Tuesday, January 1, 2019
B-17G of the 91st Bomb Group limps home over the North Sea escorted by P-51 fighters.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
The man who made sure Israel was created by the UN -2 Gun Moishe (Cohen)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cohen's gravestone in Manchester England.
Helped the Chinese fight against the Japanese in World War Two and tried to help the Nationalists against the Communists.
Morris “Two-Gun” Cohen was the one and only Jewish Chinese General and,
for a time, was head of the Chinese Secret Service! One of his colleagues was
Dr. Moses Schwarzberg, a Russian Jew who helped save China, for a time,
from the Communists.
The official languages in the Chinese Secret Service, because of the help by Cohen and Schwarzberg
during this time were Chinese, Yiddish and English.
Born in Poland to a large observant Jewish family of eight children, Abraham
Morris Cohen was a handful almost from the time he could walk. His father beat
him when he was three years old for wandering away from his East London home.
A sturdy lad, he responded to Christian boys’ bantering by – at age eight –
knocking out a 12-year-old. A boxing promoter signed him to fight professionally.
He called himself ”Fat Moisha” or “Cockney Cohen,” but would never enter the
ring on a Friday – the Jewish Sabbath. He feared his father’s wrath.
His family was poor and he earned pocket change by picking
pockets. Ultimately, he was recruited by a man known as “Harry the Gonof”
But he eventually was arrested. Then he was sent, at age 12, to a variety of reform schools. His angry
parents borrowed the money and sent him, aged 16, to a friend farming in Wappala,
then in the Assiniboia territory – later part of Saskatchewan.
Cohen’s life changed drastically one evening in Saskatoon and on
Sunday evenings, he enjoyed a large Chinese dinner and then gamble in the back
of the café. But, when he turned up one night at one of his favorite haunts, he
found the aged Chinese restaurant owner, Mah Sam, being held up by a hoodlum.
Cohen decided to take action and went up to the assailant and hit him hard in the head – disarmed him – and then threw him bodily
out of the restaurant.
This action opened up a relationship with the Chinese people. To the Chinese, he became a hero at a time when anti-Asiatic feeling in Canada
was even greater than its anti-Semitism. Cohen became the only white man
admitted to the ranks of the secret Chinese Tong.
Ultimately, Morris Cohen journeyed to China – now being led into modernity by
Dr. Sun Yat Sen, and he became commander of the President’s 250-man bodyguard.
Several attempts were made to assassinate Chinese President Sun Yat-Sen.
On one occasion, Cohen fought off three assailants attacking Sun on a train. He was nicked in his left hand.
The wound made him think. “Supposing it had been my right arm. As soon as we
got back to Canton, I got me a second gun, another Smith and Wesson revolver.”
Journalists dubbed him “Two-Gun” Cohen.
Two-Gun was of great service to the Chinese. A veteran of World War I, he taught
his new friends boxing and the use of weapons. He became a military adviser, and
an arms dealer. In 1922, he was named Director of the Chinese secret service.
Morris Cohen had a very limited knowledge of Chinese, but in his new post, he
was able to use Yiddish quite a bit. One of his confreres was interpreter -Doctor Moishe
Schwarzberg, and the two would chat in Yiddish!
The doctor had an urgent need to meet with President Sun and made his way to Shanghai but found his way to the President barred by
a highly-protective bodyguard. Schwartzberg gathered that the “huge man with a
shaved head and two pistols in his belt” was in charge but when he tried pleading
his case, in Chinese and Russian, the chief bodyguard responded, in English,
“Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?”
When he learned who he was, Cohen switched to Yiddish. A collaboration of the
two Moishes was born. When Schartzberg made his presentation to Doctor Sun,
it became apparent that the Chinese President couldn’t read Russian. The
multilingual Jewish doctor was immediately offered a job as an interpreter.
Two-Gun put it this way: “Listen, kid, how would you like to stay on as Dr. Sun’s
confidential secretary. He likes you.” And so Chinese spies worked in Chinese,
Yiddish and English!
Cohen was named to command the Chinese 19th field army. Time Magazine,
in 1931, reported that Cohen “was named by the Canton government as a
Brigadier General.” He led Nationalist troops in fighting against both the
Japanese and communist Chinese.
When the Japanese entered World War II, in 1941, Cohen was captured in
Hong Kong. The Japanese now had a great enemy – but they didn’t know it.
By identifying himself as a Canadian businessman, he fooled the Japanese.
Ultimately, Morris Cohen was among a small number of prisoners released in
exchange for important Japanese officials held in the US. He returned to Canada.
“When we pulled into Montreal,” he said. “ I picked up my parcels and stepped
down on the platform – a free man.”
On Friday, Dec. 3rd, 1943, the Montreal Gazette reported “A few dozen men and
women met early yesterday at Bonaventure station for the sole purpose of meeting
the fairytale Chinese general, a Jew by birth a Canadian Citizen, Gen. Morrice
Cohen a former aide-de-camp to the famous rebuilder of China, Dr. Sun Yat sen.”
Cohen married a Montreal woman but the affair didn’t last. He planned to return
to England – but he had one great service to offer to the Jewish people.
In 1945, the United Nations was being formed in San Francisco. And a resolution
proposing the partitioning of Palestine into two states – one Jewish and the other
Arabic – was to be submitted to the new organization. The international Jewish
community was on hand to do what it could to see that the Resolution was passed.
Cohen flew to San Francisco and was able to convince the head of the Chinese delegation
to abstain from voting when he learned they planned to oppose partition. This happened because the Chinese delegate when he was in the Chinese Army was promoted to General by Cohen and they became friends. So as a friendly gesture to an old friend he agreed to Abstain China's vote in the UN. That
abstention ultimately helped ensure passage of the measure partitioning Palestine –
and allowing the creation of Israel.
He died in Manchester and was buried there with a trilingual headstone – in
English, traditional Hebrew and in Chinese as a tribute from the people he served
so well. The tribute identified him as “Mah Sam” – as close as the Chinese could
get to Morris Cohen. It means “clenched fist.”
Post war interview with IJN Admiral Takata
IJN Admiral Takata
Admiral TAKATA discusses the Japanese efforts to reorganize their Naval
Air Force after the Battle of MIDWAY, the effects of the SOLOMONS
Campaign and of the Battle of the PHILIPPINE Sea. The planning for the
defense of the PHILIPPINES is considered, together with reasons for the
Japanese failure. In conclusion, Admiral TAKATA offers some general
comments on the origin and course of the PACIFIC War.
TRANSCRIPT
Q. What specific duties did you perform when you reported to the Staff
of the Combined Fleet in May 1943?
A. I was in charge of the general phase of the operation and was
promoted at the time of the death of Admiral YAMAMOTO and Admiral KOGA.
I was promoted to the position of Chief Staff Officer.
Q. When you reported to the Staff of the Third Fleet in July 1942, what
duties did you perform on that Staff?
A. After the MIDWAY Campaign, as you know, the First Air Fleet was very
heavily damaged and we had to reorganize the Third Fleet. I had the
mission to reorganize the Third Fleet.
Q. Approximately what percentage of the pilots were recovered after the
Battle of MIDWAY when your four carriers were sunk?
A. 30% of the pilots were killed and 40% were injured.
.............................................
Q. What do you think was the cause of the failure at MIDWAY?
A. The main reason of the failure was the strategical inefficiency on
the side of the Japanese Navy, careless mishandling of the Japanese
Navy. I think the chief reason for the failure was the lack of training
of the pilots in search. They also put too much emphasis on attack
tactics only.
Q. Which do you think was of greater importance, the failure to conduct
proper reconnaissance and obtain necessary tactical information on the
location of the American Forces or the better deployment or better
tactical operation of the American Forces in the Battle of MIDWAY?
A. I think that poor reconnaissance on the side of the Japanese was far
more the cause than the tactics.
...............................
Q. To get back to the air groups of the First Air Fleet that were
recovered after the Battle of MIDWAY, what disposition was made of these
air groups?
A. 30% of the pilots came back to JAPAN to convalesce, and 40% were
shifted to the Third Fleet, at KYUSHU, to go into further training.
Q. We have been told by certain people that some of them were sent to
the RABAUL Area. Is that correct?
A. The Third Fleet was organized on 15 July and they figured two months
were needed for their next operation; but before they had enough time to
reorganize, the GUADALCANAL picture came up and they were forced to send
these pilots prematurely to RABAUL.
Q. Do you remember what happened to the pilots in the RABAUL Area? What
happened to these well-trained pilots?
A. When they went down south, part of this original number of pilots
were sent to RABAUL carriers; but after the battle of SANTA CRUZ they
were brought back to JAPAN to be retrained and reorganized. However,
most of them were killed in action at PORT MORESBY, BUNA and SANTA CRUZ.
Q. During the period in late 1943 and early 1944, did you have other air
groups for the Third Fleet in training?
A. Anticipating island fighting, the Navy trained a new First Air Fleet,
different from the original First Fleet of the PEARL HARBOR attack, and
trained for land-based operations.
Q. At what time in early 1944 were these newly trained air groups
considered ready for operation?
A. The original plan was that they would be ready in May; that is, the
Third Fleet would have sufficient power by that time. However, the
American attack came earlier than expected so they were forced to go
south in an incomplete condition.
Q. Did the Japanese Navy consider that it had enough planes in late 1943
and 1944 to defend the islands south and east of TRUK?
A. They did not have enough planes and they were not so confident.
Interrogation Nav 64, Rear -- Admiral Toshitane Takata, USSBS NO. 258, (November 1, 1945). Interrogation of: Rear Admiral TAKATA, Toshitane,IJN; attached successively to the Staff of the Third Fleet, the Combined Fleet, and the Naval General Staff. Interrogated by: Captain T.J. Hedding, USN, Lt. Comdr. J.A. Field, jr., USNR. Allied Officers Present: Col. R. Potts, USAAF.
Admiral TAKATA discusses the Japanese efforts to reorganize their Naval
Air Force after the Battle of MIDWAY, the effects of the SOLOMONS
Campaign and of the Battle of the PHILIPPINE Sea. The planning for the
defense of the PHILIPPINES is considered, together with reasons for the
Japanese failure. In conclusion, Admiral TAKATA offers some general
comments on the origin and course of the PACIFIC War.
TRANSCRIPT
Q. What specific duties did you perform when you reported to the Staff
of the Combined Fleet in May 1943?
A. I was in charge of the general phase of the operation and was
promoted at the time of the death of Admiral YAMAMOTO and Admiral KOGA.
I was promoted to the position of Chief Staff Officer.
Q. When you reported to the Staff of the Third Fleet in July 1942, what
duties did you perform on that Staff?
A. After the MIDWAY Campaign, as you know, the First Air Fleet was very
heavily damaged and we had to reorganize the Third Fleet. I had the
mission to reorganize the Third Fleet.
Q. Approximately what percentage of the pilots were recovered after the
Battle of MIDWAY when your four carriers were sunk?
A. 30% of the pilots were killed and 40% were injured.
.............................................
Q. What do you think was the cause of the failure at MIDWAY?
A. The main reason of the failure was the strategical inefficiency on
the side of the Japanese Navy, careless mishandling of the Japanese
Navy. I think the chief reason for the failure was the lack of training
of the pilots in search. They also put too much emphasis on attack
tactics only.
Q. Which do you think was of greater importance, the failure to conduct
proper reconnaissance and obtain necessary tactical information on the
location of the American Forces or the better deployment or better
tactical operation of the American Forces in the Battle of MIDWAY?
A. I think that poor reconnaissance on the side of the Japanese was far
more the cause than the tactics.
...............................
Q. To get back to the air groups of the First Air Fleet that were
recovered after the Battle of MIDWAY, what disposition was made of these
air groups?
A. 30% of the pilots came back to JAPAN to convalesce, and 40% were
shifted to the Third Fleet, at KYUSHU, to go into further training.
Q. We have been told by certain people that some of them were sent to
the RABAUL Area. Is that correct?
A. The Third Fleet was organized on 15 July and they figured two months
were needed for their next operation; but before they had enough time to
reorganize, the GUADALCANAL picture came up and they were forced to send
these pilots prematurely to RABAUL.
Q. Do you remember what happened to the pilots in the RABAUL Area? What
happened to these well-trained pilots?
A. When they went down south, part of this original number of pilots
were sent to RABAUL carriers; but after the battle of SANTA CRUZ they
were brought back to JAPAN to be retrained and reorganized. However,
most of them were killed in action at PORT MORESBY, BUNA and SANTA CRUZ.
Q. During the period in late 1943 and early 1944, did you have other air
groups for the Third Fleet in training?
A. Anticipating island fighting, the Navy trained a new First Air Fleet,
different from the original First Fleet of the PEARL HARBOR attack, and
trained for land-based operations.
Q. At what time in early 1944 were these newly trained air groups
considered ready for operation?
A. The original plan was that they would be ready in May; that is, the
Third Fleet would have sufficient power by that time. However, the
American attack came earlier than expected so they were forced to go
south in an incomplete condition.
Q. Did the Japanese Navy consider that it had enough planes in late 1943
and 1944 to defend the islands south and east of TRUK?
A. They did not have enough planes and they were not so confident.
Interrogation Nav 64, Rear -- Admiral Toshitane Takata, USSBS NO. 258, (November 1, 1945). Interrogation of: Rear Admiral TAKATA, Toshitane,IJN; attached successively to the Staff of the Third Fleet, the Combined Fleet, and the Naval General Staff. Interrogated by: Captain T.J. Hedding, USN, Lt. Comdr. J.A. Field, jr., USNR. Allied Officers Present: Col. R. Potts, USAAF.
Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney, of the 352nd Fighter Group, April, 1944
P-51 Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney, of the 352nd Fighter Group, April, 1944.
Friday, December 28, 2018
B-29 gun controls images.
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Not All German Officers in WWII were NAZIs.
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris (Germany, 1887-1945)
Admiral Wilhelm Canaries was a World War I U-boat commander and war hero. He was appointed to head the Abwehr, German military intelligence (1935). He is one of the most mysterious figures of World War II. While a committed German patriot, he was horrified at SS atrocities in Poland that he personally witnessed. Other atrocities came to his attention such as plans to kill important Polish officials and nobles as well as highly educated and cultured Poles to destroy the Polish intelligentsia --the repository of national culture (Aktion AB). From that point he began to work to prevent a NAZI victory in the war. A great deal is known about his activities, but the full extent of his activities may never be known. He was extraordinarily effective, The NAZIs had no idea of his activities until the last months of the War. He was close to many top NAZIs like Goebbels who trusted him without reservation. Only after the Wehrmacht Bomb Plot (July 1944). Hitler had him hanged at Flossenburg Concentration Camp (April 9, 1945). Hitler had movies taken so he could watch. The Americans liberated the Camp (April 23). German military intelligence during World War II was highly ineffective. It is unclear just what Role Admiral Canaries played in this.
Parents
Wilhelm's father was Carl Canaries, a wealthy industrialist. His mother was Auguste Popp. The family for many years thought that they were related to the Greek admiral and freedom fighter Constantine Kanaris. This was a factor in the young Wilhelm's decision to pursue a naval career. He kept a portrait Kanaris in his office. Like many Germans in the 1930s, the family researched their ancestors and determined that the family came from northern Italy. The original family name was Canarisi. The family was found to have lived in Germany for several centuries (17th century). They were a Catholic family, but his grandfather converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism.
Childhood
Wilhelm was born on New Years Day in Aplerbeck (1887). this was a town near Dortmund, in Westphalia.
Education
Wilhelm was a good student with a flare for languages. He eventually learned five foreign languages (including English, French, Spanish, and two others). Despite his privileged family background and obvious intelligence, Wilhelm decided not to pursue a university education.
Naval Career
Canaries at age 17 enlisted in the Imperial German Navy (1905).
World War I (1914-18)
Canaries at the outbreak of World War I was serving on SMS Dresden as the intelligence officer. The Dresden was one of the few German vessels on the high seas when the British Royal Navy blockaded the North Sea. The Dresden participated in the Battle of Coronel off Chile (November 1914). Superior German use of radio intercepts was a major factor in the German victory. The Dresden was the only German vessel to survive the subsequent Battle of the Falklands (December 1914). The crews of the sunk vessels did not survive in the bitter cold waters of the South Pacific and South Atlantic. Canaries' clever deception techniques were a major factor allowing Dresden to evade intensive Royal Navy search patrols. The British finally found Dresden in Cumberland Bay. The Germans scuttled Dresden. The crew was interned in Chile (March 1915). Canaries managed to escape, in part because he was fluent in Spanish (August 1915). German merchants in Chile helped him get back to Germany. The Germany Navy gave him an intelligence assignment in Spain. The British attempted to kill him there. He was given command of a U-boat which eventually sank eighteen ships. He ended the War as a celebrated U-boat commander and war hero. His U-boat was in the Mediterranean when the War ended.
Family
Canaries married Erika Waag (1919). She was also from a wealthy industrialist family. They had two daughters (Eva and Brigitte).
Weimar Years (1919-33)
Canaries served in the ultra-nationalist and anti-Communist Freikorps after the War. He was close to Horst von Pflugk-Hartung. Pflugk-Hartung and others were accused of assassinating left-wing politicians. Several left-wing leaders, including Rosa Luxembourg were shot. Canaries was accused of being involved in the assassinations, but eventually exonerated. He managed to get an appointment to the Reichsmarine. It was very restricted by the Versailles Treaty. He was rose rapidly in rank. He became a Captain (1931). He was the Executive Officer of the cruiser Berlin and next the Commanding Officer of the battleship Schlesien. He also was involved in intelligence work. He strongly anti-Communist and got involved in right-wing politics. He was involved in meetings with military leaders, politicians and industrialists seeking to end the political turmoil in Germany. Canaries in the years just before Hitler seized power was deeply involved in right-wing politics, although not a NAZI Party member.
The Abwehr (1866-1944)
The Abwehr was the Prussian Army's intelligence arm. It was created as war with Austria loomed (1866). Success in the Austro-Prussian War and the subsequent Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) resulted in expanding the organization. Wilhelm Stieber oversaw the Abwehr which collected valuable information on French defenses wand was seen as playing an important role in the Prussian/German victory. One outcome of the War was the unification of Germany around the Prussian state. Thus many Prussian institutions became part of Imperial Germany. The Abwehr became the military intelligence organization of the new Imperial German military. The Abwehr collected valuable information that proved useful when the Germany Army invaded Belgium. Walther Nicolai oversaw the modernization of the Abwehr to accommodate new technologies. The Abwehr ran intelligence and sabotage operations in foreign countries, including the United States during the War. the Abwehr was forced to cease operation after World War I as part of terms of the Versailles Treaty (1919). The German military reactivated an intelligence service (1921). The military intelligence operations included surveillance of political parties. And this included the NAZIs even after they became the governing party (1933). The NAZIs set up their own independent intelligence service--Sicherheitsdienst (SD--Security Service). It was headed by SS officer Reinhard Heydrich. (A cashiered former naval officer.)
German World War II Spying and Counterintelligence
The major German spy achievement may have been before the War in encouraging Stalin's purge of the Red Amy. German intelligence during the War was nothing short of a disaster. The Soviets manage to surprise the Germans with a series of offensives beginning with offensive before Moscow. The Soviet offensive before Mosow was in fact the turning point of the War. The German failure to pick up on Soviet preprations was in part because of effective Soviet camafloge techniques. It also was both a failure of German intelligence and the mindset crated by Hitler in the Wehrmacht. Information on almost all of the German offensives leaked out, although neith ther the Sovirts or the Allies took advantage of this. Of course the German intelligence operation was the fact that the head of the Abwehr, Admiral Canaris, was actively working against the NAZIS. The major surprise German operation of the War was the Ardennes offensive which Allied intelligence failed to pick up on (December 1944). While German intelligence was a general failure, the German were very sucessful in tracking down resistance cells trying to send information back to London or get down flyers back to England.
Command of the Abwehr (1935-44)
Canaries was appointed to head the Abwehr, German military intelligence (1935). Thus he was the main German spy master during almost all of World war II. After being appointed to head the Abwehr, he negotiated with SD Director Heydrich over an agreed division of responsibilities. Both as World War II approached trained and maintained their own intelligence forces. Canaries set about reorganizing the Abwehr into three separate branches: 1) espionage, 2) counter-espionage, and 3) sabotage. He appointed three respected Abwehr agents to head the three different branches. He insisted that they could not be NAZI Party members.
Spain (1936)
Admiral Canaris spoke Spanish and had extensive contacts with the Soanish military. He surely was the German military officer with the greatest knowkledge of Spain at the time Francisco Franco launched his rebellion in Morocco (July 1936). Canaris knew many of the conservative officers involved in the revolt. Some authors even believe that he helped inpire the rebellion becaise of his aversion to the left-wing drift iof the Republic. Some sources maintain that Canaris persuaded Adolf Hitler to support Franco and the rebel forces who launched the Spanish Civil War (1936). The historical record is not clear. Hitler took the decesion which was critical in getting Franco's forces from Morocco to Spain. Hitler made the deesion at Bayreuth where Göring and Blomberg were present. Historians differe as to whether Canaris was present. [Whealey, p. 97.] There is no doubt that Canaris strongly supported the decesion and was active in the German military support team that aided Franco. German and Italian aid would prove decisive in Franco's victory.
Stalin's Purge of the Red Army
The Popular Leningrad leader Sergi Kirov was murdered (1934). Most historians believe that Stalin was probably responsible, but no actual evidence exists. Kirov was one of Stalin's important associates as he seized control of the Party. The two were very close. Kirov gradually came to question Stalin's methods. Stalin Subsequently launced massive purges of Soviet society--the Great Purges (1936). Eventually Stalin and his principal instrument, the NKVD, go around to the Red Army (1937). Stalin ordered the arrest of General Mikhail Tukhachevsky (May 22, 1937). He and seven other senior Red Army commanders were charged with organizing a "right-wing-Trotskyist" military conspiracy and spying for NAZI Germany. The arrests were reportedlu based on confessions obtained from other arrested officers. Of course in the Soviet system this meant that these officers were simply tortured until they confessed to what Stalin wanted them to say. Some Western historians until the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991), insusted that the case against the Red Army generals was based on forged documents planted by Admiral Canaris' Abwehr in an effort to weaken the Red army. It was argued that the Abwehr documents convinced Stalin that Tukhachevsky was orcestrating a Red Army plot to depose him. Following the disolution of the Soviet Union, Soviet archieves were partially opened to Western researchers. Most historians now believe that Stalin from the beggining concocted an entirely fictitious plot as [part of his wider program of purges. He chose the best known and most respected of his generals-- Tukhachevsky. And the charges of treason were used to eliminate him and others in a believable manner. [Lukes, p. 95.] There was a German connection. Stalin's ordered NKVD agent Nikolai Skoblin to pass information to Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the German Sicherheitsdienst (SD) intelligence unit fabricated information proving that Tukhachevsky and the other Soviet generals were plotting to depose Stalin. (Heydrich was earlier involved with forging documents in the Night of the Long Knives operation.) Heydrich saw an opprtunity to not only weaken the Red Army, but also undermine his rival, Admiral Canaris. He ordered that documents be forged implicating Tukhachevsky and other Red Army commanders. As a result of the Rapollo Accords, many Red army commanders had contacts with Wehrmacgt officers. These documents were passed to the Soviets through Czech President Beneš and other neutral parties. Stalin's archives were found to include some of these documents which puport to show a connection between Tukhachevsky and the NAZI leadership. Heydrich and other NAZIs were convinced that they had tricked Stalin into executing his best generals. It now appears that they had simply aided Stalin in pusuing the purge that he had concoted on his own. Of course it could be that they did help convince Stalin that there were in reality traitors working against him./ It is difficult to know just what was happening in the depths of Stalin's mind. Unlike many other important officials tried as part of the purges, Tukhachevsky and other top generals were not tried in public. The court martial to the extent it actually occurred was conducted in secret (June 11). The German documents apparently were not used, but rather confessions extracted through torture or extortion (threats asgainst the family) was the principal evidence. Tukhachevsky and his fellow officers were shot immediately after the court martial. [Rayfield, p. 324.] While the German role appears to have been minimal. The impact on the Red Army was not. The execution of Tukhachevsky and his colleagues was just the beginning. A massive purge of the Red Army followed which eliminated many of the most competent and experienced commanders and officers. This undoubtedly was a factor in the poor perfornmance of the Red Army at the onset of Barbarossa.
Czechoslovakia (1938-39)
Admiral Canaries was involved in efforts to dissuade Hitler from invading Czechoslovakia. It is unclear hat his motives were. Some Wehrmacht officers attempting to discourage Hitler, not so much for moral reasons, but because they did not believe Germany was strong enough to prevail in another European war. Canaris at this time certainly saw the Soviet Union as Germany's major adversary and understood that invading Czechoslovakia was an absolute violation of the Munich agreenment and make any future cooperation with Britain and France impossible. We do not know just what arguments he present to Hitler.
Poland (1939)
Admiral Canaries was horrified at SS atrocities in Poland that he personally witnessed. He traveled to the front to watch Wehrmacht operations (September 10). At Bedzin, he watched SS troops drive 200 Jews into a synagogue and then set it on fire. The Jews all burned to death. Admiral Canaries was shocked. Other atrocities came to his attention in the reports he received from his intelligence officers. He also learned of plans to kill important Polish officials and nobles as well as highly educated and cutured Poles to destroy the Polish intelligencia--the repository of national culture (Aktion AB). He was unaware that Hitler had personally set the SS killing machine in operation. He went to Hitler’s headquarters train, the Amerika, which was in Upper Silesia (September 12). He met with General Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the Armed Forces High Command. He told Keitel, “I have information that mass executions are being planned in Poland and that members of the Polish nobility and the clergy have been singled out for extermination. The world will one day hold the Wehrmacht responsible for these methods since these things are taking place under its nose.” Keitel was more of aware of Hitler's involvement and urged Canaries to take the matter no further. If he had, he probably would have been removed from command of the Abwehr. From that point he began to work to prevent a NAZI victory in the war. A great deal is known about his activities, but the full extent of his activities may never be known.
German Patriotism
He is one of the most mysterious figures of World War II. Canaris was a committed German patriot and fervent abnti-Communist. As World War II developed, Canaris began workihg against his own Government. His actions were directed toward the Western Allies. He continued to hope that the Germany could defeat the Soviets or at least prevent a Soviet occupation of Germany. Historians provide a range of view on Canaris. One author insists that after the Polish campaign, Canaris worked in many ways to prevent Hitler from winning the war, which he believed would be a disaster. [Johnson] Canaris probably had a greater impact on undermining the German war effort than all the other German anti-NAZIs combined.
Britain (1940)
Canaris exaggerated British strength in meetings with Hitler which helped to dissuade Hitler from launching Operation Sealion.
Spain (1940)
Admiral Canaries' most effective coup was probably in Spain. He had worked with Generalissimo Franco during the Spanish Civil war. Both Hitler and Mussolini had aided Franco. The two men had developed a close reputation. Canaries personally went to Spain and met with Franco after the Fall of France (1940). The Germans at the time were considering an attack on Gibraltar through Spain. Canaries advised Franco not to allow German troops to pass through Spanish territory. Canaries reasoned correctly that while Hitler might commit a force capable of seizing Gibraltar, he was so involved with plans for Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union) that he would not divert the resources needed to invade Spain. Hitler subsequently met with Franco at Hendaye on the French side of the Spanish border. He tried to get Franco to enter the War, both so he could attack Gibraltar and to get Spanish support for Barbarossa. Franco refused and the meeting became heated. Hitler expecting a more cooperative Franco was incensed. He said afterwards that he would rather have teeth pulled. Canaris essentially undermined NAZI diplomacy and Germany was unable to activate Operation Felix. . The consequences are incalcuable. Had Hitler brought Spain into the War, the Gernmans could have surely taken Gibraltar and Malta would have been untenable. And the British ability to interdict Axis supply routes to the Italian and subsequent German forces in North Africa almost surely would have enabled the Afrika Korps to seize Suez and opened the way to the Iraqi oil fields.
Holocaust
Canaris was horrified by the Holocaust. There he was little he could do to stop. Any open opposition would have resulted in his immediate removal and possible arrest. He did, however, managed to save several hundered Jews. More importantly, his action undermining the NAZI-war effort probanly save hundres of thousands if not the millions of European Jews that survived the Holocaust.
Tunisia (1943)
Canaris managed to prevent the execution of captured French officers in Tunisia.
Italy (1943)
Cabnaris misled Hitler into believing that the Allies would not land at Anzio.
Hiding His Activities
He was extraordinarily effective, The NAZIs had no idea of his activities until the last months of the War. He was close to many top NAZIs like Goebbels who trusted him without reservation. Goebbels reported meetings with Canaries in his diary. One entry read, "I had a long talk with Admiral Carais concerning the reprehensible attitude if a number of OKW and OKH officers. In his opinion one of the chief reasons is because the Seehaus Service [foreign broadcast transcripts] is being distributed so widely among officers and officials. I had a list of subscribers furnished me from which it appears that the Seehaus Service has become a veritable fountainhead of defeatism." [July 25, 1942-- Goebbels, p. 48.]
Bomb Plot Investigation
Suspicion as to Admiral Canaries' loyalty only began with the investigations following the Wehrmacht Bomb Plot (July 1944).
Execution
Hitler had him hanged at Flossenburg Concentration Camp (April 9, 1945). Hitler had movies taken so he could watch. The Americans liberated the Camp (April 23).
German Intelligence
German military intelligence during World War II was highly ineffective. It is unclear just what Role Admiral Canaries played in this.
Sources
Goebbels, Joseph. ed, Louis B. Lochner, The Goebbels Diaries, 1942-1943 (Doubleday: New York, 1948), 566p.
Johnson, David Alan. Righteous Deception: German Officers Against Hitler.
Lukes, Igor. Czechoslovakia Between Stalin and Hitler: The Diplomacy of Edvard Beneš in the 1930s (Oxford University Press, 1996).
Rayfield, Donald. Stalin and His Hangmen: The tyrant and Those who Killed for Him (New York: Random House, 2004).
Whealey, Robert H. Hitler and Spain: The Nazi Role in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939.
https://www.histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/bio/c/bio-canaris.html
Admiral Wilhelm Canaries was a World War I U-boat commander and war hero. He was appointed to head the Abwehr, German military intelligence (1935). He is one of the most mysterious figures of World War II. While a committed German patriot, he was horrified at SS atrocities in Poland that he personally witnessed. Other atrocities came to his attention such as plans to kill important Polish officials and nobles as well as highly educated and cultured Poles to destroy the Polish intelligentsia --the repository of national culture (Aktion AB). From that point he began to work to prevent a NAZI victory in the war. A great deal is known about his activities, but the full extent of his activities may never be known. He was extraordinarily effective, The NAZIs had no idea of his activities until the last months of the War. He was close to many top NAZIs like Goebbels who trusted him without reservation. Only after the Wehrmacht Bomb Plot (July 1944). Hitler had him hanged at Flossenburg Concentration Camp (April 9, 1945). Hitler had movies taken so he could watch. The Americans liberated the Camp (April 23). German military intelligence during World War II was highly ineffective. It is unclear just what Role Admiral Canaries played in this.
Parents
Wilhelm's father was Carl Canaries, a wealthy industrialist. His mother was Auguste Popp. The family for many years thought that they were related to the Greek admiral and freedom fighter Constantine Kanaris. This was a factor in the young Wilhelm's decision to pursue a naval career. He kept a portrait Kanaris in his office. Like many Germans in the 1930s, the family researched their ancestors and determined that the family came from northern Italy. The original family name was Canarisi. The family was found to have lived in Germany for several centuries (17th century). They were a Catholic family, but his grandfather converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism.
Childhood
Wilhelm was born on New Years Day in Aplerbeck (1887). this was a town near Dortmund, in Westphalia.
Education
Wilhelm was a good student with a flare for languages. He eventually learned five foreign languages (including English, French, Spanish, and two others). Despite his privileged family background and obvious intelligence, Wilhelm decided not to pursue a university education.
Naval Career
Canaries at age 17 enlisted in the Imperial German Navy (1905).
World War I (1914-18)
Canaries at the outbreak of World War I was serving on SMS Dresden as the intelligence officer. The Dresden was one of the few German vessels on the high seas when the British Royal Navy blockaded the North Sea. The Dresden participated in the Battle of Coronel off Chile (November 1914). Superior German use of radio intercepts was a major factor in the German victory. The Dresden was the only German vessel to survive the subsequent Battle of the Falklands (December 1914). The crews of the sunk vessels did not survive in the bitter cold waters of the South Pacific and South Atlantic. Canaries' clever deception techniques were a major factor allowing Dresden to evade intensive Royal Navy search patrols. The British finally found Dresden in Cumberland Bay. The Germans scuttled Dresden. The crew was interned in Chile (March 1915). Canaries managed to escape, in part because he was fluent in Spanish (August 1915). German merchants in Chile helped him get back to Germany. The Germany Navy gave him an intelligence assignment in Spain. The British attempted to kill him there. He was given command of a U-boat which eventually sank eighteen ships. He ended the War as a celebrated U-boat commander and war hero. His U-boat was in the Mediterranean when the War ended.
Family
Canaries married Erika Waag (1919). She was also from a wealthy industrialist family. They had two daughters (Eva and Brigitte).
Weimar Years (1919-33)
Canaries served in the ultra-nationalist and anti-Communist Freikorps after the War. He was close to Horst von Pflugk-Hartung. Pflugk-Hartung and others were accused of assassinating left-wing politicians. Several left-wing leaders, including Rosa Luxembourg were shot. Canaries was accused of being involved in the assassinations, but eventually exonerated. He managed to get an appointment to the Reichsmarine. It was very restricted by the Versailles Treaty. He was rose rapidly in rank. He became a Captain (1931). He was the Executive Officer of the cruiser Berlin and next the Commanding Officer of the battleship Schlesien. He also was involved in intelligence work. He strongly anti-Communist and got involved in right-wing politics. He was involved in meetings with military leaders, politicians and industrialists seeking to end the political turmoil in Germany. Canaries in the years just before Hitler seized power was deeply involved in right-wing politics, although not a NAZI Party member.
The Abwehr (1866-1944)
The Abwehr was the Prussian Army's intelligence arm. It was created as war with Austria loomed (1866). Success in the Austro-Prussian War and the subsequent Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) resulted in expanding the organization. Wilhelm Stieber oversaw the Abwehr which collected valuable information on French defenses wand was seen as playing an important role in the Prussian/German victory. One outcome of the War was the unification of Germany around the Prussian state. Thus many Prussian institutions became part of Imperial Germany. The Abwehr became the military intelligence organization of the new Imperial German military. The Abwehr collected valuable information that proved useful when the Germany Army invaded Belgium. Walther Nicolai oversaw the modernization of the Abwehr to accommodate new technologies. The Abwehr ran intelligence and sabotage operations in foreign countries, including the United States during the War. the Abwehr was forced to cease operation after World War I as part of terms of the Versailles Treaty (1919). The German military reactivated an intelligence service (1921). The military intelligence operations included surveillance of political parties. And this included the NAZIs even after they became the governing party (1933). The NAZIs set up their own independent intelligence service--Sicherheitsdienst (SD--Security Service). It was headed by SS officer Reinhard Heydrich. (A cashiered former naval officer.)
German World War II Spying and Counterintelligence
The major German spy achievement may have been before the War in encouraging Stalin's purge of the Red Amy. German intelligence during the War was nothing short of a disaster. The Soviets manage to surprise the Germans with a series of offensives beginning with offensive before Moscow. The Soviet offensive before Mosow was in fact the turning point of the War. The German failure to pick up on Soviet preprations was in part because of effective Soviet camafloge techniques. It also was both a failure of German intelligence and the mindset crated by Hitler in the Wehrmacht. Information on almost all of the German offensives leaked out, although neith ther the Sovirts or the Allies took advantage of this. Of course the German intelligence operation was the fact that the head of the Abwehr, Admiral Canaris, was actively working against the NAZIS. The major surprise German operation of the War was the Ardennes offensive which Allied intelligence failed to pick up on (December 1944). While German intelligence was a general failure, the German were very sucessful in tracking down resistance cells trying to send information back to London or get down flyers back to England.
Command of the Abwehr (1935-44)
Canaries was appointed to head the Abwehr, German military intelligence (1935). Thus he was the main German spy master during almost all of World war II. After being appointed to head the Abwehr, he negotiated with SD Director Heydrich over an agreed division of responsibilities. Both as World War II approached trained and maintained their own intelligence forces. Canaries set about reorganizing the Abwehr into three separate branches: 1) espionage, 2) counter-espionage, and 3) sabotage. He appointed three respected Abwehr agents to head the three different branches. He insisted that they could not be NAZI Party members.
Spain (1936)
Admiral Canaris spoke Spanish and had extensive contacts with the Soanish military. He surely was the German military officer with the greatest knowkledge of Spain at the time Francisco Franco launched his rebellion in Morocco (July 1936). Canaris knew many of the conservative officers involved in the revolt. Some authors even believe that he helped inpire the rebellion becaise of his aversion to the left-wing drift iof the Republic. Some sources maintain that Canaris persuaded Adolf Hitler to support Franco and the rebel forces who launched the Spanish Civil War (1936). The historical record is not clear. Hitler took the decesion which was critical in getting Franco's forces from Morocco to Spain. Hitler made the deesion at Bayreuth where Göring and Blomberg were present. Historians differe as to whether Canaris was present. [Whealey, p. 97.] There is no doubt that Canaris strongly supported the decesion and was active in the German military support team that aided Franco. German and Italian aid would prove decisive in Franco's victory.
Stalin's Purge of the Red Army
The Popular Leningrad leader Sergi Kirov was murdered (1934). Most historians believe that Stalin was probably responsible, but no actual evidence exists. Kirov was one of Stalin's important associates as he seized control of the Party. The two were very close. Kirov gradually came to question Stalin's methods. Stalin Subsequently launced massive purges of Soviet society--the Great Purges (1936). Eventually Stalin and his principal instrument, the NKVD, go around to the Red Army (1937). Stalin ordered the arrest of General Mikhail Tukhachevsky (May 22, 1937). He and seven other senior Red Army commanders were charged with organizing a "right-wing-Trotskyist" military conspiracy and spying for NAZI Germany. The arrests were reportedlu based on confessions obtained from other arrested officers. Of course in the Soviet system this meant that these officers were simply tortured until they confessed to what Stalin wanted them to say. Some Western historians until the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991), insusted that the case against the Red Army generals was based on forged documents planted by Admiral Canaris' Abwehr in an effort to weaken the Red army. It was argued that the Abwehr documents convinced Stalin that Tukhachevsky was orcestrating a Red Army plot to depose him. Following the disolution of the Soviet Union, Soviet archieves were partially opened to Western researchers. Most historians now believe that Stalin from the beggining concocted an entirely fictitious plot as [part of his wider program of purges. He chose the best known and most respected of his generals-- Tukhachevsky. And the charges of treason were used to eliminate him and others in a believable manner. [Lukes, p. 95.] There was a German connection. Stalin's ordered NKVD agent Nikolai Skoblin to pass information to Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the German Sicherheitsdienst (SD) intelligence unit fabricated information proving that Tukhachevsky and the other Soviet generals were plotting to depose Stalin. (Heydrich was earlier involved with forging documents in the Night of the Long Knives operation.) Heydrich saw an opprtunity to not only weaken the Red Army, but also undermine his rival, Admiral Canaris. He ordered that documents be forged implicating Tukhachevsky and other Red Army commanders. As a result of the Rapollo Accords, many Red army commanders had contacts with Wehrmacgt officers. These documents were passed to the Soviets through Czech President Beneš and other neutral parties. Stalin's archives were found to include some of these documents which puport to show a connection between Tukhachevsky and the NAZI leadership. Heydrich and other NAZIs were convinced that they had tricked Stalin into executing his best generals. It now appears that they had simply aided Stalin in pusuing the purge that he had concoted on his own. Of course it could be that they did help convince Stalin that there were in reality traitors working against him./ It is difficult to know just what was happening in the depths of Stalin's mind. Unlike many other important officials tried as part of the purges, Tukhachevsky and other top generals were not tried in public. The court martial to the extent it actually occurred was conducted in secret (June 11). The German documents apparently were not used, but rather confessions extracted through torture or extortion (threats asgainst the family) was the principal evidence. Tukhachevsky and his fellow officers were shot immediately after the court martial. [Rayfield, p. 324.] While the German role appears to have been minimal. The impact on the Red Army was not. The execution of Tukhachevsky and his colleagues was just the beginning. A massive purge of the Red Army followed which eliminated many of the most competent and experienced commanders and officers. This undoubtedly was a factor in the poor perfornmance of the Red Army at the onset of Barbarossa.
Czechoslovakia (1938-39)
Admiral Canaries was involved in efforts to dissuade Hitler from invading Czechoslovakia. It is unclear hat his motives were. Some Wehrmacht officers attempting to discourage Hitler, not so much for moral reasons, but because they did not believe Germany was strong enough to prevail in another European war. Canaris at this time certainly saw the Soviet Union as Germany's major adversary and understood that invading Czechoslovakia was an absolute violation of the Munich agreenment and make any future cooperation with Britain and France impossible. We do not know just what arguments he present to Hitler.
Poland (1939)
Admiral Canaries was horrified at SS atrocities in Poland that he personally witnessed. He traveled to the front to watch Wehrmacht operations (September 10). At Bedzin, he watched SS troops drive 200 Jews into a synagogue and then set it on fire. The Jews all burned to death. Admiral Canaries was shocked. Other atrocities came to his attention in the reports he received from his intelligence officers. He also learned of plans to kill important Polish officials and nobles as well as highly educated and cutured Poles to destroy the Polish intelligencia--the repository of national culture (Aktion AB). He was unaware that Hitler had personally set the SS killing machine in operation. He went to Hitler’s headquarters train, the Amerika, which was in Upper Silesia (September 12). He met with General Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the Armed Forces High Command. He told Keitel, “I have information that mass executions are being planned in Poland and that members of the Polish nobility and the clergy have been singled out for extermination. The world will one day hold the Wehrmacht responsible for these methods since these things are taking place under its nose.” Keitel was more of aware of Hitler's involvement and urged Canaries to take the matter no further. If he had, he probably would have been removed from command of the Abwehr. From that point he began to work to prevent a NAZI victory in the war. A great deal is known about his activities, but the full extent of his activities may never be known.
German Patriotism
He is one of the most mysterious figures of World War II. Canaris was a committed German patriot and fervent abnti-Communist. As World War II developed, Canaris began workihg against his own Government. His actions were directed toward the Western Allies. He continued to hope that the Germany could defeat the Soviets or at least prevent a Soviet occupation of Germany. Historians provide a range of view on Canaris. One author insists that after the Polish campaign, Canaris worked in many ways to prevent Hitler from winning the war, which he believed would be a disaster. [Johnson] Canaris probably had a greater impact on undermining the German war effort than all the other German anti-NAZIs combined.
Britain (1940)
Canaris exaggerated British strength in meetings with Hitler which helped to dissuade Hitler from launching Operation Sealion.
Spain (1940)
Admiral Canaries' most effective coup was probably in Spain. He had worked with Generalissimo Franco during the Spanish Civil war. Both Hitler and Mussolini had aided Franco. The two men had developed a close reputation. Canaries personally went to Spain and met with Franco after the Fall of France (1940). The Germans at the time were considering an attack on Gibraltar through Spain. Canaries advised Franco not to allow German troops to pass through Spanish territory. Canaries reasoned correctly that while Hitler might commit a force capable of seizing Gibraltar, he was so involved with plans for Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union) that he would not divert the resources needed to invade Spain. Hitler subsequently met with Franco at Hendaye on the French side of the Spanish border. He tried to get Franco to enter the War, both so he could attack Gibraltar and to get Spanish support for Barbarossa. Franco refused and the meeting became heated. Hitler expecting a more cooperative Franco was incensed. He said afterwards that he would rather have teeth pulled. Canaris essentially undermined NAZI diplomacy and Germany was unable to activate Operation Felix. . The consequences are incalcuable. Had Hitler brought Spain into the War, the Gernmans could have surely taken Gibraltar and Malta would have been untenable. And the British ability to interdict Axis supply routes to the Italian and subsequent German forces in North Africa almost surely would have enabled the Afrika Korps to seize Suez and opened the way to the Iraqi oil fields.
Holocaust
Canaris was horrified by the Holocaust. There he was little he could do to stop. Any open opposition would have resulted in his immediate removal and possible arrest. He did, however, managed to save several hundered Jews. More importantly, his action undermining the NAZI-war effort probanly save hundres of thousands if not the millions of European Jews that survived the Holocaust.
Tunisia (1943)
Canaris managed to prevent the execution of captured French officers in Tunisia.
Italy (1943)
Cabnaris misled Hitler into believing that the Allies would not land at Anzio.
Hiding His Activities
He was extraordinarily effective, The NAZIs had no idea of his activities until the last months of the War. He was close to many top NAZIs like Goebbels who trusted him without reservation. Goebbels reported meetings with Canaries in his diary. One entry read, "I had a long talk with Admiral Carais concerning the reprehensible attitude if a number of OKW and OKH officers. In his opinion one of the chief reasons is because the Seehaus Service [foreign broadcast transcripts] is being distributed so widely among officers and officials. I had a list of subscribers furnished me from which it appears that the Seehaus Service has become a veritable fountainhead of defeatism." [July 25, 1942-- Goebbels, p. 48.]
Bomb Plot Investigation
Suspicion as to Admiral Canaries' loyalty only began with the investigations following the Wehrmacht Bomb Plot (July 1944).
Execution
Hitler had him hanged at Flossenburg Concentration Camp (April 9, 1945). Hitler had movies taken so he could watch. The Americans liberated the Camp (April 23).
German Intelligence
German military intelligence during World War II was highly ineffective. It is unclear just what Role Admiral Canaries played in this.
Sources
Goebbels, Joseph. ed, Louis B. Lochner, The Goebbels Diaries, 1942-1943 (Doubleday: New York, 1948), 566p.
Johnson, David Alan. Righteous Deception: German Officers Against Hitler.
Lukes, Igor. Czechoslovakia Between Stalin and Hitler: The Diplomacy of Edvard Beneš in the 1930s (Oxford University Press, 1996).
Rayfield, Donald. Stalin and His Hangmen: The tyrant and Those who Killed for Him (New York: Random House, 2004).
Whealey, Robert H. Hitler and Spain: The Nazi Role in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939.
https://www.histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/bio/c/bio-canaris.html
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