Global InformationRudolf von Scheliha information
Rudolf "Dolf" von Scheliha | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 31 May 1897 Silesia, German Empire |
| Died | 22 December 1942 (aged 45) Plötzensee Prison, Berlin, Nazi Germany |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Education | University of Breslau, University of Heidelberg |
| Occupation(s) | Diplomat, resistance fighter |
| Employer | Foreign Office |
| Known for | Created a comprehensive library of German occupation crimes, on the atrocities of the Gestapo. |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
| Spouse | Marie Louise von Medinger |
| Children | Sylvia, Elisabeth |
Rudolf "Dolf" von Scheliha (31 May 1897 – 22 December 1942) was a German aristocrat, cavalry officer and diplomat who became a resistance fighter and anti-Nazi who was linked to the Red Orchestra.
He fought in the World War I, an experience that defined his politics. He joined the German Foreign Office, was trained to be a diplomat and was sent to the embassy in Warsaw. In the years leading up to the war, Von Scheliha was placed in a position of trust in the Foreign Office.
In 1934, he was recruited by Soviet intelligence because of financial necessity while he served in Warsaw, where he passed documents to the Soviet intelligence. In the years leading up to the Second World War, he became a committed opponent of the Nazi regime and of its anti-Semitic policies.[1]
He became the director of an information department in the embassy in September 1939, which was established to counter enemy propaganda. As part of his position, photographs of atrocities against Jews and other people passed through his department and were used for propaganda. Appalled at what he saw, he began to resist and built a portfolio of the worst images over several years. In January 1942, the portfolio was smuggled to London.[2]
In June 1941, the start of the invasion of the Soviet Union caused his line of communication to the Soviets to be cut off. Soviet intelligence tried several times to reinitiate communications with him but were unsuccessful. In May 1942, Soviet intelligence sent an agent, Erna Eifler, to make contact with von Scheliha in Berlin,[3] but she was captured.
Von Scheliha was executed by hanging in Plötzensee Prison on 14 December 1942.[4]
- ^ Schulte, Jan Erik; Wala, Michael (2013). Widerstand und Auswärtiges Amt: Diplomaten gegen Hitler (in German). Berlin: Siedler. p. 192. ISBN 978-3-641-10494-8.
- ^ Schulte, Jan Erik; Wala, Michael (2013). Widerstand und Auswärtiges Amt: Diplomaten gegen Hitler (in German). Berlin: Siedler. p. 188. ISBN 978-3-641-10494-8.
- ^ Kesaris, Paul. L, ed. (1979). The Rote Kapelle: the CIA's history of Soviet intelligence and espionage networks in Western Europe, 1936-1945 (pdf). Washington DC: University Publications of America. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ "Rudolf von Scheliha". Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand. German Resistance Memorial Center. Retrieved 21 April 2018.