Otto Skorzeny was commissioned by Adolf Hitler to terrorize Allied troops during and especially towards the end of World War II. Skorzeny is the father of modern terrorism and guerrilla warfare. His force committed atrocities against U.S. troops in the waning days of World War II. Germany surrendered, but Skorzeny’s assassins continued to operate until 1947. He was imprisoned but escaped, as three SS officers dressed as U.S. soldiers freed him in 1948.
In 1952, he was helped by a former German general who was working for the CIA to move from Spain to Egypt to train the army there. Although the Muslim Brotherhood was created in 1928 in Egypt, its association with the Grand Mufti-Amin al-Husseini led to close relations with Hitler and the Nazis. Skorzeny trained the Muslim Brotherhood into small but lethal units of terrorists just as he did with the Nazi Werewolves.
Hamas was established as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1987 by Ahmad Yasin. It used Skorzeny’s techniques to terrorize Israel. Both Hamas and Hezbollah incorporated Skorzeny’s use of atrocities, booby traps, and sabotage. The Nazi Werewolves were small independent bands of terrorists who operated without direct communication with the central command. Israel is now dealing with a similar situation in Gaza. Hamas employs all of Skorzeny’s tactics. Hezbollah follows the same playbook. Skorzeny inculcated all of the Nazi ideologies into both Hamas and Hezbollah. Essentially, Hamas and Hezbollah are the modern-day Nazis thru and thru. They are the descendants of the most evil regime in the history of the world. Israel is indeed sparing humanity from the propagation of such evil.
Otto Skorzeny died at age 67 in 1975 in Spain. He was given a Nazi burial with his coffin draped in a Swastika. Unfortunately, his death did not end the terror and mayhem he produced. Hamas and Hezbollah are his heirs. Until they are crushed, his Nazi legacy will not be erased.
Joseph M. Frager is a physician and lifelong activist.
