Operation Iron Cross. Unknown plan to capture Hitler

At the end of World War II, a secret unit of German citizens was established within the structures of the American intelligence. The unit had one specific task:to physically eliminate people from the Nazi powerhouse, and above all - to kill Adolf Hitler.

In September 1944, an American intelligence post based in Bern, Switzerland, sent to the OSS headquarters ( Office of Strategic Services - Office of Strategic Services) in Washington, a report which stated that the Nazis - as a result of the progress of the Allied forces - intended to fortify themselves in the so-called alpine fortress. According to American agents, the area was to be called the "National Redoubt" and located in the Salzkammergut - inaccessible, mountainous part of northern Austria.

The vision of the National Redoubt kept even General Dwight Eisenhower awake at night.

The capital of this area was to be Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden - the mountain seat of Adolf Hitler. The report reported that the area contained large depots of weapons, ammunition, fuel and supplies, and mountain forts from which Nazi dignitaries were to direct the guerrilla operations of elite, fanatical SS formations.

You have to catch them all

This information caused concern in the highest Allied command. The end of the war seemed imminent, while the Allied forces could become embroiled in murderous battles in unfavorable terrain where Allied air support and the use of mechanized troops would be problematic, if not impossible.

It was calculated that if the Germans did manage to fortify the Reduta area, the war could last even 2 years. The conquest of an isolated bridgehead was to cost more casualties than all the fights on the Western Front so far. General Eisenhower himself - quoted in the book by Joseph E. Persico entitled Secret activities of US intelligence in Nazi Germany - stated that:

If the Germans were allowed to organize this Redoubt, they could drag us into lengthy guerrilla-type fights or a costly siege. There they could live with the desperate hope that, due to the disagreement between the Allies, they would be able to obtain more favorable conditions (truce) than unconditional surrender ... .

Salzkammergut is marked with a red dot on the map of Austria. This is where the "National Redoubt", the last bastion of the Nazis, was supposed to be (graphic author:Uwe Dedering; license CC BY-SA 3.0).

In connection with the situation, a special unit of German infantry was organized in the SO (Secret Operations), i.e. the OSS secret operations department. The entire operation was codenamed "Iron Cross" ( Iron Cross ).

This unit was to conduct guerrilla and sabotage operations in the Reduta area, and its main task was to eliminate Nazi officials. The operation was directly supervised by Gerald Miller, head of the London SO section, who reported to the head of the OSS, General William J. Donovan.

The soldiers for the unit were recruited from among German anti-Nazis, civilians interned in France. They were mostly political prisoners, people wanted by the Gestapo, although there were former members of the French Resistance, and even veterans of the Spanish Civil War, fighting against General Franco. The youngest of them was 20, the oldest 45, almost all were communists or supporters of communism. In total, a full company of infantry - 175 men were assembled.

Unit for very special tasks

Captain Aaron Bank took command of this strange vessel. An extraordinary character. He was then 42 years old. Until the age of thirty, he worked as a lifeguard in the resorts of the American East Coast. In 1932 he started to trade in real estate, when the Great Depression started to take its toll, he joined the army and stayed here. He spoke French and German well, which in turn made his career in OSS easier.

Here is Aaron Bank in person. In the photo he is already a colonel.

In addition to Captain Bank, four more Americans served in the unit:one lieutenant and three soldiers, one of which was a radio operator. The bank also had its German deputies, two veterans of the Spanish Civil War.

The company was headquartered in Saint Germain near Paris, and it was there that it began training to perform its assigned tasks. The soldiers were taught guerrilla warfare methods, that is, arranging all kinds of ambushes, sabotage operations, blowing up bridges, destroying railroads and electrical networks.

The unit was to operate in the uniforms of German mountain shooters. It was equipped with typical German weapons:Parabellum pistols, Mauser 98k rifles, Schmeisser submachine guns and Panzerfaust armor. She used German explosives and American plastic. The soldiers also underwent an accelerated parachute course and drill lessons. They even received a salary of 60 cents per hour of service, paid in francs.

During the training, Captain Bank eliminated people who were morally and mentally insecure and physically incapable, so that the branch eventually numbered one hundred people. The group's morale was very high, and there was not a single escape attempt. Captain Bank was able to appreciate it, and through his fingers he watched some of his subordinates disappear for several hours in search of fun in the nearby brothels.

Physical elimination… or maybe not?

In mid-April 1945, the main purpose of the mission was changed. The OSS leadership decided that the Iron Cross unit would only deal with catching Nazis trying to get from central Germany to Reduta. It was about people from the top of power, especially Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring.

The main goals of the Iron Cross unit were to be, among others Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring

The Americans wanted them alive so they could be brought to a war crimes tribunal. The head of the OSS, General Donovan, and the group's commander, Captain Bank, dreamed of a success like Sturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny, who in September 1943 freed Benito Mussolini, who was detained in a mountain hotel in the Gran Sasso Massif, at the head of an elite SS unit.

So the Germans began to be trained in commando tactics. They learned how to take over a building and neutralize its defenders and escape with a hostage, or how to take a hostage in an attack on an armed convoy of vehicles. The soldiers were not told who would be the target of the mission. They only knew that the captured had to be alive. Donovan said explicitly: tell the Bank that he has to get Hitler alive .

The head of the Secret Services Bureau, General William J. Donovan, had high hopes for Operation Iron Cross. He hoped it would be a spectacular success.

The finale of Operation Iron Cross is scheduled for the end of April. First, Captain Bank was to be dropped onto the territory of the Reich, together with the radio operator, Sergeant Goldbeck, and two Germans. Their task was to prepare a landing site for the main company forces. The drop zone was chosen near the town of Schwaz, 1,500 m above sea level, in a remote area. This place was about 100 kilometers from Berchtesgaden and, according to intelligence data, the retreat to Reduta was supposed to pass.

One hundred armed communists in the American rear

Captain Ban's team waited six days at Dijon airport. The start of the team was constantly canceled due to difficult weather conditions. Gerald Miller finally got a signal from the headquarters that the action would not take place.

The leadership of the OSS decided that due to the rapid progress of the Allied forces, it was pointless to risk the lives of the soldiers. This was the official release, and there is really no clear answer as to why the Americans canceled the operation. After the war, they claimed that intelligence had already discovered then that Hitler was in besieged Berlin, making the mission's main objective obsolete.

Dijon, it is at the airport in this French city that Captain Bank and his men waited in vain until they were dropped on the territory of the Third Reich (photo:G CHP; lic CC ASA 2.5).

Captain Bank, in turn, concluded that the action was blocked by the US State Department. The politicians doubted the loyalty of the Germans and did not want to have a hundred armed communists in the American zone of occupation . The most difficult task now faced the captain. He had to convey to his subordinates, who were eager to fight, that the operation was canceled, that the unit would be disbanded and that they themselves would be put back in POW camps.

Nightmares about the non-existent Redoubt

The national redoubt never really existed. It was a fiction born of fear. The Germans themselves found out about its existence from the intercepted OSS report. The report was presented to Hitler who, seeing that the Americans were afraid of long and exhausting fights in the mountains, actually ordered fortification measures. But it was too late for that. There was a shortage of time and resources. This concept was perfectly used by the master of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels.

In his ministry, he established a special department that dealt with spreading rumors among the press representatives of neutral countries that the Germans were preparing a mountain fortress in the Alps. It was named after the Americans - the National Redoubt. Even General Eisenhower was fooled and on April 11, 1945, when American troops were only 100 kilometers from Berlin, instead of striking the city, he left it to the Soviet Army and directed his divisions towards an imaginary fortress. The US troops, of course, faced little resistance.

Captain Aaron Bank has served the US military well. On the basis of his war experiences, in June 1952 he created and became the first commander of the 10th SFGA (Special Forces Group Airborne) unit - the famous Green Berets. He is considered the founding father of the American Special Forces. Retired in 1958 with the rank of colonel. He died on April 1, 2004 at the age of 101.