ODESSA (organizzazione)

ODESSA (acronimo tedesco di Organisation Der Ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen, "Organizzazione degli ex membri delle SS") fu una rete di ex gerarchi e criminali nazisti fuggitivi, organizzata verso la fine della seconda guerra mondiale da un gruppo di ex ufficiali delle SS con la collaborazione e l'aiuto di alcuni soggetti nel Vaticano per consentire la fuga dei gerarchi nazisti in America Latina, principalmente in Cile e Perù.

Il concetto di una struttura organica e unitaria dedita al salvataggio e alla copertura di SS e criminali nazisti denominata ODESSA diviene noto nel 1972,^[1] grazie al grande successo^[2] del romanzo thriller Dossier Odessa, scritto dal celebre scrittore di spionaggio Frederick Forsyth (avvalendosi anche della consulenza di Simon Wiesenthal), poi portato sul grande schermo da Ronald Neame col film omonimo del 1974.

Su ODESSA sussistono controversie essendo gli autori divisi circa l'esistenza di un'unica struttura e sui suoi organizzatori^[3]^[4]^[5], nel complesso quadro generale dei numerosi e diversificati canali di fuga e copertura di cui si avvalsero criminali nazisti per sfuggire alla giustizia nel dopoguerra, e per il loro coinvolgimento nelle attività di vari servizi di sicurezza e servizi segreti durante la guerra fredda.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]

^ Thom Burnett (a cura di), Conspiracy Encyclopedia: The Encyclopedia of Conspiracy Theories, Chamberlain Bros., New York, 2005, ISBN 1596091568, p. 218; "The Organisation der ehemaligen SS Angehorigen (ODESSA), made famous by novelist Frederick Forsyth and his source, Jewish Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal may be a figment of the imagination as an SS ratline organization".
^ «I ragazzi venuti dal Brasile» e «Dossier Odessa» La sua vita diventò spy story, su archiviostorico.corriere.it, corriere.it, 21 settembre 2005. URL consultato il 26 ottobre 2014 (archiviato dall'url originale il 26 ottobre 2014).
^ Hunting Evil: How the Nazi War Criminals Escaped and the Hunt to Bring Them to Justice, by Guy Walters
^ Heinz Schneppen, Odessa und das Vierte Reich - Mythen der Zeitgeschichte
^ AA.VV., curatore Thom Burnett , Conspiracy Encyclopedia: The Encyclopedia of Conspiracy Theories, Chamberlain Bros., New York, 2005, ISBN 1596091568, p. 218; "The Organisation der ehemaligen SS Angehorigen (ODESSA), made famous by novelist Frederick Forsyth and his source, Jewish Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal may be a figment of the imagination as an SS ratline organization".
^ R.J.B. Bosworth, The Oxford Handbook of Fascism, Oxford University Press, New York, Apr. 2009, ISBN 9780199291311, p. 593; "...[Nazi] criminals after the war and enrolled them as soldiers and spies in the war against communism. In Germany, one of the Nazis in question was General Reinhard Gehlen, formerly the army's intelligence chief for the eastern front. At the end of the war, Gehlen was effectively recruited by the CIA and was able to re-establish an intelligence network which made use of Nazis and known war criminals, and later was incorporated into the official West German secret service, BND. [...] Another recruiter was the former SS colonel Otto Skorzeny, responsible for rescuing Mussolini from the Gran Sasso in 1943, who created the ODESSA organization after the war to help Nazis escape from prosecution. Skorzeny also set up the Paladin mercenary group which was based in Spain and operated mainly in Africa until his death in 1975. While working for the CIA, these people remained faithful to their Nazi and racist ideals. In Italy, the Americans, specifically James Jesus Angleton, Head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), rescued Prince Junio Valerio Borghese who notoriously had led the naval X Mas for the Republic of Salò and had been responsible for murdering and torturing scores of Italian partisans. [...] Again in Italy, the discovery in 1994 of 695 judicial files on Nazi and fascist war crimes, which had been concealed in the late 1940s to prevent the culprits from being prosecuted, brought to light the connection between this episode and the 'exigencies' of the Cold War."
^ John S. Craig, Peculiar Liaisons in War, Espionage, and Terrorism in the Twentieth Century, Algora Publishing, New York, 2005, ISBN 9780875863337, p. 163; "Skorzeny [...] In the 1950's he set up "ratlines" or safe routes known as the ODESSA network that allowed Nazis safe passage to South America, South Africa, Egypt, and Indonesia. [...] Within the ODESSA network Skorzeny supposedly employed ex-SS member Helmut Naujocks, the Leader of Operation Himmler (aka the Gleiwitz Deception), the deception that Hitler used to launch the invasion of Poland. Skorzeny's ODESSA was allegedly supported by British and American intelligence in the hopes that Nazis could help in the fight against the Soviets. General Rein hard Gehlen, the chief of Nazi intelligence in the east and linked to Skorzeny's ODESSA... [...] American intelligence servics allowed Gehlen to employ fellow Nazis after the war in an effort to gain more Soviet intelligence under the cover name of South German Industrial Development Organization."
^ Martin A. Lee, The beast reawakens - Fascism's Resurgence from Hitler's Spymasters to Today's Neo-Nazi Groups and Right-Wing Extremists", Little, Brown and Company, Routledge, New York, 2000, ISBN 0-415-92546-0, pp. 41-42 "ODESSA - the fabled postwar Nazi network whose alleged exploits have generated profuse literary and cinematic embellishments: CIC documents confirm that a Nazi "Brown aid" network actually existed and that Skorzeny was immersed in this web of intrigue. Many names have alluded to this shadowy Nazi underground - Die Spinne (The Spider), Kamradenwerk (Comradeship), Der Brudershaft (the Brotherhood). Operation Brandy, a CIC probe of ODESSA, discerned signs of a "well organized illegal mail service" among German POWs. [...] Curious as to where the ratlines led, a CIC mole arranged the escape of himself and two inmates from Dachau. The experience of this informant provided additional corroboration of "an underground movement, bearing the codename of ODESSA." The CIC explicitly identified "Otto Skorzeny, who is directing this movement out of Dachau," as a leader of ODESSA. [...] A Vatican-run way station in Rome dispensed false papers to fascist fugitives, who were farmed out to distant pastures. A top-secret May 1947 State Department report described the Vatican as "the largest single organization involved in the illegal movement of emigrants, including many Nazis." e p. 44 "Skorzeny's ongoing association with Gehlen was emblematic of the pivotal alliance between ODESSA and the Org - and, by implication, the CIA as well. For many of those unsavory characters who constituted the ODESSA underground, Gehlen was the life raft; he was the one who commandered the vehicle to rescue the comradeship. In the end, the most important service performed by the Org had little to do with gathering information for the CIA. "Gehlen's organization was designed to protect the ODESSA Nazis. It maounts to an exceptionally well-orchestrated diversion," maintains historian William Corson, a retired U.S. intelligence officer."
^ Why Israel's capture of Eichmann caused panic at the CIA - Information that could have led to Nazi war criminal was kept under wraps by Julian Borger in Washington Thursday 8 June 2006
^ C.I.A. Knew Where Eichmann Was Hiding, Documents Show

[1] Thom Burnett (a cura di), Conspiracy Encyclopedia: The Encyclopedia of Conspiracy Theories, Chamberlain Bros., New York, 2005, ISBN 1596091568, p. 218; "The Organisation der ehemaligen SS Angehorigen (ODESSA), made famous by novelist Frederick Forsyth and his source, Jewish Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal may be a figment of the imagination as an SS ratline organization".

[2] «I ragazzi venuti dal Brasile» e «Dossier Odessa» La sua vita diventò spy story, su archiviostorico.corriere.it, corriere.it, 21 settembre 2005. URL consultato il 26 ottobre 2014 (archiviato dall'url originale il 26 ottobre 2014).

[3] Hunting Evil: How the Nazi War Criminals Escaped and the Hunt to Bring Them to Justice, by Guy Walters

[4] Heinz Schneppen, Odessa und das Vierte Reich - Mythen der Zeitgeschichte

[5] AA.VV., curatore Thom Burnett , Conspiracy Encyclopedia: The Encyclopedia of Conspiracy Theories, Chamberlain Bros., New York, 2005, ISBN 1596091568, p. 218; "The Organisation der ehemaligen SS Angehorigen (ODESSA), made famous by novelist Frederick Forsyth and his source, Jewish Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal may be a figment of the imagination as an SS ratline organization".

[6] R.J.B. Bosworth, The Oxford Handbook of Fascism, Oxford University Press, New York, Apr. 2009, ISBN 9780199291311, p. 593; "...[Nazi] criminals after the war and enrolled them as soldiers and spies in the war against communism. In Germany, one of the Nazis in question was General Reinhard Gehlen, formerly the army's intelligence chief for the eastern front. At the end of the war, Gehlen was effectively recruited by the CIA and was able to re-establish an intelligence network which made use of Nazis and known war criminals, and later was incorporated into the official West German secret service, BND. [...] Another recruiter was the former SS colonel Otto Skorzeny, responsible for rescuing Mussolini from the Gran Sasso in 1943, who created the ODESSA organization after the war to help Nazis escape from prosecution. Skorzeny also set up the Paladin mercenary group which was based in Spain and operated mainly in Africa until his death in 1975. While working for the CIA, these people remained faithful to their Nazi and racist ideals. In Italy, the Americans, specifically James Jesus Angleton, Head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), rescued Prince Junio Valerio Borghese who notoriously had led the naval X Mas for the Republic of Salò and had been responsible for murdering and torturing scores of Italian partisans. [...] Again in Italy, the discovery in 1994 of 695 judicial files on Nazi and fascist war crimes, which had been concealed in the late 1940s to prevent the culprits from being prosecuted, brought to light the connection between this episode and the 'exigencies' of the Cold War."

[7] John S. Craig, Peculiar Liaisons in War, Espionage, and Terrorism in the Twentieth Century, Algora Publishing, New York, 2005, ISBN 9780875863337, p. 163; "Skorzeny [...] In the 1950's he set up "ratlines" or safe routes known as the ODESSA network that allowed Nazis safe passage to South America, South Africa, Egypt, and Indonesia. [...] Within the ODESSA network Skorzeny supposedly employed ex-SS member Helmut Naujocks, the Leader of Operation Himmler (aka the Gleiwitz Deception), the deception that Hitler used to launch the invasion of Poland. Skorzeny's ODESSA was allegedly supported by British and American intelligence in the hopes that Nazis could help in the fight against the Soviets. General Rein hard Gehlen, the chief of Nazi intelligence in the east and linked to Skorzeny's ODESSA... [...] American intelligence servics allowed Gehlen to employ fellow Nazis after the war in an effort to gain more Soviet intelligence under the cover name of South German Industrial Development Organization."

[8] Martin A. Lee, The beast reawakens - Fascism's Resurgence from Hitler's Spymasters to Today's Neo-Nazi Groups and Right-Wing Extremists", Little, Brown and Company, Routledge, New York, 2000, ISBN 0-415-92546-0, pp. 41-42 "ODESSA - the fabled postwar Nazi network whose alleged exploits have generated profuse literary and cinematic embellishments: CIC documents confirm that a Nazi "Brown aid" network actually existed and that Skorzeny was immersed in this web of intrigue. Many names have alluded to this shadowy Nazi underground - Die Spinne (The Spider), Kamradenwerk (Comradeship), Der Brudershaft (the Brotherhood). Operation Brandy, a CIC probe of ODESSA, discerned signs of a "well organized illegal mail service" among German POWs. [...] Curious as to where the ratlines led, a CIC mole arranged the escape of himself and two inmates from Dachau. The experience of this informant provided additional corroboration of "an underground movement, bearing the codename of ODESSA." The CIC explicitly identified "Otto Skorzeny, who is directing this movement out of Dachau," as a leader of ODESSA. [...] A Vatican-run way station in Rome dispensed false papers to fascist fugitives, who were farmed out to distant pastures. A top-secret May 1947 State Department report described the Vatican as "the largest single organization involved in the illegal movement of emigrants, including many Nazis." e p. 44 "Skorzeny's ongoing association with Gehlen was emblematic of the pivotal alliance between ODESSA and the Org - and, by implication, the CIA as well. For many of those unsavory characters who constituted the ODESSA underground, Gehlen was the life raft; he was the one who commandered the vehicle to rescue the comradeship. In the end, the most important service performed by the Org had little to do with gathering information for the CIA. "Gehlen's organization was designed to protect the ODESSA Nazis. It maounts to an exceptionally well-orchestrated diversion," maintains historian William Corson, a retired U.S. intelligence officer."

[9] Why Israel's capture of Eichmann caused panic at the CIA - Information that could have led to Nazi war criminal was kept under wraps by Julian Borger in Washington Thursday 8 June 2006

[10] C.I.A. Knew Where Eichmann Was Hiding, Documents Show

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