Wikipedia

Abwehr

TheAbwehr(Germanforresistanceordefence,though the word usually meanscounterintelligencein a military context;pronounced[ˈapveːɐ̯]) was the Germanmilitary-intelligenceservice for theReichswehrand theWehrmachtfrom 1920 to 1945.[1][a]Although the 1919Treaty of Versaillesprohibited theWeimar Republicfrom establishing anintelligence organizationof their own,[b]they formed an espionage group in 1920 within theMinistry of Defence,calling it theAbwehr.[c]The initial purpose of theAbwehrwas defense against foreign espionage: an organizational role that later evolved considerably.[4]Under GeneralKurt von Schleicher(prominent in running theReichswehrfrom 1926 onwards) the individual military services' intelligence units were combined and, in 1929, centralized under Schleicher'sMinisteramtwithin theMinistry of Defence,forming the foundation for the more commonly understood manifestation of theAbwehr.

Abwehr
OKW secret radio service
Active1920–1945
Countries
Branch
TypeMilitary intelligence
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Wilhelm Canaris

EachAbwehrstation throughout Germany was based on the local army district (Wehrkreis); more offices opened in amenable neutral countries and (as thegreater Reichexpanded) in theoccupied territories.[5]On 4 February 1938, the Ministry of Defence—renamed the Ministry of War in 1935—was dissolved and became theOberkommando der Wehrmacht(OKW) with Hitler in direct command.[6]The OKW formed part of theFührer's personal "working staff" from June 1938 and theAbwehrbecame its intelligence agency under Vice-AdmiralWilhelm Canaris.[7][d]The Abwehr had itsheadquartersat 76/78 Tirpitzufer (the present-day Reichpietschufer) inBerlin,adjacent to the offices of the OKW.[e]

Before Canaris

edit

TheAbwehrwas created in 1920 as part of theGerman Ministry of Defencewhen the German government was allowed to form theReichswehr,themilitary organizationof theWeimar Republic.The first head of theAbwehrwas MajorFriedrich Gempp,a former deputy to ColonelWalter Nicolai,the head of German intelligence duringWorld War I,who proved mostly ineffectual.[2]At that time it was composed of only three officers and seven former officers, plus a clerical staff. When Gempp became a general, he was promoted out of the job as chief, to be followed by Major Günther Schwantes, whose term as the organization's leader was also brief.[8]Many members of theReichswehr(a significant portion of them Prussian) declined when asked to consider intelligence work, since for them, it was outside the realm of actual military service and the act of spying clashed with their Prussian military sensibilities of always showing themselves direct, loyal, and sincere.[9]By the 1920s, the slowly growingAbwehrwas organised into three sections:

TheReichsmarineintelligence staff merged with theAbwehrin 1928.[10]While the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany from engaging in any form of espionage or spying, during the Nazi era theAbwehrdisregarded this prohibition, as they saw it as hypocritical.[11]

In the 1930s, with the rise of theNazimovement, the Ministry of Defence was reorganized; surprisingly, on 7 June 1932, a naval officer, CaptainConrad Patzig[de],was named chief of theAbwehr,even though it was staffed largely by army officers.[12]Proving himself quite a capable chief, Patzig swiftly assured the military of his intentions and worked to earn their respect; he established good connections with the Lithuanian clandestine service against the Soviets, forged relations with other foreign agencies—except for Italy, whose cipher he distrusted.[13]His successes did not stop the other branches of the military services from developing their intelligence staff.

After the Nazis seized power, theAbwehrbegan sponsoring reconnaissance flights across the border withPoland,under the direction of Patzig, but this led to confrontations withHeinrich Himmler,head of theSS.Army leaders also feared that the flights would endanger the secret plans for an attack on Poland.Adolf Hitlerordered the termination of the overflights in 1934 after he signed anonaggression treaty with Polandsince these reconnaissance missions might be discovered and jeopardize the treaty.[14]Patzig was fired in January 1935 as a result, and sent to command the newpocket battleshipAdmiral Graf Spee;he later became Chief of Naval Personnel. His replacement was anotherReichsmarinecaptain,Wilhelm Canaris.[15]

Under Canaris

edit

Before World War II

edit
Wilhelm Canaris

Before he took over theAbwehron 1 January 1935, the soon-to-be AdmiralCanariswas warned by Patzig of attempts by Himmler andReinhard Heydrichto take over all German intelligence organizations.[16]Heydrich, who headed theSicherheitsdienst(SD) from 1931, had a negative attitude towards theAbwehr—shaped in part by his belief that Germany's defeat in the First World War was primarily attributable to failures of military intelligence,[f]and by his ambitions to control all political intelligence-gathering for Germany.[18]

Canaris, a master of backroom dealings, thought he knew how to deal with Heydrich and Himmler. Though he tried to maintain a cordial relationship with them, the antagonism between theAbwehrand the SS did not stop when Canaris took over. Not only was competition with Heydrich and Himmler's intelligence operations a hindrance but so too were the redundant attempts by multiple organizations to controlcommunications intelligence(COMINT) for the Reich. For instance, Canaris's Abwehr controlled the Armed Forces Deciphering operation, while the navy maintained its listening service, known as theB-Dienst.Further complicating COMINT matters, theForeign Officealso had its own communications security branch, thePers Z S.[19]

Matters came to a head in 1937 when Hitler decided to helpJoseph Stalinin the latter'spurgeof theSoviet military.Hitler ordered that the German Army staff should be kept in the dark about Stalin's intentions, for fear that they would warn their Soviet counterparts due to theirlong-standing relations.Accordingly, special SS teams, accompanied by burglary experts from thecriminal police,broke into the secret files of the General Staff and theAbwehrand removed documents related to German-Soviet collaboration. To conceal the thefts, fires were started at the break-ins, which includedAbwehrheadquarters.[20]

1938 reorganisation

edit

Before the reorganization of the OKW in 1938, theAbwehrwas merely a department within theReichswehrministerium(Ministry of Armed Forces), and it was not until after Canaris was appointed chief that its numbers increased and it gained some independence.[21]Experiencing an explosion in personnel of sorts, theAbwehrwent from fewer than 150 employees to nearly one thousand between 1935 and 1937.[22]Canaris reorganized the agency in 1938, subdividing theAbwehrinto three main sections:

  • The Central Division(also called Department Z—"Abteilung Z"or"die Zentrale"in German): acted as the controlling brain for the other two sections, as well as handling personnel and financial matters, including the payment of agents. Throughout Canaris's tenure it was headed byGeneralmajorHans Oster.
  • The Foreign Branch,("Amtsgruppe Ausland"in German) (later known asForeign Intelligence Group) was the second subdivision of the Abwehr and had several functions:
    1. liaison with the OKW and the general staff of the services,
    2. coordination with the German Foreign Ministry on military matters, and
    3. evaluation of captured documents and evaluation of foreign press and radio broadcasts. This liaison with the OKW meant that the Foreign Branch was the appropriate channel to requestAbwehrsupport for a particular mission.
  • Abwehrconstituted the third division and was labeled "counter-intelligence branches" but in reality focused on intelligence gathering. It was subdivided into the following areas and responsibilities:
    • I.Foreign Intelligence Collection (further subdivided by letter, e.g.AbwehrI-Ht)
      G:false documents, photos, links, passports, chemicals
      H West:army west (Anglo-American Army intelligence)
      H Ost:army east (Soviet Army intelligence)
      Ht:technical army intelligence
      I:communications—design of wireless sets, wireless operators
      K:computer/cryptanalysis operations
      L:air intelligence
      M:naval intelligence
      T/lw:technical air intelligence
      Wi:economic intelligence
      Attached toAbwehrI. was Gruppe I-T for technical intelligence. InitiallyAbwehrI-K was a technical research unit, a small fraction the size of its British counterpart, Britain'sBletchley Park.Its importance later grew during the war to match its British counterpart in size and capability.
    • II.Sabotage:tasked with directing covert contact/exploitation of discontented minority groups in foreign countries for intelligence purposes.
      Attached toAbwehrII. was theBrandenburg Regiment,an offshoot of Gruppe II-T (Technical Intelligence), and unconnected to any other branch outside ofAbwehrII. Gruppe II-T.[g]
    • III.Counter-intelligencedivision: responsible for counter-intelligence operations in German industry, planting false information, penetration of foreign intelligence services, and investigating acts of sabotage on German soil. Attached toAbwehrIII. were:
      • IIIC:Civilian Authority bureau
      • IIIC-2:Espionage cases bureau
      • IIID:Disinformation bureau
      • IIIF:Counter espionage agents bureau
      • IIIN:Postal bureau

Abwehrliaisons were also established with the army, navy, and Luftwaffe High Commands, and these liaisons would pass on specific intelligence requests to the operational sections of theAbwehr.

AbwehrI was commanded by Colonel Hans Pieckenbrock,[23]AbwehrII was commanded by ColonelErwin von LahousenandAbwehrIII was commanded by Colonel Egbert Bentivegni. These three officers formed the core of the Abwehr.[24]

Ast / Abwehrstelle

edit

Under the structure outlined above, theAbwehrplaced a local station in each military district in Germany, ("Wehrkreis"), called 'Abwehrstelle'or 'Ast'.Following the German Table of Organisation and Equipment[h]model ofAbwehrheadquarters, eachAstwas usually subdivided into sections for

  1. espionage
  2. sabotage
  3. counter-intelligence

Typically eachAstwould be commanded by a senior army or naval officer and would be answerable toAbwehrHQ. in Berlin. Operations carried out by eachAstwould be in tandem with the overall strategic plan formulated by Admiral Canaris. Canaris in turn would receive instructions on what intelligence gathering should take priority from the OKW or, increasingly after 1941, Hitler directly. In practice, eachAstwas given considerable latitude in mission planning and execution—a facet of the organization that ultimately damaged its intelligence-gathering capability.

Each localAstcould recruit potential agents for missions and theAbwehralso employed freelance recruiters to groom and vet potential agents. In most cases, the agents were recruited civilians, not officers/soldiers from the military. The recruitment emphasis seems to have been very much on "quantity" not "quality". The poor quality of recruits often led to the failure ofAbwehrmissions.[i]

Operational structure in neutral countries

edit

In neutral countries, theAbwehrfrequently disguised its organization by attaching personnel to the German Embassy or to trade missions. Such postings were referred to as "War Organisations" ("Kriegsorganisationen"or"KO's"in German).[25]In neutral but friendlySpainfor example, theAbwehrhad both anAstand a KO whileIrelandhad neither. In friendly countries of interest, occupied countries, or in Germany, the intelligence service would normally organize "Abwehr sub-stations" ("Abwehrleitstellen"or"Alsts"in German), or "Abwehr adjoining posts" ("Abwehrnebenstellen"in German). The"Alsts"would fall under the jurisdiction of the geographically appropriateAst,which in turn would be supervised by the Central division in Berlin. For a while, the KOs were tolerated by the neutral countries and those who feared Germany too much to protest but as the Allied powers waged war against Germany, many of the KOs were simply expelled at the host countries request—due at least in part to pressure from the Allies.[26]

Pre-war operations

edit

Before the war began, theAbwehrwas fairly active and effective as it built a wide range of contacts; they developed links with the Ukrainians opposed to the Soviet regime, conducted meetings withIndian nationalistsworking againstBritish rule in India,and established an information-sharing agreement with the Japanese.[27]There was even some significant penetration into the extent of the United States industrial capacity and economic potential,[28]and data was collected by theAbwehrconcerning American military capacity and contingency planning.[29]

Sometime in March 1937, seniorAbwehrofficerPaul Thümmelprovided a vast array of significant information about the German intelligence services to Czech agents who in turn, forwarded the data toSISLondon, whom they codenamed agent A-54.[30]Thümmel provided data about "military capabilities, and intentions" as well as "detailed information on the organization and structure of theAbwehrand SD along with "the near-complete order of battle of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe, and German mobilization plans"; and, later "he gave advanced warnings of the German annexation of the Sudetenland as well as the invasions ofCzechoslovakiaand Poland. "[31]

After the assumption of absolute control over the OKW in February 1938, Hitler declared that he did not want men of intelligence under his command, but men of brutality, an observation which did not sit well with Canaris.[32]Whether he was deeply troubled by Hitler's comment or not, Canaris and theAbwehrstill busied themselves preparing the ideological groundwork for theannexation of Austriawhich occurred in March 1938.[33]

A month later, Canaris and theAbwehrwere set to work subverting the Czechs as part of Hitler's strategy to acquire theSudetenland.[34]Before the spring of 1938 came to an end, the conservative members of the German Foreign Office and many ranking officers in the military began sharing their fears over an impending international disaster and the threat of another catastrophic European war based on Hitler's actions. A conspiratorial group formed around GeneralErwin von Witzlebenand Admiral Canaris as a result.[35]Throughout the process, Canaris and subordinates such asHelmuth Groscurthworked to prevent war to the extent feasible. Meanwhile, Canaris participated in the plots among the military leadership for a coup against Hitler and attempted to open up covert communication lines with the British, convinced that Hitler would push Europe to war.[36]Before the actual invasion of Poland occurred, theAbwehrwent so far as to send a special emissary,Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin,to London in order to warn them.[37]Subverting the Nazi government with warnings to the Allies was but one part of the picture, as this move did not stop or deter Canaris from obeying Hitler's orders to provide 150 Polish army uniforms and small arms to Himmler and Heydrich for theirstaged attack on a German radio station by 'Polish' forces;one act which Hitler used to justify his assault on Poland.[38]

During World War II

edit

Early successes

edit

Under Canaris, theAbwehrexpanded and proved to be efficient during the early years of the war. Its most notable success wasOperation Nordpol,which was an operation against the Dutch underground network, which at the time was supported by theSpecial Operations Executive.[39]Concomitant to the period known as thePhoney War,theAbwehrcollected information on Denmark and Norway. Shipping in and out of Danish and Norwegian ports was placed under observation and over 150,000 tons of shipping was destroyed as a result. Agents in Norway and Denmark successfully penetrated their military thoroughly enough to determine the disposition and strength of land forces in both countries and deep-coverAbwehroperatives kept the German forces, particularly the Luftwaffe, intimately informed during the invasion of Norway. Against both of these nations, theAbwehrmounted what one would call a successful intelligence operation of some scale and proved itself critical to the success of German military endeavors there.[40]

Fear over the drastically low levels of available petroleum at the beginning of 1940 prompted activity from the German Foreign Office and theAbwehrin an attempt to ameliorate the problem "by concluding an unprecedented arms-for-oil" deal, brokered to push back the "Anglo-French dominance in the Ploiești oilfield."[41]Abwehroperatives also played on Romanian fears, making them more amenable to Hitler's offer to shield them from the Soviets—through which the Germans acquired cheap oil.[42]In this regard, theAbwehrprovided some semblance of economic utility for the Nazi regime.

In March 1941, the Germans forced a captured SOE radio operator to transmit messages to Britain in a code that the Germans had obtained. Even though the operator gave indications that he was compromised, the receiver in Britain did not notice. Thus the Germans were able to penetrate the Dutch operation and maintained this state of affairs for two years, capturing agents, and sending false intelligence andsabotagereports until the British caught on. InBodyguard of LiesAnthony Brown suggests that the British were well aware that the radios were compromised and used this method to feed false information to the Germans regarding the site of the D-Day landings.[43]

Hitler sent Canaris as a special envoy to Madrid during the early summer of 1940 to convince Spain to join in the coming fight against the Allies, for which Gibraltar could have strategic military value.[44]The repeat visit, in December 1940, was a failure; Franco, for various political and military reasons, was not ready to join the German war effort.[45] Canaris reported that Franco would not commit Spanish forces until England collapsed.[46]

Underestimating the enemy and the Commissar Order

edit

Initial estimates of the SovietRed Army's will and capability were low, a line of thinking shared by the Nazi hierarchy. A great deal has been made by historians over this fact, but some of the German General Staff's optimism was the result of estimates provided by theAbwehr,whose assessments left the German General Staff believing that the Red Army only possessed 90 infantry divisions, 23 cavalry divisions, and a mere 28 mechanized brigades.[47]By the time the reappraisal of the Red Army by German military intelligence occurred in mid-June 1941 (which was about 25 percent higher than previously reported), it was a foregone conclusion that Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union was going to take place.[48]

Late assessments from theAbwehrcontributed to military overconfidence and their reporting mechanism said nothing of the massive mobilization capability of the Soviet Union, an oversight that arguably contributed to the German defeat since time-tables were so important for German success. Many of the maps produced for Operation Barbarossa by theAbwehrwere woefully inaccurate and portrayed dirt tracks as main roads, hampering the pace of logistical operations.[49]The German Army's failure to reach its objectives in short order proved pivotal; once winter came, improperly outfitted German forces suffered when supplies did not reach them.[50][j]Overestimating their capabilities and trusting their assessments too much, as well as underestimating their enemies (especially the Soviets and the Americans), atop long-standing traditions ofunconditional obedience,comprised a historically central weakness in the German system, according to historianKlaus P. Fischer.[51]

On 8 September 1941, under the auspices of theCommissar Order(Kommissarbefehl), the OKW issued a decree concerning the ruthless ideological imperatives of the Nazi state against all semblance of Bolshevism, a provision that included executing Sovietcommissarsand prisoners of war.[52]Admiral Canaris, the head of theOKW Ausland/Abwehr,immediately expressed concern about the military and political ramifications of this order. Killing soldiers and even non-combatants in contravention of theGeneva Conventionwas not something theAbwehrleadership—namely Canaris—supported.[53]

North Africa and the Middle East

edit

TheAbwehrwas active in North Africa leading up to and during theWestern Desert Campaignof 1941–42. North Africa, like other cases, proved disastrous for theAbwehr.The greatest failure occurred as a result of deception operations conducted by the British. An Italian of Jewish ancestry was recruited in France sometime in 1940 by theAbwehr.Unknown to the Germans, this individual was an agent codenamed "Cheese" who was already working for the British SIS before the war began. In February 1941, theAbwehrsent Cheese to Egypt to report on any British military operations; instead of providing his German handlers with accurate information, he passed strategic deception materials and hundreds of MI5 doctored messages to Nazi intelligence by way of a fictitious sub-agent named 'Paul Nicosoff', helping to ensure the success ofOperation Torch.[54]Confirmation of this fact came when one of Hitler's most trusted military advisers, Chief of the OKW Operations Staff, GeneralAlfred Jodl,later informed his Allied interrogators that the Allied landings in North Africa came as a total surprise to the German general staff.[55][k]

The need for upwards of 500 more agents to supplement intelligence operations in North Africa prompted theAbwehrto get creative. Arab prisoners of war (POWs) languishing in French camps were offered a trip back to their homeland if they agreed to spy for the Germans in North Africa, as were Soviet POWs in the East.[57]Other intelligence collection efforts included working closely with theLuftwaffeon aerial reconnaissance missions over North Africa. Previously, aerial reconnaissance was ordered by army intelligence officers of the Army Group HQ (part of the structure to which theAbwehrwas assigned).[58]MajorWitilo von Griesheim[de]was sent toItalian Libyain early 1941 to set up AST Tripoli (code name WIDO). He soon set up a network of agents and wireless stations gathering information in Libya and in the surrounding French territories. In mid-July 1941, Admiral Canaris orderedLuftwaffeMajorNikolaus RitterofAbwehrI to form a unit to infiltrate Egypt through the desert to make contact with the Egyptian Army Chief of Staff,el Masri Pasha,but this effort repeatedly failed.[59]Accompanying Ritter in Libya was the Hungariandesert explorerLászló Almásywith a mission to gather intelligence fromBritish-held Egypt.After Ritter was injured and sent away, Almásy took over command and organized the 1942Operation Salam,which succeeded in transporting two German agents across theLibyan Desertbehind enemy lines to Egypt. In July 1942, Almásy and his agents were captured by British counterintelligence operatives.[l]

Other operations in North Africa were occurring concomitantly with those of Almásy and Ritter. During late January 1942 for instance, the OKW authorized the creation of a special unit,Sonderkommando Dora,which was placed under the command ofAbwehrofficer,OberstleutnantWalter Eichler(formerly aPanzerofficer as well).[59]The unit included geologists, cartographers, and mineralogists, who were sent into North Africa to study desert topography and assess the terrain for military use, but by November 1942—following the Axis retreat fromEl Alamein—Sonderkommando Doraalong with theBrandenburgersoperating in the area, were withdrawn from the Sahara altogether.[61]

An Iranian national recruited in Hamburg by theAbwehrbefore the war was converted into a double agent by British and Russian intelligence officers (working together in one of the few joint intelligence efforts of the war), who code-named him "Kiss". From late 1944 until the end of the war, Kiss, who was based out of the intelligence center in Baghdad, provided false information on Soviet and British troop movements in Iraq and Iran to theAbwehr;as directed by his Allied controllers.[62]On the Afghan border, theAbwehrsought to turn theFaqir of Ipiagainst British forces. They infiltrated the region usingManfred Oberdörffer,a physician, andFred Hermann Brandt,an entomologist under the guise of a medical mission to research leprosy. The mission was a failure, with Oberdörffer being killed and Hermann was taken prisoner.[63]

Questionable commitment and recruiting

edit

Just how committed typical members of theAbwehrwere to German victory is difficult to assess, but if its leadership tells a story, it is not one of conviction. For instance, during March 1942, when many Germans still had confidence in their Führer and their army, Canaris saw things differently and told GeneralFriedrich Frommthat there was no way Germany could win the war.[m]

Canaris had made the United States a primary target even before it entered into the conflict. By 1942, German agents were operating from within all of America's top armaments manufacturers. TheAbwehralso suffered a very public debacle inOperation Pastorius,which resulted in the executions of sixAbwehragents sent to the United States to sabotage theAmerican aluminum industry.TheAbwehrattempted use of coercion as a means to infiltrate the United States when they 'recruited' anaturalizedAmerican citizen visiting Germany,William G. Sebold,byGestapothreats and blackmail, code-naming him TRAMP, and assigning him the task of "serving as radio andmicrofilmchannel for MajorNikolaus Ritter,head of theAbwehrHamburg post's air intelligence section ".[65]Unfortunately for the Germans, who used Sebold successfully for a short period, he was discovered, and became a counterspy, and his communications to Germany were screened by theFBI.[66]For more than a year and a half, the FBI was able to transmit misleading information via Sebold to German intelligence from a shortwave radio transmitter located on Long Island, NY.[67]Meetings between Sebold and "bona fide German spies" were even filmed by FBI technicians.[68]Not every spy theAbwehrsent was captured or converted in this manner, but the Americans, and especially the British, proved mostly successful in countering the efforts of the GermanAbwehrofficers and used them to their advantage.[69]

TheAbwehrwas impaired by agents who aided the Allies in whatever covert means were necessary. Canaris personally gave false information that discouraged Hitler from invading Switzerland (Operation Tannenbaum). He also persuadedFrancisco Franconot to allow German forces to pass through Spain to invadeGibraltar(Operation Felix), but it may have been just as much the imposition of the SD. The SD was allegedly spreading rumors about the partition of Spain. SD operatives also established a station at thecentral post officein Madrid to police mail going through Spain and even attempted to assassinate one of Franco's pro-Allied generals, which strengthened Franco's intransigence against Hitler and the Nazi regime.[70]

Agent Garbo

edit

Operation Garbo, also known as "Garbo" or "Agent Garbo", was a crucial British intelligence operation during World War II aimed at deceiving theAbwehr.The mastermind behind this operation wasJuan Pujol García,a Spanish double agent who worked for the British[n]and whose acting was considered so good they codenamed him "Garbo".[71]Garbo was highly successful in spreading disinformation to theAbwehr,primarily by creating a network of fictitious sub-agents and feeding them fabricated intelligence reports. These reports were carefully crafted to mislead the Germans about Allied intentions and strategies. Garbo's information was so convincing that he gained the confidence of the German high command, who considered him one of their most trustworthy sources.[71]

One of the most significant achievements of Operation Garbo was its role in the success of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, as it contributed to the confusion and misdirection of German forces.[72]By providing false information about an impending Allied invasion via thePas de Calais,Garbo diverted German attention away from Normandy, where the actual landings took place, making Juan Pujol García's efforts in Operation Garbo instrumental in the overall Allied strategy and intelligence operations during World War II.[73]Juan Pujol García was so trusted by both sides that he was awarded theMBEby the British and an Iron Cross by the Nazis.[74]

Repression and complicity

edit

Images of theAbwehras a veritable organ of resistance inside the heart of Nazi Germany are not an accurate reflection across the spectrum of its entire operations or its personnel. In a staff of some 13,000, perhaps 50 were fundamentally anti-Nazi.[75][o]Before theinvasion of Polandfor instance, theAbwehrand SiPo jointly drew up a list of over 60,000 names, people who were to be the targets ofOperation Tannenberg,an effort designed to systematically identify and liquidate the Polish elite.[77]For several months before the invasion of the Soviet Union, theAbwehrwas key in deception operations set up to convince the British and the Soviets that Great Britain was under threat of imminent invasion, an undertaking which helped soften the eastern territories for Operation Barbarossa.[78]Before the commencement of theattack on the Soviet Union,theAbwehralso spread rumors that the British talk of an impending German attack was nothing more thandisinformation.[79]

During January 1942, partisan fighters at the port city ofEupatoriainCrimeaassisted aRed Armylanding there and revolted against the German occupying forces. Reinforcements were sent in under GeneralErich von Mansteinand the port city was retaken. Reprisals against the partisans were carried out under the direction of Major Hans-Wolf Riesen, anAbwehrofficer on the Eleventh Army's staff, who oversaw the execution of 1200 civilians, the bulk of whom were Jews.[80]Additional evidence over the duties assigned to operatives in theater is revealing. Out in the field, the army group commander of the G-2 was assisted the army groupAbwehrofficer (FrontaufklaerungskommandoIII), with additional help coming available from the secret field police.Abwehrofficers in this capacity were tasked with overseeing personnel in counterintelligence, the safeguarding of classified information, and preventive security. TheFrontaufklaerungskommandoIII received instructions concerning theAbwehrfromOKH/General z.b.V./Gruppe Abwehr,and "informed army group G-2 of allAbwehrmatters in a monthly report or special reports. "[81]Security within army headquarters was another area of responsibility so detachments of the secret field police were placed at his disposal and he cooperated with particular departments of the SD, the SS, and the police to be well versed in all fields of counterintelligence and kept tabs on guards, checking their reliability against available personnel records. According to the United States War Dept. General Staff,

TheAbwehrofficer maintained close liaison withFrontaufklaerungskommandoIII to be well informed about counterintelligence conditions, especially as far as the non-German population was concerned. The net of agents produced a clear picture of the morale and attitude of the population within the sector of the army group and reported on all activities of the enemy intelligence service, on resistance movements and other illegal groups, and guerrilla conditions.[81]

According to Bauer, theAbwehrwas more interested in perpetuating its interests than it was in saving Jews.[82]While there are accounts of theAbwehrassisting Jews to safety via clandestinely arranged emigration,[83]there are also cases ofAbwehroperatives enriching themselves in the process through bribes and other monetary payoffs.[84][p]Not only that, theAbwehrhad its share of dedicated Nazis. For example, it is now known thatAbwehragent Hermann Giskes and Joseph Schreieder of the Gestapo cooperated in an operation known asEnglandspiel,through which the Nazis gained "complete control" over all DutchSOEagents between March 1942 and December 1943, whom they used as part of a successful deception scheme.[85][q]

CASSIA spy ring (Maier–Messner group)

edit

A majorAbwehrfailure occurred when the existence of a resistance group and spy ring, which operated out of Austria and had been working with the Allies, was uncovered by theGestapo;a failing for which theAbwehrwas embarrassed. This resistance group provided theOSSwith plans and information onPeenemünde,theV-1,V-2 rockets,Tiger tanks,aircraft (Messerschmitt Bf 109,Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet,etc.), and supplied information on the existence of major concentration camps likeAuschwitz.[87][88]Despite theGestapo's use of torture, they were unable to uncover the true extent of the group's success, particularly in providing information forOperation CrossbowandOperation Hydra,both preliminary missions forOperation Overlord.[89][90]Some 20 members of the group—including its key figures,Franz Joseph Messner[de](codenamed CASSIA by the OSS) and the priestHeinrich Maier—were eventually executed due to the intelligence failures of the OSS, who hiredBedřich Laufer(OSS Code name: Iris), a double agent who had also been working for the SD.[91]

Undermining the regime

edit

Several examples demonstrate that someAbwehrmembers were opposed to the Nazi regime. In January 1944 for example, American statesmanAllen Dullesrevealed his knowledge of a coalescing resistance against the Nazis, an assemblage of intellectuals from military and government circles; his main contact wasAbwehrofficerHans Bernd Gisevius,who was stationed in Zurich as the German Vice Consul.[92]Dulles communicated with theAbwehrconcerning their intrigue against Hitler and even attempted discussions about a separate peace, but PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltwould have none of it, preferring instead a policy of unconditional surrender for the Nazi government.[92]Machinations against the National Socialists by theAbwehrwere considerable in terms of the chain of command. GeneralHans Osterof theAbwehrremained in regular contact with Dulles. Foreknowledge and penetration of theAbwehrwas such that Dulles reported later in February 1944 that theAbwehrwas going to be absorbed by the SD.[92][r]

The SS continually undermined theAbwehrby putting its officers under investigation, believing them to be involved in anti-Hitler plots. Heydrich ensured that theAbwehrand Canaris were closely monitored.[93]The SS also accused Canaris of being defeatist in his intelligence assessments, especially on the Russian campaign, and theAbwehrwas under investigation for treason related to the earlier attack on Belgrade.[94]

Eastern Front

edit

Following the launch ofOperation Barbarossa,anNKVDSoviet agent named Alexander Demyanov penetrated theAbwehrin late 1941 by posing as a member of a pro-German underground resistance with alleged access to the Soviet military leadership—this was a complete fabrication concocted by theGRUand NKVD, who used Demyanov as adouble agent.[95]During the autumn of 1942, Demyanov informed his German handlers that he was working as a communications officer at the Soviet headquarters in Moscow, which would give him access to important intelligence, a ruse that managed to fool the German intelligence commander on the Russian front at the time,Reinhard Gehlenof theFremde Heere Ost(Foreign Armies East) intelligence section.[96]Demyanov manipulated the military operations aroundStalingrad,convincing Gehlen thatArmy Group Centerwould be unable to move west of Moscow to aide GeneralFriedrich Paulusand theSixth Army,which was ultimately encircled by the Red Army.[97]

Likewise, a group of White Russians under GeneralAnton Turkoul[Wikidata]soughtasylum in Germanyand offered to provide radio intelligence for the Germans and worked with theAbwehrin getting the necessary communication links established. One of the primary radio links was code-named MAX, supposedly located near the Kremlin. MAX was not the intelligence mechanism theAbwehrbelieved it to be, instead, it was "a creature of theNKGB",through which information was regularly disseminated concerningForeign Armies EastandForeign Air Forces Eastand troop movements. Careful message trafficking and deception operations by the Soviets allowed them to misdirect the Germans and aided in the strategic surprise they enjoyed against Army Group Center in June 1944.[98]Even though theAbwehrno longer existed at this point, the heritage operations connected to MAX gave the Soviet armies an advantage they would not have otherwise possessed and further proved the extent of damage attributable to theAbwehr'sincompetence, as Moscow's disinformation repeatedly fooled the German high command.[99]

The Frau Solf Tea Party and the end of the Abwehr

edit
Main articles:German resistance to Nazism,Frau Solf Tea Party,andErich Vermehren

On 10 September 1943, the incident which eventually resulted in the dissolution of theAbwehroccurred. The incident came to be known as the "Frau Solf Tea Party".

Hanna Solfwas the widow ofWilhelm Solf,a former Colonial Minister underKaiser Wilhelm IIand ex-ambassadortoJapan.Frau Solf had long been involved in theanti-Nazi intellectual movementin Berlin. Members of her group were known as members of the "Solf Circle". At a tea party hosted by her on 10 September, a new member was included in the circle, a handsome young Swiss doctor namedPaul Reckzeh.Reckzeh was an agent of theGestapo(Secret State Police), to which he reported on the meeting, providing several incriminating documents. The members of the Solf Circle were all rounded up on 12 January 1944. Eventually, everyone involved in the Solf Circle—except Frau Solf and her daughterLagi Gräfin von Ballestrem—was executed.[100][101]

One of those executed wasOtto Kiep,an official in the Foreign Office, who had friends in theAbwehr,among whom wereErich Vermehrenand his wife, the former Countess Elizabethvon Plettenberg,who were stationed as agents inIstanbul.Both were summoned to Berlin by the Gestapo in connection with the Kiep case. Fearing for their lives, they contacted the British and defected.[102][103]

Hitler had long suspected that theAbwehrhad been infiltrated by anti-Nazi defectors and Allied agents, and the defection of Vemehren after the Solf Circle arrests all but confirmed it. It was also mistakenly believed in Berlin that the Vermehrens absconded with the secret codes of theAbwehrand turned them over to the British. That proved to be the last straw for Hitler. Despite the efforts of theAbwehrto shift the blame to the SS or even to the Foreign Ministry, Hitler had had enough of Canaris and he told Himmler so, twice. He summoned the chief of the Abwehr for a final interview and accused him of allowing theAbwehrto "fall to bits". Canaris quietly agreed that it was "not surprising", as Germany was losing the war.[104]

Hitler fired Canaris on the spot, and on 18 February 1944, Hitler signed a decree that abolished theAbwehr.[s]Its functions were taken over by theReich Security Main Office(RSHA) and the senior RSHA officialWalter Schellenbergreplaced Canaris functionally within the RSHA. This action strengthened Himmler's control over the military.[106]

Canaris wascashieredand given the empty title of Chief of the Office of Commercial and Economic Warfare. He was arrested on 23 July 1944, in the aftermath of the "20 July Plot"against Hitler, and executed shortly before the end of the war, along with Oster, his deputy.[107]The functions of theAbwehrwere then fully absorbed byAmtVI,SD-Ausland,a sub-office of the RSHA, which was part of the SS.[108]

The Zossen documents

edit

During the war, theAbwehrassembled a secret dossier detailing many of the crimes committed in Eastern Europe by the Nazis, known as theZossen documents.These files were gathered together to expose the regime's crimes at a future date.[109]The documents were kept in a safe at theZossen military headquartersnot far from Berlin and remained underAbwehrcontrol. Some of the papers were allegedly buried, but the individual responsible for this,Werner Schrader,ended up implicated in the20 July plotagainst Hitler and committed suicide shortly thereafter. Later, the documents were discovered by the Gestapo, and under the personal supervision of the SD ChiefErnst Kaltenbrunner,they were taken to the castleSchloss Mittersillin theTyroland burned. Supposedly amongst the Zossen documents was the personal diary of Admiral Canaris, as well as the Vatican and Fritsch papers.[110]

Effectiveness and legacy

edit

Many historians agree that, in general, theAbwehrhad a poor reputation for the quality of its work and its unusually decentralized organization.[111][112]Some of theAbwehr's less than stellar image and performance was due to the intense rivalry it had with the SS, the RSHA and with the SD.[113][3]Other factors in the failings of theAbwehrmay have included Allied success in deciphering the GermanEnigma machineciphers through the code-breakers atBletchley Park.[114]During the August and September 1942 engagements in North Africa against Rommel, this Allied capability was a crucial element to Montgomery's success, as British signals intelligence (SIGINT) was superior to that of the Germans.[115]

American historianRobin Winkssays that theAbwehrwas "an abysmal failure, failing to forecastTorch,orHusky,orOverlord".[116]English historianHugh Trevor-Ropersays it was "rotten with corruption, notoriously inefficient, [and] politically suspect". He adds that it was under the "negligent rule" of Admiral Canaris, who was "more interested in anti-Nazi intrigue than in his official duties". HistorianNorman Daviesagrees with this observation and avows that Canaris "was anything but a Nazi enthusiast".[113]According to Trevor-Roper, for the first two years of World War II it was a "happy parasite" that was "borne along... on the success of the German Army". When the tide turned against the Nazis and theAbwehrproved unable to produce the intelligence the Axisleadershipdemanded, the Nazi authorities merged theAbwehrinto the SS in 1944.[117]Numerous intelligence failures and general incompetence led to catastrophic disasters for the German military in both its eastern and western campaigns.[118][t]In his book,The Secret War: Spies, Ciphers, and Guerrillas, 1939–1945,historian Max Hastings claims that other than suborning Yugoslav officers ahead of their 1941 emergency mobilization, theAbwehr's espionage operations were "uniformly unsuccessful".[119]

Such harsh criticism of theAbwehraside, the organization achieved some notable successes earlier in its existence. Members of theAbwehrplayed an important role (along with the SD) in helping to lay the groundwork for the 1938Anschlußwith Austria with Germany, and during theGerman occupation of CzechoslovakiaanAbwehrgroup aided in the seizure of a strategically important railway tunnel in Polish Silesia in the final week of August 1939.[113]Historian Walter Goerlitz claimed in his 1952 work,History of the German General Staff, 1657–1945,that Canaris and theAbwehrformed the "real center of military opposition to the regime",[120]a view which many others do not share. Former OSS Berlin station chief and later director of theCentral Intelligence Agency,Allen Dulles,evaluated German intelligence officers from theAbwehrat the end of the war and concluded that only the upper echelons were active dissenters and part of the opposition movement. According to Dulles, theAbwehrparticipated in a lot more than just machinations against Hitler's régime and asserted that approximately 95 percent of theAbwehractively worked "against the Allies" whereas only about 5 percent of them were anti-Nazi in disposition.[121]Military historianJohn Wheeler-Bennettwrote that theAbwehr"failed conspicuously as a secret intelligence service", that it was "patently and incontestably inefficient" and adds that members of theAbwehr"displayed no great efficiency either as intelligence officers or as conspirators...".[122]Whatever successes theAbwehrenjoyed before the start of the Second World War, there were virtually none once the war began and worse, the British successfully ran 19 double agents through theAbwehrwhich fed them false information, duping the German intelligence service to the very end.[123][u][v]Soviet infiltrationinto theAbwehrandNKVDsuccesses against Abwehr agents also reflect poorly on German military intelligence efforts.[126]Historian Albert Seaton makes an important observation regarding the German Army's failures as a result of poor intelligence by asserting that all too often, decisions were made as a result of the opinion of Hitler and that he imposedhisviews on the military chain of command and therewith, the choice of actions taken during the war.[127]Max Hastings makes similar claims about the general nature of totalitarian systems: in Nazi Germany, intelligence assessments required adjustment to fit within the constraints of what Hitler would accept.[128]Nonetheless, the general historical reputation of theAbwehrremains unfavourable in the view of many historians.

Chiefs

edit
No. Portrait Chief of the Abwehr Took office Left office Time in office Defence branch Ref.
1
Gempp, FriedrichColonel
Friedrich Gempp
(1873–1947)		1 January 1921June 19276 years, 5 monthsReichsheer–
2
Schwantes, GüntherMajor
Günther Schwantes[de]
(1881–1942)		June 1927February 19291 year, 8 monthsReichsheer–
3
Bredow, FerdinandLieutenant colonel
Ferdinand von Bredow
(1884–1934)		February 19292 June 19323 years, 4 monthsReichsheer–
4
Patzig, ConradRear admiral
Conrad Patzig[de]
(1888–1975)		6 June 19321 January 19352 years, 209 daysKriegsmarine–
5
Canaris, WilhelmAdmiral
Wilhelm Canaris
(1887–1945)		1 January 193512 February 19449 years, 42 daysKriegsmarine–
6
Hansen, GeorgColonel
Georg Hansen
(1904–1944)		13 February 19441 June 1944109 daysGerman Army–
7
Schellenberg, WalterSS-Brigadeführer
Walter Schellenberg
(1910–1952)		1 June 19444 May 1945337 daysSchutzstaffel–
8
Skorzeny, OttoSS-Obersturmbannführer
Otto Skorzeny
(1908–1975)		5 May 19458 May 19453 daysSchutzstaffel–

See also

edit

References

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^Originally formed in 1866, the early manifestation of the PrussianAbwehrpredates the modern German state and originated to collect intelligence information for the Prussian government duringa warwith neighboring Austria. See: Lerner & Lerner, eds. (2004).Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security,vol. 1, A-E, p. 2.
  2. ^In particular, the British and the French vehemently opposed Germany having any form of intelligence services and attempted to institute as many restrictions as possible on theAbwehr.[2]
  3. ^The termAbwehr,Germanfor 'ward-off', was chosen to emphasize the defensive character of this department of theReichswehrMinistry following the First World War.[3]
  4. ^The OKW did not establish an Intelligence Branch in its Operations Staff until 1943, at which time it consisted of only three officers.
  5. ^Despite the location of its HQ, in reality, the power lay in the field via each "Abwehrstelle"or" Ast "of theAbwehr—seesection titled 1938 reorganization.
  6. ^A view Heydrich acquired from Walter Nicolai's 1923 book,Geheime Mächte,in which the author argues that Imperial Germany lost the war as a result of not having a capable intelligence agency comparable to the ones operated by Britain and France.[17]
  7. ^Sometimes referred to as the 'Brandenburgers' of 'Brandenburger Regiment', the Brandenburg Regiment was the first Germanspecial forcesunit similar to the British Commandos.
  8. ^TO&E being the exact listing of what was deemed necessary for any German military unit to be at full operational strength. An exception to this TO&E directive existed in Hamburg which had no permanentAbwehrII presence.
  9. ^Evidence of theAbwehr'ssubstandard performance related to recruiting is mentioned in once classified American military documents. See German Espionage and Sabotage against the United States.O.N.I. Review[Office of Naval Intelligence] 1, no.3 (Jan. 1946): 33–38. [Declassified]. Full text online and retrievable from"German Espionage and Sabotage Against the U.S. In World War II".Archived fromthe originalon 2001-12-05.Retrieved2013-08-09.(Accessed December 20, 2014).
  10. ^It is doubtful that more accurate reporting would have deterred Hitler since at one point during the planning phase of Operation Barbarossa, GeneralGeorg Thomas,then head of the Defence Economy and Armament Office of the OKW, was scolded and patronized when he warned of insufficient fuel reserves for the attack, and voiced complaints about logistics due to the different gauges between German and Russian railways. See Barnett (2003).Hitler's Generals,p. 115.
  11. ^During the spring of 1941, theAbwehrdispatched a Palestine-born Jew named Ernst Paul Fackenheim (who had been in a concentration camp) back to his place of birth to apprise the Germans over British efforts to prevent GeneralErwin Rommelfrom seizing the Suez Canal. Instead of reporting information back to the Nazis, Fackenheim, who had been dropped by parachute into Palestine, promptly turned himself over to the Allies.[56]
  12. ^One of the men taken into British custody (recruited to assist in communicating information between Egypt and Berlin) was a young Egyptian signals intelligence officer namedAnwar Sadat(later President of Egypt).[60]
  13. ^Diary of the Chief of Staff, Befehlhabers des Ersatzheeres, 20 March 1942, Imperial War Museum, MI 14/981/3.[64]
  14. ^Garbo's case manager atMI5wasTomás Harris
  15. ^Balfour's numbers do not match the figures put forth by historian Richard Breitman, who claims the organization consisted of "more than twenty-one thousand officials in 1941, not including informants and other sources."[76]Nonetheless, the point remains the same, as theAbwehrwas not largely populated by personnel working against the Nazi regime.
  16. ^For more on the depths of corruption in Nazi Germany, see: Frank Bajohr,Parvenüs und Profiteure: Korruption in der NS-Zeit.Frankfurt: Fischer Verlag, 2001.
  17. ^For further details regardingEnglandspiel,see Kochanski,Resistance: The Underground War Against Hitler, 1939–1945,pp. 373–380.[86]
  18. ^Dulles was not the only one receiving reports from resistance groups. Efforts by dissident Germans to contact the Allies in Switzerland and elsewhere during 1944 are also documented inU.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States(FRUS), 1944, vol. 1, General (Washington, DC, 1966), pp. 484–579.
  19. ^For a long time, Hitler had found theAbwehrsuspect in terms of performance; they had not apprised the German military with any intelligence on the North African landings nor much thereafter, leading Hitler to conclude that theAbwehrand its leadership were incompetent.[105]
  20. ^One officer from the German General Staff during Operation Barbarossa described theAbwehr's intelligence contribution to the war effort as nothing more thanMist,which is German for "manure" or "dung". See:Thomas, David (1987). "Foreign Armies East and German Military Intelligence in Russia 1941–45".Journal of Contemporary History.22(2): 261–301.doi:10.1177/002200948702200204.JSTOR260933.S2CID161288059.
  21. ^So thorough was the British penetration of German military intelligence, that not one single agent theAbwehrhad in Great Britain was legitimate. HistorianDavid Kahnasserts that the British accomplished "the greatest deception in the history of warfare since the Trojans dragged into their jubilant city a huge wooden horse left by the departing Greeks".[124]
  22. ^Attempts by theAbwehrto encourage anti-colonial rebellion against the British Empire in Ireland (through contacts with theIRA) and in India (making ties with members of theIndian National Army) also proved unsuccessful since the British effectively thwarted their efforts.[125]

Citations

edit
  1. ^Holmes 2009,p. 2.
  2. ^abPaine 1984,p. 7.
  3. ^abZentner & Bedürftig 1991,p. 2.
  4. ^Dear & Foot 1995,p. 1.
  5. ^Taylor & Shaw 1997,p. 11.
  6. ^Newsome 2014,pp. 950–951.
  7. ^Taylor 1995,p. 165.
  8. ^Kahn 1978,pp. 224–225.
  9. ^Bassett 2011,p. 44.
  10. ^Kahn 1978,p. 225.
  11. ^Andrew 2018,p. 573.
  12. ^Bassett 2011,p. 93.
  13. ^Bassett 2011,p. 94.
  14. ^Richelson 1995,p. 96.
  15. ^Bassett 2011,pp. 97–99.
  16. ^Bassett 2011,pp. 96–99.
  17. ^Gerwarth 2012,p. 84.
  18. ^Gerwarth 2012,p. 85.
  19. ^Richelson 1995,p. 86.
  20. ^Schellenberg 2000,pp. 25–27.
  21. ^Blandford 2001,p. 18.
  22. ^Bassett 2011,p. 114.
  23. ^Kahn 1978,p. 236.
  24. ^Bassett 2011,p. 115.
  25. ^Kahn 1978,p. 243.
  26. ^Kahn 1978,pp. 243–248.
  27. ^Leverkuehn 1954,pp. 64–66.
  28. ^Kahn 1978,pp. 85–88.
  29. ^Leverkuehn 1954,p. 98.
  30. ^Kochanski 2022,p. 113.
  31. ^Richelson 1995,p. 84.
  32. ^Bassett 2011,pp. 142–143.
  33. ^Bassett 2011,pp. 148–149.
  34. ^Bassett 2011,pp. 118–119.
  35. ^Hildebrand 1973,pp. 70–71.
  36. ^Bassett 2011,pp. 147–164.
  37. ^Weinberg 2005,p. 585.
  38. ^Shirer 1990,p. 518.
  39. ^Bassett 2011,pp. 176–177.
  40. ^Leverkuehn 1954,pp. 81–86.
  41. ^Tooze 2006,p. 381.
  42. ^Tooze 2006,pp. 381–382.
  43. ^Brown 1975,pp. 464–466.
  44. ^Weinberg 2005,pp. 224–225.
  45. ^Reginbogin 2009,p. 116.
  46. ^Rich 1973,pp. 173–174.
  47. ^Cooper 1984,p. 282.
  48. ^Cooper 1984,p. 283.
  49. ^Megargee 2000,p. 133.
  50. ^Cooper 1984,pp. 283–284.
  51. ^Fischer 1995,p. 445.
  52. ^Jacobsen 1968,pp. 523–525.
  53. ^Bassett 2011,p. 223.
  54. ^Walton 2013,p. 41.
  55. ^Holt 2004,pp. 218, 270.
  56. ^Walton 2013,pp. 48–49.
  57. ^Kahn 1978,p. 273.
  58. ^Kahn 1978,pp. 125–130.
  59. ^abMolinari 2013,p. 48.
  60. ^Walton 2013,p. 50.
  61. ^Molinari 2013,pp. 48–49.
  62. ^Walton 2013,p. 70.
  63. ^Stewart 2014,pp. 188–190.
  64. ^Weinberg 1994,p. 298.
  65. ^Richelson 1995,pp. 139–140.
  66. ^Richelson 1995,p. 141.
  67. ^Reynolds 2022,pp. 218–219.
  68. ^Reynolds 2022,p. 219.
  69. ^Richelson 1995,pp. 140–143.
  70. ^Bassett 2011,pp. 196–200.
  71. ^abDear & Foot 1995,p. 714.
  72. ^Rankin 2008,pp. 400–402.
  73. ^Hastings 2016,pp. 465, 481.
  74. ^Dear & Foot 1995,pp. 714–715.
  75. ^Balfour 1988,p. 156.
  76. ^Breitman et al. 2005,p. 94.
  77. ^Burleigh 2010,p. 125.
  78. ^Davies 2008,p. 93.
  79. ^Andrew 2018,pp. 576–577.
  80. ^Lemay 2013,p. 282.
  81. ^abUnited States War Dept. General Staff 1984,p. 46.
  82. ^Bauer 1996,p. 126.
  83. ^Roseman 2000,pp. 129–145, 250–253.
  84. ^Roseman 2000,pp. 137–138.
  85. ^Kochanski 2022,p. 368.
  86. ^Kochanski 2022,pp. 373–380.
  87. ^Broucek 2008,p. 414.
  88. ^Hassell, MacRae & Ameskamp 2006,p. 189.
  89. ^Thurner 2017,p. 187.
  90. ^Boeckl-Klamper, Mang & Neugebauer 2018,p. 300.
  91. ^Hassell, MacRae & Ameskamp 2006,pp. 182–183.
  92. ^abcPeterson 2002,p. 281.
  93. ^Bassett 2011,p. 226.
  94. ^Bassett 2011,pp. 226–227.
  95. ^Andrew 2018,p. 646.
  96. ^Andrew 2018,pp. 646–647.
  97. ^Andrew 2018,p. 647.
  98. ^Richelson 1995,pp. 143–144.
  99. ^Hastings 2016,pp. 234–237.
  100. ^Shirer 1990,pp. 1, 025.
  101. ^Reitlinger 1989,pp. 304–306.
  102. ^Reitlinger 1989,p. 306.
  103. ^Bassett 2011,pp. 281–282.
  104. ^Bassett 2011,p. 282.
  105. ^Waller 1996,pp. 330–331.
  106. ^Cooper 1984,p. 537.
  107. ^Longerich 2012,p. 698.
  108. ^United States War Dept. General Staff 1984,p. 3.
  109. ^McDonough 2005,p. 44.
  110. ^Dulles 2000,p. 73.
  111. ^Leverkuehn 1954,p. 37.
  112. ^Howard 1990,p. 49.
  113. ^abcDavies 2008,p. 251.
  114. ^Andrew 2018,pp. 616–617.
  115. ^Andrew 2018,p. 640, 644–645.
  116. ^Winks 1996,p. 281.
  117. ^Trevor-Roper 1992,p. 75.
  118. ^Archer et al. 2002,pp. 524–525.
  119. ^Hastings 2016,p. 64.
  120. ^Goerlitz 1985,p. 295.
  121. ^Dulles 2000,pp. 75–76.
  122. ^Wheeler-Bennett 1980,p. 597.
  123. ^Blandford 2001,pp. 23–24.
  124. ^Kahn 1978,p. 367.
  125. ^Walton 2013,pp. 47, 51.
  126. ^Stephan 2004,pp. 45, 110, 114, 173.
  127. ^Seaton 1982,p. 221.
  128. ^Hastings 2016,p. 65.

Bibliography

edit
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abwehr&oldid=1233345389"