Schnez troop

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The so-called Schnez-Truppe or Schnez-Organization was an organization of 2000 former officers of the Waffen-SS and the Wehrmacht , which operated in secret from 1949.

history

The aim of the organization was to build a secret army with 40,000 men. The troupe was named by Albert Schnez (1911–2007), who led them. As the “elder”, Rudolf von Bünau (1890–1962) initially took over responsibility. Other well-known members were Adolf Heusinger (1897–1982) and Hans Speidel (1897–1984). Almost nothing is known about the troop; many of its members are said to have served in the Bundeswehr , which was founded in 1955 .

They prepared for two scenarios: In the event of a Soviet attack on Germany, they would invade Germany again from abroad. The second case would have been a civil war against communists . There were also espionage activities against left-wing politicians. Financing and equipment was realized with the help of donations from companies. Guns should come from the riot police . There was also a so-called "defense apparatus" that spied on alleged or actual left-wing citizens, categorized them as " half-Jews " and also spied out politicians such as the later SPD parliamentary group leader Fritz Erler . Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer , who learned of this conspiratorial group in 1951 at the latest, entrusted the Gehlen organization with its “supervision and monitoring”. The establishment of the Bundeswehr in 1955 made a secret army superfluous.

The subject of the Schnez troop was researched by Agilolf Keßelring , grandson of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring , in the course of the BND historians' commission and published for the first time in April 2014.

literature

  • Agilolf Keßelring: The Gehlen Organization and the Defense of West Germany . 1st edition. 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816000-2-5 ( PDF ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Former officers of the Wehrmacht and SS planned a secret army. In: Zeit Online. Zeit Online GmbH, May 11, 2014, accessed on May 12, 2014 .
  2. ^ BND files: Wehrmacht veterans built a secret army . Spiegel online , May 11, 2014, accessed May 11, 2014.
  3. ^ Wehrmacht veterans created a secret army in West Germany . The mirror engl. Online edition, May 14, 2014.
  4. ↑ Klaus Wiegrefe : Adenauer and the secret army . In: Der Spiegel . No. 20 , 2014 ( online - May 12, 2014 ).