Wilhelm Franz Canaris
January 1, 1887 – April 9, 1945
Wilhelm Franz Canaris
Place of birth	Aplerbeck, near Dortmund in Westphalia
Place of death	Flossenbürg concentration camp
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine Reichsmarine Abwehr
Years of service	1905 – 1944
Rank	Admiral
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross First and Second Class Silver German Cross Cross of Honor Wehrmacht's Twelve and Twenty-Five Year Long-Service Ribbons.

Wilhelm Franz Canaris (January 1, 1887 – April 9, 1945) was a German admiral and head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Image File history File links Wilhelm Canaris. ... Dortmund is a city in Germany, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. ... Westphalia (German: Westfalen) is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Bielefeld, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Münster, and Osnabrück and included in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. ... Flossenbürg concentration camp was a German prison built in 1938 at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria. ... Motto: Gott mit Uns (German: God with us”) Anthem: Heil dir im Siegerkranz (unofficial) Territory of the German Empire in 1914, prior to World War I Capital Berlin Language(s) Official: German Unofficial minority languages: Polish (Posen, Lower Silesia,Upper Silesia, Masuria) French (Alsace-Lorraine) Government Constitutional monarchy Emperor  - 1871... Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar Republic, with the Free State of Prussia (Freistaat Preußen) as the largest Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1919-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann Historical era Interwar period  - Established August 11... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The Kaiserliche Marine or Imperial Navy was the German Navy created by the formation of the German Empire and existed between 1871 and 1919; it grew out of the Prussian Navy and the Norddeutsche Bundesmarine. ... Reichsmarine Jack The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic. ... The Abwehr was a German intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. ... Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Bundeswehr, Germanys Armed Forces. ... The German Cross (Deutsches Kreuz) was instituted by Adolf Hitler in 1942 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross. ... Cross of Honor with swords The Cross of Honor, also known as the Honor Cross or, popularly, the Hindenburg Cross, was a comemorative medal inaugurated on July 13, 1934 by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg for those soldiers of Imperial Germany who fought in World War I. It came in... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. ... The Abwehr was a German intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. ... Military intelligence (abbreviated MI, int. ...

Early life and World War I

Canaris was born in Aplerbeck, near Dortmund, in Westphalia, the son of wealthy industrialist Carl Canaris and his wife Auguste (née Popp). Until 1938 Canaris believed that his family was related to the Greek admiral, freedom fighter and politician Constantine Kanaris, which influenced his decision to join the Navy. While on a visit to Corfu he was given a portrait of the Greek hero, which he always kept in his office. In 1938, however, research showed that his family was of North Italian descent, originally called Canarisi, and had lived in Germany since the 17th century.^[1] His grandfather had converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism. Dortmund is a city in Germany, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. ... Westphalia (German: Westfalen) is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Bielefeld, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Münster, and Osnabrück and included in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. ... Constantine Kanaris Constantine Kanaris (or Canaris, Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Κανάρης) (1793 or 1795 – September 2, 1877) was a Greek admiral, freedom fighter and politician. ... Pontikonisi island in the background with the Vlaheraina Monastery in the foreground. ...

In 1905, aged seventeen, Canaris joined the German Imperial Navy and by the outbreak of World War I had become an officer serving on board the SMS Dresden as intelligence officer. This cruiser was the only one that managed to evade the British Fleet for a prolonged period during the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914, largely due to his excellent deception tactics. While preparing to surrender in Camberland Bay, the Dresden was attacked and finally sunk by the British in a largely disputed act withstanding the Geneva Convention. Most of the crew became prisoners in Chile in March 1915, but Canaris escaped in August 1915, using his perfect fluent Spanish and with the aid of some German merchants returned to Germany. The Kaiserliche Marine or Imperial Navy was the German Navy created by the formation of the German Empire and existed between 1871 and 1919; it grew out of the Prussian Navy and the Norddeutsche Bundesmarine. ... This article is becoming very long. ... The SMS Dresden was a German Kaiserliche Marine light cruiser of the Dresden class, commissioned in 1908. ... Combatants British Empire German Empire Commanders Doveton Sturdee Maximilian von Spee Strength 2 battlecruisers, 3 armoured cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 1 grounded pre-dreadnought 2 armoured cruisers, 3 light cruisers, 3 transports Casualties 10 killed, 19 wounded No ships lost 1,871 killed, 215 captured 2 armoured cruisers, 2...

He was then given intelligence work and sent to Spain, where he survived a British assassination attempt. Returning to active service, he ended the war as a celebrated U-boat commander in the Mediterranean, credited with eighteen sinkings. By that time he was an enemy on the top of the list of the MI6 secret service in England. He spoke English fluently (as well as another four foreign languages) and as a traditional naval officer Canaris respected the British Navy, despite the rivalry of the two nations. It has been suggested that Extrajudicial Executions and Assasinations be merged into this article or section. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... The First Battle of the Atlantic (1914–1918) was a naval campaign of World War I, largely fought in the seas around the British Isles and in the Atlantic Ocean. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ...

In 1919 Canaris married Erika Waag, also the child of an industrialist. They had two daughters.

Interwar years

Canaris remained in the military after the war, first as a member of the Freikorps and then as part of the Reichsmarine. He was promoted rapidly, becoming a Captain in 1931, the Executive Officer of the cruiser Berlin and then the Commanding Officer of the battleship Schlesien. During this time, he also recommenced intelligence work. In this period he made a series of contacts with high ranking German officers, politicians and industrialists in order to establish order in Germany's politics. During his Freikorps period he knew very well the people who were accused of political assassinations of leaders of the left, and was even accused himself, although later acquitted, of being involved in the assassinations and other crimes (such as his alleged involvement in Rosa Luxembourg's "trial"). During the 1930-33 period Canaris was following a course quite parallel to the one followed by the future Nazi party leaders although never a party member himself. Indirectly, though, he promoted the forces that later became part of the Nazi power structure. The designation of Freikorps (German for Free Corps, i. ... Reichsmarine Jack The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic. ... While Executive officer literally refers to a person responsible for the performance of duties involved in running an organization, the exact meaning of the role is highly variable, depending on the organization. ... The commanding officer (CO) is the officer in command of a military unit. ... Schlesien was a German battleship that fought in World War I and World War II. Schlesien was one of five pre-dreadnought, Deutschland class battleships, not to be confused with a class of pocket battleships of the same name. ... The designation of Freikorps (German for Free Corps, i. ... Rosa Luxemburg (March 5, 1870 or 1871 - January 15, 1919, in Polish language Róża Luksemburg) was a Polish and German Jewish Marxist politician, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary. ...

After Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933, Canaris was made head of the Abwehr, Germany's official military intelligence agency, on January 1, 1935. Later that year, he was promoted to Rear Admiral. In the period 1935-36 he made contacts with Spain to organize a German spy network in Spain. His excellent Spanish made him the very man for the job. He was the moving force behind the decision that sided Germany with Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War, despite Hitler's initial hesitation to undertake such an adventure. In 1937 he was still a supporter of Hitler, considering him to be the only solution against communism and a hope for the revival of Germany as a nation. By 1938, however, he had realised Hitler's policies and plans would bring catastrophe to Germany and secretly began to work against the régime. His personal style as a gentleman could not tolerate the gangsterism of most of the Nazi party members. There is a letter that remained from a Spanish contact he had that confirms clearly his opinion against the Nazi regime. He tried to hinder Hitler's attempts to absorb Czechoslovakia and advised Franco not to permit German passage through Spain for the purposes of capturing Gibraltar. It has been written that all of Franco’s arguments on this stance were studied and dictated in detail by Canaris, while at the same time an important sum of money had been deposited by the British on Swiss accounts for Franco and his generals to further convince them to be neutral.^[2] Hitler redirects here. ... Machtergreifung is a German word meaning seizure of power. ... The Abwehr was a German intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892–20th (or possibly 19th) November[1] 1975), commonly abbreviated to Francisco Franco (pron. ... This article is about the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. ...

He also became involved in two abortive plots to assassinate Hitler, first in 1938 and again in 1939. His most audacious attempt was in planning, with the future Field Marshal von Kleist, to capture and eliminate Hitler and the entire Nazi party before the invasion of Austria. At this particular moment, von Kleist visited England secretly and discussed the situation with British MI6 and some high ranking politicians. There, the name of Canaris became widely known as the executive hand of von Kleist in the event of an anti-Nazi plot. The high ranking German military leaders believed that if Hitler invaded Austria, or any other country, then England would declare war on Germany. MI6 was of the same opinion. However, the British reaction to the eventual Austrian Anschluss (and Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland) was more cautious. At a meeting with Hitler in Munich, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain chose diplomacy over war. Munich was a severe disappointment for Kleist and Canaris. It represented an important boost to Hitler's international esteem for two reasons: one, he was able to play the part of a man of reason and compromise; and two, he could boast that his predictions that England would not respond with war had proven to be correct. It is said that Canaris, extremely shocked by this 'dishonest and stupid decision' (his own words), decided to be cautious and wait for a better time to act against Hitler. Nevertheless, it appears likely that MI6 maintained contact with Canaris even after the Munich Agreement. When Winston Churchill came to power, Canaris' hopes were renewed, given the new Prime Minister's strong position against Hitler. Note: This article is about the military usage of the word marshal. For other usages, see the end of this article. ... Ewald von Kleist Ewald von Kleist Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist (August 8, 1881, Braunfels an der Lahn - ca. ... German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938. ... Sudetenland (German; Sudety in Czech and Polish) was the name used in the first half of the 20th century for the regions inhabited mostly by Germans in the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia associated with Bohemia. ... For the annual global security meeting held in Munich, see Munich Conference on Security Policy Chamberlain holds the paper containing the resolution to commit to peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself on his return from Germany in September 1938. ... Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869 – 9 November 1940), known as Neville Chamberlain, was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. ... Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was an English statesman, soldier, and author. ...

World War II

In the meantime, Reinhard Heydrich, previously a naval cadet who had served under Canaris and was at the time the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) leader, despite being his protegé, friend and neighbour, became his rival. It is said that the Canaris posting in Abwehr had the secret approval of the dynamic Heydrich who preferred him instead of his predecessor, Captain of the Navy Pfatz, who was not in line with the Nazi party members. Heydrich wanted a controllable Abwehr and was keeping a close eye on Canaris. Canaris appeared outwardly to side with his friend Heydrich, but only in order to give Abwehr a chance to grow and become a considerable force. In Bassett's account,^[3] Canaris was deeply frustrated by a briefing by Hitler before the attack on Poland, about a series of exterminations that were ordered and Canaris was required to take notes on. These notes, the book confirms, were sent to MI6. After the outbreak of war between Germany and Poland in 1939, Canaris visited the front and witnessed examples of the war crimes committed by the SS Einsatzgruppen. Among these were the burning of the synagogue in Będzin and the fiery death of the town's Jewish residents. He also received reports from Abwehr agents about many other incidents of mass murder throughout Poland. Reinhard Heydrich as SS-Gruppenführer. ... Sicherheitsdienst (SD) sleeve insignia. ... In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... “SS” redirects here. ... A member of Einsatzgruppe D is just about to shoot a Jewish man kneeling before a filled mass grave in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, in 1942. ... A synagogue (from Ancient Greek: , transliterated synagogÄ“, assembly; Hebrew: ‎ beit knesset, house of assembly; Yiddish: , shul; Ladino: , esnoga) is a Jewish place of religious worship. ... BÄ™dzin Castle BÄ™dzin (pronounced: ) is a town in south Poland with 59,936 inhabitants (31 Dec 1999). ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... Mass murder (massacre) is the act of murdering a large number of people, typically at the same time, or over a relatively short period of time. ...

Shocked by these incidents, Canaris began working more actively, at increasing risk, to overthrow Hitler's régime, although he cooperated with the SD to create a decoy. This allowed him to pose as a trusted man for some time. He was promoted to full Admiral in January 1940. With his subordinate Erwin Lahousen, he established a circle of similarly-minded Wehrmacht officers, many of whom would be executed or forced to commit suicide after the failure of the July 20 Plot. It has been speculated that there was contact with British intelligence during this time, despite the war between the two countries. It is thought that, during the invasion of Russia, Canaris received a detailed report of all the enemy positions that was known only to the British. The head of MI6, Stewart Menzies, who shared Canaris’s strong anti-communist beliefs, praised Canaris’s courage and bravery at the end of the war. Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Himmler, however, investigated in detail the sources of Canaris's information on Operation Barbarossa, arriving at the conclusion that there had indeed been contact between him and the British. After 1942, Canaris visited Spain frequently and was probably in contact with British agents from Gibraltar. In 1944, he also secretly met Allied agents in occupied France trying to find a way to end the war before the total collapse of his country. General Erwin Lahousen testifying against Hermann Göring and 21 other Nazi defendants at the Nuremberg war crimes trial in 1946. ... Wehrmacht   (armed forces, literally defence force(s)) was the name of the armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. ... Forced suicide is a method of execution where the victim is given the choice of committing suicide or facing an alternative they perceive as worse, such as suffering torture; having friends or family members imprisoned, tortured or killed; or losing honor, position or means. ... Claus von Stauffenberg The July 20 Plot was an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, on July 20, 1944. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... Sir Stewart Graham Menzies (January 30, 1890 - May 29, 1968) was the Chief of MI6, British Secret Intelligence Service, during and after the World War II. Stewart Graham Menzies was born in London into a wealthy family. ... Reinhard Heydrich as SS-Gruppenführer. ... Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( ; October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... Combatants Germany, Romania, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler, Ion Antonescu, C.G.E. Mannerheim, Benito Mussolini, Miklós Horthy, Jozef Tiso Joseph Stalin Strength ~3. ...

During Heydrich's posting in Prague, a serious incident put him and Canaris in open conflict. A British agent - the Czech Paul Thümmel - was arrested by Heydrich, but Canaris intervened to save him, claiming he was a double agent actually working for Abwehr. Heydrich suspected that Thümmel was actually Canaris's MI6 contact. Heydrich requested that Canaris put the Abwehr under SD and SS control. Canaris appeared to retreat and handled the situation diplomatically, but there was no immediate effect on the Abwehr for the time being. In fact, Canaris had established another two links with the MI6 - one via Zurich, and the other via Spain and Gibraltar. It is also possible that Vatican contacts provided a third route to his British counterparts. Nickname: City of a Hundred Spires Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Pavel Bém Area  - City 496 km²  (191. ...

Canaris also intervened to save a number of victims of Nazi persecution, including hundreds of Jews. Many such people were given token training as Abwehr "agents" and then issued papers allowing them to leave Germany. One notable person he is said to have assisted was the then Lubavitcher Rebbe in Warsaw, Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn^[4]. The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague, organized by MI6, was done in part to preserve Canaris in his important position. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Look up Persecution in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Rabbi M.M. Schneerson The third Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch dynasty was also named Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (with a h) Menachem Mendel Schneerson (April 18, 1902-June 12, 1994) was an Orthodox Judaism rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad Lubavitch branch of... Motto: Contemnit procellas (It defies the storms) Semper invicta (Always invincible) Coordinates: Country Poland Voivodeship Masovia Powiat city county Gmina Warszawa Districts 18 boroughs City Rights turn of the 13th century Government  - Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (PO) Area  - City 516. ... Rabbi, in Judaism, means ‘teacher’, or more literally ‘great one’. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ‘great’ or ‘distinguished (in knowledge)’. Sephardic and Yemenite Jews pronounce this word ribbÄ«; the modern Israeli pronunciation rabbÄ« is derived from a recent (18th... Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn (or Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn) (also known as the Frierdikker Rebbe (Previous Rebbe in Yiddish) or Rebbe Rayatz) (1880 - 1950) was the sixth Rebbe (rabbi) of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic Judaism movement. ... Reinhard Heydrich, the target of Operation Anthropoid. ...

Downfall and execution

Evidence of his connivances grew and at the insistence of Heinrich Himmler, who had suspected him for a long time, Hitler dismissed Canaris from the Abwehr in February 1944, replacing him with Walter Schellenberg and merging most of the Abwehr with the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). Some weeks later, Canaris was put under house arrest, preventing him from taking part directly in the July 20 Plot to assassinate Hitler. However, just after the Stalingrad disaster, Canaris had already designed a 'coup' against the entire Nazi regime in which many Nazi officials would be accused for known crimes, while Hitler would be arrested as an insane person based on his exposure to poison gas in World War I, then imprisoned for life. After the July 20 Plot, Canaris's long-time rival, SS leader Heinrich Himmler discovered that one of the officers involved in the plot, a friend of Canaris' who committed suicide, had kept the plot details in a metal box. It also became known during the investigations that a number of other assassination plots (possibly another 10 or 15) had been activated, but had failed and were covered up at the last minute. Most people who participated in these plots were people Canaris knew well. Himmler kept Canaris alive for some time because he planned to use him secretly as a future contact with the British in order to come to an agreement to end the war with himself as the leader of Germany. Hitler wanted him alive as well to be able to find more conspirators. When Himmler's plan failed to materialize, he received the approval of Hitler to send Canaris to an SS drumhead court-martial that sentenced him to death. Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( ; October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... Correctly: Walther Schellenberg, full name Walther Friedrich Schellenberg (January 16, 1910 - March 31, 1952) was a German Nazi and second-in-command of the Gestapo. ... Sicherheitsdienst (SD) sleeve insignia. ... In justice and law, house arrest is the situation where a person is confined (by the authorities) to his or her residence. ... Claus von Stauffenberg The July 20 Plot was an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, on July 20, 1944. ... Claus von Stauffenberg The July 20 Plot was an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, on July 20, 1944. ... Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( ; October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... A drumhead court-martial is the military version of kangaroo court. ...

Together with his deputy General Hans Oster, military jurist General Karl Sack, theologian Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Ludwig Gehre, Canaris was humiliated and executed by slow strangulation at Flossenbürg concentration camp on April 9, 1945, a few weeks before the end of the war. At the time of his execution, Canaris had been decorated with the Iron Cross First and Second Class, the Silver German Cross, the Cross of Honor and the Wehrmacht's Twelve and Twenty-Five Year Long-Service Ribbons. Hans Oster (August 9, 1887 – April 9, 1945) was a career officer in the Wehrmacht and a dedicated opponent of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. ... German jurist and resister 1896-1945 Karl Sack (born June 9, 1896 in Bosenheim (now Bad Kreuznach), executed April 9, 1945 in Flossenbürg concentration camp) was a German jurist and member of the resistance movement during World War II. Karl Sack studied law in Heidelberg and after an time... Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer [] (February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and participant in the German resistance movement against Nazism and founding member of the Confessing Church. ... Flossenbürg concentration camp was a German prison built in 1938 at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria. ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... A stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Bundeswehr, Germanys Armed Forces. ... The German Cross (Deutsches Kreuz) was instituted by Adolf Hitler in 1942 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross. ... Cross of Honor with swords The Cross of Honor, also known as the Honor Cross or, popularly, the Hindenburg Cross, was a comemorative medal inaugurated on July 13, 1934 by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg for those soldiers of Imperial Germany who fought in World War I. It came in...

Erwin Lahousen and Hans Bernd Gisevius, two of Canaris' main subordinates, survived the war and testified during the Nuremberg Trials to Canaris' courage in opposing Hitler. Lahousen recalled a conversation between Canaris and General Wilhelm Keitel in which Canaris warned Keitel that the German military would be held responsible for the atrocities in Poland. Keitel responded that they had been ordered by Hitler. Keitel, who also survived the war, was found guilty of war crimes at Nuremburg and hanged. Hans Bernd Gisevius Hans Bernd Gisevius (July 14, 1904-February 23, 1974) was a leading opponent to the Nazi regime. ... The Süddeutsche Zeitung announces The Verdict in Nuremberg. ... Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (September 22, 1882 - October 16, 1946) was a German field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) and a senior military leader during World War II. // Keitel was born in Helmscherode, Brunswick, German Empire, the son of Carl Keitel, a middle-class landowner, and his wife Apollonia...

Trivia

Erika Waag Canaris, widow of Wilhelm enjoyed a retirement pension arranged by Allen Dulles, who held the post of CIA Director for many years.^[5] Allen Welsh Dulles (April 23, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was an influential director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1953 to 1961 and a member of the Warren Commission. ...

Popular culture

• The 1954 movie "Canaris" is based on his biography.^[6]
• Canaris appears in the 1976 film "The Eagle Has Landed" where he is played by actor Anthony Quayle.^[7]

It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was an English actor and director. ...

References

External links

• Canaris.dk, a website devoted to Canaris.
• Admiral Wilhelm Canaris at jewishvirtuallibrary.org.