Pater Wilhelm Schmidt im Schweizer Exil

Ausgewählte Interaktionen mit Wehrmachtsdeserteuren und Nachrichtendiensten, 1943–1945

Abstract

Schmidt's years of exile in Switzerland (as of 1938) have been little explored so far. This study presents the very first account of Schmidt's interactions with Wehrmacht deserters and intelligence services during the Second World War. Since 1943, Schmidt came into close contact with Wehrmacht deserters, mediated by the Swiss intelligence service. These young men were from conservative Catholic political groups; some of them had belonged to the former paramilitary organisations of the Dollfuss-Schuschnigg period. In April 1944, Wilhelm Bruckner initiated his own intelligence corps with the help of the Swiss intelligence service, infiltrating Wehrmacht deserters from Switzerland to Austria illegally. In September 1944, Schmidt recommended Bruckner's group to the British "Special Operations Executive" (SOE), whereby an Austrian Monarchist resistance group called "Patria" could be established. This little known Austrian resistance organisation operated in Western Austria and was financed mostly by Schmidt, for which he received funding from the Vatican State Secretary.