Alexis Freiherr von Rönne was a German Armycolonel and intelligence analyst who was executed in the aftermath of the 20 July Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. One of Hitler's favoured analysts in the Abwehr, von Roenne was not directly involved in the plot but was nonetheless tried and executed in the aftermath of the plot thanks to links with many of the conspirators.
Life
A veteran of the First World War, von Roenne rose through German intelligence to head Foreign Armies West, the branch of the Abwehr tasked with espionage on the Western Front. Referred to by modern historians as 'Hitler's favourite intelligence analyst'. However, a staunch Christian with beliefs at odds with the Nazi Party, historians believe that he led a double life by deliberately misleading Hitler and the German general staff. A key promoter of intelligence gained from British campaigns like Operation Mincemeat and Operation Bodyguard, his actions may have helped to save thousands of lives.
Death
Arrested in the immediate aftermath of the July 20 plot thanks to his connection with several of those responsible but released shortly afterwards, von Roenne was rearrested on 9 August and tried before Roland Freisler's People's Court on 5 October. Declaring that Nazi race policies were inconsistent with his Christian values, he was found guilty by the show trial and hanged on a meat hook at Plötzensee Prison on 12 October. His final epitaph to his wife reflected his faith, stating 'in a moment now I shall be going home to our Lord in complete calm and in the certainty of salvation.'
Background information
A new movie about Operation Mincemeat, to begin pre-production in 2019, uses a screenplay, written by Michelle Ashford, based on historian Ben Macintyre's 2010 book Operation Mincemeat. The book provides additional specifics about the involvement of von Roenne in the ruse played on the Germans during the Second World War by the British. Forged "documents" claimed that the Allies would invade Greece and Sardinia before the invasion of Sicily, leading Germany to divest important assets to that area. The Baron was said to have vouched for the authenticity of the documents and also accepted other hoaxes used by the Allies during the war. According to Macintyre,
"he faithfully passed on every deception ruse fed to him, accepted the existence of every bogus unit regardless of evidence, and inflated forty-four divisions in Britain to an astonishing eighty-nine."
A report published by The Independent adds additional perspective on von Roenne's work during the war.
"Colonel Baron Alexis von Roenne, in charge of Fremde Heere West, the western intelligence arm, who had built his reputation on predicting Allied behaviour early in the war, was wrong on almost every important count other than to discount an invasion of Norway. He was fooled by the fantasy invasion of the Pas-de-Calais and was convinced that the fictitious British Fourth Army in Scotland existed and was about to be redeployed to Kent.
