Mandel Szkolnikoff (28 January 1895 – 10 June 1945), better known as Michel Szkolnikoff, was a Belarusian-French businessman, billionaire, and Nazi collaborator. During the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

, he made a fortune by supplying the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

and the

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...

, mainly with textiles. After the war, Szkolnikoff fled to

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

, but was killed during an attempted abduction by French intelligence.

Early life

Mandel Szkolnikoff was born on 28 January 1895 in

Sharkawshchyna Sharkawshchyna or Sharkovshchina ( be, Ша́ркаўшчына, Šarkaŭščyna; russian: Шарковщина; pl, Szarkowszczyna; yi, שאַרקוישטשינע, Sharkoyshtchine) is an urban-type settlement in Vitebsk Region, Belarus, and the ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, now in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. He was Jewish.Le mystère Szkolnikoff
''

Le Parisien ''Le Parisien'' (; French for "The Parisian") is a French daily newspaper covering both international and national news, and local news of Paris and its suburbs. It is owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, better known as LVMH. Histor ...

'', February 2, 2014 He had a German passport.

Career

Szkolnikoff was a major economic collaborator in the

occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

during the Second World War. Less known than

Joseph Joanovici Joseph Joanovici (also Ioinovici or Joinovici, 1905 –1965) was a French Jewish merchant of scrap metal who supplied both Nazi Germany and the French Resistance during the German occupation of France in World War II. Early life Joseph Joanovici ...

, he made a considerable fortune by supplying the

and then the SS, mainly in textiles, and was described as "the man who pushed the practice of

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

to an extreme."Renaud de Rochebrune, Jean-Claude Hazera, ''Les Patrons sous l'Occupation'', Paris: Editions Odile Jacob, 2013, pp. 229-235 He reinvested his returns to build a real estate empire.Fabrice Grenard, ''La France du marché noir (1940-1949)'', Paris: Editions Payol, 2012, p. 180

Death

Szkolnikkoff died in unclear circumstances on 10 June 1945 near Madrid in Spain. The most generally accepted theory now is that he was unintentionally killed during an attempted kidnapping in Spain by French intelligence. In 1944, the

Direction générale des études et recherches The Direction générale des études et recherches (English: ''General Directorate for Studies and Research'', DGER), was a division of the Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action (BCRA), the intelligence agency of the Free French Forces, Ch ...

, the secret service agency of the

Provisional Government of the French Republic The Provisional Government of the French Republic (PGFR; french: Gouvernement provisoire de la République française (''GPRF'')) was the provisional government of Free France between 3 June 1944 and 27 October 1946, following the liberation ...

, created a group to abduct or kill French collaborators who'd hidden in

. Members of this group set up a plan to capture Szkolnikoff and exfiltrate him to France. Under the pretext of reselling jewelry, he was lured to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

to be abduct and repatriated to France. However, Szkolnikoff fought back, after which he was knocked out, drugged, and put in a car truck headed towards the French border. While the road, however, the agents noticed that Szkolnikoff had died. They disposed of the body in a field under the bridge, after dousing it with gasoline and setting it on fire. The partly charred body was later found by a peasant.Pierre Abramovici, ''Szkolnikoff, le plus grand trafiquant de l'Occupation'', p. 186

References

1895 births 1945 deaths People from Sharkowshchyna District Belarusian Jews Assassinated Jews Assassinated Nazis Accidental deaths in Spain Belarusian expatriates in Spain French expatriates in Spain Executed French collaborators with Nazi Germany Executed Belarusian collaborators with Nazi Germany Executed Jewish collaborators with Nazi Germany Jews from the Russian Empire French billionaires Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Spain {{France-business-bio-stub People killed in French intelligence operations Nazis in Spain