OTTO SKORZENY

[craig]

I have a question for all out there
Otto Skorzeny the German Commando during WW2
I know all the things he did as In rescue Mussolini and led the German special unit In US uniforms during the Battle of the Bulge. But as far as I know he was never Involved or accused of any war crimes or massacres etc. So why was he still in hidding until his death in the 70's> I know the Russians were after him bad. Did he commit warcrimes,even though he was an avid Nazi was he anything more than a soldier. I know Hilter wanted to Kill the Big three Stalin, Churchill and FDR which Skorzeny side step cause he saw the writing on the wall.
Your comments will be interesting

 

[MontyB]

I have a question for all out there
Otto Skorzeny the German Commando during WW2
I know all the things he did as In rescue Mussolini and led the German special unit In US uniforms during the Battle of the Bulge. But as far as I know he was never Involved or accused of any war crimes or massacres etc. So why was he still in hidding until his death in the 70's> I know the Russians were after him bad. Did he commit warcrimes,even though he was an avid Nazi was he anything more than a soldier. I know Hilter wanted to Kill the Big three Stalin, Churchill and FDR which Skorzeny side step cause he saw the writing on the wall.
Your comments will be interesting

He was tried for war crimes but never convicted, as far as I recall he went into hiding because after he was turned over to German authorities he escaped and ended up in Spain where I assume he remained until his death.

AS far as being anything more than a soldier well he appears to have been an excellent SF commander although I get the impression he was also a little bit of a showman as well.

 

[bulldogg]

Skorzeny surrendered to the Allies in May and was held as a prisoner of war for more than two years before being tried as a war criminal for his actions in the Battle of the Bulge. However, he was acquitted when Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas G.C. of the SOE testified in his defence that

Allied forces had also fought in enemy uniform. Still, he continued to be held until he escaped from a prison camp on July 27, 1948.

He settled in franquist Spain with a passport granted by its dictator, Francisco Franco and resumed his prewar occupation as an engineer. In 1952, he was declared "entnazifiziert" (denazified) in absentia by a German government arbitration board, which enabled him to travel abroad. Before the declaration, he could have been interned in Germany or Austria until he had convinced the authorities that he had seen the error of his beliefs. Later on, he worked as a consultant to the Egyptian dictator Gamel Abdel Nasser and the Argentine President Juan Peron, and is rumoured to have assisted several of his friends in the secret SS escape network "Odessa" in the years after the war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Skorzeny

Kinda sounds like he wasn't really hiding from reading this. If he was something of a showboat it would fit with the Nazi culture of the refined warrior who leads with a bit of flair. A lot of very great military leaders possess this trait, Geo. S. Patton for one but then some total nitwits did also like Montgomery. :roll: