Heinz Höhne (1926

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany - 27 March 2010 in Großhansdorf) was a German journalist who specialized in

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

and intelligence

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Biography

Born in

in 1926, Höhne was educated there until he was called to fight during the last months of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. After the war, he studied

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and went on to work for various newspapers as a freelance reporter. In 1955, he was hired by the weekly magazine '' Der Spiegel'', where he joined the foreign staff of the magazine and eventually took charge of the Anglo-American department. Höhne's efforts covered Nazi history. His work is entitled ''The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS. (Der Orden unter dem Totenkopf: Die Geschichte der SS).'' This work first appeared in 1967, and other works subsequently followed, such as his 1971 study of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

's spy network entitled ''Codeword: Direktor.'' In 1976, Höhne went on to write '' Canaris'', an interpretation of Hitler's spymaster, who was in charge of the '' Abwehr''. There are a number of references to Höhne's work on the SS by other historians who have written on Nazi Germany. More recently, Adrian Weale's work, ''Army of Evil: A History of the SS'' frequently cites Höhne's ''The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS'', although challenging some of the assertions found therein. Another work from Höhne is ''Krieg im Dunkeln'' (1985), which examines the centuries-old relationship between Russian and German intelligence. After his retirement, Höhne worked on a history of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the first volume of which, ''Gebt mir vier Jahre Zeit'', appeared in 1996. Höhne's book, ''The General Was a Spy: The Truth about General Gehlen and his Spy Ring'', received a less than glowing review from a CIA analyst.

References

Bibliography

*''The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS. (Der Orden unter dem Totenkopf: Die Geschichte der SS)'' First published in 1967. *''SS a Ordem Negra'' (1970) *''Codeword: Direktor.'' (1971) * (American edition of ''Pullach Intern'', 1971, which was originally a series of articles for ''Der Spiegel'', according to the book's front pages) *'' Canaris'' (1976) *''Krieg im Dunkeln'' (1985) *''Gebt mir vier Jahre Zeit'' (1996) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hohne, Heinz 20th-century German historians Journalists from Hamburg Historians of espionage 2010 deaths 1926 births German male non-fiction writers Der Spiegel people