Skorzeny's operation was similar to that of The Brandenburgers (The Brandenburg Division), who would seize targets (bridges etc) while disguised in the enemies uniforms, as well as weapons and vehicles. Definitely worth a story on.
Not unlike Wernher von Braun working on the US space program, basically against the Soviets. Convenience seems to trump principles in "enemy of my enemy " situations.
Thank for your informative video! One correction: Operation Greif, meaning Operation Griffen, 2nd word is pronounced "Greyef" (long "i" sound). NOT pronounced "greef", as English word grief.
Life & "grife" are good examples, but sometimes people seem to find real word examples confusing!?! That's why I went for phonetic spelling; could of been clearer, maybe "Gr-eye-f".
we should all be grateful that Skorzeny didn't get everything he wanted for operation Greif - there were plenty of Captured Sherman tanks available ( they were called trophy or Beute Panzers ) , but the ( German) units that operated them, were reluctant to hand over their captured hardware without being given full details as to why
It’s also interesting after the war he settled for a time in Franco’s Spain and also made several visits to Ireland not too sure why he would go there perhaps because it’s a nice tranquil place to be and of course both countries were neutral in the Second World War.
He lived and owned property in Ireland for a number of years, believe it was a stud? Supposedly protected by the "Godsquad" church institutions and their influence with then Irish president deValera a religious zealot.
As a 76 year old combat wounded disabled veteran, and I tell you it was simple justice; lawfully carried out according to the articles of war and sanctioned by all signatories of the Geneva Protocol, which by the way, Included Germany.
Skorzeny for a brief period after the war was also a dairy farmer in Ireland! God knows why the Irish government let him in. Thankfully , the local people made him feel very unwelcome and he left.
What part of Ireland did he buy his farm in? How long was he there? A man Like Skorzeny wouldn’t have lived and worked like a hermit. I doubt he wasn’t at a loss at finding some drinking pals and if the locals didn’t like him he must have mused if that were true then why didn’t they told their parties to join the rest of the world in fighting the Evil given so many of their menfolk volonteered to do just that. Reckon more likely they were like Mary Lou in attitude, why some of them had had their beliefs printed in the Press in their « declaration of war » against Britain - they probably reflected more of the general attitude than Dev just sitting on the fence but hoping along with his German ambassador friend that the war would be short and that their bombing activities in Britain would gain them privileges against Britain when the war was won. If the locals had known what the bombers of Coventry et al had done and the gory details, they’d have probably given them a heroes welcome. Instead, old Dev just wanted to sit on the fence, and gain advantage..
Ireland was neutral in WW2 and had German sympathizers. Their hatred for Britain certainly clouded their rational minds regarding what Nazi Germany represented to world history going forward if they won.
The Irish state although formally neutral in WW2 , actively helped the allies. Also, many Irish people fought in WW2 against the Germans. Skorzeny owned a farm I believe south of Dublin for a very short period of time but was not made welcome by the locals.
Hello, and Thank You. Thanks to your videos, I'm reading Viktor E. Frankel's, MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING. I appreciate your videos more than I can say! Rest In Peace to All of the Innocent Victims 💔💔💔💔💔💔🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️
I gotta ask and I don’t mean to be mean or rude or anything but why do the British pronounce 3 as free? He said their was free fousand? I noticed a lot of British RU-vidrs do that but then theirs quicky baby and jingles that don’t,is it a regional accent or something? Just wondering,I’m just a hill jack from KY and have an accent myself but don’t know much about Britain,just curious,great video ✌️
Wait a minute, you don’t believe that the Nazis were the personification of evil, and everything we did was righteous and virtuous? You don’t think the fire bombing of Dresden and the mass murder of civilians was OK? What are you, and not see?,
A phrase shared by confederate fanboys who didnt have a pa to love them so they created imaginary honor & pride via "their heritage", nazi sympathizers who cant talk to girls, and finally trump loving fatties who salivate over the idea that a coming civil war will allow them to kill & rape liberals(or what talk radio has convinced them are liberals.) I do understand why theyd fantasize over progressive women though....All of the above types have wives like rosie odonald. That doesnt justifiy changing history though. Be better.
Yes. The English word Grief (ie) means sorrow whereas the German word Greif (ei) means grab…mostly commonly in reference to the action of a bird of prey which are referred to as a Greifvogel. The video is excellent but the mispronunciation also translates into a whole other meaning.
A mutch covered topic. Operation Greif (Grab) was welnamed concidering its intentions (sucuring bridges, supplies and fuel, not destroying them). Grief as it is pronounced by you means something different alltogether. I understand German pronounciation is difficult but even English is a Germanic Language. Substitute the i in Greif for an y and you come very close to the correct pronounciation.
The white rabbit yeo thomas Was a witness for the defence at Trial of skorzeny and testified his Operatives had dressed up in german uniforms which stopped The proceedings!
They were executed because they were wearing American uniforms and were German soldiers. When you wear the uniform of your enemy and pretend to be one of them, you are considered a spy. Spies have been executed from the beginning of warfare!
It rhymes with, and follows the same German language rules as, "stein." In German, the ei diphthong is pronounced "eye" and the ie diphthong is pronounced "ee".
This man sure lived a very interesting life . Dos Equis should have picked him for their " The most interesting man in the world " campaign . May he burn in Hell
It was none other than White Rabbit who defended Skorzeny at his trial. On asking White Rabbit how they acquired “their” German uniforms whilst in France..he replied “..by hook or by crook..” I will leave this to the readers imagination.
@@wilsonmatt8611 Well..there are transcripts out there of the trial of Skorzeny. Please remember that this chap was pretty slippery and was very good at manipulating (hence his stance at being good at what he did) He was also the epitome of “that” stereotype of the time...solidly built, tall, handsome square face, strong (German Voice), had a calm influence, THAT scar! He was noted by a US journalist as “..being the most dangerous man in Europe..” See below..as it did make me laugh as I did a little experiment.... Even as a footnote...I did a small test...I showed Skorzeny to my wife...her response...”...Ah..oh..he is very handsome..l like these sort of men...” Hahaha...well l was in the Army myself..so l have something going for me...
@@wilsonmatt8611 also..try Charles Whiting...I believe he wrote under a different name but met Peiper and Skorzeny after the war several times... There is also Skorzeny memoirs...people state what he says are falsehoods...but read it at your will and take from it your own life experience and knowledge to judge for yourself. There s also another great book that talks of Skorzeny and his work with Student to rescue Mussolini...He did have much more of a role than later historians like to discredit him for...and it must be said (subjectively) that with Skorzeny getting into the Storch with Benito Mussolini at Gran Sasso did actually do a disservice to the Fallchirmjaeger that took part...something that even Skorzeny knew and when questioned was always making key that he was the leading force. Do not forget....Skorzeny got his Knights Cross (Ritterkreutz) for this action...and rightly so..even Churchill mentioned this rescue from Gran Sasso in the House of Commons... It’s just one of those twists of fate that other Fallchirmjaeger did NOT get the recognition they rightly deserved...but they accepted it gracefully as the historical truth is there...and they are vindicated... Some were to lose their lives at Cassino...then Russia....
@@robertchubb1518 "Read it at your will and take it from your own life experiences and knowledge to judge if it's true." Uuummmmm, I'm pretty sure that's not how you effectively study history. Rigorous examination of the evidence with a healthy dose of skepticism is the recipe for good history.
@@thehoneybadger8089 Griffin, griffon, and gryphon --apparently different spellings for the same mythical beast--the critter whose front half is eagle, and hind half is lion. Is different from a wyvern or a chimera. : )
Umm..... Eisenhower got off scot free, and he was involved in okaying the firebombing of Dresden, and other cities full of civilians. Watch a video called Hellstorm, or read the book. It's infuriating. Also.... remember that history is written by the victors. In this case, they had to make the enemy look far worse than they were. Look into the Katyn forest massacre, and realize that the Soviets were the ones who did that. Look into the Holodomor, and into who was responsible for the starvation deaths of up to 14 million people in Ukraine. I'm telling you.... there really were NO "good guys" in either of the world wars, and only one people benefited the most from them. Those people were NOT any of the "allies" or "axis" powers either.
@@TheWolfsnack honestly, he would have been better off taking the bullet, than to work for that disgusting group. Do a little digging about what they are involved in doing. From the spying/ blackmailing, to the selling off nuclear secrets to enemy nations, to the sex trafficking to get their blackmail schemes going, to murder. Mossad is an absolutely vile organization, and should have never been allowed to keep existing after the Rosenbergs.
@@Spike-sk7ql omg!thk u will def read the book n see the video tonight.you are right....in any war...no one really wins ....heartbreaking atrocities on Humans irrespective of which side is terrible May we live to see a peaceful world but I doubt it
According to one source Otto was eventually hired for a job by MOSSAD ! A character for sure and less negatively judged by more than a few, and somehow popular with few reservations by many, go figure.
@@thomasjordan5578 So you first heard it in the video and wanted to repeat what we all heard in the same video, or you wanted to inform us of a fact you thought we didnt know? lol
Disguising yourself as the enemy was instant execution as provided by the Geneva convention. Those executed were well aware of the risks. No sympathy at all therefore.
1. no 2. no 3. no Try that and you become immediately war criminal. Using enemy's uniform is called ruse. Anybody harming captured such a person is war criminal. But they cannot use weapons while wearing enemy's uniforms unless they clearly identify themselves. You clearly do no know that i.e. British attacked dry dock using old destroyer filled with explosives - to be able to enter the harbor, they used false flag. According to you, any soldier participating in this attack could be legally executed by germans (regardless uniform) as he came under the false flag. Any PoW who had escaped and had been caught in civilian clothes could be rightfully executed as soldiers neither can wear civilian clothes. You have it all wrong
@Mungo You forget one thing. When HMS Campbelltown came up to full speed and made her initial turn toward St. Naziere, she dropped her gun covers and hauled up the Union Jack.
@@clarkhull7546 I get that....but I thought there were actually all sorts of "Rules for Warfare" that I think neither side particularly followed. (Although I can't find them now in a search. That seems odd.) I vaguely recall learning something about military law in Basic Training. (40 years ago) I thought they mentioned somethings about ....it was illegal to use .50 cal machine guns against foot soldiers....that sort of thing. Illegal to use napalm or chemical warfare.....things the US engaged in. So it seems harsh to execute these ordinary soldiers for trying to pull off a caper in the middle of a war. After all, there are countless Hollywood movies where they glorify our side doing exactly that.....spying.
