on Arab countries.<ref name="Black 1989-12-21">{{cite news|author=Ian Black|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Israelis recruited SS colonel as agent|date=21 September 1989|page=12}}</ref>

[[Ian Black (journalist)|Ian Black]] and [[Benny Morris]] wrote in 1991 that Skorzeny may not have known for whom he was working,<ref name=MB>{{cite book|author=Ian Black and Benny Morris|title=Israel's Secret Wars|publisher=Futura|page=198}}</ref> but in 2010, [[Tom Segev]] published in his biography of [[Simon Wiesenthal]] that Skorzeny had offered to help only if Wiesenthal removed him from his list of wanted war criminals.<ref name=Segev>{{harvnb|Segev|2010|p=[https://archive.org/details/simonwiesenthall00toms/page/164 164–165]}}.</ref> Wiesenthal refused, but Skorzeny finally agreed to help anyway.<ref name=Segev/> Segev gave as his main source the senior Mossad agent Rafi Meidan to whom Segev attributes the primary role in the recruitment of Skorzeny.<ref name=Segev/>

Further details of the story were published by [[Yossi Melman]] and [[Dan Raviv]] in 2016.<ref name="haaretz2016"/> According to their information, a Mossad team had started to develop a plan to kill Skorzeny, but chief Isser Harel decided to attempt to recruit him instead, as a man on the inside would greatly enhance their ability to target Nazis who were providing military assistance to Egypt.<ref name="haaretz2016">{{cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.711115|title=The Strange Case of a Nazi Who Became an Israeli Hitman|last1=Raviv|first1=Dan|last2=Melman|first2=Yossi|date=27 March 2016|work=Haaretz|access-date=25 December 2016|archive-date=27 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327122059/http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.711115|url-status=live}}</ref> He allegedly was recruited and conducted operations for Mossad from 1964, working with [[Avraham Ahituv]] and [[Rafi Eitan]].{{sfn|Bergman|2018|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}}

Other unnamed sources<ref name="haaretz2016"/> asserted that Skorzeny was recruited after Mossad visited his home in Spain, where he expected that he would be assassinated. After undergoing instruction and training in Mossad's facilities in Israel, the rumoured work for Mossad included [[Operation Damocles|assassinating German rocket scientist Heinz Krug]] who was working for the Egyptian government and posting a letter bomb which killed five Egyptians at the Egyptian military rocket site ''Factory 333''. He also allegedly supplied the names and addresses of German scientists working for Egypt and the names of European front companies supplying military hardware to Egypt.<ref name="haaretz2016"/>

No confirmed source can explain Skorzeny's motives for working with Israel, but he may have craved adventure and intrigue and feared assassination by Mossad.<ref name="haaretz2016"/> An article featured in ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' on 22 January 2018 raised doubts as to the involvement of Skorzeny in Krug's death, stating that Mossad boss Isser Harel ordered the murder.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/mossad-chef-gab-mordauftrag-so-starb-1962-der-geschaeftsmann-heinz-krug-a-1188698.html|title="Raketen-Krug": Mordauftrag vom Mossad-Chef|first=Marcel|last=Rosenbach|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=22 January 2018|via=Spiegel Online|access-date=21 February 2018|archive-date=24 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124012603/http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/mossad-chef-gab-mordauftrag-so-starb-1962-der-geschaeftsmann-heinz-krug-a-1188698.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Other activities===
Like thousands of other former Nazis, Skorzeny was declared {{lang|de|entnazifiziert}} ([[Denazification|denazified]]) ''[[Trial in absentia|in absentia]]'' in 1952 by a [[West Germany|West German]] government arbitration board, which meant that he could now travel from Spain into other Western countries, on a special Nansen passport for stateless persons{{why|date=March 2021}} with which he visited [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] in 1957 and 1958. In late 1958, he qualified for an Austrian passport and in 1959, he purchased Martinstown House ({{coord|53.10743|-6.8218|region:IR_type:building|name=Martinstown House}}), a {{convert|165|acre|ha|adj=on}} farm near [[The Curragh]] in [[County Kildare]], Ireland. Although Skorzeny could not be refused entry without due cause, he was refused a residency visa by the Irish government and had to limit his stays to six weeks at a time, and he was monitored by [[Directorate of Military Intelligence (Ireland)|G2]]. He rarely visited after 1963 and sold Martinstown House in 1971. At 6&nbsp;ft 4 in (193&nbsp;cm) and weighing {{convert|110|kg|lb}}, along with his scar, he was easily recognizable and caused speculation among the English and Irish press as to why he was in Ireland. One Kildare resident recalled Skorzeny as someone who "wasn't particularly friendly and [who] didn't really mix with local people".<ref name=BBC/>{{sfn|Terence|2008|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}} Skorzeny also owned property on [[Majorca]].{{sfn|Snyder|2005|p=315}}

In the 1960s, Skorzeny set up the [[Paladin Group (fascist private military contractor)|Paladin Group]], which he envisioned as "an international directorship of strategic assault personnel <nowiki>[</nowiki>that would<nowiki>]</nowiki> straddle the watershed between paramilitary operations carried out by troops in uniform and the political warfare which is conducted by civilian agents". Based near [[Alicante]], Spain, the Paladin Group specialized in arming and training guerrillas. Some of its operatives were recruited by the Spanish Interior Ministry to wage a clandestine war against the separatist group [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]].{{sfn|Lee|1999|p=185}} Skorzeny was a founder and an advisor to the leadership of the Spanish neo-Nazi group [[CEDADE]], established in 1966.{{sfn|Lee|1999|p=186}}

On Feb 24, 1975, as he left the studios of French television in Paris, he was whipped by a former officer of the French Army, who was unarmed but threatened to kill him on the spot. The killing was prevented, however, by French police. The story appeared on ''[[Le Monde]]'' two days later.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1975-02-26 |title=L'Ancien Colonel SS Cravaché Par Un Ancien Déporté |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1975/02/26/l-ancien-colonel-ss-cravache-par-un-ancien-deporte_2599221_1819218.html |access-date=2025-06-05 |language=fr}}</ref>

It was rumoured {{by whom|date=August 2021}} that under the cover names Robert Steinbacher and Otto Steinbauer and supported by either Nazi funds or (according to some sources) by Austrian intelligence, Skorzeny set up a secret organization named [[Die Spinne]] (English: "The Spider"), which helped as many as 600 former SS men escape from Germany to Spain, Argentina, and from there to other countries.{{Refn|"Such was Mr. Skorzeny's reputation and his blind loyalty to Hitler that long after the end of the war — in fact, almost to the very end of his life — he was said to be involved in coups and assassination plots and the organization of a Nazi network called Die Spinne (The Spider) operating out of a seaside resort in Spain."{{sfn|Van Gelder|1975}}|group=Note}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Nazis: The Deadly Spider|date=21 July 1975|magazine=Newsweek}}</ref>

==Aliases==
In his clandestine post-war life, Skorzeny was known to have used numerous aliases according to foreign intelligence agencies. 

As early as 1951, the United States foreign service was briefed of his whereabouts in Spain, under the assumed name of Rolf Steinbauer.<ref name="CIA-0073">{{cite web |title=CIA Files: Otto Skorzeny, Vol.1_1_0073 |url=https://archive.org/details/SKORZENYOTTOVOL1-0073 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |date=21 February 1951 |access-date=12 May 2025}}</ref>

A full decade later, the CIA was aware of other aliases used by Skorzeny during his life as an emigre: Rolf Steiner and Otto Steinbauer.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Skorzeny, Otto Vol. 2 | url = https://archive.org/details/SKORZENYOTTOVOL2-0151 | publisher = Central Intelligence Agency | orig-date = 14 February 1969 | access-date = 12 May 2025 | date = 4 March 1969 | quote = Declassified under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act.}}</ref>

==Death==
In 1970, a cancerous tumour was discovered on Skorzeny's spine. Two tumours were later removed while he was staying at a hospital in [[Hamburg]], leaving him temporarily paralyzed. Skorzeny died of [[lung cancer]] on 5 July 1975 in Madrid. He was 67 years old.<ref>''[[Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie]]'', volume 9 Schmidt - Theyer, K.G. Sauer, Munich 1998; {{ISBN|3-598-23169-5}}</ref> Skorzeny never denounced [[Nazism]].<ref name=BBC/>

He was given a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] funeral in Madrid on 7 August 1975. His body was then cremated and his ashes were later taken to Vienna to be interred in the Skorzeny family plot at [[Döbling Cemetery|Döblinger Friedhof]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Skorzeny Friedhof Döbling |url=http://www.viennatouristguide.at/Friedhoefe/Doebling/pers_doebl/skorzeny.htm |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=www.viennatouristguide.at}}</ref> His funerals in Madrid and Vienna were attended by former SS colleagues who gave the [[Nazi salute]],<ref name="haaretz2016"/><ref>[https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-03-30/how-famous-former-nazi-officer-became-hitman-israel ''How a famous former Nazi officer became a hitman for Israel''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626165827/https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-03-30/how-famous-former-nazi-officer-became-hitman-israel|date=26 June 2020}}</ref> and also sang some of Hitler's favourite songs.<ref name="haaretz2016"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Hitler's commando Lt-Col Otto Skorzeny worked as an assassin for Israeli intelligence'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/29/hitlers-commando-lt-col-otto-skorzeny-worked-as-an-assassin-for/|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/29/hitlers-commando-lt-col-otto-skorzeny-worked-as-an-assassin-for/|archive-date=12 January 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|website=The Telegraph|date=29 March 2016|last1=Huggler|first1=Justin}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==In fiction==
Like many other prominent World War II figures, Skorzeny has been portrayed in several works of fiction, such as the [[Worldwar Series|''Worldwar tetralogy'']] by [[Harry Turtledove]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-345-40550-0|title=Fiction Book Review: Worldwar: Striking the Balance by Harry Turtledove, Author Del Rey Books $23 (0p) ISBN 978-0-345-40550-0|publisher=Publishersweekly.com|date=1996-11-04|accessdate=2015-08-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Wilson|first1=Gahan|author1-link=Gahan Wilson|title=Realms Of Fantasy v03n03 [1997-02] {LennySilv3r}|url=https://archive.org/details/RealmsOfFantasyV03n02199702LennySilv3r/page/n73/mode/2up?q=%22Otto+Skorzeny%22+turtledove|publisher=[[Realms of Fantasy]]|page=75|date=February 1997}}</ref> and [[1945 (Gingrich and Forstchen novel)|''1945'']] by [[Newt Gingrich]] and [[William R. Forstchen]].{{sfn|Rosenfeld|2005|p=144}}{{sfn|Winthrop-Young|2006}} In ''[[The Eagle Has Landed (novel)|The Eagle has Landed]]'' by [[Jack Higgins]], Skorzeny's rescue of Mussolini inspires a plan to kidnap [[Winston Churchill]].{{sfn|Burton|2016|p=131}}

Skorzeny was portrayed in the television drama series ''[[Mussolini: The Untold Story]]'' and ''[[Mussolini and I]]'',{{sfn|Mitchell|2002|p={{pn|date=June 2025}}}} and the drama film ''[[Walking with the Enemy]]'' (2014).<ref>{{cite news|title=Film tells true story of Hungarian Jew's infiltration of Nazi SS|language=en|work=[[St. Louis Jewish Light]]|url=https://www.stljewishlight.com/features/entertainment/film-tells-true-story-of-hungarian-jew-s-infiltration-of/article_670f1fde-d099-11e3-8775-0019bb2963f4.html|url-status=dead|access-date=17 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217215014/https://www.stljewishlight.com/features/entertainment/film-tells-true-story-of-hungarian-jew-s-infiltration-of/article_670f1fde-d099-11e3-8775-0019bb2963f4.html|archive-date=17 February 2020}}</ref> The Spanish drama-series ''[[Jaguar_(TV_series) |Jaguar]]'' is inspired by Skorzeny.{{sfn|Dewerne|2021|}}{{sfn|Ghert-Zand|2021}}

==Awards==
* [[Iron Cross]] (1939) 
** 2nd Class (26 August 1941){{sfn|Thomas|1998|p=329}}
** 1st Class (12 September 1943){{sfn|Thomas|1998|p=329}}
* [[Eastern Front Medal]] (2 September 1942)
* [[Wound Badge]] in Black (18 August 1943)
* [[Pilot/Observer Badge]] (with Diamonds) (16 September 1943) (Honorary Recipient)
* [[German Cross in Gold]] (16 October 1944){{sfn|Thomas|1998|p=329}}
* [[Honour Roll Clasp]] of the Heer & Waffen-SS (5 February 1945){{sfn|Stockert|2011|p=67}}
* [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves]]
** Knight's Cross on 13 September 1943 as SS-''[[Hauptsturmführer]]'' of the [[Military reserve force|Reserves]] and commander of Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal{{sfn|Fellgiebel|2000|p=402}}{{sfn|Scherzer|2007|p=708}}
** 826th Oak Leaves on 9 April 1945 as SS-''[[Obersturmbannführer]]'' of the Reserves and commander of the SS-Jagd-Verbände and combat commander of [[Schwedt|Schwedt an der Oder]]{{sfn|Scherzer|2007|p=708}}{{sfn|Fellgiebel|2000|p=101}}

==Promotions==
Skorzeny was promoted as follows:<ref>{{Cite web | title=Skorzeny, Otto (Waffen SS) | url=https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34812/Skorzeny%C2%A0Otto-Waffen-SS.htm | access-date=2025-07-26 | website=www.tracesofwar.com}}</ref>
{|
!
|-
| 1 May 1940:
| SS-''[[Unterscharführer]]''
|-
| 1 September 1940:
| SS-''[[Oberscharführer]]''
|-
| 30 January 1941:
| SS-''[[Untersturmführer]]'' of the [[Military reserve force|Reserves]]{{sfn|Stockert|2011|p=60}}{{sfn|Krätschmer|1999|p=567}}
|-
| 20 April 1941:
| SS-''[[Obersturmführer]]'' of the Reserves{{sfn|Stockert|2011|p=60}}{{sfn|Krätschmer|1999|p=567}}
|-
| 20 April 1943:
| SS-''[[Hauptsturmführer]]'' of the Reserves{{sfn|Stockert|2011|p=61}}
|-
| 12 September 1943:
| SS-''[[Sturmbannführer]]'' of the Reserves{{sfn|Stockert|2011|p=63}}
|-
| 16 October 1944:
| SS-''[[Obersturmbannführer]]'' of the Reserves, effective as of 16 October 1944{{sfn|Stockert|2011|p=67}}
|-
| 20 April 1945:
| SS-''[[Standartenführer]]'' of the Reserves{{sfn|Stockert|2011|p=68}}{{sfn|Krätschmer|1999|p=574}}
|}

==Explanatory notes==
{{reflist|group=Note
|refs=<ref name=Note01>As military advisor to Argentine president [[Juan Perón]] and as a bodyguard to first lady [[Eva Perón]].</ref><ref name=Note02>As military advisor to Egyptian president [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]].</ref><ref name=Note03>First alleged by Israeli security magazine ''Matara'' in 1989. Later that year, the newspaper ''[[Yedioth Ahronoth]]'' stated during a report on the story that it managed to confirm the story through a senior Mossad source.</ref>

<!-- <ref name=Note04>According to CIA original operative, [[Miles Copeland Jr|Miles Copeland]], Skorzeny's apparent assistance was a cover for a U.S.–German operation to actually weaken Egypt's military.</ref> -->}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Publications by Skorzeny===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Skorzeny
  |first=Otto
  |year=1950
  |title=Skorzeny's Secret Missions
  |location=New York
  |publisher=E. P. Dutton
  |oclc=19507028
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Skorzeny
  |first=Otto
  |translator-last=Johnson
  |translator-first=David
  |year=1995
  |url=https://archive.org/details/MyCommandoOperationsByOttoSkorzeny1995OriginallyInGerman1975
  |title=My Commando Operations: The Memoirs of Hitler's Most Daring Commando
  |publisher=[[Schiffer Publishing]]
  |isbn=0-88740-718-8
}}
* Skorzeny, Otto (1997), ''Skorzeny's Special Missions'', Greenhill Books, {{ISBN|1-85367-291-2}}.
* {{cite book
  |last=Skorzeny
  |first=Otto
  |year=2007
  |orig-year=1976
  |title=Meine Kommandounternehmen
  |trans-title=My Commando Operations
  |language=de
  |location=Dresden
  |publisher=Winkelried
  |isbn=978-3-938392-11-9
}}
{{Refend}}

===General and cited references===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Annussek
  |first=Greg
  |year=2005
  |title=Hitler's Raid to Save Mussolini
  |publisher=Da Capo Press
  |isbn=978-0-306-81396-2
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MSs3FaJEdhUC
  |access-date=
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401004220/https://books.google.com/books?id=MSs3FaJEdhUC&printsec=frontcover
  |archive-date=1 April 2019
  |url-status=dead
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Bergman
  |first=Ronen
  |author-link=
  |date=2018
  |title=Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations
  |publisher=Random House
  |chapter=5
  |isbn=978-1-4736-9471-2
}}
* {{cite book
  |last1=Burton
  |first1=Alan
  |title=Historical Dictionary of British Spy Fiction
  |date=4 April 2016
  |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield
  |isbn=978-1-4422-5587-6
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sBCGCwAAQBAJ&dq=Skorzeny+%22the+eagle+has+landed%22+higgins&pg=PA131
  |language=en
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Copeland
  |first=Miles
  |author-link=Miles Copeland Jr.
  |year=1989
  |title=The Game Player: Confessions of the CIA's original political operative
  |location=London
  |publisher=[[Aurum Press]]
  |isbn=978-0-948149-87-0
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Delaforce
  |first=Patrick
  |title=The Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Final Gamble
  |publisher=Pearson Education
  |year=2006
  |isbn=978-1-4058-4062-0
}}
* {{cite news
  |last1=Dewerne
  |first1=Yvonne
  |title="Jaguar" auf Netflix: Gab es den Mann aus der Serie wirklich?
  |url=https://www.esquire.de/entertainment/streaming-tv/jaguar-auf-netflix-nazijagd-spanien
  |access-date=7 June 2024
  |work=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]
  |date=24 September 2021
  |language=de
}}
* Durschmied, Erik (1990), ''Don't Shoot the Yanqui'', Grafton Books, {{ISBN|0-246-13631-6}}.
* Durschmied, Erik (2001), ''Whisper of the Blade'', [[Coronet Books]], {{ISBN|0-340-77084-8}}.
* {{Cite book
  |last=Fellgiebel
  |first=Walther-Peer
  |author-link=:de:Walther-Peer Fellgiebel
  |year=2000
  |orig-year=1986
  |title=Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile
  |trans-title=The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches
  |language=de
  |location=Friedberg, Germany
  |publisher=Podzun-Pallas
  |isbn=978-3-7909-0284-6
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Foley
  |first=Charles
  |title=Commando Extraordinary: Otto Skorzeny
  |publisher=Cassel
  |year=1999
  |isbn=0-304-35080-X
}}
* {{cite news
  |last1=Ghert-Zand
  |first1=Renee
  |title=Netflix's new series on Spanish Nazi hunters: Separating fact from fiction
  |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/netflixs-new-series-on-spanish-nazi-hunters-separating-fact-from-fiction/
  |access-date=7 June 2024
  |work=[[The Times of Israel]]
  |date=8 October 2021
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Gilbert
  |first=Adrian
  |author-link=Adrian Gilbert
  |chapter=Kursk: Clash of Armor
  |title=Waffen-SS: Hitler's Army at War
  |date=25 June 2019
  |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDBzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT248
  |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]]
  |publication-date=2019
  |isbn=978-0-306-82466-1
  |access-date=28 March 2023
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Havas
  |first=Laslo
  |year=1967
  |title=Hitler's Plot to Kill the Big Three
  |publisher=Cowles Book Co.
  |location=New York
  |oclc=13309
}}
* {{Cite book
  |last=Infield
  |first=Glenn
  |year=1981
  |title=Secrets of the SS
  |publisher=Stein and Day
  |isbn=978-0-8128-2790-3
}}
* {{cite journal
  |last=Koessler
  |first=Maximilian
  |url=http://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1627&context=mlr
  |title=International Law on Use of Enemy Uniforms As a Stratagem and the Acquittal in the Skorzeny Case
  |journal=Missouri Law Review
  |date=January 1959
  |volume=24
  |issue=1
  |access-date=2 December 2015
  |archive-date=7 January 2021
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107041517/https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1627&context=mlr|url-status=live
}}
* {{Cite book
  |last=Krätschmer
  |first=Ernst-Günther
  |year=1999
  |title=Die Ritterkreuzträger der Waffen-SS
  |trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Waffen-SS
  |location=Coburg, Germany
  |publisher=[[Nation Europa Verlag]]
  |isbn=978-3-920677-43-9
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Kuby
  |first=Erich
  |author-link=Erich Kuby
  |year=1982
  |title=Verrat auf deutsch. Wie das Dritte Reich Italien ruinierte
  |language=de
  |location=Hamburg
  |publisher=Hoffmann und Campe
  |isbn=3-455-08754-X
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Lee
  |first=Martin A.
  |year=1999
  |title=The Beast Reawakens: Fascism's Resurgence from Hitler's Spymasters to Today's Neo-Nazi Groups and Right-Wing Extremists
  |publisher=Taylor & Francis
  |isbn=0-415-92546-0
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=López
  |first=Óscar González
  |year=2007
  |title=Fallschirmjäger at the Gran Sasso
  |publisher=AF Editores
  |place=Valladolid
  |isbn=978-84-96935-00-6
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Mitcham
  |first=Samuel W.
  |author-link=Samuel W. Mitcham
  |title=Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge
  |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group
  |year=2008
  |isbn=978-0-275-97115-1
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Mitchell
  |first=Charles P.
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3MwCgAAQBAJ&q=skorzeny
  |title=The Hitler Filmography: Worldwide Feature Film and Television Miniseries Portrayals, 1940 through 2000
  |date=17 September 2002
  |publisher=McFarland
  |access-date=10 April 2017
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221155646/https://books.google.com/books?id=k3MwCgAAQBAJ&q=skorzeny
  |archive-date=21 February 2022
  |url-status=live
  |via=Google Books
  |isbn=978-0-7864-4585-1
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Nagorski
  |first=Andrew
  |title=The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow That Changed the Course of World War II
  |publisher=Simon & Schuster
  |year=2007
  |isbn=978-0-7432-8110-2
  |url=https://archive.org/details/greatestbattlest0000nago/page/202
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=O'Sullivan
  |first=Donal
  |year=2010
  |title=Dealing with the Devil
  |publisher=New York
  |pages=203–04
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XHs2-DmdIRIC&pg=PA203
  |access-date=30 March 2016
  |archive-date=31 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331202237/https://books.google.com/books?id=XHs2-DmdIRIC&pg=PA203
  |url-status=live
  |isbn=978-1-4331-0581-4
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Reynolds
  |first=Michael
  |date=1 February 2006
  |title=Men of Steel: I SS Panzer Corps: The Ardennes and Eastern Front, 1944–45
  |publisher=[[Casemate Publishers]]
  |isbn=1-9320-3351-3
}}
* {{cite book
  |last1=Rottman
  |first1=Gordon L.
  |title=World War II river assault tactics
  |date=2013
  |publisher=Osprey
  |location=Oxford
  |isbn=978-1-78096-108-8
}}
* {{cite book
  |last1=Rosenfeld
  |first1=Gavriel D.
  |title=The World Hitler Never Made: Alternate History and the Memory of Nazism
  |date=23 May 2005
  |publisher=Cambridge University Press
  |isbn=978-0-521-84706-3
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKNdxlzG6okC&q=skorzeny
  |language=en
}}
* {{Cite book
  |last=Scherzer
  |first=Veit
  |year=2007
  |title=Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives
  |trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives
  |language=de
  |location=Jena, Germany
  |publisher=Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag
  |isbn=978-3-938845-17-2
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Segev
  |first=Tom
  |author-link=Tom Segev
  |year=2010
  |title=Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends
  |url=https://archive.org/details/simonwiesenthall00toms
  |url-access=registration
  |publisher=Doubleday
  |isbn=978-0-385-51946-5
}}
* {{Cite book
  |last=Smith
  |first=Stuart
  |title=Otto Skorzeny – The Devil's Disciple
  |publisher=Osprey/Bloomsbury
  |year=2018
  |isbn=978-1-4728-2945-0
  |location=UK
  |language=en
}}
* {{cite book
  |last= Snyder
  |first= Louis Leo
  |title= Hitler's Henchmen: The Nazis who Shaped the Third Reich
  |publisher=David & Charles
  |year=2005
  |isbn=0-7153-2033-5
}}
* {{Cite book
  |last=Stockert
  |first=Peter
  |year=2011
  |title=Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 9
  |trans-title=The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 9
  |edition=2nd
  |language=de
  |location=Bad Friedrichshall, Germany
  |publisher=Friedrichshaller Rundblick
  |oclc=76072662
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Terence
  |first=O'Reilly
  |title=Hitler's Irishmen
  |year=2008
  |publisher=Mercier Press
  |isbn=978-1-85635-589-6
}}
* Tetens, T. H. (1961), ''The New Germany and the Old Nazis'', Random House/[[Marzani & Munsell]]; LCN 61–7240.
* {{Cite book
  |last=Thomas
  |first=Franz
  |year=1998
  |title=Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z
  |trans-title=The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z
  |language=de
  |location=Osnabrück, Germany
  |publisher=Biblio-Verlag
  |isbn=978-3-7648-2300-9
}}
* {{cite news
  |last1=Van Gelder
  |first1=Lawrence
  |author-link1=Lawrence Van Gelder
  |title=Otto Skorzeny, Nazi Commando, Dead; Rescued Mussolini From Italian Peak
  |work=[[The New York Times]]
  |publication-date=8 July 1975
  |issn=0362-4331
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=von Preradovich
  |first=Nikolaus
  |year=1987
  |title=Österreichs höhere SS-Führer
  |publisher=K. Vowinckel
  |location=Berg am See
  |isbn=3-921655-55-2
}}
* {{cite book
  |last1=Wagner
  |first1=Dieter
  |last2=Tomkowitz
  |first2=Gerhard
  |year=1971
  |title=Anschluss: The Week Hitler Seized Vienna
  |publisher=St. Martin's Press
  |oclc=469928210
}}
* {{cite book
  |author-link=Joseph Wechsberg
  |last=Wechsberg
  |first=Joseph
  |title=The Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Memoirs
  |url=https://archive.org/details/murderersamongus00wies
  |url-access=registration
  |publisher=McGraw-Hill
  |location=New York
  |year=1967
  |lccn=67-13204
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Whittam
  |first=John
  |title=Fascist Italy
  |year=2005
  |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]]
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hHgMm6APG_0C&q=%22Vatican+Radio%22+%22Radio+London%22+fascist
  |access-date=18 November 2020
  |archive-date=25 September 2020
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925055508/https://books.google.com/books?id=hHgMm6APG_0C&dq=%22Vatican+Radio%22+%22Radio+London%22+fascist
  |url-status=live
  |isbn=0-7190-4004-3
}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Williamson
  |first=Gordon
  |author-link=Gordon Williamson (writer)
  |year=2009
  |title=German Special Forces of World War II
  |url=https://archive.org/details/germanspecialfor00libg
  |url-access=limited
  |publisher=Osprey
  |location=Oxford
  |isbn=978-1-84603-920-1
}}
* {{cite journal
  |last1=Winthrop-Young
  |first1=Geoffrey
  |title=The Third Reich in Alternate History: Aspects of a Genre-Specific Depiction of Nazi Culture
  |journal=The Journal of Popular Culture
  |date=October 2006
  |volume=39
  |issue=5
  |pages=878–896
  |doi=10.1111/j.1540-5931.2006.00310.x
  |doi-access=free
}}
* [[Charles Whiting|Whiting, Charles]] (1998), ''Skorzeny: "The Most Dangerous Man in Europe"'', DaCapo Press; {{ISBN|0-938289-94-2}}.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|En-OttoSkorzeny-article.ogg|date=16 December 2017}}

* {{cite book|title=My Commando Operations by Otto Skorzeny |url=https://archive.org/details/OttoSkorzenyMyCommandoOperations}}
* [http://www.phdn.org/archives/www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/skorzeny.htm Trial of Otto Skorzeny and Others], General Military Government Court of the U.S. Zone of Germany, 18 August to 9 September 1947
* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/july2001.pdf Summary of KV 2/403 a British intelligence file] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402042324/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/july2001.pdf|date=2 April 2014}} Declassified in July 2001 it details the post war debriefing of Otto Skorzeny on [[Operation Werewolf]] and other matters
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bhMsYlBe54 Otto Skorzeny Interrogation In Dachau 2/8/1945]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/029645}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-sKBR5kS10 Otto Skorzeny interrogated by a US Army captain in Germany]
* [https://www.netflix.com/title/81493626 Europe's Most Dangerous Man: Otto Skorzeny in Spain (2020)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801014105/https://www.netflix.com/title/81493626 |date=1 August 2023 }}

{{Nazis South America|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skorzeny, Otto}}
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1975 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Freikorps personnel]]
[[Category:Austrian expatriates in Argentina]]
[[Category:Austrian expatriates in Spain]]
[[Category:Austrian neo-Nazis]]
[[Category:Austrian Waffen-SS personnel]]
[[Category:Austrian people of Polish descent]]
[[Category:Austrian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Burials at Döbling Cemetery]]
[[Category:Dachau trials]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Spain]]
[[Category:Federal Intelligence Service informants]]
[[Category:German World War II special forces]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Vienna]]
[[Category:People acquitted of international crimes]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves]]
[[Category:Reich Security Main Office personnel]]
[[Category:SS-Obersturmbannführer]]
[[Category:TU Wien alumni]]
[[Category:Escapees from United States military detention]]
[[Category:People of the Mossad]]