Otto Skorzeny

Austrian Waffen-SS officer (1908-1975) · Austria · Scientists · Died at 67

Otto Skorzeny is read about 2,556 times a day, in 54 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

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The SS commando who glided onto a mountaintop to free Mussolini, then slipped behind Allied lines in stolen uniforms - acquitted at Dachau, then vanished from custody to begin a second career advising dictators on three continents.

Historical Figures Other Austria Europe 20th Century

A life in dates

1975Died5 July 1975“Although care must be taken not to kill or injure anyone while these persons are being taken into custody, resistance must be broken!”In their wordsQuoted in The Race for Rome (1975) by Dan Kurzman.Read the whole statement

1972“My knowledge of pain, learned with the sabre, taught me not to be afraid. And just as in dueling when you must concentrate on your enemy's cheek, so, too, in war.”In their wordsComparing his dueling days with commando tactics, as quoted in Skorzeny (1972) by Charles Whiting, p. 17.Read the whole statement

1953“War is inevitable, and this time, it will be truly world wide. It will unravel everywhere and there will be no limit to its battlefields.”In their words30 January 1953Interviewed by the Agence France Presse (AFP), in Cairo (30 January 1953), quoted in an article in Le Monde, entitled "Les Condamnations deRead the whole statement

1908Born12 June 1908

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Otto Skorzeny portait

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503A-07, Gran Sasso, Mussolini mit deutschen Fallschirmjägern

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503A-08, Gran Sasso, Skorzeny, Mussolini mit Fallschirmjägern

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503C-15, Gran Sasso, Mussolini vor Hotel

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503C-16, Gran Sasso, Mussolini vor Hotel

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503C-17, Gran Sasso, Mussolini vor Hotel

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503C-18, Gran Sasso, Mussolini vor Hotel

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2008-0707-500, Berlin, Skorzeny, Reinhardt, Zschirnt, Körner

In their own words 6

Otto Skorzeny

6 statements, newest first

Although care must be taken not to kill or injure anyone while these persons are being taken into custody, resistance must be broken!
1975, Quoted in The Race for Rome (1975) by Dan Kurzman., Own words
My knowledge of pain, learned with the sabre, taught me not to be afraid. And just as in dueling when you must concentrate on your enemy's cheek, so, too, in war.
1972, Comparing his dueling days with commando tactics, as quoted in Skorzeny (1972) by Charles Whiting, p. 17., Own words
War is inevitable, and this time, it will be truly world wide. It will unravel everywhere and there will be no limit to its battlefields.
Jan 30, 1953, Interviewed by the Agence France Presse (AFP), in Cairo (30 January 1953), quoted in an article in Le Monde, entitled "Les Condamnations de, Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

German Cross in Gold

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Eastern Medal

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

German Cross

Honour Chevron for the Old Guard

About this person

Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny was born 12 June 1908 in Austria and became an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the Waffen-SS. The Gran Sasso raid made him: a glider assault that pulled Benito Mussolini from captivity and turned Skorzeny into the Reich's showcase operator. He ran the mission to topple Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy and led Operation Greif, sending German soldiers through Allied lines in enemy uniform. That last earned him a 1947 trial at Dachau for violating the Hague Convention; he was acquitted. A year later he walked out of an internment camp and spent months moving through Bavaria, Salzburg, and Paris before landing in Franco's Spain. By 1953 he was advising Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, and allegedly Juan Perón in Argentina. Lung cancer killed him in Madrid on 5 July 1975, age 67.

Country

Austria

Scientists from Austria 6

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Ferdinand I of Bulgaria61.3

Konrad Lorenz65.5

Richard Kuhn59.4

Lise Meitner67.6

Richard Adolf Zsigmondy59.0

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