Walter Schellenberg - Biography

Biography

Schellenberg was born in Saarbrücken, Germany, but moved with his family to Luxembourg when the French occupation of the Saar Basin after the First World War triggered an economic crisis in the Weimar Republic.

Schellenberg returned to Germany to attend university, first at the University of Marburg and then, in 1929, at the University of Bonn. He initially studied medicine, but soon switched to law. After graduating he joined the SS in May 1933. He met Reinhard Heydrich and went to work in the counter-intelligence department of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). From 1939 to 1942 he was Heinrich Himmler's personal aide and a deputy chief in the Reich Main Security Office under Heydrich who answered only to Himmler. In addition Himmler bestowed upon Schellenberg a unique position beyond that of a simple aide, making him his special-plenipotentiary (Sonderbevollmächtigter). Since Himmler held the position of general plenipotentiary to the whole Reichs administration (Generalbevollmächtigter für die Verwaltung), this gave Schellenberg enormous influence within Nazi Germany. In summer 1939 Schellenberg became one of the directors of Heydrich's foundation, the Stiftung Nordhav.

In November 1939 Schellenberg played a major part in the Venlo Incident, which led to the capture of two British agents, Captain Sigismund Payne-Best and Major Richard Stevens. Hitler awarded Schellenberg the Iron Cross for his actions.

In 1940 he was charged with compiling the Informationsheft G.B., a blueprint for the occupation of Britain. A supplement to this work was the list of 2300 prominent Britons to be arrested after a successful invasion of Britain. He also arranged many other plots of subterfuge and intelligence gathering, including the bugging of a Berlin brothel.

In 1940 he was also sent to Portugal to intercept the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and try to persuade them to work for Germany. The mission was a failure; Schellenberg managed only to delay their baggage for a few hours.

By the time he led the hunt for the Soviet spy ring Red Orchestra, Schellenberg had become a general (Brigadeführer) in the Allgemeine-SS (General-SS). Schellenberg had been involved in planning operations in neutral Ireland including Operation Osprey, a plan involving No.1 SS Special Service Troop. According to his memoirs, he was a friend of Wilhelm Canaris, the head of the Abwehr, whom he replaced in 1944. He was infamous for his "office fortress" desk, which had two automatic guns built into it that could be fired by the touch of a button.

During early 1945, Schellenberg encouraged Himmler to overthrow Hitler in order to negotiate a separate peace with the Western Allies, using as an excuse Hitler's poor health; however, Himmler never took action toward doing it. At the end of the war, Schellenberg was able to persuade Himmler to try negotiating with the Western Allies through Count Folke Bernadotte and personally went to Stockholm in April 1945 to arrange their meeting. To foster goodwill Schellenberg organised the transport of 1,700 Jews out of German controlled territory. Hitler found out and put a stop to further evacuations.

Sought after as a valuable intelligence asset, the American, British, and Russian intelligence services were searching for him. Schellenberg was in Denmark attempting to arrange his own surrender when the British took Schellenberg into custody in June 1945. Captain Horace Hahn, a member of the OSS, was one of the few Americans allowed to interrogate General Schellenberg.

During the postwar Nuremberg Trials, Schellenberg testified against other Nazis. In the 1949 Ministries Trial he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, during which time he wrote his memoirs, The Labyrinth. He was released in 1951 on grounds of ill-health (a worsening liver condition) and moved to Switzerland before settling in Verbania Pallanza, Italy. The following year he died of cancer in Turin.

Schellenberg was believed to have been a lover of Coco Chanel during the German occupation of Paris, who paid for the cost of his funeral when he died penniless.