Wilfred von Oven

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Wilfred von Oven (born May 4 or 5, 1912 in La Paz , Bolivia , † June 13, 2008 in Buenos Aires ) was a German journalist , publicist and civil servant . He was best known as a high-ranking employee of Joseph Goebbels in the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda .

Live and act

1912 to 1945

Von Oven was born in La Paz, Bolivia in 1912. As a child he came to Germany, where he attended school in Liegnitz (Silesia) and finally passed the Abitur in Berlin .

On May 1, 1931, he became a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) and the Sturmabteilung (SA). After unsuccessful attempts to gain a foothold as a writer with poems and novels, Oven began at the same time to gain his first journalistic experience as an editor at the Berlin Scherl-Verlag . On May 1, 1932, Oven resigned from the NSDAP and the SA.

In 1936 Oven graduated from the Reich Press School . He then took part in the Spanish Civil War as a war correspondent for the Scherl Verlag and as a member of the Condor Legion . In 1939 Oven was used as a member of a propaganda company in the attack on Poland . According to some reports, he was involved in massacres there.

In May 1943, von Oven, then with the rank of first lieutenant , was appointed press officer for Joseph Goebbels in the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda . He succeeded Moritz von Schirmeister in this function .

In 1944, von Oven witnessed the conservative attempted coup on July 20 in Berlin. He played a major role in the suppression of the company insofar as he - after the putschists had cordoned off the ministry and fundamentally forbade leaving the building - put Hitler in touch by telephone on Goebbels' behalf and informed him about the events in Berlin. Through the telephone connection to Hitler through Oven, Goebbels was able to prove to the commander of the Berlin guard, Major Remer , that Hitler had survived the attack on his life in Wolfsschanze , contrary to the statements of the Reichswehr Ministry . On Hitler's instructions, Remer then used his troops against the leaders of the coup.

Until April 22, 1945 Oven remained active in the Berlin Propaganda Ministry. While Goebbels was moving to the Berlin bunker that day, he sent his press officer to the Army High Command in Rendsburg . Then von Oven went to Hamburg with Eberhard Taubert .

1945 to 2008

After the war, von Oven initially worked under a false name as an interpreter and typist for the British military administration in Germany.

In 1951 von Oven went to Argentina - equipped with a press pass signed by Rudolf Augstein . As a foreign correspondent, he reported from the South American state for Spiegel and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Later he wrote for the German-language Argentine newspaper Freie Presse and published the La Plata Ruf under his own direction .

According to an announcement by the news magazine Der Spiegel in June 2013, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) confirmed that von Oven worked as an informant for the secret service from 1950 onwards, initially for the Gehlen organization , then after its founding until 1966 under various cover names for the BND.

In addition, von Oven developed an extensive activity as a writer and translator. The content of his literary works were mostly personal memories of the National Socialist era. In their tendency, these works, which in the Federal Republic were usually published by right-wing extremist publishers such as Grabert Verlag , unequivocally lead to the transfiguration of National Socialism . When Oven was asked in a conversation with the British historian Laurence Rees in 1990 to sum up his experiences in the Nazi state in one word, he replied with "heavenly". Kurt Hirsch and Hans Sarkowicz characterize the historical writer Oven as someone who "deliberately twists historical facts" and can therefore "hope for applause from a certain side". Because of this activity, lawsuits and lawsuits were repeatedly brought against Oven. As a translator, Oven translated some works by Jacques de Mahieu and David Hoggan as well as Léon Degrelle's memories into German.

Von Oven maintained close contacts with neo-Nazi circles in the Federal Republic of Germany, but also in parts of the world. In addition to the aforementioned journalistic activities, his involvement in the scene also included lectures in front of relevant audiences; For example, in September 1979 he gave a speech at the “Kulturwerk Pfalz” on the occasion of a solstice celebration at Kusel .

Fonts

  • No more Poland , 1939.
  • Tanks in the Balkans. Adventure book of the tank group von Kleist , 1941.
  • With Goebbels until the end , 1949. (also as Finale Furioso. With Goebbels until the end , 1974; and as Dr. G. Meister der Propaganda )
  • Argentina. Star of South America , 1957.
  • 100 years of the German Sick Society, 1857–1957. A century of the German-Argentine community reflected in the growth and development of its largest and most important association . Buenos Aires: Imprenta Mercur, 1957.
  • 150 years of Argentina. 1810-1960 , 1960.
  • Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay. Land on the Silver Stream, the La Plata countries , 1969.
  • Hitler and the Spanish Civil War. Mission and fate of the Condor Legion , 1978.
  • Who was Goebbels? Biography up close , 1987.
  • With a steady step. From the history of the SA , 1998.
  • A "Nazi" in Argentina , 1999.
  • Wilhelm Canaris. The admiral and his co-responsibility in the course of the war , Deutsche Verlags-Gesellschaft, Preußisch Oldendorf 2001, ISBN 3-920722-66-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ May 4th is given by the right-wing extremist Society for Free Journalism , May 5th is the date of birth for Heiko Buschke: Deutsche Presse, Right-Wing Extremism and National Socialist Past , 2003, p. 114.
  2. ↑ Otto Köhler : " Hitler on the Roof ", in: Friday 43, October 15, 2004.
  3. ^ Peter-Ferdinand Koch: Unmasked. Double agents: names, facts, evidence . Ecowin-Verlag, Salzburg 2011, pp. 224–225.
  4. ^ Klaus Wiegrefe : Hidden research. The Federal Intelligence Service recruited journalists as informants in the 1950s and 1960s. Now he had to name his informers for the first time . In: Der Spiegel , No. 23 of June 3, 2013, p. 42f .; see also the more succinct online report BND reveals journalists as informants , in: Spiegel Online , June 2, 2013.
  5. ↑ See Laurence Rees: Auschwitz - history of a crime. List Taschenbuch, Berlin 2005, p. 8.
  6. ^ Kurt Hirsch / Hans Sarkowicz: Schönhuber. The politician and his circles . 1989, p. 88.
  7. ^ Press service Democratic Initiative: Report on neo-Nazi activities . Munich 1980, p. 69.
personal data
SURNAME Oven, Wilfred von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist, publicist and civil servant
DATE OF BIRTH May 4, 1912 or May 5, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH La Paz , Bolivia
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 2008
Place of death Buenos Aires