Eugen Dollmann (8 August 1900 – 17 May 1985) was a German

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and member of the '' SS''.

Richard Breitman Richard David Breitman (born 1947) is an American historian best known for his study of The Holocaust. Richard Breitman is an American historian who has written extensively on modern German history, the Holocaust, American immigration and refug ...

U.S. intelligence and the Nazis
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Early life and family

The son of Paula Dollmann (born Schummerer) and Stefan Dollmann, he was born in 1900 in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

. Dollmann graduated in 1926 at the

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

as Doktor der Philosophie. From 1927 to 1930, Dollmann studied in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

the history of the Farnese family and Italian art history. He was living at the

Piazza di Spagna The Piazza di Spagna is a square in the centre of Rome, the capital of Italy. It lies at the foot of the Spanish Steps and owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, the seat of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See. The Column of the Immaculate Con ...

where he worked as interpreter. There he met

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

who introduced him to

Karl Wolff Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (13 May 1900 – 16 July 1984) was a senior German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) officer who served as Chief of Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS (Heinrich Himmler) and an SS liaison to Adolf Hitler during World War II. He ende ...

. In 1934 Dollmann become Italienkorrespondent of the ''

Münchner Neueste Nachrichten ''Münchner Neueste Nachrichten'' (Munich's Latest News) was a German daily newspaper published in Munich between 1848 and 1945. The paper was first published on 9 April 1848 as cheap way to inform the masses. After its purchase by , the newspap ...

''. In 1935 he became Chief of the NSDAP/AO Press office in Italy. In 1937 he became SS-Obersturmbannführer.

Diplomatic career

He helped

Virginia Agnelli '' Donna'' Virginia Bourbon del Monte dei principi di San Faustino (24 May 1899 – 30 November 1945) was the wife of Edoardo Agnelli and the mother of Gianni Agnelli. Biography Born in Rome, she was the daughter of Carlo Bourbon del Monte, ...

escape from detention, and with her help was able to arrange a meeting between SS-Obergruppenführer

and Pope

Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

to negotiate the peaceful German evacuation of Rome. Later, as Befehlshaber der Polizei, he was Adjutant of Karl Wolff in a villa on the

Lake Garda Lake Garda (, , or , ; ; ) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, between Brescia and Milan to the west, and Verona and Venice to the east. The lake cuts into the edge of the Eastern Alps, Italian Alp ...

. On 20 July 1944 Dollmann was official interpreter at the meeting of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

, at the

Wolfsschanze The Wolf's Lair (; ) was Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the village of Görlitz (now Gierłoż), about 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of the tow ...

, immediately after the 20 July plot. He was friends with notable Italian anti-Semites Julius Evola and Roberto Farinacci. Around 8 May 1945, Dollmann was protected from criminal prosecution of his involvement in war crimes by Cardinal Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, Archbishop of Milan, with whom he had discussed the possibility for a separate peace between Nazi Germany and the Allies of World War II, Western Allies (Operation Sunrise (World War II), Operation Sunrise). He hid Dollmann in a mental institution in Laveno-Mombello. In 1946, Dollmann returned to Rome, was detected in a movie theater and arrested. He was liberated after an intervention by James Jesus Angleton of the CIA who accompanied him to Bern to see Allen Welsh Dulles. He lived in Switzerland under a false identity. In 1952, Dollmann was expelled from Switzerland to Italy on the grounds of having had a homosexual relationship with a Swiss official. Padre Parini helped him transfer to Spain, where he was employed by Otto Skorzeny in Donostia in the arms trade. The Italian Intelligence Service issued false travel documents for Dollmann through Carlo Rocchi, a confidence man of the CIA in Milan. With these, Dollmann traveled into the Federal Republic of Germany. Dollmann was held in custody for one month for passport fraud. Upon his release he lived in Munich in Das Blaue Haus, a boarding house at the back of the Munich Kammerspiele. He continued working as translator and made the translation for the German synchronization of ''La Dolce Vita'' by Federico Fellini. He died in 1985 in Munich. The Italian historian Gianfranco Bianchi was executor of his will. Dollmann formed the basis for the character of Major Bergmann in the film, ''Rome, Open City'' (1945) by Roberto Rossellini. He is also a character in the novel ''A Dark Song of Blood'' (2002) by Ben pastor, Ben Pastor, set in Rome in 1944, and in Soviet TV-series ''Seventeen Moments of Spring'' (1973).

Post-war life

After the war, Dollman would maintain contacts with the CIA director Allen Dulles, as well as continuing communication with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin Al-Husseini.

Notes

References

* R. Breitman, Norman J.W. Goda, Norman J. W. Goda, ''U.S. Intelligence and the Nazis'', Cambridge University Press, Marzo 2005 * Dollmann, E. ''Roma nazista 1937–1943. Un protagonista della storia racconta'', Trad. Zingarelli Italo, Editore: Rizzoli, Collana: Superbur, 2002 *Dollmann, Eugen., and J. Maxwell (John Maxwell) Brownjohn. ''The Interpreter : Memoirs of Doktor Eugen Dollmann.'' London: Hutchinson, 1967. *Salter, Michael, ''Nazi war crimes, US intelligence and selective prosecution at Nuremberg: controversies regarding the role of the Office of Strategic Services'', Ed. Routledge, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dollmann, Eugen 1900 births 1985 deaths SS-Obersturmbannführer Reich Security Main Office personnel Officials of Nazi Germany