lesser known details of WW2 part two

Hermann Göring estate "Karinhalle"

Location:

On the Schorfheide, not far from a place called Friedrichwalde. It is about 80km north of Berlin, Germany

History:

In 1933 Hermann Göring got, because of his function as minister of Preussen, a large piece of land on the Schorfheide, about 80km north of Berlin. He build a house on the land for weekends and named it after his in 1931 deceased wife Karin von Fock.

In 1936, Hitler ordered to enlarge "Karinhalle" so that it could be used as an official reception for high guests.

1935, Göring marries Emmy Sonneman and they use "Karinhalle" as there living house.

On 20-07-37, the "Karinhalle" was ready.

After the birth of Görings daughter Emma in 1940, "Karinhalle" was made larger again.

After the German defeat at Stalingrad in 1943/44, Göring started to use "Karinhalle" as an official Headquarters for his Luftwaffe. Large underground systems were build to provide shelter in case of airraids.

On 12-01-45, Göring celebrates his last birthday on "Karinhalle".

On Hitler's last birthday on 20-04-45, Göring leaves his estate. All valuable goods are loaded on lorries. Göring personally blows up his estate. After that he attends Hitler's birthday in Berlin.

After the war the local population took all valuable things left away.

During the period of the DDR (East-Germany), the format estate was used by high communist part leaders for hunting parties, etc. No one was allowed in that area. After the Berlin Wall went down, the estate could be visited freely again.

Current status:

There is not much left now these days. On the former estate you can some pieces of debris of Görings former house. Only the entrance gate is till there. Furthermore a number of tunnels can be found. The vegetation looks a bit strange on some places, it doesn't fit in the normal forrest vegetation.These are probably the remains of the garden.

The site incl some 1993 pics of the area

http://members.tripod.com/plowwii/uk021.htm

 

During the Nazi’s Nuremberg Rally of 1934, some 35,000 swastika symbols were displayed on banners, flags, standards, and enormous backdrop curtains. It was, arguably, the largest mass display of the swastika to date.



http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/new-age/NA0802W4.htm

 

Nazi propaganda and Czech 1934:



Nazi propaganda and the British:

 

Warning! This is total propaganda by the nazi regime. Enter only to understand the cruelty behind the nazi politics!


The following text and graphics are from,
RASSENPOLITIK, Berlin: SS Hauptamt, circa. 1942.
A presentation of Nazi racial theories
this SS manual was designed for educational use.

RACIAL POLICY
The Reichführer SS [HEINRICH HIMMLER] SS CENTRAL OFFICE

http://www.dac.neu.edu/holocaust/Nazi%20Racial%20Policy.htm

 

1936 Olympics: In a gesture of peace Spiridon Louis, Greek champion of the 1896 Olympic games, brings Hitler an Olive branch from Mt. Olympus. 5 years later Germany would invade Greece. Photo courtesy of Bundesarchiv Koblenz.

 

http://www.ahier.demon.co.uk/occ1st.html

The German Occupation of the Channel Islands, 1940-1945

Paris surrendered to the German army on 14 June 1940. On the following day the British government announced that the Channel Islands were of no strategic importance and would not be defended.


About 30,000 people out of a total island population of 104,000 left their homes hurriedly to evacuate to England. They included almost the whole population of Alderney, but few from Sark. Nearly all the school-age children of Guernsey were shipped, without their parents, to England.


Guernsey was occupied by German forces on 30 June, Jersey on 1 July, Alderney on 2 July and Sark on 3 July, 1940.

Channel Islanders were forbidden by the Germans to communicate outside the islands (except by means of censored 25-word Red Cross messages which took many months to reach their destinations). Nor were they permitted to travel outside the islands or to listen to radio broadcasts or to run cars. There were heavy penalties if found in possession of a radio. Small quantities of new clothing and domestic goods were imported from France but in general supplies of most commodities were in very short supply and often impossible to obtain.

In 1942-43, 2,000 British people, including whole families with children, were forcibly deported to camps in southern Germany. No reason for this was given at the time.

After the invasion of France by Allied forces on 6 June 1944 the Channel Islands were besieged because the German garrison refused to surrender. There were not enough stocks of food in the islands to maintain a normal diet. Eventually public gas and electricity supplies were cut off. The International Red Cross sent food parcels by sea from Lisbon in the SS Vega, (1,073 tons). Two food parcels, each weighing about 11 lbs, were distributed to civilians in January 1945. The Vega made five other voyages from Lisbon to the islands in 1945 to bring flour and other supplies.

The war in Europe ended on 8 May 1945 and the Germans surrendered the islands on the following day, now referred to in the Channel Islands as "Liberation Day".

Some curious facts:

The civil police continued to wear the usual British uniform throughout the Occupation but uniformed policemen were required to salute German officers when they passed them in the street. Local policemen were prosecuted and fined by the German military police for not saluting.

The Germans did all they could to stop people receiving uncensored news from outside the Islands. Radios were confiscated but many hundreds of people were imprisoned and some were deported for keeping a radio receiver at home. It was also an offence to keep pigeons and on 20 December 1941 the Germans announced that the death penalty could be imposed for anyone found keeping pigeons.

 

Just a little tale about the Kronprinz Friedrich Wilhelm (who would have been Kaiser Wilhelm III...)



He wrote a congratulation letter to field marshal Erich von Manstein along with a gold cigarette case or a watch (I am not shure) as a gift.

"I congratulate you because you covered the German arms with glory in taking the amazing fortress of Sevastopol. Even a more difficult action than that of taking the French fortresses at Verdun, in which I failed myself 26 years ago..."

Let's remember that prince Friedrich Wilhelm commanded the German V Army in the battle of Verdun.

Here is Kaiser Wilhelm II with all his sons:

 

Adolf Galland and the dramatic air combat July of 1941.

http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/galland/galland.htm

Written by Christer Bergström

July 2nd, 1941 the Geschwaderkommodore Oberstleutnant Adolf Galland took off, despite wounds he had received when he was shot down on 21 June, and despite the fact that he had received orders that forbade him to take part in air combat since he was decorated with the Swords to the Knight´s Cross with Oak Leaves. He led the whole JG 26 in an attack against the formation of "Blenheim's" and escort fighters - probably of 308th Squadron, they just covered that bombers... Galland shot down one "Blenheim" (it was not confirmed, because he didn´t see the crash). As he was involved in a whirling dogfight with one "Spitfire", another "Spitfire" attacked his Bf 109F from behind.

The cockpit hub of Galland´s plane was hit by a 20 mm shell. But the armor plate which Galland´s mechanic Unteroffizier Meyer coincidentally had mounted on the Kommodore´s aircraft that same morning, saved Galland´s life. Adolf Galland managed to escape and landed at base, where he was hospitalized again - for the second time in twelve days. As a reward, he paid Uffz. Meyer 100 Mark.

"So viel war mein Kopf wert (so much was my head worth)...", Galland ironically commented later.

 

On March 29th of 1943, it was decided to produce recovery version of Panther for use in the Panzer-Abteilungen. In June of 1943, MAN produced original 12 prototype series Bergepanthers which were turretless and modified Ausf Ds returned for repairs . Production started in July of 1943 and Panther Ausf A and later Ausf G were used, although production was slow and various modifications were made during the production. Early Bergepanther was armed with 20mm KwK 38 L/55 and later on with twin 7.92mm MG34 or MG42s. Bergepanther was operated by the crew made up of commander, driver and mechanic. It was fitted with a 1.5 ton lifting crane and other recovery/repair equipment (eg. large spade, 40 ton winch etc.), some of it especially designed.

Some Bergepanthers had their recovery equipment removed and were modified to carry ammunition, designated as Munitionspanzer Panther. Bergepanther was the best recovery vehicle of World War II and after the war, some captured Bergepanthers were used by the French Army until mid 1950s.


http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz4.htm

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Bergepanther, SdKfz 179: The chassis used were 232 Ausf As from June to September 1943, 107 Ausf Gs from September 1944 to March 1945, and 8 converted in August 1944. Existing half-track recovery vehicles were inadequate due to Panther's weight. Turret was removed and square wooden structure took it's place. A 40 ton winch was installed. A large spade was hinged to the bottom of the hull and was used as an anchor. A folding derrick with a 1.5 tone capacity was installed. Weighed 42.7 tons, speed of 21 mph, and a crew of 4 or 5, although 2 could operate it. These were produced by Demag of Berlin-Falkensee. Ruhrstahl of Hattingen supplied the armor. Fuel was increased to 1,075 liters.

http://www.wwiivehicles.com/html/germany/pzkpfw_v.html

 

Short course for British military leaders 1939-1945:

http://books.stonebooks.com/cgi-bin/foxweb.exe/base/brit

 

Churchill's first letter to FDR as Prime Minister was written on May 15, 1940:

http://history.acusd.edu/gen/st/~mdoms/pg2.html

FDR and his advisers believed that Hitler would get slowed down in his invasion of France, allowing the Royal Navy to build up enough strength to isolate him on the Continent. Little did they know that France would fall in less than a month. So, FDR ignored Churchill's plea for American non-belligerency and only helped to facilitate purchasing of war materials by Britain. FDR's tone was very noncommittal. At this point, he was not sure how far the American public would allow him to go. Churchill put pressure on FDR to respond in a strong way to his requests by pointing out that he expected Germany to conduct heavy bombing that would be followed by a combined air and sea assault. He stated that Britain would "perservere to the very end" and that "under no conceivable circumstances would we consent to surrender." He threatened that "You may have a completely subjugated, Nazified Europe established with astonishing swiftness, and the weight may be more than we can bear." However he also pointed out that if American assistance was going to aid the British, it "must be available soon." Churchill also took the opportunity to hint at what would later become part of the Lend-Lease Program.

 

More pics on the Dieppe invasion 1942:

http://cap.estevan.sk.ca/ssr/photos/claw/dieppe.html









The German burial parade. This shot also appears in "The way we were". Note French civilian with his back turned to the parade, and the marcher watching him!

[ 25. April 2003, 01:59 PM: Message edited by: Kai-Petri ]

 

Kai, the channel islands are a very interesting part of British history....Lots of interest to anyone studying the British in ww2.

The British did not actually declare they had no interest until the docks at Guernsey were bombed, something the islanders still have a problem with to this day...They were actually unoficially but officially encouraged to leave the islands before the invasion with many families shipping to UK via Weymouth, island balifs had to put up notices on islands telling them no need to panic sort of thing.

The story of the first Luftwafe landings on Guernsey is quite a story with if I was German by birth a real boys own adventure.

The first troops to land were some of the best Germany had to offer, not sent as some histories claim to show the islanders the best of the German boys but becuase they were the regiment deemed closest with full support.

The first Army officer to control the islands was to have his own story to tell and ended his days on the eastern front I believe. The initial troops were not welcomed as such in the way we would welcome liberators etc but the islanders were not as inhospitable as they could have been to their temporary visitors. These troops were eventually replaced as first line troops of their calibre were wasted on garrison duties.

The channel island story is one I have grown up with as my grandfather on my mothers side was a Guernsey resident of St.Peters Port and worked in the local post office.

Grew up with many stories from him.

The military occupation of the islands is an excellent history, totdt, commando raids, progaganda, Sark island, underground hospital, german small naval craft, stories abound...

I actually had the pleasure on business of re visiting islands and stayed at the Grand Hotel in Jersey, whith a Belgian colleague on a banking IT installation trip...we went into main resteraunt to eat but was full and were escorted to the small annexe and on sitting down we noticed pictures on wall of the German officers taken outside by sea wall with hotel in background and pics taken in hotel...liberally sprinkeled around the room..my Belgian colleague was uncomfortable with the surroundings and asked me if this was a normal British thing to do...I was quite impressed however..

Part of my trip took me to the Guernsey telecom building to work on our equipment housed there..and what was especially good for me was that it was housed in same post office building my grandfather had worked in all those years ago, on top of hill looking down on harbour. Living history...

 

Thanx for telling us about those things, Urgh!
Excellent!



--------------

And now something else...

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_17

Do 17Z-10 Kauz


After bomber production ended in 1940, the Z model was modified with a "solid" nose from the Ju 88C and fitted with one 20mm and three 7.92mm MG15's to be used as night fighters. One prototype was constructed as the Z-6 Kauz I (screech-owl), and then the design was futher modified with a custom nose with four 7.92 mm MG17 machine guns and four 20 mm MG-FF cannon. Only nine of these Do 17K-10 Kauz II designs were built, fitted with both a Lichtenstein C1 radar and the Spanner-II infra-red detection systen. The later proved to be essentially useless, and was not used on later night fighter designs.

The Z-10 served for two years in the night fighter role, where they were used in Josef Kammhuber's defensive system known as the Kammhuber Line. Each fighter was assigned a single "cell", with three strips of such cells running from Denmark to the middle of France. Within each cell a direction center on the ground tracked both the Kauz and a single target, guiding them until the target was visible in the Spanner. RAF Bomber Command were able to assertain the nature of the line, and sent all of their bombers in a single "stream", thus overwhelming the defenses. The Z-10s were then replaced with more capable planes mounting their own radars.

 

The Kauz was only a stop gap in the Drnier line of twin engine fighters. used by NJG 2 who hated it, the Do 217 variants came into being with similiar forward firing armament and a little more room for the crew. Increased engine perfomance and fuel to boot. It was actually a big thug driving through the night skies over the Reich and under NJG 100's tutledge whilst trying to keep up with lend lease B-25's which it could not do. The Do 217 was also the first test bed for the Schräg Musik weapons. the a/c was soon replaced by the more streamlined and quicker Ju 88C variants although NJG 100 seemed to suffer with the a/c as well as NJG 4, finally the a/c were used as hack a/c and also for radar trial a/c's.

~E

 

Thanx Erich!

----------------

Blondi (sometimes called Blonda) was a female Alsatian (German Shepherd) that belonged to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler during most of his life as German Chancellor (1933-1945). As the Soviet Army closed in on Hitler's bunker in Berlin, Hitler and some of his staff planned suicide by cyanide poisoning. However, Hitler was mistrustful of the poison capsules that had been supplied by SS Chief Himmler (whom he now saw as a traitor), so he ordered his personal doctor Werner Hasse to try one of the capsules out on Blondi. Blondi was initially buried in a shell crater outside the emergency exit to Hitler's bunker, and this same burial site was later used to inter the cremated remains of Hitler and Eva Braun. On April 30, 1945, on Hitler's orders, Blondi, Hitler and Eva Braun were cremated with diesel fuel in the Reich Chancellery garden above his bunker.

Check the site for pics of Blondi with Hitler anyway!

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11366&pt=%20Blondi

 

Hitler eulogizes the dead Heydrich, June 9, 1942, and bestows upon him the German Order. This was the highest award of the Third Reich, instituted February 11, 1942, and had no clear requirements. (Saying he was awarding Heydrich the uppermost level of the German Order, Hitler seems to be confusing the Order, which had only one level, with another decoration, perhaps the Iron Cross, which had multiple levels--second class, first class, Knights Cross of the Iron Cross, etc.) Note that Hitler employs the familiar form (dir = you) rather than the polite form (Ihnen = you) when addressing his "dear comrade Heydrich." He undoubtedly had used the polite form when speaking to the living Heydrich.

Check the speech from the site below.

http://stevenlehrer.com/heydrich_grave.htm


Heydrich was buried with full military honors next to General of Infantry Count Tauentzien von Wittenberg, who fought against Napoleon in the wars of liberation (1813-1815). Heydrich was to have had a monumental tomb, designed by the architect Wilhelm Kreis and the sculptor Arno Breker. Because of the downhill course of the war, the tomb was never built. Heydrich’s wooden grave marker disappeared in 1945. His grave is now unmarked.

 

The Venlo incident 1939

http://www.joric.com/Conspiracy/Venlo.html

The November 9, 1939 kidnapping of British secret service agents Major Richard Stevens and Captain S. Payne Best by Reinhard Heydrich's SS intelligence service was one of the most significant milestones in the tragic history of the German conspiracy to overthrow Hitler and the Nazi regime.

In the second half of 1939, the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) - better known as MI-6 - eagerly followed its leads to make contact with the German conspirators. But the Venlo incident caused Chamberlain's successor in May 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to declare that in light of the serious damage done to MI-6 by the Venlo kidnapping, henceforth the British government would adopt a policy of absolute silence in the face of any and all future anti-nazi clandestine German overtures.

-------------

The plan to establish contact with conspirators within the German Army High Command is undertaken by SIS Section-Z. Best and Stevens are ordered to probe the waters from neutral Holland and report their findings to Section-Z Chief Lt.-Colonel Claude Dansey. They are under SIS Chief Menzies's explicit instructions to use go-betweens to establish contact with persons believed to be in touch with the Beck-Goerdeler- Canaris faction.

The initial contact is made by Major Stevens with a Dr. Fischer, an ex-Weimar politician who had once been recruited by Dansey to spy and had then emigrated to Paris when Hitler came to power. But unknown to SIS, Fischer had seen fit to switch sides in order to insure his future. He was therefore now working for Reinhard Heydrich's SD (SS intelligence service). Via Fischer, Heydrich discovers the existence of Chamberlain's secret plan to topple the Nazi regime.

Captain Best for his part doubts Fischer's credentials and urges Major Stevens to convey his suspicions up the intelligence chain. But Stevens disagrees and refuses to let Best go over his head. The dispute causes their relationship to become strained when in late September, Fischer resurfaced to reveal that he has established contact with German conspirators who will send representatives to a Dutch village along the German-Dutch border. The representatives Best and Stevens are soon to meet are in fact SD agents whose mission is to uncover the identities of the real German conspirators.

On October 11, 1939, a BBC radio broadcast begins with the words Hier ist London spoken twice - the SIS signal to its German contacts that the agreed upon meeting will take place on October 17.

On October 17, at the agreed-upon location, only one German appears but discloses to Best and Stevens the identity of General Gustav von Wietershiem as a member of the German conspiracy who is prepared to meet them on October 20. Wietershiem, he says, wishes to know London's terms for an acceptable armistice between Britain and "the new Germany."

Stevens relays the gist of the meeting to Menzies, and SIS intelligence confirms the identity General von Wietershiem as Commander of the 14th Panzer Corps in Poland. But it overlooks an important detail. There is no evidence of Wietershiem belonging to any dissident group. Still, Menzies accepts the general's credentials on the assumption that Wietershiem must be a product of the old army school and World War I generation of officers who had remained loyal to the Weimar Republic and who secretly hate and despise Hitler. Menzies therefore cables Stevens with "terms considered acceptable."

The next meeting takes place as planned on October 20 in the Dutch town of Dinxperloo. Present at the meeting are Best, Stevens, their Dutch opposite Dirk Klop, Dr. Fischer, and two Germans who identify themselves as "Colonel Seydlitz" and "Colonel Grosch". Fischer assures Best and Stevens that Seydlitz and Grosch are bona fide resistance members who have come to "spy out the land" for General von Wietershiem. Stevens proceeds to talk. When one of the officers asks what Britain expects from the anticipated post-nazi regime, Stevens replies "status quo prior Munich" which means nothing less than the complete restoration of Czechoslovakia.

On their side, Seydlitz and Grosch reveal that the German army will seize power and establish a new and democratic regime with Hitler as titular head. Retaining Hitler as fuehrer (but in name only) is essential in the early stage in order for the new regime to secure popular support. But all executive power will reside with the General Staff who will then soon dispose of Hitler and finally turn over power to a civilian government. But before any action can be taken, Wietershiem and his colleagues in the know require concrete guarantees that neither Britain nor France will attack Germany during the internal upheaval. Since Best and Stevens have no authority to provide that answer, they must refer the question back to the higher-ups and relay the answer at the next secret meeting.

Through it all, Best is suspicious. Afterwards, he informs Menzies that the two German officers struck him as being neither officers nor gentlemen but brute thugs and that they might even be "Nazis and probably SS officers." Menzies warns Stevens not to venture too close to the German border for the next meeting.

Heeding Menzies's advice, on October 30, Best and Stevens invite their German contacts to meet them at Best's office in Amsterdam. For the third time now, the long-awaited General von Wietershiem has still not shown up. In his place comes Colonel Grosch and a charming and undoubtedly aristocratic-looking officer who identifies himself as "Schaemmel". Best and Stevens have no idea that Schaemmel is none other than SS Major Walter Schellenberg, Reinhard Heydrich's right-hand man and soon to become the mastermind of their kidnapping.

Schaemmel explains that Wietershiem can not attend the secret meeting because he has been summoned to a conference at Fuehrer headquarters. He has instead sent Schaemmel to act as spokesman on his behalf. Best later reveals that Schaemmel spoke with perfect assurance and revealed detailed plans about the planned coup d'etat and initiatives of the post-coup regime:

Hitler would be arrested at a General Staff meeting, while the army seized control of all government ministries and arrested all Nazi leaders. The newly formed government would then restore Czechoslovakia and Poland, hold plebiscites in Austria, Danzig, and the Sudetenland, and file a request for reconsideration of Germany's former overseas colonies. Jews would once again be legally equal to gentiles, and all Nazi paramilitary formations would be disbanded

Schaemmel then asks whether Britain and France would be prepared to negotiate an armistice and peace on these terms and if so, who in Germany would be considered acceptable to act on behalf of the new Germany. Schaemmel a.k.a. Schellenberg hopes to lure his British opposites into revealing the identities of those Germans who are in league with Chamberlain's plan. Best and Stevens skirt the issue explaining that this question will have to be referred to the higher ups. Stevens then hands Schaemmel a two-way radio set and code language to help set up the next meeting. He then sends a long cable to Menzies detailing the events of the meeting in what Best calls "far more enthusiastic terms than I felt the situation warranted."

The following day (October 31), Menzies summarizes Stevens' report and sends it up to Lord Cadogan whose attitude to the "German opposition" improves considerably. That day, he wrote in his diary: "there's something going on in Germany." The report is then sent to Chamberlain at No.10 Downing Street.

On November 1, Chamberlain unveils the entire SIS operation to the War Cabinet. News that British agents have been secretly negotiating with the enemy in time of war shocks everyone present, above all the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, whom Chamberlain has recently brought into his cabinet.

On the night of November 8, a dramatic and initially unrelated event takes place that is to have profound consequences for Stevens and Best personally. A time-bomb engineered and planted by lone assassin and clockmaker George Elser has blown up Munich's Burgerbraukeller beer hall on the 15th anniversary of Hitler's 1923 Beer Hall putch. The intended target, Adolf Hitler, had seen fit to wrap up his speech a few minutes early and leave.

At 4:00 A.M. on November 9, Berlin Radio relays news of the Burgerbraukeller bombing and accuses the British secret service of masterminding the plot. Nevertheless, Stevens sees fit to meet Schaemmel and company later that day (as planned) in the Dutch border town of Venlo, outside the Cafe Bacchus - just a stone's throw from the Dutch-German frontier. As Best, Stevens, and their Dutch colleague Dirk Klop approach the rendez-vous, two trucks drive up to meet them. Under Schaemmel's leadership, a gang of men suddenly leap out and seize them by force. Klop breaks free and pulls out his gun but is fatally wounded. Within minutes, the two vehicles speed off and cross the frontier with hostages Best and Stevens headed for Gestapo interrogation.

Best and Stevens are brought to Gestapo headquarters on Prinz Albrechtstrasse in Berlin. There they are manacled and interrogated at length. Stevens is the first to break silence by revealing the names of everyone known to him in the SIS hierarchy, including Menzies himself, the names and functions of all SIS sections, and - most detrimental of all - the names of all SIS station chiefs throughout western and central Europe. Best collaborates as well, but only Stevens is privy to that classified information.

On November 22, Berlin Radio announces the arrest of convicted Burgerbraukeller suspect George Elser as the assassin working on behalf of a botched British intelligence plot to murder the fuehrer. Also apprehended, it says, are two British accomplices and SIS agents - Captain S. Payne Best and Major Richard Stevens. SS Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler goes on to reveal the names of all British, French, Dutch, and Belgian intelligence agents operating in Europe.(????) This alone is seen as sufficient justification for dealing with Holland and Belgium as enemies of war rather than neutral states. With that, Hitler has the casus belli he needs to launch his impending western offensive.



Although the Goebbels's Ministry of Propaganda announces that Best and Stevens will soon be tried for espionage and punished to the full extent of the law, they are never brought to trial. They are certainly more valuable to the SD alive. Instead, they spend the rest of the war being relocated from prisons to concentration camps. But both survive Nazi Germany.

As for Deputy SIS Chief Stewart Menzies, the Venlo debacle nearly costs him his nomination as SIS Chief, not to mention career, following the death of Admiral Hugh Sinclair in November 1939. Churchill for one opposes his nomination. But others successfully lobby his case and he wins the position. Nevertheless, Schaemmel alias Schellenberg sees fit to give Menzies one final slap in the face after Venlo. On New Year's Eve 1939, Menzies receives a coded signal from OM-4, the call sign of the wireless set that Stevens had given to Schaemmel. The message reads:

Negotiations for any length of time with conceited and silly people are tedious. You will understand, therefore, that we are giving up. You are hereby given a hearty farewell by your affectionate German opposition.

- signed, the Gestapo

The worst repercussion of all to emerge out of the Venlo Affair is the irreparable damage done to the legacy of the German conspiracy in the eyes of Winston Churchill who succeeds Chamberlain as Prime Minister in May 1940. After Venlo, Britain adopts a policy of absolute silence with respect to any and all future overtures by anti-nazi German conspirators, including the real ones!

 

Something I realized actually just lately as reading a book on the last days in Berlin and the escape attempts.

The Russians were attacking the city from north and south so there was a kinda "tunnel" through the city that was under German control and through this they were able to try escape to west.
So they were not trying to get actually through Russian forces like I at one time thought.

Here´s a map on that:

 

True to a point. The W-SS units did try to break out several times by following or riding on the two last Königstigers but both of these were knocked out. Everyone then was free to get through the Soviet defences on their own, many Germans "borrowed" civilian clothing to get through...by the way as the Germans both men and women that managed to retreat in the underground tunnels and made last ditch stands there, also had several of the tunnels rigged to be blown as the Soviets tried to follow them. There also was an underground aqueduct that was used and blown in the Soviets faces, with many Russians losing their lives in the onslought of water.

~E