Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Wilhelm Canaris: Working Against the Nazis From the Inside

Starting point is 00:00:00 Before and during the Second World War, Nazi Germany had a string of successes both militarily and diplomatically. A large reason for this success was its intelligence network. What most people don't know is that the Nazi head of military intelligence was actively working against Adolf Hitler. Through a series of active and passive measures, he went from a loyal Nazi to a double agent. Learn more about Wilhelm Canaris and how he resisted Hitler from one of the highest positions in the Third Reich on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may

Starting point is 00:00:57 have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the Thurline podcast from NPR. Before we can understand how Wilhelm can. Canaris, resisted and worked against Adolf Hitler, we first have to understand how he became involved with the Nazi party in the first place. Canaris was born in 1887 in Opelurbeck, Germany. His father was industrialist Carl Canaris. He grew up believing that he was related to a

Starting point is 00:01:34 hero of the Greek War of Independence, Constantine Canaris, and this belief is what drew him to the military. Later genealogical research revealed that his family actually came from northern Italy, but the supposed Greek heritage provided the initial motivation for his interest. His father had initially encouraged him to join the Imperial Army, despite his desire to join the Navy. But after his father died, he began his naval career, joining the German Imperial Navy in 2005. From there, Canaris moved up the Navy ranks and received several accolades, including Venezuela's Order of the Liberator in 1909.

Starting point is 00:02:11 It's thought he may have received the award for facilitating discussions between the the Venezuelan and German governments. During World War I, Canaris was assigned as an intelligence officer on the SMS Dresden. When the Dresden was scuttled off the Chilean coast in 1915, Kandaris escaped internment and made a daring journey all the way from the southern end of South America back to Germany. For much of the remainder of the war, he worked in naval intelligence, particularly focusing on sabotage and espionage operations.

Starting point is 00:02:41 Because of his language skills and astuteness, Canaris was selected to establish Germany's intelligence operations in the Mediterranean. He was sent to Spain to gather information about the enemy and their shipping operations and helped establish a supply network for German U-boats. He later became a U-boat commander himself in 1917 and was later awarded the Iron Cross First Class for his previous actions in Spain. After Germany's defeat in the war, during the Weimar Republic, Canaris organized a paramilitary unit to suppress communists.

Starting point is 00:03:12 Canaris was a staunch anti-communist, and this would factor into his later decision to join the Nazi party. His hatred of communists ran so deep that while serving as a member of a military court, he acquitted many cases involving the murder of leftist Germans and even helped one accuse murderer escape. In 1919, Canaris married Erica Vag, the daughter of a German industrialist, and the couple later had two children. In 1924, Canaris began covert work for the German military. He was sent to Japan to supervise a secret U-boat construction program. This program was in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles and eventually came to an end. However, even if this particular secret program ended,

Starting point is 00:03:55 Canaris did not end his covert efforts on behalf of the German Navy. He began to make deals with Spanish merchants, the Spanish Navy, German industrialists, and Argentine capitalists, so that Germany could continue its illegal naval ventures. In 1928, Canaris was removed from his intelligence. post and for several years served in the regular Navy, where he eventually rose to the rank of captain of the battleship, SMS Schlesean. And two months after becoming captain, Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany.

Starting point is 00:04:26 Canaris was never a fan of the Weimar Republic. He was not convinced by Republican principles, and many of his values fell in line with the Nazis. He was drawn to state-centered authoritarianism, the concept of a strong leader, and the Nazis plans to break the Treaty of Versailles. Another big draw to the Nazis was the fact that they were strident anti-communists. He was also drawn to a society based on military virtues, and he desired a stronger Navy and a return to Germany becoming a world power that Hitler and the Nazis promised.

Starting point is 00:04:57 Because of these reasons, Canaris became a member of the Nazi Party and supported the new regime, believing that the party would restore German military greatness. Canaris became the head of the Abvar, or the German military intelligence agency, in January of 1935. Some of Canaris's friends expressed concern about him taking this position because of Reinhardt Heidrich. Hydrich was the head of the S.D., or the Zickerheistienst, which was the intelligence wing of the SS and the Nazi party itself. Heidrich blamed the obver for many of the failures during the First World War and wanted to

Starting point is 00:05:33 see all of the intelligence gathering in Nazi Germany. Canaris and Hydrink had an amicable personal relationship, although the was some distrust on both sides. Canaris saw Heinrich as a brutal fanatic, whereas Heinrich was wary of Canaris and cautioned others about his motives. Later in May, Canaris was tasked with hiding the German rearmament program from counterintelligence. This resulted in the expansion of the Obver, creating a new extensive surveillance network. At this time, before the war had begun, canaris was still a devotee of Hitler and the Nazi party. He was a German nationalist, a social Darwinist and a firm anti-Semite. His anti-Semitic beliefs led him to being the person to suggest

Starting point is 00:06:17 that all Jews wear the star of David on their clothing, which made it easy for them to be targeted on the streets and eventually rounded up. Canara set a strong relationship with the Spanish and used them to help convince Hitler to back Franco during the Spanish Civil War, despite treaties to the contrary. And he also personally oversaw much of Germany's annexation of Austria and led the deception efforts prior to the annexation. So at this point in the story, he is most definitely not the hero. Following the annexation of Austria in 1938, Canaris became concerned about the prospect of a greater European war. He was especially worried about Germany's plans to invade Czechoslovakia. And this moment marks his first bit of resistance to Hitler as he did not want to see

Starting point is 00:07:07 another world war. He began to loosely ally himself with anti-Nazi factions and soon began to form plans to unseat Hitler and began secretly meeting with British intelligence operatives and British politicians. Canaris and other conspirators were hopeful that if Hitler were to invade Czechoslovakia, Britain would declare war, which in turn would help people support and overthrow of Hitler due to the anti-war sentiment still present in Germany. However, that's not what happened. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain rolled over for Hitler, signed the Munich Agreement, and gave Germany the bordering Sudaten land in Czechoslovakia. The agreement actually restored Canaris's faith in Hitler, as Hitler had found a peaceful solution to the conflict. That, combined with the inaccurate intelligence

Starting point is 00:07:51 given to him by his British connections, renewed Canaris's loyalty. Other events that occurred before the outbreak of World War II were his involvement in the Dutch war scare. He leaked false information regarding an operation to use Dutch airfields to bomb British targets. His goal in creating the war scare was to change British foreign policy, which he actually succeeded in, as this was the reason Chamberlain gave for committing to defend France if war were to break out. In 1937, Canara set up a ring of Nazi spies within the United States. The program was initially successful before one of the agents became an informant for the FBI and it all fell apart. It was the invasion of Poland and

Starting point is 00:08:32 1939, however, that served as a wake-up call for Canaris. He was devastated by the atrocities and war crimes committed by the SS and was disgusted by the reports of mass murder given to him by Obvair agents. Given his position as the head of military intelligence, he knew exactly what was going on. He went to formally object to the atrocities, namely focusing on the murder of clergymen, nobility, and mass shootings. Canaris was warned, however, when registering his objections that he should not go any further in protesting as the orders came directly from Hitler. At this point, Canaris became more active in his efforts to thwart Hitler's plans. To act as a decoy and to not bring attention to himself, he continued to cooperate with the SD.

Starting point is 00:09:19 In 1940, he attempted to form a circle of officers who shared his concerns about Hitler, but he made very little progress. In 1941, he registered another formal complaint regarding the treatment of Soviet prisoners, but was told that his complaint didn't matter because they were working to destroy communism. His discomfort with Nazi war crimes became noticed by his rival Hydric, who had reported that Canaris had become politically unreliable. In 1941, Canaris was sent off to Spain as part of Operation Felix, which was the plan for the German invasion of Gibraltar, a subject I covered in a previous episode. The goal of the operation was to have Franco back Germany's attempt to gain control of Gibraltar, which allowed the British to control the entrance to

Starting point is 00:10:02 the entire Mediterranean. Canaris was considered to be an expert on Spain and was sent to meet with Franco in person. During the meeting, he warned Franco not to become involved in World War II. He showed Franco a report that showed evidence against the operation's feasibility, thereby sabotaging the entire operation and helping to secure Spain's neutrality in the war. Canaris returned to Germany and reported that Spain would not become involved in the war without the defeat of Britain. Later, after the war, Franco formerly thanked Canaris's widow for keeping Spain out of the conflict. In a similar fashion, he gave false information directly to Hitler regarding an invasion of Switzerland, known as Operation Tonnenbaum, another subject which I covered in a previous episode.

Starting point is 00:10:49 As a result of his efforts, the invasion never took place. He then began to supply information directly to the Allies. Through 1942 and 43, Canaris played the role of a double agent. Via Spain and occupied France, he would make contact with British agents. He used these meetings to ask the British for the conditions of surrender if Hitler were to be dethroned. Hydrick began to grow suspicious of Canaris and acted to gain control of the Obver. Though the two men struggled over jurisdiction, they had a decent personal relationship, and Canaris was reportedly distraught over Hydrox assassination in Prague in 1942.

Starting point is 00:11:28 Despite his initial anti-Semitism before the war, Canaris went out of his way to publicly deny any Obver involvement in the persecution of Jews. And reportedly, he saved hundreds of Jews by training them as Obver agents, giving them papers that would allow them to leave Germany. In 1944, suspicions against Canaris intensified. Himmler, eager to consolidate all of them, intelligence services under the SS accused the obvair of incompetence and subversion. The obvar was dissolved in February of 1944 and its functions were absorbed into the SS.

Starting point is 00:12:04 Canaris was dismissed and placed near house arrest. On July 20th, 1944, Operation Valkyrie was initiated, which was an attempt to assassinate Hitler via a bomb, another topic I covered in a previous episode. While there was no direct evidence of Canaris's involvement in the place, plot, he was closely involved with many of the conspirators. Even if he wasn't one of the plotters, he was accused of being the plot's spiritual instigator. He was arrested and imprisoned at the Flossenburg concentration camp. There he was kept in solitary confinement and subject to brutal interrogations. In April of 1945, as the Allies were closing in, Hitler ordered the execution of several

Starting point is 00:12:47 high-profile resistance figures, including Canaris. He was executed. He was executed. He was just a few weeks before Germany surrendered on April 9th at Flossenburg. His execution was designed to be humiliating as he was stripped and hung on a butcher's hook. Before his death, it's reported by a fellow prisoner of the camp that Canaris tapped in code on his cell wall. His message was that he was not a traitor, but acted for his country. After the war ended, two of the men who survived and worked for Canaris testified in the Nuremberg trials about Canaris's attempts to undermine Hitler. Canaris's defiance was used to help convict those who claimed that they were just following orders. The case of Wilhelm Canaris is a troubling one. On one hand, he was, at least at first, a committed

Starting point is 00:13:38 Nazi and fully supported Hitler. However, after the war began, he was one of the only high-ranking officers in Germany who worked actively against Hitler. Declassified documents and testimonies have increasingly affirmed that, despite his numerous flaws, Canaris was a central figure in the German resistance. He was one of the only men who used his power to mitigate the crimes of the regime that he served. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research in writing for this episode was provided by Olivia Ash.

Starting point is 00:14:18 Today's review comes from listener Jay Welsh, over on Apple Podcasts in the United States. They write, Concise Awesomeness. Gary's ability to provide interesting, concise content on everything everywhere daily continues to amaze and intrigue. Keep up the great work.

Starting point is 00:14:34 I officially join the Completionist Club as I write this review. Well, thanks, Jay. And congratulations on joining the Completionist Club. This accomplishment is getting more difficult every day as more episodes come out. So those who join the club at this point in time, five years after the launch of the show are showing a great amount of commitment and tenacity.

Starting point is 00:14:58 Remember, if you leave a review or send me a boostagram, you too can have it read on the show.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Wilhelm Canaris: Working Against the Nazis From the Inside

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