Operation Scherhorn (in English sources) or Operation Berezino (original Soviet codename) or Operation Beresino (in East German sources) was a secret

deception Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...

operation performed by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

against the Nazi secret services from August 1944 – May 1945. It was proposed by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

, drafted by and executed by

Pavel Sudoplatov Pavel Anatolyevich Sudoplatov (russian: Пáвел Aнатóльевич Cудоплáтов; ua, Павло Анатолійович Судоплатов, translit=Pavlo Anatoliiovych Sudoplatov; July 7, 1907 – September 24, 1996) was a member ...

and his NKVD subordinates, assisted by German antifascists and communists.The official site of the SVR names

''the'' head of the operation;

Nahum Eitingon Nahum Isaakovich Eitingon (russian: Наум Исаакович Эйтингон ''Naum Isaakovič Ejtingon''), also known as Leonid Aleksandrovich Eitingon (russian: Леонид Александрович Эйтингон)Mikhail Maklyarsky and Georgy Mordvinov his deputies in charge of Operation Scherhorn and Willie Fischer as the chief of wireless communications. The main objective of Operation Berezino was to create the illusion of a large German armed group operating behind the front line in Soviet held territory, and to deplete Nazi intelligence resources through capture and extermination of field operatives sent to assist these fictitious troops. The NKVD set up a fake German "resistance pocket" under "command" of Lieutenant-Colonel , a real German

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

forced to cooperate with the Soviets. The German response,

Otto Skorzeny Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including th ...

's Operation Freischütz (Operation Poacher in post-war English sources) developed according to Soviet expectations.''Operation Poacher'' was used, for example, in the original 1950 edition of Skorzeny's memoirs—Skorzeny, pp. 173 and 182. The German commandos sent by Skorzeny were routinely arrested and forced to take part in the Soviet ''

funkspiel ''Funkspiel'' (german: radio game) was a German term describing a technique of transmission of controlled information over a captured agent's radio so that the agent's parent service had no knowledge that the agent had turned and decided to work f ...

''. German support gradually faded but the German command maintained radio contact with "Group Scherhorn" until May 1945.

Background

According to

, NKVD officers Victor Ilyin and Mikhail Maklyarsky conceived Operation Berezino as an extension of Operation Monastyr ("Operation Monastery") (1941–1944). In 1941, NKVD operative (, Soviet

codename A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a Code word (figure of speech), code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may ...

''Heyne''), who disguised himself as a disgruntled

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

, established contact with the German

resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...

in Moscow. The NKVD used this opportunity to expose the ''

Abwehr The ''Abwehr'' (German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. A ...

'' undercover network in the Soviet Union. In December 1941, Demyanov "defected" to the Germans and showed up at the ''Abwehr'' field office in

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...

, a city in western Russia near the border with present-day Belarus. Three months later, he returned to Moscow as a trusted German agent. His apartment became a death trap for scores of genuine German agents, but he retained the trust of his German superiors. In the middle of 1942, Demyanov's control officer Willie Fischer expanded the operation into a strategic level disinformation campaign. For more than two years, Demyanov supplied

Reinhard Gehlen Reinhard Gehlen (3 April 1902 – 8 June 1979) was a German lieutenant-general and intelligence officer. He was chief of the Wehrmacht Foreign Armies East military intelligence service on the eastern front during World War II, spymaster of the ...

, the head of '' Fremde Heere Ost'' (Foreign Armies East) department with carefully scripted "military plans." According to Sudoplatov, the German success in repelling the Soviet Rzhev offensive were, in part, influenced by "correct" information fed to Gehlen through Demyanov. The intent of feeding the Germans information about an operation, was to conduct strategic deception to distract the Germans from the simultaneous

Operation Uranus Operation Uranus (russian: Опера́ция «Ура́н», Operatsiya "Uran") was the codename of the Soviet Red Army's 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation on the Eastern Front of World War II which led to the encirclement of Axis ...

in the south. The Germans were indeed surprised by the latter attack, resulting in the encirclement and eventual surrender of the German 6th Army at

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

. According to Sudoplatov,

personally monitored the progress of Operation Monastyr. The NKVD men engaged in it were highly rewarded, but Stalin was dissatisfied with the limited scope of the operation. Shortly before the beginning of

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

, he summoned Victor Abakumov,

Vsevolod Merkulov Vsevolod Nikolayevich (Boris) Merkulov (russian: Всеволод Николаевич Меркулов; – 23 December 1953) was the head of People's Commissariat for State Security, NKGB from February to July 1941, and again from April 1943 ...

, Fyodor Fedotovich Kuznetsov, and Sudoplatov and ordered a new disinformation campaign.According to Sudoplatov, at this time, he was unaware of

. Stalin's instructions, recorded by

Sergei Shtemenko Sergei Matveevich Shtemenko (russian: Сергей Матвеевич Штеменко; – 23 April 1976) was a Soviet general who served as the Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces' General Staff from 1948 to 1952. Biography Early life Sergei Sht ...

, shifted the objective toward methodical physical destruction of German special forces and their intelligence capability. Sudoplatov had to set up a believable "German camp" behind the advancing Soviet troops and call the German command for help. Stalin reasoned that the Germans would expend their best

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

s in futile rescue missions. The fake "camp" would also divert German

airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distanc ...

resources from supporting the real pockets of resistance.

Planning

The new operation, codenamed Berezino, was drafted by colonel Mikhail Maklyarsky and approved by Stalin, NKVD chief

Lavrenty Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolsheviks ...

and Foreign Minister

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...

. NKVD officers

Nahum Eitingon Nahum Isaakovich Eitingon (russian: Наум Исаакович Эйтингон ''Naum Isaakovič Ejtingon''), also known as Leonid Aleksandrovich Eitingon (russian: Леонид Александрович Эйтингон)Willie Fischer, Mikhail Maklyarsky, Alexander Demyanov and Yakov Serebryansky departed to Belarus with a group of ethnic German antifascists. More pro-Soviet Germans, earlier engaged in mopping up Polish and Lithuanian

forest brothers The Guerrilla war in the Baltic states was an armed struggle which was waged by the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian partisans, called the Forest Brothers (also: the "Brothers of the Wood" and the "Forest Friars"; et, metsavennad, lv, mež ...

, joined them at the base camp some east of

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

. The NKVD men screened groups of German prisoners of war captured during Operation Bagration and picked Lieutenant-Colonel Heinrich Scherhorn as the "front" for their operation. Scherhorn, former commander of the guards' regiment of the 286th Security Division, was taken prisoner in July 9th 1944. According to NKVD veteran Igor Schors, the choice was sealed by the connection between the Scherhorn family and Hitler; in the early 1930s Scherhorn's father had made substantial donations to the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

. Scherhorn and his radio operator agreed to play the Soviet game.Kleinjung: "''Scherhorn war sichtlich erfreut, Deutsche zu sehen und sich mit ihnen unterhalten zu können ... Er und einige andere, darunter auch der Funker, gerieten in Gefangenschaft. In zahlreichen Gesprächen wurden sie zur Zusammenarbeit bewegt und erklärten sich zu einem einzigartigen Funkspiel mit dem deutschen Generalstab bereit.''" ("Scherhorn was visibly pleased to see Germans, and talk to them ... He and some others, among them the radio operator, were taken prisoner. In numerous conversations, they were moved to cooperation, and agreed to perform a unique ''

'' with the German general staff.") German communist Gustav Rebele assumed the role of Scherhorn's aide, watching his "commander" day and night. Berezino began on August 18, 1944 with a wireless message from ''Max'', who was actually NKVD agent Alexander Demyanov, to German Command.Date stated on the official SVR site. Kleinjung provides a different date, August 19. ''Max'' reported that Scherhorn's detachment of 2,500 men was encircled by the Soviets in the swamps near the

Berezina River The Berezina or Biarezina ( be, Бярэ́зіна; ) is a river in Belarus and a right tributary of the Dnieper. The river starts in the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. The length of the Berezina is 613 km. The width of the river is 15-20 m, the ...

. According to German sources, colonel Hans-Heinrich Worgitzky of ''OKH'' Counter-intelligence suspected a Soviet ''funkspiel'' and refused to commit his men to rescue "Scherhorn". Gehlen intervened and demanded full support to "Scherhorn" which he thought would ideally fit

's plan of guerilla action behind the front line.Von Zolling, Hoehne pt. 2. '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (''OKW'', Armed forces High Command) Chief of Staff

Alfred Jodl Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl (; 10 May 1890 – 16 October 1946) was a German ''Generaloberst'' who served as the chief of the Operations Staff of the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' – the German Armed Forces High Command – throughout World ...

instructed Skorzeny to begin the rescue operation.

First casualties

According to German communist , in early September, Eitingon announced the first success; the German command confirmed departure of a group of four or five commandos. The Soviets mustered a "welcome party" dressed in battered Nazi field uniforms. Some, like Kleinjung, were ethnic Germans, others were NKVD men who did not speak the language. Between 01:00 and 02:00 September 16, a

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after th ...

made two runs over the drop zone, releasing supply containers and paratroopers. SVR.
Операция "Березино" (Operacia Beresino, in Russian)
''. Official site of the Foreign Intelligence Service. According to the official site of the SVR there were three radio operators; according to Kleinjung there were two SS commandos, one of them a radio operator and two agents of Baltic descent.Kleinjung: "''Agenten des deutschen Geheimdienstes, die aus Litauen, Lettland und Estland kamen''" ("Agents of the German secret service from Lituania, Latvia and Estonia"). The latter two were quietly subdued by NKVD, while the two SS men were cordially welcomed and escorted to Scherhorn's tent. After the meeting the guests were arrested by the NKVD and forced to cooperate in the ''funkspiel''. They reported their safe landing over their wireless set, persuading the German command that the operation proceeded as planned. They were followed by three more commando teams; according to Kleinjung, the NKVD intercepted all three without arousing suspicion. Otto Skorzeny wrote about four airborne SS teams. All were dressed in Soviet field uniforms, armed with Soviet handguns and stripped of any personal items that could give away their identities. The first one (''Einsatz P'') disappeared before the commandos or the aircraft crew could confirm landing. The second one (''Einsatz S'') made radio contact with Skorzeny after four days of silence. They reported that they safely reached their objective; Scherhorn spoke to German command over the wireless. The third team (''Einsatz M'') disappeared without trace. The fourth one (''Einsatz P'') reported that they landed far off the drop zone and had to reach it on foot, wandering through the forests infested with NKVD and Soviet deserters but contact was soon lost. Three weeks later ''Einsatz P'' safely crossed the front line in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, reporting horrors of Soviet atrocities on their way.

Spy games

"Scherhorn" reported that a rapid breakthrough was made impossible by a large number of wounded and the German command suggested airlifting the wounded to the German rear, which, according to Kleinjung, would have exposed the Soviet ploy. Skorzeny sent an engineer to manage construction of the runway.Soviet and East German sources do not mention the arrival of this engineer or his team. Shmorgun, pp. 208–212, names a number of German officers flown to "Scherhorn" to supervise evacuation by air. The Soviets responded with staging a believable night fight between "Group Scherhorn" and "Soviet troops" at the very same moment when two transport planes arrived over the properly illuminated airfield. One of the pilots attempted to land despite the commotion on the ground but immediately before the touchdown the NKVD men extinguished the runway lights, forcing both planes to abandon their mission. Skorzeny received reports that the runway was permanently disabled by a Soviet air raid. According to Russian sources, execution of this air raid was indeed planned by Colonel of the

4th Air Army Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. Before this night attack could materialize, the NKVD changed their minds and decided to use Fyodorov as a pawn in their game with Skorzeny. Fyodorov had to defect to "Scherhorn", fly to Germany with one of Skorzeny's planes and operate there as a

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

. Fyodorov, one of the few Soviet recipients of the Nazi

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

, was well known to the ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

'' and the ''Abwehr'' and could have indeed been a perfect double agent, had it not been for his explosive, outspoken personality.Fyodorov and

Stepan Suprun Stepan Pavlovich Suprun (russian: Степан Павлович Супрун; – 4 July 1941) was a Soviet test pilot who tested over 140 aircraft types during his career. He was also a fighter pilot and twice awarded the title Hero of the Sovie ...

received their

es from

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

for their performance at an air show held in Berlin in June 1941, two weeks before the outbreak of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

. Instead of openly approaching Fyodorov, the NKVD set up a mock ambush. NKVD men impersonating Belarusian nationalists and Russian monarchists kidnapped Fyodorov, took him to their camp in the forest and pressed him to change sides.The "monarchists" were "loaned" from Operation Prestol, another NKVD operation unfolding in the same area; cf. Shmorgun, pp. 221–223. The recruiters soon realized that Fyodorov was not fit for the job; Major Kopirovsky, author of the failed proposal, suggested liquidating him but Demyanov overruled him and Fyodorov was allowed to "flee" from the camp and return to the Air Force.Shmorgun, pp. 208–225.

Agony

Skorzeny and Gehlen remained confident in the existence and combat worthiness of the 2,000-strong group. According to Kleinjung, they instructed Scherhorn to split it: one half had to march north, to the Latvian–Lithuanian border, another to the south. According to Skorzeny, both detachments were to march north, with the smaller SS

vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

clearing the way for Scherhorn's main force. Scherhorn suggested that their march might bring them in contact with Polish population and Skorzeny sent him his agents. They also fell into Sudoplatov's hands and exposed the German network in Poland. The Germans continuously supplied "Scherhorn" with food and equipment, absorbing the scarce resources of ''

Kampfgeschwader 200 ''Kampfgeschwader'' 200 (KG 200) (" irCombat Squadron 200") was a German ''Luftwaffe'' special operations unit during World War II. The unit carried out especially difficult bombing and transport operations and long-distance reconnaissance flight ...

''. According to the official site of the SVR, the Germans sent 39 flights and dropped 22 commandos with 13 wireless sets. This, according to Kleinjung, created a logistical problem for the NKVD: their once-compact team snowballed into a large formation. All German radio operators remained with the group to maintain radio contact with their German controllers and the number of their NKVD guards and attending personnel grew accordingly. By January 1945, air supplies dwindled because the front line had moved too far west and the ''Luftwaffe'' could not afford the fuel to supply a remote army camp. Group Scherhorn increased their radio activity, flooding the German command with pleas for help. To motivate the German command, "Scherhorn" proposed a brisk march towards the

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

area where the ice was thick enough for transport aircraft to land and Gehlen developed a fixation on the success of the "Scherhorn Raid". On February 20, 1945, he took over the operation from Skorzeny and declared it a matter of prestige that had to be supported at all costs. In March, Skorzeny spoke against Gehlen's single-handed management and Gehlen reluctantly backed off. Scherhorn remained a national hero and on March 23, 1945, was awarded the rank of colonel and the

Knight's Cross Knight's Cross (German language ''Ritterkreuz'') refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that often denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield. Most frequently the term Knight's Cross is used to refer to the Knight's Cr ...

.Kleinjung. According to the official site of the SVR, the German command communicated with "Scherhorn" until May 5, 1945; according to Kleinjung and Skorzeny, "Scherhorn" remained in contact with the command until May 8.Kleinjung; Skorzeny, p. 182.

Aftermath

After the end of the war, Sudoplatov used Scherhorn to recruit captive Admiral

Erich Raeder Erich Johann Albert Raeder (24 April 1876 – 6 November 1960) was a German admiral who played a major role in the naval history of World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank, that of grand admiral, in 1939, becoming the fir ...

and his wife. The attempt failed: according to Sudoplatov, Scherhorn and Raeder were "incompatible with each other". Scherhorn and his group were held prisoners in a camp near Moscow and were repatriated in the early 1950s. Sudoplatov was arrested in the wake of the execution of

, and served 15 years in prison; he was cleared of criminal charges in 1992. Alexander Demyanov (''Max'') retired from the NKVD after one unsuccessful post-war mission in France. According to Sudoplatov, Gehlen offered ''Max'' for sale to the Americans but by this time the real Alexander Demyanov was out of his reach. He worked as an engineer at the

Mosfilm Mosfilm (russian: Мосфильм, ''Mosfil’m'' ) is a film studio which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's film monopoly, its output incl ...

studios and died in Moscow in 1975. Mikhail Maklyarsky also worked for the movie industry as a

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. Neither they, nor any of the NKVD officers engaged in ''Operation Berezino'' were ever rewarded for it.Sudoplatov. Reinhard Gehlen founded the ''

Bundesnachrichtendienst The Federal Intelligence Service (German: ; , BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin and is the world's largest intelligence head ...

'', the West German secret service and headed it until 1968. Karl Kleinjung, one of the ethnic Germans attendants at Camp Scherhorn, quickly rose through the East German bureaucracy and became the head of the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

's First Chief Directorate (HA I), responsible for foreign intelligence. In 1997 he was indicted in the murders of civilians on the

Inner German border The inner German border (german: Innerdeutsche Grenze or ; initially also ) was the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the ...

and was acquitted in court. Willie Fischer served as a KGB spy in the United States from 1948 until his arrest in 1957 under the alias Rudolf Abel, in what became known as the

Hollow Nickel Case The Hollow Nickel Case (or the Hollow Coin) was the FBI investigation that grew out of the discovery of a container disguised as a U.S. coin and containing a coded message, eventually found to concern espionage activities of William August Fish ...

. In 1962, he was exchanged for U-2 pilot

Francis Gary Powers Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Lockheed U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 i ...

Sources

Footnotes

References

* Шерхорн, Генрих * :ru:Зобач, Григорий Григорьевич * Операция «Березино»

Bibliography

* Biddiscombe, Perry (2006).
The SS hunter battalions: the hidden history of the Nazi resistance movement 1944-45
'. Tempus. . * Karl Kleinjung (2003).
Nichts gewesen außer Spesen
'. Operation Beresina (in German). Verband Deutscher in der Résistance, in den Streitkräften der Antihitlerkoalition und der Bewegung "Freies Deutschland" e.V. * Shmorgun, Vladimir (2005).

'. Moscow: Golos Press. . * Skorzeny, Otto (1950).
Secret missions: war memoirs of the most dangerous man in Europe
'. Dutton. pp. 173–182. * Stephan, Robert W. (2004).
Stalin's secret war: Soviet counterintelligence against the Nazis, 1941-1945
'. University Press of Kansas. . pp. 175–181. * Sudoplatov, Pavel (1995).
Special tasks: the memoirs of an unwanted witness, a Soviet spymaster
'. Little, Brown. . * Von Zolling, Hermann and Hoenhe, Hans (1971).

(in German, pt. 2). ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'', March 22, 1971.

External links

Parallel analysis of Kleinjung's and Skorzeny's accounts
(in German). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scherhorn, Operation Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War World War II deception operations NKVD Soviet Union intelligence operations