My Commando Operations: The Memoirs of Hitler's Most Daring Commando

by Otto Skorzeny, David Johnston (Translator)

The memoirs of the legendary Skorzeny appear here in its first unabridged English edition. Skorzeny's fame began with the successful raid to free Benito Mussolini from the Gran Sasso, Italy in 1943. His elite commandos surprised Italian guards in a daring daytime raid. Hitler presented Skorzeny with the Knight's Cross for this operation. Not only is this raid explained in minute detail, many of Skorzeny's previously unknown operations in all European and Russian theatres of World War II are given in detailed accounts. Operation Griffin - the innovative use of German Kommandos dressed as American soldiers working behind enemy lines - during the Ardennes Offensive in 1944 is given in-depth coverage, as is Skorzeny's rememberances on the Malmedy massacre. Skorzeny also offers his insights into the mysterious Rudolf Hess mission to England in May 1941, and offers a behind the scenes look at German and Russian secret military intelligence, and the workings of Canaris and Gehlen.



***This 1997 Schiffer edition has the same ISBN (0887407188. 9780887407185) as the 1995 edition from the same publisher, though the dust-jacket is completely different.***

Genres: History, World War II, Military Fiction, Biography, Nonfiction, Germany, Memoir

496 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1975

About the author

Otto Skorzeny was an Austrian SS-Standartenführer (colonel) in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he was chosen as the field commander to carry out the rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity.

Skorzeny was also the leader of Operation Greif, in which German soldiers were to infiltrate through enemy lines, using their opponents' language, uniforms, and customs. At the end of the war, Skorzeny was involved with the Werwolf guerrilla movement and the ODESSA network where he would serve as Spanish coordinator.

Reviews

[Mahdi Lotfi · Rating 2 out of 5]

در سال 1945 با تسلیم بدون قید و شرط آلمان و ژاپن، جنگ جهانی دوم پس از شش سال کشت و کشتار بیرحمانه پایان یافت. این هولناکترین جنگی بود که تاریخ بشر به یاد دارد، چون بیش از پنجاه میلیون نفر تلفات بر جای گذاشت و صدها میلیون نفر را به دنبال تحولات سیاسی پس از جنگ از خانه و کاشانۀ خود آواره ساخت. مهمترین پیامد جنگ جهانی دوم خرد شدن قدرت نظامی و صنعتی آلمان و ژاپن و پیدایش امپراتوری عظیم کمونیستی از برلین و اروپای شرقی تا پکن، پیونگ یانگ و سایگون بود که طی نزدیک به نیم قرن لرزه بر اندام هر فرد آزادیخواه در چهار گوشۀ جهان می انداخت.
در طول دهه های گذشته کتابهای بیشماری در بارۀ جنگ جهانی دوم نوشته شده که بیشترشان از منابع غربی (انگلیسی، آمریکایی، فرانسوی، ایتالیایی) و تعداد کمتری از منابع روسی بوده است. "جنگ ناشناخته" نخستین اثری در این زمینه است که نظریات آلمانیها را بیان می کند و روایت جدیدی از این جنگ عالمسوز به دست می دهد که به کلی با روایتهای غربی و شرقی آن تفاوت دارد.
اتو اسکورزنی افسری اتریشی بود که با عملیات شگفت انگیز خود در دوران جنگ، شهرت به سزایی یافت و با عملیاتی مانند نجات موسولینی، ربودن پسر دریاسالار هورتی و رخنه کردن در صفوف سربازان متفقین در جبهۀ بلژیک، "خطرناکترین مرد اروپا" لقب یافت. او در این کتاب حقایق ناگفته ای را فاش می سازد و نشان می دهد که بسیاری از ادعاهای متفقین در زمان جنگ، عاری از حقیقت بوده و جنبۀ شعار داشته و به منظور بی آبرو ساختن رایش آلمان ساخته و پرداخته شده بوده است که قهرمانانه تا استالینگراد و العلمین پیشروی کرد ولی سر انجام در برابر نیروهایی ده برابر بیشتر و نیرومندتر شکست خورد.

[Hank · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Commando Operations: The Memoirs of Hitler's Most Daring Commando (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1997) utgavs ursprungligen 1975 och är skriven av Otto Skorzeny (1908-1975).

Denna bok innehåller nästan lika mycket krigshistoria som självbiografiska delar. Vi bjuds även på en mängd information gällande teknikhistoria och militär underrättelsetjänst. I boken följer vi Österrikaren Otto Skorzenys karriär inom Waffen-SS och hur han blev utnämnd till chef för en speciell kommandogrupp.

Skorzeny blev känd (eller möjligtvis ökänd) för att ha fritagit Benito Mussolini och för att ha lett och planerat en rad riskabla och framgångsrika kommandooperationer. Han träffade Hitler personligen ett antal gånger och beskrivningen av dessa möten är intressant. Författaren redogör även för hur otroligt infiltrerad den Tyska krigsledningen var av Sovjetiska spioner och han antyder att detta faktum var en starkt bidragande orsak till att kriget förlorades.

Det här är en lång och detaljerad bok där författaren av någon anledning helt lyckas undvika den judiska frågan (möjligtvis för att kunna få boken publicerad). Skorzeny tar även upp Nuremberg-rättegången då han själv var fängslad och åtalad. Han skriver att han blev frikänd men andra källor hävdar att han blev fritagen eller att han flydde. Hur som helst redogör han för hur hans medfångar utsattes för både fysisk och psykisk tortyr och annan kränkande behandling. Skorzeny hävdar att han efter kriget öppnade en egen firma och levde ett stilla liv men även här pekar andra källor på att han var involverad i en mängd organisationer och operationer. Vi rekommenderar denna bok som är en informativ, intressant och bitvis spännande skildring av ett unikt livsöde.

[George Siehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting first-person account of a famous WWII German commando who operated across Europe and interacted with top level German officials including Hitler. Brave, resourceful, and outspoken, Skorzeny is perhaps best known for his snatching of Mussolini from an Italian mountain top hotel where he had been locked up by the Italian government when it was planning to break from its alliance with Germany and surrender to the Allies. Hitler considered Mussolini a personal friend and called upon Skorzeny to rescue him, which he did in a high-risk glider operation.

Skorzeny writes here about the widespread treason that existed in the Third Reich, with leaks and espionage aiding Russia and the Allies. Interestingly he is such a charismatic person, even in his writing, that the reader may share his outrage--until recognizing that these traitors are the people
who were helping the West win the war. He notes as examples Admiral Canaris, head of a German intelligence agency who provided misleading information to the German military, and Count Stauffenberg, the man who planted the bomb intended to kill Hitler at a staff meeting in July 1944.
This is truly looking at WWII from the opposite perspective.

Recommended for history and military readers for its detailed insight into various WWII figures, events, and battles.

[Ellie Midwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing inside look into the Waffen-SS and Skorzeny's commando operations. But what I appreciated even more was the "voice" of the author, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes bitter, sometimes hilarious but I couldn't get rid of the feeling that he was sitting in the same room with me and telling his stories. The book isn't your typical dry account of certain historical events, and I would highly recommend it to everyone interested in WWII history.
What I also liked was that unlike Walther Schellenberg for example, Skorzeny didn't try to picture himself an "all good, innocent man and a victim of the circumstances." His memoirs are more or less honest account of a regular soldier, even though a very gifted and lucky one. His praises of the Russian army and their bravery was also a very nice touch, just like his mentioning of certain guards in Nuremberg, who he befriended in spite of the constant picking and hatred directed towards the prisoners from the prison administration. It's those little details that made it a very personal and very compelling read. Loved it!

[Mislav Kužić · Rating 4 out of 5]

HR: Memoari koje je napisao Otto Skorzeny imaju dvojaku namjenu. U jednu ruku oni pokazuju kako je bogat, zanimljiv i nevjerojatan život vodio najpoznatiji njemački zapovjednik specijalnih postrojbi. S druge pak strane knjiga je imala za cilj "oprati" Waffen-SS većine ratnih zločina za koje ih se osuđuje i prikazati ih kao srčane ratnike čiji je jedini cilj bila borba protiv boljševizma. Tek se kroz knjigu mogu vidjeti natruhe žaljenja prema nevinim žrtvama, ali se one uvijek opravdavaju pod motom oko za oko, zub za zub. Isto tako Skorzeny svaki poraz ili povlačenje pripisuje izdaji ili nesposobnosti svih drugih osim Hitlera. Ne može se reći da je on antisemit, ali je sigurno antikomunist. Stoga knjiga My Commando Operations: The Memoirs of Hitler's Most Daring Commando je odlična slika čovjeka koji je dao sve za izgubljeni cilj. To je knjiga čije bi se neke priče mogle iskoristiti za snimanje više filmova, ali isto je i donekle politički pamflet. Kao da to nije dosta Skorzeny za kraj daje upozorenje kako usluge specijalnih postrojbi nisu prošle, što se u zadnje vrijeme moglo vidjeti u akciji u Venezueli.

EN: The memoirs written by Otto Skorzeny have a dual purpose. On the one hand, they show how rich, interesting and incredible life the most famous German commander of special forces led. On the other hand, the book aimed to "cleanse" the Waffen-SS of most of the war crimes they are condemned for and to portray them as brave warriors whose only goal was to fight Bolshevism. Only through the book can we see traces of pity for the innocent victims, but they are always justified under the motto of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Likewise, Skorzeny attributes every defeat or retreat to the betrayal or incompetence of everyone except Hitler. It cannot be said that he is anti-Semitic, but he is certainly anti-communist. Therefore, the book My Commando Operations: The Memoirs of Hitler's Most Daring Commando is an excellent picture of a man who gave everything for a lost cause. It is a book whose stories could be used to make several films, but it is also to some extent a political pamphlet. As if that weren't enough, Skorzeny ends by warning that the services of special forces have not gone unnoticed, which could recently be seen in action in Venezuela.

[djcb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skorzeny was Hitler's Rambo/Bond-style special agent, famously rescuing Italian "Il Duce" Mussolini from captivity. Also, seems he never really distanced himself from the Third Reich even decades after its end, although he did transform it a bit of a Pan-European; the book somewhat hints at him knowing about concentration camps even during the war...

Such trifles aside, it is interesting to get a bit of an inside view on some the actions / battles; possible traitors on the German side etc. (not sure that can be corroborated; it's always attractive to blame defeat on such things...).

[Jukka Häkkinen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hitlerin kommandoksi ja Euroopan vaarallisimmaksi mieheksi nimetty SS-kapteeni Otto Skorzeny kertoo elämäntarinansa kirjassa, jossa hän liioittelee omia ansioitaan tai suorastaan keksii omasta päästään uusia yksityiskohtia dramatisoidakseen tapahtumia. Hän myös yrittää puhdistaa omaa ja Waffen-SS -joukkojen mainetta ja vihjaa, että Natsi-Saksan kaatuminen johtui juonittelevistä pettureista hallinnossa, ei niinkään Hitlerin toiminnasta. Satuiluun taipuvaisen upseerin näkemys sodasta on omalla tavallaan kiinnostava vaihtoehtohistoria.

[Mario · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book. Easily, one of the best memoirs, and one of the best books written on the Second World War. It will give you a different perspective on the war and the other side which fought it, being the German soldier. Skorzeny goes into detail not only of select missions which he and fellow comrades ran, but of the deep level of sabotage which existed within the Wermacht war machine, and how this gave the soviets and the allies the upper hand which ultimately led to victory. He finishes up with the Nuremberg trials, which too, will change your perspective of history.

[Bradford Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly a die hard Nazi who could not grasp why Europe could not become united against the communists. He seems to skip over the fact that Germany was the Aggressor invading country that started WWII. Who would join your cause or line of thinking when you just pummeled their country to ruins. Great warrior. Political thinking is not his game.

[William DuFour · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting memoir by Skorzeny with his views of the war. Highly recommended as I he conducted operations.

[Chanover55 · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me this was a hard book to read & follow. The author jumped around too much for me...we were in 1943 then all of a sudden jumped back or forward. The author was most definitely a Nazi from before the war to the end of his life. I found his complaining of how he was treated in prison or how civilians were killed during bombing raids the pot calling the kettle black. He never acknowledged the same happen during the Battle of Britain or how Jews or others were treated by the Germans, but he does make a big deal about being guarded by blacks in prison or a Jewish lawyer at Nuremberg. All in all, a bit too much trying to justify the German position for me. That said glad I read it but glad I'm finished.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

At it's best, this book has an"uncle Otto shares his war stories" vibe, but it meanders all over the place and through time. Great insights into the German point make it a valuable WWII read.

[Morgoth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good for wanna-be Historians and for those who want to study History