Labyrinth, The: Memoirs of Walter Schellenberg, Hitler's Chief of Counterintelligence [Paperback]

Walter Schellenberg is one of those enigmatic figures that emerged from the ruins of the Third Reich. Like the memiors of Hitler's armaments minister, Albert Speer, Schellenberg's account gives us a penetrating look into the inner workings of the Nazi regime. Unlike Speer's account however, Schellenberg sticks to his own field, intelligence, and completly ignores the larger, darker questions of the men he served so faithfully. That aside, 'The Labyrinth' is a remarkable glimpse into the world of German intelligence during World War Two. Schellenberg gives us the same kind of intimate portrait of Heinrich Himmler that Albert Speer gave of Adolf Hitler in 'Inside the Third Reich.' Schellenberg also gives us a memorable look at men like Reinhard Heydrich, Whilhelm Canaris, Heinrich Mueller, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner. But the heart of this work is Schellenberg's own experiences as head of foreign intelligence and counter intelligence. Included are Schellenberg's scheme to kidnap the Duke of Windsor in Portugal in 1940, his 'turning' of Russian POW's to the Nazi cause, and his capture of two British secret service officers on the Dutch-German border in 1939. The narrative ends with Schellenberg's attempts to secure the surrender of the western armies to the allies on behalf of Himmler. For anyone interested in the Nazi intelligence system of the Second World War or of true spy stories in general this is a work that will not disappoint. If you enjoyed this work you might want to check out Gerald Reitlinger's 'SS: Alibi of a nation, 1922-45,' for a larger picture of the German SS.

Walter Schellenberg's memoirs are an acute, objective and non passionate account of the facts and people at the top of the Third Reich, as almost as impartially as a journalist could have written them, curious for a man who was Reinhard Heydrich's deputy chief of counterespionage, and more curious because Schellenberg just related the events without questioning the ethic or the political values of this or that. He just narrates the events, of course, giving his own personal feelings and opinions of many situations, but without moral points of view nor any kind of remorse or regrets. The memoirs are centred on the espionage and sabotage affairs he planned or executed, always under Heydrich's command, from the beginning of the SD through the unification of all the intelligence services within the RSHA in 1939, the assassination of Heydrich in Prague in 1942, till the end of WWII. The affairs are very juicy, like the Venlo incident, the Anschluss, the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia, the plans for the invasion of Poland, the plans to kidnap the Duke of Windsor, the "Cicero" and "Zeppelin" operations, the attemts to push Spain forward to war beside Germany,the intoxicating operation about the GRU in the Soviet Union, etc, as well as the very lucid portraits of Nazi hierarchs: Hitler is seen as an emotionally unstable man and a paranoid; Heydrich, Schellenberg's former chief, as extremely intelligent and cultivated but also as a wild beast, a psychotic personality, very cruel and ambitious; Himmler, as an ordinary man, grey, a mediocrity; Von Ribbentrop, as pretentious and rather blunt; Kaltenbrunner, his latter chief, as an alcoholic, incompetent and envious. It's also very interesting to follow, through these human portraits, the tensions, envy, ambition and hidden wounds these rulers caused each other, which proves that the Third Reich wasn't the monolithic granite some historians try us to believe. Schellenberg's memoirs show the nature of intelligence services as the hidden powers of the Third Reich, but, as a paradox, these powers are full of incompetent bureaucrats. The only two people who still remain remarkable for their qualities are Reinhard Heydrich, the head of the RSHA(Reichsicherheitshauptamt- Reich Main Security Office) and Admiral Wilhelm Canaris,chief of the Military Intelligence (Abwehr), apart, of course, from Walter Schellenberg. These three are actually the grey eminences of Nazi Intelligence services.

This book, first published fifty years ago is an account of the working life of Walter Schellenberg, Hitlers chief of counter intelligence. Schellenberg was one of the many young intelligentsia who flocked to join the SS in the ealy 1930's, due to the lack of opportunities in other fields. Trained as a lawyer Schellenberg was assigned to work for Reinhard Heydrich chief of the SD, the security divisiion of the SS. This book has several facets: a super paced spy story reminiscent of a Len Deighton spy thriller, an account of counter intelligence in the Third Reich and finally character portraits of Nazi Germany's ruling clique. We have excellant thumb nail sketches of the frightening Reinhard Heydrich head of SS security, the indecisive Heinrich Himmler head of the SS, the drunken Ernest Kaltenbrunner Heydrich's successor and finally the universally despised ex champaigne salesman Joachim von Ribbentrop the Nazi foreign minister. Schellenberg has real talent on portraying what it must have been like to work in a terror directed society where every move could be one's last. This was intensified by the rivalry between three organiations doing essentially the same job, namely the Abwehr(Army intelligence),the SS and the Gestapo. In this nightmare the only individual who gains any of my sympathy is Admiral Canaris, Heydrich's old boss and head of the Abwher.He was trying to negotiate an ending to the war but was found out and murdered by Hitler. Although the personification of evil Heydrich at least maintains our interest as he impresses with his competance and intelligence. The rest of the Nazi hierarchy from Hitler downwards appear as a brainless collection of incompetents and one wonders how they could have kept the world at bay for twelve years. THe answer is of course that the Nazi Party had in its possession the 1940 Wehrmacht which in Generalship and fighting qualities had no equal this century. It was if the Mafia had contol of the Pentagon to fight it's battles. There are some memorable scenes such as the time Heydrich questions Schellenberg about his relationship with Frau Heydrich , pointing out that the drink just taken was laced with poison and could only be deactivated if he, Schellenberg were telling the truth. On another Heydrich entrusts Schellenberg with the establishment of a brothel for security purposes."Salon Kitty" was never short of high society recruits from Berlin society though Schellenberg's involvement with its establishment shows him as somewhat of a prude. Embellished in the narative are some interesting historical observations that have been forgotten over the years namely: Richard Sorge the great Rusdsian spoy was a double agent also working for the Germans. Heydrich privately thought that the killing of Jews was stupid and would lead to Germany's destruction. Up to 1943 Japan was continually trying to broker a peace between Russia and Germany. Marshall Tukhachevsky Stalins best General who was shot in the purges was in fact plotting against Stalin though he was set up by the Germans. This muust have been one of the few authentic accusations in the Moscow show trials. Schellenberh was given the task of organizing the occupation of Great Britain when operation Sea Lion materialized. His main contribution to this was the preparation of a comprehensive list of the ruling elite of British society. Schellenberg mentions very little about his personal life. He appears to be somewhat of an Anglophile and his wife had Polish blood. He mentions very little about the Holocaust which is strange sinc his superiors Heydrich and Himler were the architects of this policy. He always hints that he wanted the war ended yet mentions nothing about the 1944 July plot to kill Hitler. One gets the feeling that he had become so corrupted by the regime that he was immune to the difference of right and wrong. This is highlighted that his main regrets appear to be the loss of power and especially the loss of his office with its concealed microphones and machine guns. He never expresses any remorse for any of the crimes committed by the regime of which he was one of the main custodians. Schellenberg died in 19562 of an undisclosed ailment. If he had lived what a catch he would have been for the CIA with his superb knowledge of Russian intelligence methods.