Waffen-SS Soldier Became Israeli Army Officer

TL;DR

Ulrich Schnauf, a German SS veteran, faked a Jewish identity to immigrate to Israel and rose to IDF captain before his elaborate espionage unraveled.

Key Points

• 1.- Ulrich Schnauf served in the 5th SS Panzer Division Viking on the Eastern Front, was wounded in 1943, and was captured by Americans near the Po River in late 1944.
• 2.- After the war, Schnauf assumed the fake identity 'Gabriel Viceman,' claimed Holocaust survivor status to receive US charity money, and sailed illegally to Palestine.
• 3.- Shinbet opened a file on the blue-eyed, blonde Captain Viceman in 1952 after he drunkenly showed fellow IDF officers photos of himself in SS uniform, but dismissed the idea as too far-fetched.
• 4.- Stranded penniless in Genoa in 1954, Schnauf sold IDF military secrets to Egypt, was flown to Cairo, questioned for two weeks by Egyptian intelligence, then given money and papers to enter West Germany.
• 5.- The Mossad used a honey trap and a fake Iraqi officer named Shmul Moriah to lure Schnauf back to Israel, where he was arrested, convicted of espionage, sentenced to 7 years, and extradited after serving 5.