The Most Famous Soldier in the WWII

‘The Most Dangerous Man in Europe'

Who is he?

Otto Skorzeny

Well-educated engineer The inventor and first leader of

commando Organizer of the ODESSA and

‘ratlines’

Early life Born in Vienna, in a middle-class family Poor childhood He attended the University of Vienna He joined the Austrian Nazi Party in 1931 and soon he joined the Nazi SA

His role in the WWII Important role in the Anschluss on

March 12, 1938 Took part in the invasion of Poland,

1939 Worked as a civil engineer and

volunteered for service in the Luftwaffe

Fought in the Soviet Union in 1941-1942 being wounded

Commando days After his rehabilitation he started to

train special agents in Berlin Sabotage, espionage, and

paramilitary skills Jagdverbande 502

New equipments for the soldiers First mission: ‘Operation Francois’,

to sabotage US and British supplies of materiel bound for the Soviet Union success

Mission for fame He met with Hitler personally ‘Operation Oak’ had to find

Mussolini Hardly to locate him With the help of Ferdinando Soleti

he found him He escaped Mussolini without a

gunfire from Gran Sasso ‘Duce, the Fuhrer has sent me to set

you free’

In Hungary ‘Operation Armored Fist’kidnapped

Horthy's son, Miklós Horthy Jr. Reason: Hungary was secretly negotiating

with the Red Army Forced Miklós Horthy to abdicate as Prime

Minister

His last mission Under the last German offensive, the Battle

of the Bulge The mission was to capture one or more

bridges on a stretch of the Meuse River in Belgium

Commandos made up of English-speaking soldiers with American equipment and uniforms, their mission were to slip behind enemy lines

It was succesful but not in a long run

After the war 1945: captured for two years Settled in Spain with the help of Francesco

Franco 1952, in Germany he had convinced the

authorities that he had seen the error of his beliefs

Lived in Ireland for ten years He worked for Juan Peron and Gamel Abdel

Nasser He had spine cancers and he died in 1975 in

Madrid

He worked for ODESSA, Werwolves, he took part in the built up of ‘ratlines’

His name maybe do not well-known but he is one of the most influental soldiers of the WWII