The British also experimented with balloon bombs, hoping to burn down the Black Forest in Germany.. FÜHRER “Leader.” The offi cial title adopted by Adolf Hitler when he abolished the offi
Trang 1Funkspeil
manufacturing plant The British also experimented with balloon bombs, hoping
to burn down the Black Forest in Germany
FÜHRER “Leader.” The offi cial title adopted by Adolf Hitler when he abolished the
offi ce of president upon the death of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg in 1934 He
then combined the dead president’s position with his own as chancellor of the Third
Reich The full, new title was “Führer und Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht”
or “Leader and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.” “Führer” mimicked “Il
Duce,” the appellation used by Hitler’s fellow dictator, Benito Mussolini The title fell
to Admiral Karl Dönitz for a short span after Hitler’s death on April 30, 1945 It was
cast on the dust heap of history with Dönitz’s acceptance of the unconditional surrender
of the moral and physical rubble to which Germany was reduced by slavish devotion
to the cult of the Führer The Nazi Party and Waffen-SS added “führer” as a component
of various Party and military titles, in accordance with the Führerprinzip
FÜHRERPRINZIP “Leader principle.” The idea in Nazism that the entire
na-tion was to be organized along military lines and in absolute obedience to the
supreme Führer and national leader, Adolf Hitler Lesser “führers” were in charge
at all lowers levels The “leader” was thus conceived not so much as a head of state
or government, but as a combination of tribal chieftain, high priest, and warlord
The essence of the principle was an utter contempt for democracy and for
indi-vidualism Hitler’s rule was supported by fi ve chancelleries that administered his
Führer orders, rather than giving any input to policy The two principal ones were
concerned with political and military affairs and were headed by Martin Bormann
and Wilhelm Keitel, respectively Other ad hoc agencies, commissioners, or
inspec-tors were set up by Hitler to oversee special tasks
See also fascism
FUKURYU “Special Harbor Defense and Underwater Attack Units.” Japanese
suicide divers The Imperial Japanese Navy developed a plan for hundreds of divers
armed with mines to wait in neat lines underwater at likely landing sites on the
home islands Their duty and discipline was to stay submerged until enemy
inva-sion ships passed overhead, then blow up themselves along with one enemy ship
FUNKSPEIL “Radio game.” Abwehr counterintelligence ran several “radio
games” against British intelligence after turning several captured British SOE and
M16 agents, whom the Germans tortured into cooperation The most
success-ful Funkspeil operation was run from the Netherlands against the Special
Opera-tions Executive (SOE) Like German double agents run by the British XX Committee,
British agents turned by the Abwehr passed military and political disinformation
back to the host agencies Other radio games were played against the Red Army in
the east, including turning some anti-Nazi guerillas of the Nationalkomitee Freies
Deutschland (NKFD) who were captured along with their transmitters after being
air dropped into East Prussia by the Soviets