Post by Tamrin on Dec 21, 2013 7:36:25 GMT 10
The Black Book was the post-war name given to the Sonderfahndungsliste G.B. ('Special Search List G.B'), the list of prominent Britons to be arrested in the case of a successful invasion of Britain by Nazi Germany in World War II. The list was a product of the SS Einsatzgruppen and compiled by Walter Schellenberg. It contained the names of 2,820 people, British subjects and European exiles, living in Britain who were to be immediately arrested if Unternehmen Seelöwe, the invasion of Britain, succeeded.
The list was appended to the 'Informationsheft GB', a 144 page handbook containing information on important aspects of British society including institutions such as embassies, universities, newspaper offices, and Freemasons' Lodges. It is alleged that British intelligence mole Dick Ellis provided much of the information. However, much of the information on notable Britons was readily available through the British newspapers.
Background
The original handbook, or 'Informationsheft GB' covered geography, economics, political system, government, legal system, administration, military, education system, important museums, press and radio, religion, parties, immigrants, freemasons, Jews, police apparatus and secret service. The 'Black Book', as it is known in the tabloid press, was a later appendage and consisted of 104 pages of names listed in alphabetical order. 'Fahndungsliste' translates into 'wanted list', 'sonderfahndungsliste into 'especially wanted list' or 'most wanted list'.
Beside each name was the number of the RSHA (Reich Main Security Office) to which the person was to be handed over. Churchill was to be placed into the custody of Amt VI (Foreign Military Intelligence), but the vast majority of the people listed in the Black Book would be placed into the custody of Amt IV (Gestapo). The book had several notable mistakes, such as people who had already died (Lytton Strachey) or moved away (Paul Robeson), and omissions (such as George Bernard Shaw, one of the few English language writers whose works were published and performed in Nazi Germany).
A print run produced 20,000 books but the warehouse in which they were stored was destroyed in a bombing raid and only two originals are known to survive (one in the Imperial War Museum in London). On learning of the book, Rebecca West is said to have sent a telegram to Noël Coward saying "My dear - the people we should have been seen dead with."…
The list was appended to the 'Informationsheft GB', a 144 page handbook containing information on important aspects of British society including institutions such as embassies, universities, newspaper offices, and Freemasons' Lodges. It is alleged that British intelligence mole Dick Ellis provided much of the information. However, much of the information on notable Britons was readily available through the British newspapers.
Background
The original handbook, or 'Informationsheft GB' covered geography, economics, political system, government, legal system, administration, military, education system, important museums, press and radio, religion, parties, immigrants, freemasons, Jews, police apparatus and secret service. The 'Black Book', as it is known in the tabloid press, was a later appendage and consisted of 104 pages of names listed in alphabetical order. 'Fahndungsliste' translates into 'wanted list', 'sonderfahndungsliste into 'especially wanted list' or 'most wanted list'.
Beside each name was the number of the RSHA (Reich Main Security Office) to which the person was to be handed over. Churchill was to be placed into the custody of Amt VI (Foreign Military Intelligence), but the vast majority of the people listed in the Black Book would be placed into the custody of Amt IV (Gestapo). The book had several notable mistakes, such as people who had already died (Lytton Strachey) or moved away (Paul Robeson), and omissions (such as George Bernard Shaw, one of the few English language writers whose works were published and performed in Nazi Germany).
A print run produced 20,000 books but the warehouse in which they were stored was destroyed in a bombing raid and only two originals are known to survive (one in the Imperial War Museum in London). On learning of the book, Rebecca West is said to have sent a telegram to Noël Coward saying "My dear - the people we should have been seen dead with."…
Dame Rebecca West was born this day in 1892)