Reinhard Heydrich: The Man With The Iron Heart | Secrets Of War | Timeline

next on secrets of war they were the top spy masters in the Third Reich their true rivals were shrouded in mystery and sworn to secrecy with thousands of agents of their command and they were entrusted with Germany's most sensitive intelligence operations in the end one man would kill for Hitler the other would betray him German intelligence is next on secrets of war [Music] [Applause] October 1938 adults Hitler made his triumphant entrance into Czechoslovakia sedately left home to over three million German speaking Jets [Applause] just days earlier the world was at the brink of war and France and Great Britain reluctantly signed on to the Munich pact effectively handing over 11,000 square miles of Czech territory to Hitler simply because he demanded it for years the Nazis had crushed all political opposition within Germany and now international resistance was silenced as well but as the world press announces a new piece for Europe if there was already planning a war and had to spymasters at his disposal one was SS group leader Reinhard Heydrich head of the Nazi intelligence service the seek their hind east or SD the other was Admiral Wilhelm Canaris commander of the OP them the espionage and foreign intelligence service of the military Hitler could not have been served by two more different men already the head of the Gestapo Reinhard Heydrich controlled Germany through intimidation and brute force as the leader at the SD he was empowered to spy on political enemies in the Nazi Party in just seven years Heydrich built the most formidable police state in Europe and he was one of the most feared men in it he was just 34 years of age Wilhelm Canaris was much older at 51 he was an old hand in military intelligence Canaris was a veteran of the First World War who served aboard a cruiser who commanded several u-boats before distinguishing himself in a number of daring undercover missions from South America to Spain Canaris was an exceedingly intelligent man who spoke several languages during Germany's turbulent interwar years he pursued a number of right-wing political causes remained in the conservative Navy I deny that sigh it was a time when everything that he had learned in the monarchy fell apart he didn't like the Republic he was looking for a strong conservative order which he believed to have found for the time being in Hitler so this was his big error he shared this error with millions of Germans [Music] in 1934 naval commander in chief Admiral Raider needed a new commander for the up here and could find no one more qualified than Canaris for the job under his leadership the up there would grow tenfold the immense organization of undercover spies listening posts all over the world at that time he had attributes that will rather rare in Germany he was a cosmopolitan he had foreign friends he went before in holidays he ate foreign food in other words he wasn't a Prussian he was not a kraut unlike Heydrich l homme Canaris avoided the limelight he preferred civilian clothes to his rumpled uniform he spoke with a slight Lisp and was intensely withdrawn but beneath this low profile he began to harbor convictions that could cost him his life when canaras took over in 1935 it was very soon that he began to differ with the policies of Hitler he became increasingly bitter and even outspoken in his efforts against this new tyranny thus began a peculiar relationship between Germany's top spy masters while canaras politics were changing he was forced to work with Reinhard Heydrich the man he'd known once before in 1923 Canaris was an executive officer on board the training Cruiser Berlin when he first met Heydrich the ambitious cadet was captivated by keen heiresses worldly tales of spying and intrigue the common anger to zaman yzz spit on the smartened and yeah they got closer not because they liked each other very much they hardly had anything in common except having been in the Navy together pietà indeed aha and the birth of Allah but mrs. Canaris played a big role in it she was as well as young Heydrich a violin player and they held small concerts in their home and this is how young Heydrich sort of became friends with the cannot assist Canales after leaving canaras ship Heydrich followed his column and became a signals officer but his promising career came to a sudden halt in 1931 he was caught seducing a woman while he was engaged to another role Raider personally a decieded and discharged him from the Navy for conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman Heydrich swirled collapsed he was unemployed 27 years old when he turned to a uniformed service that would have him the Nazi SS here men with Aryan features blonde hair and blue eyes were considered to be racially superior and Heydrich rebel Devin Lowe his new limelight in 1931 he caught the eye of Heinrich Himmler the head of the SS who asked him to create the SD an organization to spy on members and enemies of the Nazi Party within two years Heydrich suppressive style brought him to the top of both the SD and the Gestapo he was an expert fencer and equestrian and a skier he was such a beautiful man a beautiful man in the sense and physically you know he was the apotheosis of the joy of the blonde god of the German Reich Phil Helmuth worked under Heydrich is an operative in ESD Thomas rubbishing after I met him I had the impression he was an exceedingly intelligent man perhaps saying he was a man without any character is saying too much nevertheless he only wanted power but he always faced a lingering accusation that he was of Jewish descent which of course bothered him tremendously and this was something he was never quite able to shake this question regarding his lineage empowered by new laws that allowed anyone to be taken into protective custody Heydrich imposed a racist total nsp policy as it sought out political enemies starting with Jews and Gypsies the second stance the SD the intelligence service of the Nazi Party these were people by the mid-30s that were really starting to be lawyers people with a decent education but people who quite clearly saw that membership the Nazi Party was the way to a fast-track towards a good career as the fortunes of the Nazi Party in the military grew more inseparable an awkward working relationship was forced upon their respective spy services in the coming war of conquest Hitler did not want his st spies and the Gestapo to be left behind he would soon assign them to the same territory held by Canaris and the omnia Heydrich was back in the military and part of Canaris his life again but as a Nazi Party member he was closer to Hitler and thus posed a real threat to his former mentor Admiral Canaris wasn't the only one alarmed the Nazi control of the military in August 1938 the chief of the Army General Staff General Ludwig Beck resigned his post hoping to persuade his fellow officers that Hitler and X corporal was leading them to war Canaris chose to resist another way from within the military and of their headquarters he started to lead a double life and surrounded himself with individuals who plotted against Hitler one man was his chief of staff Lieutenant Colonel Hans Auster yes he was a resistance fighter from the first hour since the mid 1930s or 1938 to be more specific he was involved in the plans of the military conspirators who wanted to overthrow Hitler through a coup d'etat when Adolphe Hitler began to demand Czechoslovakia sue Dadeland non-small stir started to conspire with general Beck and others to arrest Hitler and put him on trial for provoking a war the resistance strategy and when I say the resistance I'm talking about Admiral Canaris and his senior officers and the out there I'm talking about his colleagues in the army headed by General Banks the resistance strategy was to send emissary after emissary to London to plead with the British at the time of the eve of Munich to not give in Czechoslovakia because Czechoslovakia was the situation in which the resistance felt they could rally the army to mutiny against Hitler and take over the government from Hitler literally have a coup approach at that time the peaceful triumphs of the Munich pact made a military overthrow impossible just six months later Hitler stunned the world and ordered his forces to occupy the entire country of Czechoslovakia chuk president edward Benesch was in exile in England when German army soldiers took over his country in March 1939 behind them came reinhard heydrich in the SD with lists of people who arrests and property to confiscate SS terror was about to be exported [Music] August 1939 is the German army massed poland's border Hitler asked reinhard heydrich in the SD to come up an excuse to invade the country Heydrich arranged to have prisoners dressed in Polish army uniforms and transported to a German radio station on the border with foreign and the prisoners were shot in the station was blown up so it looked as if a group of poles that cross the border attacked the radio station and been killed repulsed by the Germans this which the Germans called Operation canned goods was the excuse for Hitler to then invade Poland and start World War two [Music] according to Hitler the German army and the SS were fighting for Lebensraum a greater living space for a greater Germany by exterminating Poland's upper class and intelligentsia Heinrich Himmler assumed that the remaining poles would become a subservient slave race to carry out this policy einsatzkommando x' known as special action groups were signed to army control ostensibly to prevent sabotage and arrest undesirables controlled by the SD and reinhard heydrich they openly murdered thousands of poles in a special zone located behind the main army that's all the x-pyr Emma it was established especially in order to create shall we say a breathing space in which the special action groups could freely maneuver soldiers fighting at the front I was one of them never heard of these things which transpired behind our backs in Poland Hitler quickly replaced army rule with a Nazi administration and the country disappeared from the headlines of the press then the einsatzkommando stern their full fury on all of these Jews it was not long before Canaris learned of the atrocities in Poland when his agents reported on the SDS activities he went there to see for himself 15-love I need ya holdin break it for him it was the moment when he realized that he was part of a system bankrupt of moralist bankrupt of ethics a system that knew no limits Canaris wasn't an especially moral man but he had his limits and he didn't want to be part of this system anymore and he went to title as a chief of staff of the bear market and said can't you do something to stop this keep rein in the SS stop it title talk an obstacle mind his own business there wasn't anything you could do about it so the atrocities continued Canaris returned to Berlin and conspired with a young op their lawyer hum spawned on Yanni under up their cover on da Yanni would document as his crimes Poland and even smuggle Jews out of Berlin and zoster then sent an emissary Joseph Muller to discreetly make contact the Vatican the Pope and the proposition they put to Pope Pius the 12th was you've seen Poland you've seen what happened seen what happened to a Catholic country now will you help us the German resistance and would you be a go-between between us and the British at the same time a toaster was attempting to reach the English through the Vatican meet British Secret Intelligence Service was trying to identify Germans who might overthrow Hitler through a British passport control office in Holland and you're Henry Stevens was running a spy ring in Germany with his associate Captain Sigismund best [Music] by 1939 best and Stevens had come under the watchful eye of both the affair and the SD in reinhard heydrich was eager to know who they were working with in Germany without telling Canaris he sent an agent posing as a military resistance man named captain che Mille to meet them Jaimal promised best and stevens that he would eventually introduced them to a german army general who was plotting a coup against hitler Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was following the negotiations closely and approved another meeting between his agents and captain shame the object was clearly to overthrow Hitler whether the object was also to kill him is another matter Chamberlain had always said no to an assassination of Hitler on the grounds of the British don't assassinate anybody then suddenly on the 8th of November 1939 a bomb exploded in the burger brawl Keller in Munich just minutes after hip turd left the building that evening a German carpenter Georg Elser was attempting to flee through the Swiss border authorities found photos and drawings of the bomb site in his possession well the perpetrator of this was interrogated meaning he was tortured and would not admit that he had any accomplices high-ranking Nazi officials of course never believed in no a large a huge conspiracy had to be behind all this and so they immediately came to the conclusion that are the British Secret Service must have done it captain Chema was then ordered to snatch best and Stephens the next morning at the candy Bacchus in in Dutch border town at Venlo the cafe is literally on the border with Germany when the British agents arrived with a Dutch intelligence officer pointed our SD operatives pulled up in the car with machine guns firing they fatally wounded the Dutch officer and grabbed the best Stephens and raced back across the border captain Shaima was in fact major walter schellenberg a young and ambitious SD operative in berlin he oversaw the interrogation of best and Stevens the Gestapo interrogator Herbert Cutler was interviewed in 1969 by Austrian author Gunther Pais then he told me both of them have been to his opinion and to his experience with them the greatest traitors he could think of because they gave them all sorts of informations without being asked for you know there are documents that were produced prior to the would-be invasion of Great Britain in which the Germans produced an arrest list of all the leading members of British society that would be captured now this book is called the black book and amongst these is a breakdown of British intelligence and this is pretty full of information that is specified as coming the best in students propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels lost no time putting the Munich bombing and the FN low incident together soon l sir best and Stevens were pictured together in newspapers throughout the world the fact that this wasn't the case is neither here nor there what it was it made marvelous propaganda fodder for gurbles who could represent this dastardly attack on their beloved Fuhrer by a pawn of the nefarious British secret service Eston Stephens were eventually sent here to the suction housing concentration camp outside Berlin they spent the rest of the war three years Oh at in solitary confinement they were due to be executed on several occasions they were never formally charged with attempted murder Hitler the Venlo incident was another embarrassment to the Chamberlain government most of Britain's agents in Germany were exposed any were killed now overtures from anyone claiming to represent the German resistance even enter grades from Wilhelm Canaris or the Pope would be met with much skepticism in the West punts Auster was one such man as the chief of staff at the armor he was planning support operations for Hitler's attacks in the West that the damage wants is impact so then he had access to all of the files and therefore insight into the operative directives which the Vermont leadership had planned and then he betrayed them he's a hardened nepeta Anson died in 1939 he was among other things involved in providing the Western powers with the planned German attack dates on the Western Front via the Dutch military attache in Berlin it's a taya the Dutch now had Hitler's attack plans against Holland and Belgium and France but they were skeptical they suffered the only fatality at van Lowe and were not going to be tricked again Hans Auster's information was disregarded in the morning of May 10th 1940 the German attack again [Music] the military plan achieved complete surprise within six weeks Holland Belgium and France were under German control and British troops were left really on the shores of Dunkirk [Music] as they look Rafa prepared for the Battle of Britain Major General Alfred yoga presented Adolf Hitler with a daring scheme to bring the British Empire to its knees codenamed Operation Felix plan called for the fair mocked to attack and seize Gibraltar a vital British naval base on the southern tip of Spain it was a tempting target Hitler would soon occupy parts of Northwest Africa and he conquered Gibraltar he would have operating bases on both sides of the narrow Straits where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean free hand in a region for the German Navy England would lose her vital shipping routes for food and oil from the Mideast it would have been psychologically damaging to the British and it would have been terribly damaging in terms of losing Mediterranean as a take-off point for hitting the soft underbelly of Europe which Churchill used to call parts of Italy and Greece which he had visions the pathetic Hitler signed on to euros plan but there was one hitch his army would need free transit through Spain to attack Gibraltar then yodel made a crucial blunder he sent Admiral Canaris to meet with the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco Canaris was a friend a family having recently arranged much of the military assistance for his victorious nationalists during the spanish civil war in his secret meeting with Canaris Franco worried that Hitler would invade Spain if he refused to help Canaris said don't worry about that Hitler cannot come into Spain at this point because the German troops every last one of them are going to be required for a invasion of Russia in which Canarsie thereby divulged Hitler's greatest secret he was about to go into Russia Hitler travelled across Europe to personally meet with Franco on the French Spanish border in October 1940 he pleaded with a Spanish dictator for 9 hours but to no avail he couldn't imagine that Franco would say I don't want your troops in my country and Hitler was later said this was the worst pain he had felt since the dentist pulled four of his teeth down Canaris then wrote a pessimistic report the discouraged operation feelings as well as an invasion of Spain can erase it Salman that delusion haunted by Allah Canaris is so clever and he comes back to Berlin and says to Hitler I advise you to give up the idea of going on your brother because Spain will be against you but by Nogueira missus maybe not in a war but look at the Spanish have they any food to eat by whom are they given their oil the Americans and the English if you go to Spain Spain dies then you have defeated its Bolivia you cannot even feed the countries you occupy so Hitler gave up on Gibraltar in spite of his most serious diplomatic setback Hitler was still certain England could be defeated that summer he ordered kinnaras to launch Operation Lina an all-out spy invasion of Great Britain within weeks under cover up their agents were arriving in England soon they were transmitting back to Hamburg the locations of English and aircraft guns troops and airfields the Arthur was extended over the flow of information and passed it on to the German High Command I didn't know that they'd fallen victim to one of the greatest deceptions of the war most of the German spy sent to the United Kingdom were captured very very quickly there was no resistance network or no friendly source is there to assist these these agents coming in the captured spies were often introduced to Major John Masterman what bossman did was to say to these fellows look here we're gonna hang you in the morning but if you come and work for us we'll try and send the hangman home so to speak Masterman exploded the germans in a top-secret group aptly named the double-cross committee they are very agents radio receivers were monitored carefully questions from Hamburg often hinted at potential bombing targets or revealed issues of concern to the other the agent's replies were carefully coordinated to give them credibility there's another committee that's even more secret that's deciding what secrets they can give the agents so that the agents can be sending fairly good material to the Germans and the RAF gives them some material that Navy gives us some material the army gives them some material with all of their agents tied up the of their failed to discover one of Britain's greatest secrets code breakers in Bletchley Park were beginning to read the OP theirs message traffic we read the apt the ciphers they had a hand cipher which we broke in December 1940 and then they had their own enigma but you didn't break till December 41 we read a good deal of the communication between the Secret Service controllers in Germany and their outstation so they had constant feedback on a ver assessment of the effectiveness of the operations in England and it was this constant feedback that enabled them to successfully carry this out the double X R xx committee was spectacularly successful even after losing the Battle of Britain Germans kept sending secret agents in the United States the unfair was no more successful they pinned too much hope on William Sebold a new undercover agent William Sebold was a german-born American and in 1939 while visiting in Germany he was recruited by the ever when he returned to the United States he reported the recruitment to the FBI and set up a false operation the FBI paid siebold $50 a week and set him up in a New York City office on 42nd Street the dark walls in the office were painted white to help hidden cameras film these images for 16 months of their agents and informants came by with war plans weapon designs and other information William Sebold collected enough evidence for the FBI to arrest 33 spies he also radioed more deceptive information back to Germany [Music] is Hutch effortless delighted to get the Englishman there were certainly people especially within the military AB there who because of their hostile attitude towards National Socialism very intentionally passed on these false reports as accurate ones these were the things that first the AB Fair and later Admiral Canaris were accused of doing gradually a canker had settled in on the German intelligence service they realized that Germany would not win this war and so you know suspect intelligence coming to them from their agencies Britain were allowed to leak through to the bureau's desk and once you start that game then the canker becomes very serious indeed the poor performance of Canaries is up fair served only to enhance his rivals reputation by 1942 reinhard heydrich it personally assumed responsibility for the systematic extermination of Europe's Jewish population he was seen by many as a future leader of the Third Reich in addition to commanding the SD Heydrich was named deputy right protector over the former territory of Czechoslovakia but his attitude toward the Czechs was uncharacteristic instead of brutal repression Heydrich waved a carrot in front of them when the checks were industrious they received extra rations and fair treatment their apparent support for an axis victory alarmed the West and Heydrich became a top concern intelligence reports indicated he would soon move to France where the Allies were planning to invade the English were also aware that Heydrich now posed one of the greatest threats to Canales and Diablo thereby jeopardizing their successful double-cross operation perhaps most concerned of all was the exiled Czech president Edward Bennish and I think that banished clearly felt that if he didn't do something in Czechoslovakia was not perceived to be a member of the Allied community and there was always the risk that Czechoslovakia would not have the borders reinstated at the end of the war Benesch called for an assassination of Heydrich and the British Special Operations Executive the SOE agreed to support him training Czech undercover agents they were given very very precise training by SOE they were given a particular type of bomb that was devised for them after months of intensive preparation Czech agents from josef gabcik and yonkou be parachuted was a support team into Czechoslovakia on a December night in 1941 they began to spy on Heydrich who lived with his family outside Prague Heydrich was so confident that he would drive from his palace to his office every day by the same route the same car with just a chauffeur he declined Hitler's request that he have a bodyguard leaving his villa for his office he took a road the prague dresden road and a key feature in the road was a very sharp almost new turn in which his Mercedes was forced to slow down a nearby tram stop offered a perfect opportunity for the assassins to buy and wait after six months of hiding gabcik and Kubis finally set up at this corner on the 27th of May 1942 gabcik hid his Sten gun under his raincoat kuba sees bombs fused and ready were concealed in his suitcase then the sound of Heydrich Smurfs ADEs was heard at that moment a loaded grin appeared across the road at jokubas as Heydrich scarce slowed down at the turn gabcik dropped his raincoat raised his gun at point-blank range and pulled the trigger nothing happened the gun jammed gabcik was left standing helplessly as the Mercedes swept by Heydrich then made a fatal move he yelled at his driver to stop and triumphantly stood up to draw his pistol cubist and realized what had happened he stepped from cover and threw his mom that moment Heidrich fate was sealed [Music] the impact bomb exploded in the gutter near the right back wheel pupas staggered back hit by pieces of the car's body Heydrich jumped from the car and fired two shots of this before slumping down wounded against a railing Kubus ran for his bicycle throwing away his briefcase which contained his second book he fired into the air and frightened away the tram passengers escaped downhill into the city kept shaking threw down his useless Sten gun and pulled out a pistol unable to reach his bicycle he was chased by Heydrich Stryver he ran into a nearby butcher shop and finding no rear exit turned back into the street where he encountered the driver cab chick shot the German siren twice just as he'd been trained by the SOE Heydrich was taken to this nearby hospital at first he seemed likely to survive his wounds but within a few days he developed blood poisoning fragments of horsehair fillings from the cars upholstery and entered his spleen that set off an infection despite the fact that they had him at the hospital immediately and he received literally the best medical attention that could possibly be head he eventually died due to the infection on the 4th of June 1942 the blonde beast took his last breath a death mask was immediately commissioned and later used a Nazi postage stamps the film Chernarus knew that his rivals death spared his double life at Heydrich elaborate state funeral in Berlin kinnaras played his part you have to remember that Heydrich had very few friends even in his closest circles he was a hated man nobody mourned the death of Heydrich but this did not stop Canaris from saying to his widow I have lost an honest friend the evidence left by dumb chicken Kubis appeared in newsreels time and time again the search for the assassins became the largest manhunt in Nazi history and ten million crowns were offered as a reward for their capture gabcik and Kubis were eventually found hiding in a nearby church died with their support team in a shootout with German soldiers [Music] the SD and Gestapo determined that the operation had been planned in England the Sten gun was a favorite weapon of the SOE the bomb was similar to anti-tank grenades used by the British in North Africa Hitler vowed to make an example out of anyone harboring spies in Czechoslovakia in the town of liditz a every man woman and child was arrested 116 men were lined up in front of a wall of mattresses and shot the women and children were taken away to concentration camps German news crews were brought in to record these images and the bombing was over every brick was removed and they did say was taken off German mints as the SS moved throughout Europe they took anything of value that could finance their own operations gold jewelry paintings and entire factories were seized for the fatherland yet in one of their most secret operations the SS made their own money n SD agent Alfred Knox came up with the scheme to ruin the British economy the plan called for millions of forged pound notes to be dropped on England in neutral countries when the plan was approved by Hitler in 1942 now yox and his men began to seek out counterfeiters it suddenly occurred to them that they had as prisoners of the German government master Jewish forgers so they actively went through the backgrounds on these individuals and came up with the forgers the photography experts the experts in numbering the experts in logistics and they recruited from these prisoners an entire team the lure was simple yesterday officers promised a better living conditions better food and more recreation time most importantly they promised them their lives if they created a flawless forgery the prisoners were transferred to the saxon housing concentration camp went to work next to the cell where british agents best and stevens were being held when they produced their first forgeries SD agent del helm holder was asked pouch for their authenticity Dobby we do Pia certainly that's when I personally found out through one of my men who went bold faced into a leading Swiss bank and showed them the notes saying he had heard that fake banknotes had been circulating and he wanted to have them examined and the clerk said I can only congratulate you if you have many more of these notes but they are guaranteed to be genuine you seen Kevin Kadesh here was now a source of hard British currency that they could use were their agents they could use it for bribes they bought weapons in Yugoslavia when they rescued Mussolini from his captors the operation was paid for using forged British banknotes or than a hundred million pound notes were eventually printed but they were never dropped on England when the Allies closed in on Germany the forging operation was rushed to Austria where the counterfeiters were eventually freed as the German military situation deteriorated on both fronts and so did support for its intelligence service the Allies had already successfully invaded North Africa and Italy by 1943 Admiral Canaris was under fire for vastly under estimating the strength of the Russian army and a seemingly miraculous ability to produce more arms and munitions as the Germans were beating a retreat from Stalingrad and Harris was in a no-win situation when it was clear that the German armies would not be successful Canaris presented a assessment to Hitler that was considered pessimistic he was immediately challenged how dare he presents such information to Hitler and where were his loyalties Canaris was traditionally limited by the fact that he was interested in providing assessments based on accurate intelligence however the SD was only producing politically acceptable assessments that he get for what he said it was clear that both services could not coexist in February 1944 Canaris was fired the avere was officially abolished by Hitler and most its organization was incorporated into the SD now under the command of Walter schellenberg the timing not have been worse for the Germans loyal operatives in the Opera endeavoured to learn the greatest secret of 1944 perhaps the greatest secret of the war the time and placed the Allied invasion of Europe but on the 6th of June the Allies achieved complete surprise that summer the retired general Bek continued to coordinate military resistance at the highest levels he was joined by Klaus von Stauffenberg an Army Staff officer who saw firsthand the ruthlessness of the SS killing teams in Russia on the 20th of July 1944 Stauffenberg brought a timed briefcase bomb into a meeting with Hitler and left just minutes before it exploded believing is explosive it killed the Fuhrer Stauffenberg flew to Berlin in the military headquarters building he joined general back in directing a major military coup but his word spread that Hitler was still alive support for the coup vanished fun heroes follow in the afternoon and evening of July 20th 1944 telegrams were sent out from here the center of the attempted overthrown Berlin to the district's defense commands containing the names of the civilian and military contact people who would support the overthrow during the night before the 21st of July as the coup d'etat failed these telegrams arriving in the Bentley block as well as at other receiving stations fell into the hands of the Gestapo who were then quickly able to determine who was involved in the conspiracy favilla general beck concuss von Stauffenberg were arrested and executed on the spot Admiral Canaris a top suspect to the SD was arrested by Walter schellenberg more than 7,000 other men were rounded up hitler ordered any conspirators to be hanged like cattle following the July 20th 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler the Gestapo went to great lengths to ascertain the origin of the explosive that was used it was shown that the time delay fuses were of British origin and had been requisitioned from inside the abver by members participating in the plot they'll helm Canaris was sent to the flossenbürg concentration camp in bavaria under interrogation he made a fatal blunder admitting he had kept Diaries throughout the war but the officer had ordered to destroy them had committed suicide before comply in these military intelligence barracks the Admirals Diaries were found in his safe there was a copy of caderousse's Diaries floating around they did get to endless desk Hitler was stunned and his intelligence master could not only be inept but also treasonable to the extent that he was that the treasons went back right through two checks back here in Austria the diaries served to confirm to Hitler what he'd long suspected that he'd been the victim of a military conspiracy to rob him of complete victory he immediately ordered a trial where Canaris and oscar were sentenced to death I'm Danish I love it here okay nervous a Danish officer was in the cell next to Canaris and witness Canaris being led away by gods in the early morning hours before Easter day and before this happened he suddenly heard Canaris tapping on his cell wall and he wrote down this Morse code bark and I was no traitor I did my duty as a German Canaris as last words [Music] at daybreak on the 9th of April 1945 Phil home Corrales was stripped naked and led from his cell into a nearby courtyard SS guards then placed a noose and piano wire around his neck and hanged him slowly for 30 minutes according to SD orders Ken Aras was to disappear without a trace his body was cremated and the ashes were thrown to the wind his resistance friends hums Oscar Oswaldo Jana you were also executed the same morning just 100 miles away tanks from General Patton's Third Army advanced particularly as regards the Polish region until the Nuremberg trials few people had ever heard of Admiral Canaris on the stand a general Yodle testified that Canaris had served the enemy for years while historians disagree on his motives there's little doubt that Canaris and general back contacted the West repeatedly particularly in American OSS agent allan dulles indeed a grandma if you read the telegrams the Dulles exchanged with Roosevelt you will repeatedly see the Dulles was told no it won't work these people are unreliable we cannot trust them Howard the German resistance was the only anti-nazi movement in Europe that did not receive active support from the Western powers for the Allies that shortened the war by responding to overtures from the out there British intelligence was very very fearful in their contacts with the German resistance as a whole but German intelligence in in particular that they were going to be confronted with another venmo incident at the Nuremberg war crime trials Walter schellenberg the man kidnapped the British agents at Venlo was acquitted of all but two charges being a member of the SS and the SD which the international tribunal declared to be criminal organisations he was sentenced to six years in prison after his release his memoirs were published in which he claimed responsibility for keeping best and Stephens alive he died of liver disease a year later [Music] in the last hours of the war best and Stevens and they're accused accomplice eunuch bomber Georg Elser were transported by bus to Dachau but for reasons not fully known Elser was removed from the bus and executed by SS guards at the last minute the English agents then returned home where they faced an uncomfortable cross-examination by British intelligence whether or not best in Stevens ever conspired without sir to kill Hitler remains a mystery the British files on Venlo had been closed into the year 2050 five [Music] the rivalry between the SD in the Abwehr and Heydrich in Canaris in particular served to send mixed signals to the Western powers but even if an allied connection had been made with the up fair there was still little support in Germany for an armlet billion s gap in touch remember there was no major armed opposition in Germany there were no partisans here as there would have been no possibility of political support for such a thing minor about so I can cut that British against us I'm sick for limit even in my opinion is that Ito the British secret service did the only reasonable thing possible is that vessel it listened to the German opposition as it attempted to ascertain its strengths but it only would have come to a greater loss of German blood formed and the British secret service stepped up its support for the German opposition [Music]

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Id: xNk7eD6Y7C8

Length: 50min 57sec (3057 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 05 2019