Helmut Clissmann (11 May 1911 – 6 November 1997) was an Ireland-based German

Abwehr The ''Abwehr'' ( German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the '' Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. ...

agent during World War II. He engineered the release of Frank Ryan from a Spanish prison. Before World War II, Clissmann was active in the German academic exchange service in Dublin. He was involved in both

Operation Lobster In 1940 the Germans decided to send agents and saboteurs to infiltrate Britain from Norway and northern France. This plan was given the codename Operation Lobster (german: Unternehmen Hummer). It remained in place despite the collapse of plans ...

and Operation Sea Eagle which were both failed operations with the intent of getting Clissmann into Ireland. In 2012, a Danish research paper revealed that during his time as an

agent Clissmann was responsible for training two Danish pro-nazi covert anti-partisan groups called Schiøler Group and Peter Group. He was surprisingly let off during the post-war Nazi court cases in Denmark and travelled shortly afterwards to Ireland. He became a businessman and set up an agency to import pharmaceutical products. He was also a founding member of what is now the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association and Amnesty International Ireland. St Killian's German School was co-founded by him and he was made its honorary president-for-life. Clissmann was friends with fellow German spy Jupp Hoven. He married a

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the loc ...

republican, Elizabeth "Budge" Mulcahy. They had multiple children.

References

1911 births 1997 deaths People from Aachen World War II spies for Germany {{World-War-II-bio-stub

See also

References