Hans Bernd Gisevius: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|German diplomat}}

[[Image:Gisevius.gif|frame|Hans Bernd Gisevius|right]]

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}

{{Infobox person

'''Hans Bernd Gisevius''' ([[July 14]], [[1904]]-[[February 23]], [[1974]]) was a [[Germany|German diplomat]], posted in [[Zürich]] during the [[Nazism|Nazi]] regime, who served as a liaison between the [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]] and the anti-[[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] forces in the German army.

| name = Hans Bernd Gisevius

| image = Gisevius 2 460426 NARA.jpg

| caption = Gisevius in 1946; during the [[Nuremberg trials]]

| birth_name = Gustav-Adolf Timotheus Hans Bernd Gisevius

| birth_date = {{birth date|1904|07|14}}

| birth_place = [[Arnsberg]], [[German Empire]]

| death_date = {{death date and age|1974|02|23|1904|07|14}}

| death_place = [[Müllheim]], [[West Germany]]

| alma_mater = [[University of Marburg]]

| occupation = {{plainlist|

* Civil Servant

* Politician

* Police Officer

* Intelligence Officer

}}

| party = [[DNVP]] (1929-1933)

| movement = {{plainlist|

* [[Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten|Stahlhelm]]

}}

}}

'''Gustav-Adolf Timotheus Hans Bernd Gisevius''' (14 July 1904 – 23 February 1974) was a [[Germany|German]] politician, ''[[Gestapo]]'' and ''[[Abwehr]]'' officer and diplomat during the [[Second World War]]. He was a member of the [[Resistance to Nazism#In the Army|Military Resistance]], who actively participated in the [[Oster conspiracy|Oster Conspiracy]] and the [[20 July plot|20 July Plot]], being among the few survivors. A covert opponent of the [[Nazism|Nazi]] regime, he also served as a liaison in [[Zürich]] between [[Allen Dulles]], station chief for the [[United States|American]] [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]], and the [[German resistance to Nazism|German Resistance]] forces in [[Germany]].<ref>Reitlinger (1989). ''The SS: Alibi of a Nation, 1922–1945'', p. 49.</ref>

Politically a conservative supporter of [[Paul von Hindenburg]], Gisevius joined the Prussian Interior Ministry (police) after graduating from law school and was later transferred to the Reich Ministry of the Interior. He immeidately became disillusioned with Hitler because of lawlessness in Germany, most notably the failure to enforce German law and tolerance of violence by the Nazis. Gisevius joined the secret opposition to Hitler and attempted to restrain the increasing power of Heinrich Himmler and the SS. As a result, on the day Himmler took total control over police functions in the German Reich, he removed Gisevius from office.

Gisevius was a witness for the defense, during the [[Nuremberg trials]], testifying in favour of [[Hjalmar Schacht|Schacht]], who was acquitted, and against [[Hermann Göring|Göring]], [[Ernst Kaltenbrunner|Kaltenbrunner]] and [[Wilhelm Keitel|Keitel]].

When the war started, Gisevius joined the German intelligence service, the Abwehr, which was headed by [[Admiral Wilhelm Canaris]], who had surrounded himself with German officers opposed to Hitler. Under the cover provided to him by Canaris, Gisevius participated in several plots against Hitler, including the 20th of July, 1944 assassination attempt and putsch.

==Pre Second World War==

As Vice Consul in [[Switzerland]], Gisevius met with [[Allen Dulles]], and agreed to serve as a liaison with the German opposition to Hitler, including General [[Ludwig Beck]], Canaris, and Mayor [[Carl Goerdeler]] of [[Leipzig]]. Upon returning to Germany, he was investigated briefly by the Gestapo, but released. In [[1944]], after the failed assassination attempt against Hitler, Gisevius fled back to Switzerland.

Gisevius was born in [[Arnsberg]] in the [[Prussia]]n [[Province of Westphalia]]. After [[law school]], he joined the [[Prussian Interior Ministry]] in 1933 and was assigned to the newly formed ''[[Geheime Staatspolizei]]'', or [[Gestapo]]. After joining the Gestapo, he immediately had disagreements with his senior, [[Rudolf Diels]], and was discharged. He continued with police work in the Interior Ministry. When [[Heinrich Himmler]] took over Police functions in 1936 in the [[German Reich]], he removed Gisevius from office.

Throughout his time working for the [[Gestapo]], Gisevius described himself as living in constant fear, entering and exiting through the back door, clutching a pistol at his side – all resultant from his misgivings with the terror apparatus to which he was assigned, since according to him, it was like "living in a den of murderers".<ref>Blandford (2001) ''SS Intelligence: The Nazi Secret Service'', pp 30–31.</ref> Gisevius later transferred to the [[Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany)|Reich Ministry of the Interior]]. Although he had no position of power, he maintained connections, notably to [[Arthur Nebe]], that kept him informed of the political background. Gisevius joined the secret opposition to [[Adolf Hitler]], began gathering evidence of Nazi crimes (for use in a later prosecution) and attempted to restrain the increasing power of Himmler and the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]]. He maintained links with [[Hans Oster]] and [[Hjalmar Schacht]].<ref>Conot (1993), ''Justice at Nuremberg'', pp. 390–395.</ref>

After the war, Gisevius returned to Germany and served as a key witness for the prosecution at the [[Nuremberg Trials]] in the case against [[Hermann Göring]], his former boss in the Prussian Ministry of the Interior. His autobiography, ''Bis zum Bitteren Ende'', ("To the Bitter End"), published in [[1946]], offered a sharp indictment of the Nazi regime, many of whose leading members Gisevius knew personally, as well as of the German people, who, Gisevius claimed, pretended not to know about the atrocities being committed in its name. At the same time, it also offers an exciting insider's account of the German resistance movement.

==Second World War==

Hans Gisevius died in Germany in 1974.

[[File:Nuremberg Trials defendant Wilhelm Frick in his cell 1945.jpeg|thumb|[[Wilhelm Frick|Frick]] in his cell at Nuremberg, November 1945]]

When the [[Second World War]] started, Gisevius joined the German intelligence service, the ''[[Abwehr]]'', which was headed by Admiral [[Wilhelm Canaris]], who was secretly an opponent of Hitler. Canaris had surrounded himself with [[Wehrmacht]] officers opposed to Hitler and he welcomed Gisevius into this group. Working from the [[consulate]] in [[Zürich]], Hans Gisevius was involved in [[Pius XII and the German Resistance|secret talks with the Vatican]]. Canaris arranged for appointment of Gisevius as [[Vice Consul]] in [[Switzerland]], where Gisevius met with [[Allen Dulles]] in 1943 and agreed to serve as a liaison for the German opposition to Hitler, an assembly which counted among its members General [[Ludwig Beck]], ''Abwehr'' Chief Canaris, and [[Mayor]] [[Carl Goerdeler]] of [[Leipzig]].<ref>Martin Kitchen, ''Nazi Germany at War'' (London & New York: Routledge, 1994), 247–248.</ref> Several members of the conspiratorial circle against Hitler including Gisevius, "all kept homes within easy walking distance of each other."<ref>Blandford (2001) ''SS Intelligence: The Nazi Secret Service'', p. 106.</ref> According to Gisevius, the original plot to kill Hitler earlier (namely, before the acquiescence of Great Britain over the Sudetenland) was utterly derailed by Neville Chamberlain whose actions he claims "saved Hitler."<ref>Gisevius (1948), ''To the Bitter End'', pp. 327–328.</ref>

[[Category:1904 births|Gisevius, Hans Bernd]]

[[Category:1974 deaths|Gisevius, Hans Bernd]]

Upon returning to Germany, he was investigated by the Gestapo, but released. In 1944, after the failed [[20 July plot|20 July assassination attempt]] against Hitler, Gisevius first hid at the home of his future wife, the Swiss national Gerda Woog, and fled to [[Switzerland]] in 1945, making him one of the few [[Conspiracy (political)|conspirator]]s to survive the war. There, he contacted the Swiss authorities.

Peter Hoffmann's biography of Hitler assassination conspirator [[Claus von Stauffenberg]] ("Stauffenberg, A Family History," 1992) indicates that after the failure of Stauffenberg's bomb plot in July 1944, Gisevius went into hiding until 23 January 1945, when he escaped to Switzerland by using a passport that had belonged to Carl Deichmann, a brother-in-law of German [[Count Helmuth James von Moltke]], who was a specialist in international law serving in the legal branch of the Foreign Countries Group of the [[OKW]] (''Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'', "Supreme Command of the Armed Forces"). Through the help of the American Allen Dulles in Berne, Switzerland and of the German Legation (in Berne)'s Georg Federer, the passport was modified and a visa obtained for Gisevius that enabled him to escape to Spain.

==Later life==

Gisevius served as a key witness for the defence at the [[Nuremberg trials]] when he was called as a witness by defendants [[Hjalmar Schacht]] and [[Wilhelm Frick]]. His testimony was crucial in securing the acquittal of Schacht on all counts, but Frick was found guilty and executed. His testimony was also particularly damaging to [[Hermann Göring]], [[Wilhelm Keitel]] and [[Ernst Kaltenbrunner]], who were all convicted and sentenced to death.<ref>Ann Tusa & John Tusa, ''The Nuremberg Trial'' (BBC Books, 1983), pg. 329.</ref>

After the war, Gisevius returned to Germany and served as a key witness for the prosecution at theHis [[Nuremberg Trials]] in the case against [[Hermann Göringautobiography]], his former boss in the Prussian Ministry of the Interior. His autobiography, ''Bis zum Bitterenbitteren Ende'', ("To the Bitter End"), published inby [[1946Ernst Wasmuth Verlag|Wasmuth]] in 1948, offered a sharp indictment of both the Nazi regime, many of whose leading members Gisevius knew personally, as well as ofand the German people, who,. Gisevius claimed, that the latter pretended not to know about the atrocities being committed in itstheir name. At the same time, itthe book also offers an exciting insider's account of the German resistance movement.

In 1946, Gisevius was charged and acquitted by the Swiss authorities in a trial for [[espionage]]. Gisevius was later criticised as he diminished the contributions of other members (such as [[Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg]]) of the opposition to Hitler. Gisevius wrote in his 1948 book that he considered SS Chief Himmler somewhat of a hypocrite whereas he saw [[Reinhard Heydrich]] as one who epitomised [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] ideals.<ref>Hans Bernd Gisevius, ''To the Bitter End'' (London: Cape, 1948), p. 149, as found in Reitlinger (1989). ''The SS: Alibi of a Nation, 1922–1945'', p. 49.</ref> In the early 1950s, he moved to the [[United States]] and lived in [[Dallas, Texas]], but soon returned to Europe and lived in Switzerland. Gisevius died in [[Müllheim]] in [[Baden-Württemberg]] in 1974.

==Works==

*{{cite book | author = Gisevius H.B. | title = Bis zum bitteren Ende | year = 1946 | language = German }} (Translated in English editions as 'To the Bitter End', and more recently republished in English as ''"Valkyrie"'' to capitalize on the [[Valkyrie (film)|film of the same name]])

*{{cite book | author = Gisevius H.B. | title = Wo ist Nebe? | year = 1966 | publisher = Droemer }} (The title means ''Where is Nebe?'', Nebe being [[Arthur Nebe]])

*{{cite book | last = Kitchen | first = Martin | title = Nazi Germany at War | year = 1994 | ___location = New York and London | publisher = Routledge }}

==Notes==

{{Reflist}}

==References==

* Blandford, Edmund L. ''SS Intelligence: The Nazi Secret Service''. Edison, NJ: Castle, 2001.

* Conot, Robert E. ''Justice at Nuremberg''. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers Inc., 1993.

* Gisevius, Hans Bernd. ''To the Bitter End''. London: Jonathan Cape Publishing, 1948.

* Gisiger C. ''Ein sensationeller Prozess? Das militärgerichtliche Strafverfahren gegen Eduard von der Heydt, Hans Bernd Gisevius und Josef Steegman vor dem Divisionsgericht 6 (1946–1948).'' Historisches Seminar University Zürich, October 2005.

* Kitchen, Martin. ''Nazi Germany at War''. London & New York: Routledge, 1994.

* Guido Knopp. ''Hitler's Warriors – Episode 6: Canaris – The Master Spy'' (ZDF/History Channel documentary, 2005)

* Reitlinger, Gerald. ''The SS: Alibi of a Nation, 1922–1945''. New York: Da Capo Press, 1989.

* Giebeler, Marcus: ''Die Kontroverse um den Reichstagsbrand. Quellenprobleme und historiographische Paradigmen''. Martin Meidenbauer, München 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-89975-731-6}} (mit Kurzbiographie zu Gisevius, S. 272–274)

* Wildt, Michael: ''Generation des Unbedingten. Das Führungskorps des Reichssicherheitshauptamtes''. [[Hamburger Edition]], Hamburg 2003, {{ISBN|978-3-930908-87-5}} (zugleich Habilitationsschrift, Universität Hannover 2001)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gisevius, Hans Bernd}}

[[Category:1904 births|Gisevius, Hans Bernd]]

[[Category:1974 deaths|Gisevius, Hans Bernd]]

[[Category:Abwehr personnel of World War II]]

[[Category:Members of the 20 July plot]]

[[Category:People from Arnsberg]]

[[Category:People from the Province of Westphalia]]

[[Category:People of the Office of Strategic Services]]

[[Category:World War II espionage]]

[[Category:Gestapo personnel]]

[[Category:Nazi Party members]]

[[Category:Witnesses to the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg]]