35173 WAFFEN SS OBERSTURMBANNFÜHRER WW II - OTTO SKORZENY

Otto Skorzeny was born in June 1908 and died in July 1975 at the age of 67. He was an officer of the Waffen-SS, responsible for carrying out several spectacular actions of German "special units" during World War II. Otto Skorzeny was born into a family with military traditions. In 1926, he enrolled at the Higher Technical School in Vienna. During his studies, he dueled several times with melee weapons, and from these youthful adventures he had a scar on his cheek until the end of his life. He was a strong supporter of the annexation of Austria to Germany, which also happened in 1938, and a supporter of the Nazi movement. At the outbreak of World War II, he applied for admission to the Luftwaffe, but finally joined the Waffen-SS. In the structure of the Leibstandarte unit, Adolf Hitler participated in the battles on the Western Front in 1940, and later (in 1941) fought in the Balkans. In 1941, he also served on the Eastern Front. In 1943, he became the commander of B. Friedenthal atalion. Commanding his sub-units, he carried out the famous raid on Gran Sasso in September of the same year, taking Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity. Being quite impressed with this daring action, Adolf Hitler entrusted Otto Skorzeny with the command of other, also unusual actions, such as Operation Panzerfaust (carrying out the coup in Hungary in 1944) or a series of sabotage activities carried out before and during the operation in the Ardennes at the turn of the years 1944-1945. After World War II, he was imprisoned by the Americans and charged with war crimes. However, he escaped from prison in 1948, and two years later he escaped to Spain, where he remained until his death.