Otto Skorzeny

Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-<a href="/facts/Standartenf%25C3%25BChrer/BcvBI4MV">Standartenführer</a> in the <a href="/facts/Waffen-SS/KBYTW6jY">Waffen-SS</a> during <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including the <a href="/facts/Operation_Panzerfaust/UTbSlBMW">removal from power</a> of <a href="/facts/Regent_of_Hungary/pWjlRUK7">Hungarian Regent</a> <a href="/facts/Mikl%25C3%25B3s_Horthy/9nLyVXEw">Miklós Horthy</a> and the <a href="/facts/Gran_Sasso_raid/1xyJETMA">Gran Sasso raid</a> that rescued <a href="/facts/Benito_Mussolini/q8UPaBlm">Benito Mussolini</a> from captivity. Skorzeny led <a href="/facts/Operation_Greif/uW0Wb4vJ">Operation Greif</a> in which German soldiers infiltrated Allied lines wearing their enemies' uniforms. As a result, he was charged in 1947 at the <a href="/facts/Dachau_trials/m5C1F3KV">Dachau Military Tribunal</a> with breaching the <a href="/facts/Hague_Conventions_of_1899_and_1907/h61yeIjd">1907 Hague Convention</a>, but was acquitted.
Skorzeny escaped from an internment camp in 1948, hiding out on a Bavarian farm as well as in <a href="/facts/Salzburg/HLygtHgN">Salzburg</a> and <a href="/facts/Paris/DrNHpwnA">Paris</a> before eventually settling in <a href="/facts/Spain/bIyrB8EY">Spain</a>. In 1953, he served as a military advisor to the Egyptian president <a href="/facts/Gamal_Abdel_Nasser/Dm5lMejj">Gamal Abdel Nasser</a>. He was allegedly an advisor to Argentinian president <a href="/facts/Juan_Per%25C3%25B3n/KQQm2xGI">Juan Perón</a>. Skorzeny acted as an agent of <a href="/facts/Mossad/nerqo6nJ">Mossad</a>, allegedly assisting with the execution of actions such as <a href="/facts/Operation_Diamond/T1Bzyqnp">Operation Diamond</a>. He died of <a href="/facts/Lung_cancer/LHLdR454">lung cancer</a> on 5 July 1975 in <a href="/facts/Madrid/B63nL2DB">Madrid</a> at the age of 67.

Otto Skorzeny open-in-new

Otto Skorzeny