Wilhelm Canaris Wilhelm Franz Canaris ( 1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945 ) was a German admiral , and head of the " Abwehr " , the German military intelligence service , from 1935 to 1944 . During the Second World War , he was among the military officers involved in the clandestine opposition to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime . He was executed in the Flossenbürg concentration camp for the act of high treason . Early life and World War I . Canaris was born in Aplerbeck ( now a part of Dortmund ) in Westphalia , the son of wealthy industrialist Carl Canaris and his wife Auguste ( née Popp ) . Canaris believed that his family was related to the Greek admiral , freedom fighter and politician Constantine Kanaris , which influenced his decision to join the navy . While on a visit to Corfu he was given a portrait of the Greek hero , which he always kept in his office . But Richard Bassett claims that a 1938 investigation showed that his family was of Northern Italian descent , originally called Canarisi , and had lived in Germany since the 17th century . His grandfather had converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism . In 1905 , aged seventeen , Canaris joined the German Imperial Navy and by the outbreak of World War I was serving on board the SMS " Dresden " as an intelligence officer . This cruiser was the only ship that managed to evade the British Fleet for a prolonged period during the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914 , largely due to his excellent deception tactics . Whilst anchored in Cumberland Bay , Robinson Crusoe Island , the " Dresden " was trapped and forced to scuttle after fighting a battle there with the British . Most of the crew were interned in Chile in March 1915 , but Canaris escaped in August 1915 , using his fluency in Spanish ; with the aid of some German merchants he returned to Germany in October 1915 via , among other countries , Great Britain . He was then given intelligence work and sent to Spain , where he survived a British assassination attempt . Returning to active service , he ended the war as a celebrated U - boat commander from late 1917 in the Mediterranean , credited with eighteen sinkings . He spoke English fluently ( as well as four other foreign languages ) and as a naval officer of the old school , he respected Great Britain ' s Royal Navy despite the rivalry between the two nations . During the German Revolution of 1918 – 1919 , Canaris helped organise the formation of ' freikorps ' paramilitary units in order to suppress the revolutionary movements . He was also a member of the military court that tried ( and mostly acquitted ) those involved in the assassination of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg . He was appointed to the adjutancy of defence minister Gustav Noske . In 1919 , Canaris married Erika Waag , also the child of an industrialist . They had two daughters , Eva and Brigitte . Interwar years . Canaris remained in the military after the war , first as a member of the " Freikorps " and then as part of the " Reichsmarine " . He was promoted rapidly , becoming a Captain in 1931 , the Executive Officer of the cruiser " Berlin " and then the Commanding Officer of the battleship " Schlesien " . At this time , he became involved in intelligence work again . He made a series of contacts with high - ranking German officers , politicians and industrialists for the purpose of creating order in German politics . During his " Freikorps " period , he was on intimate terms with people such as Horst von Pflugk - Harttung who were accused of political assassinations of leaders of the left , and was even accused himself , although later acquitted , of being involved in the assassinations and other crimes ( such as his alleged involvement in Rosa Luxembourg ' s " trial " ) . During the 1930 – 33 period , Canaris was following a course quite parallel to the one followed by the future Nazi Party leaders although never a party member himself . Indirectly , though , he promoted the forces that later became part of the Nazi power structure . After Adolf Hitler ' s rise to power in 1933 , Canaris was made head of the " Abwehr " , Germany ' s official military intelligence agency , on 1 January 1935 . Later that year , he was promoted Rear Admiral . During the period 1935 – 36 , he made contacts in Spain to organise a German spy network there , due to his excellent Spanish . He was the moving force behind the decision that sided Germany with Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War , despite Hitler ' s initial hesitation to get involved in such an adventure . In 1937 he was still a supporter of Hitler , considering him to be the only solution against communism and a hope for the national revival of Germany . By 1938 , however , he had realised that Hitler ' s policies and plans would lead Germany to disaster and secretly began to work against the régime . His personal style as a gentleman was incompatible with the thuggish behaviour of most of the Nazi Party members . A letter from a Spanish contact of his has been preserved and unambiguously confirms his opposition to the Nazi regime . He tried to hinder Hitler ' s attempts to absorb Czechoslovakia and he also advised Franco not to permit German passage through Spain for the purposes of capturing Gibraltar . Arguments used by Franco to counter Hitler ' s demands for German access to Spanish territory were influenced directly by Canaris , who met with a number of his top advisors . Additionally , a significant sum of money had been deposited by the British in Swiss accounts for Franco and his generals to maintain their neutrality . Munich Agreement . He also became involved in two abortive plots to depose Hitler , first in 1938 and again in 1939 . During the 1938 crisis over Czechoslovakia that culminated in the Munich Agreement , Canaris was together with the army chief of staff , General Ludwig Beck and the Foreign Office ’ s state secretary Ernst von Weizsäcker , a leader of the " anti - war " group in the German government , which was determined to avoid a war in 1938 that it felt Germany would lose . This group was not necessarily committed to the overthrow of the regime , but was loosely allied to another , more radical group , the " anti - Nazi " faction centered around Colonel Hans Oster and Hans Bernd Gisevius , which wanted to use the crisis as an excuse for executing a " putsch " to overthrow the Nazi regime . His most audacious attempt was in planning , with Ewald von Kleist - Schmenzin , to capture and eliminate Hitler and the entire Nazi party before the invasion of Czechoslovakia . At this particular moment , von Kleist visited Britain secretly and discussed the situation with British MI6 and some high - ranking politicians . There , the name of Canaris became widely known as the executive hand of von Kleist in the event of an anti - Nazi plot . The high - ranking German military leaders believed that if Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia , or any other country , then Britain would declare war on Germany . MI6 was of the same opinion . The British declaration of war would have given the General Staff , in their belief , both the pretext and support for an overthrow of Hitler . The British reaction , however , to Hitler ' s demands on the Sudetenland was more cautious . At a meeting with Hitler in Munich , British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier chose diplomacy over war . Munich was a severe disappointment for Kleist and Canaris . It gave Hitler ' s international reputation an important boost for two reasons : one , he was able to play the part of a man of reason and compromise ; and two , he could boast that his predictions that Great Britain and France would not respond with war had proven to be correct . There are claims that Canaris , who was extremely shocked by this ' dishonest and stupid decision ' ( his own words ) , decided to be cautious and wait for a better time to act against Hitler . In January 1939 , Canaris manufactured the " Dutch War Scare " , which gripped the British government . By 23 January 1939 the British government received information to the effect that Germany intended to invade the Netherlands in February 1939 with the aim of using Dutch air - fields to launch strategic bombing offensive intended to achieve a " knock - out " blow against Britain by razing British cities to the ground . All this information was false , and it was intended by Canaris to achieve a change in British foreign policy . In this , Canaris was successful , and the " Dutch War Scare " played a major role in causing Chamberlain to make the " continental commitment " ( i . e . sending a large British ground force to the defence of France ) in February 1939 . Nevertheless , it appears likely that MI6 maintained contact with Canaris even after the Munich Agreement signed on 30 September 1938 . When Winston Churchill came to power after the resignation of Chamberlain in May 1940 , Canaris ' hopes were renewed , given the new Prime Minister ' s strong position against Hitler . World War II . In the meantime , Reinhard Heydrich , previously a naval cadet who had served under Canaris and was at the time the " Sicherheitsdienst " ( SD ) leader , despite being his protégé , friend and neighbour , became his rival . Presumably , the Canaris posting in " Abwehr " had the secret approval of the dynamic Heydrich , who preferred him to his predecessor , Commander Pfatz , who was not in line with the Nazi party members . Heydrich wanted a controllable " Abwehr " and was keeping a close eye on Canaris . Canaris appeared outwardly to side with his friend Heydrich , but only in order to give " Abwehr " a chance to grow and become a considerable force . In Bassett ' s account , Canaris was deeply frustrated by a briefing from Hitler before the attack on Poland . During the briefing , he was informed about a series of exterminations that had been ordered and which Canaris was required to take notes on . These notes , the book confirms , were sent to MI6 . After the outbreak of war between Germany and Poland , in September 1939 , Canaris visited the front and witnessed examples of the war crimes committed by the SS " Einsatzgruppen " . Among these were the burning of the synagogue in Będzin . He also received reports from " Abwehr " agents about many other incidents of mass murder throughout Poland . Canaris kept detailed records of these atrocities in his personal diary which he entrusted to Werner Schrader , one of his subordinates and fellow resistance member . After hearing reports of and witnessing massacres in Poland , Canaris on 12 September 1939 travelled to Hitler ' s headquarters train , at the time in Upper Silesia , to register his objection to the atrocities ; prior to reaching Hitler he encountered General Wilhelm Keitel whom he informed : " I have information that mass executions are being planned in Poland , and that members of the Polish nobility and the Roman Catholic bishops and priests have been singled out for extermination . " Keitel admonished Canaris to go no further with his protest as the detailed plan of atrocities came directly from Hitler , himself . Shocked by these incidents , Canaris began working more actively , at increasing risk , to overthrow Hitler ' s régime , although he cooperated with the SD to create a decoy . This made it possible for him to pose as a trusted man for some time . He was promoted to full Admiral in January 1940 . With his subordinate Erwin Lahousen , he formed a circle of like - minded " Wehrmacht " officers , many of whom would be executed or forced to commit suicide after the failure of the 20 July Plot . At an officers conference in Berlin , December 1941 , Canaris is quoted as saying " Abwehr has nothing to do with persecution of Jews . . . no concern of ours , we hold ourselves aloof from it " ( MI6 Sub - section Vf files NA HW 1 / 327 ) . It has been speculated that there was contact with British intelligence during this time , despite the war between the two countries . It is thought that during the invasion of Russia , Canaris received a detailed report of all the enemy positions that was known only to the British . The head of MI6 , Stewart Menzies , who shared Canaris ’ s strong anti - communist beliefs , praised Canaris ’ s courage and bravery at the end of the war . Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Himmler investigated in detail the sources of Canaris ' s information on Operation Barbarossa , arriving at the conclusion that there had indeed been contact between him and the British . In June 1942 , Canaris sent eight Abwehr agents to the East Coast of the United States as part of Operation Pastorius . The mission was to sabotage American economic targets and demoralize the civilian population inside the United States . However , two weeks later , all were arrested by the FBI thanks to two Abwehr agents betraying the mission to America . Because Abwehr agents were arrested in civilian clothes , they were subject to court martial by a military tribunal in Washington D . C . All were found guilty and sentenced to death . Two others who cooperated with the FBI received sentences of life imprisonment instead . The others were executed by the electric chair in the District of Columbia jail . Due to the embarrassing failure of Operation Pastorius , no sabotage attempt was ever made in the United States . After 1942 , Canaris visited Spain frequently and was probably in contact with British agents from Gibraltar . In 1943 , while in occupied France , Canaris is said to have made contact with British agents : he was conducted blindfolded to the Convent of the Nuns of the Passion of our Blessed Lord , 127 Rue de la Santé , where he met the local head of the British Intelligence Services , code name " Jade Amicol " , in reality Colonel Claude Olivier . Canaris wanted to know the terms for peace if Germany got rid of Hitler . Churchill ' s reply , sent to him two weeks later , was simple : " Unconditional surrender " . During Heydrich ' s posting in Prague , a serious incident put him and Canaris in open conflict . A Czech agent — Paul Thümmel — was arrested by Heydrich , but Canaris intervened to save him , claiming he was a double agent actually working for Abwehr . Heydrich suspected that Thümmel was actually Canaris ' s MI6 contact . Heydrich requested that Canaris put the Abwehr under SD and SS control . Canaris appeared to retreat and handled the situation diplomatically , but there was no immediate effect on the Abwehr for the time being . In fact , Canaris had established another two links with MI6 — one via Zurich , and the other via Spain and Gibraltar . It is also possible that Vatican contacts provided a third route to his British counterparts . Canaris also intervened to save a number of victims of Nazi persecution , including saving Jews , some by getting them to Spain . Many such people were given token training as " Abwehr " " agents " and then issued papers allowing them to leave Germany . One notable person he is said to have assisted was the then Lubavitcher Rebbe in Warsaw , Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn . This has led Chabad Lubavitch to campaign for his recognition as a Righteous Gentile by the Yad VaShem Holocaust memorial . Foiling Hitler ' s plot to kidnap Pope Pius XII . Colonel Wessel von Freytag - Loringhoven ' s son Niki , testifying in Munich in 1972 and in recent revelations , reports that Canaris was involved in the foiling of Hitler ' s plot to kidnap Pope Pius XII . Colonel Freytag - Loringhoven was a subordinate of Canaris , and his son , Niki , reported that within days of the arrest of Benito Mussolini as ordered by King Victor Emmanuel III , the Führer commanded the Reichssicherheitshauptamt ( the Third Reich ' s Security Headquarters ) to retaliate against the Italians via the kidnapping or murder of Pius XII and King Victor Emmanuel . In 2009 , Niki von Freytag - Loringhoven , then 72 , came forward to reveal new details about the plan , reporting that on 29 and 30 July 1943 his father and Erwin von Lahousen , who were employed in the section of German intelligence dealing mainly with sabotage , attended a meeting in Venice where Canaris informed the Italian General , Cesare Amè , of the plot . General Amè relayed the news which allowed the plot to be foiled . The Italian paper " Avvenire " maintains that the younger Freytag von Loringhoven ' s accounts agree with von Lahousen ' s Nuremberg war crimes trials deposition . Downfall and execution . The evidence that he was playing a double game grew , and at the insistence of Heinrich Himmler , who had suspected him for a long time , Hitler dismissed Canaris from the " Abwehr " in February 1944 , replacing him with Walter Schellenberg and merging most of the " Abwehr " with the " Sicherheitsdienst " ( SD ) . Some weeks later , Canaris was put under house arrest , preventing him from taking part directly in the 20 July Plot , 1944 , to assassinate Hitler . However , just after the Stalingrad disaster , Canaris had already planned a ' coup ' against the entire Nazi regime in which many Nazi officials would be accused for known crimes , while Hitler would be arrested as an insane person based on his exposure to mustard gas in World War I , then imprisoned for life . After the 20 July Plot , Canaris ' s long - time rival , SS leader Heinrich Himmler discovered that one of the officers involved in the plot , a friend of Canaris who had committed suicide , had kept the plot details in a metal box . The investigations also revealed that a number of other assassination plots ( possibly another 10 or 15 ) had been activated but had failed and were covered up at the last minute . Most people who participated in these plots were people Canaris knew well . In the aftermath of the attempt on Hitler ' s life , the Gestapo found no direct evidence tying Canaris to the plot , but his close association to many of the conspirators that were arrested was enough to seal his fate . Himmler kept Canaris alive for some time because he planned to use him secretly as a future contact with the British in order to come to an agreement to end the war with himself as the leader of Germany . Hitler also wanted to keep him alive in order to get the names of additional conspirators . When Himmler ' s plan failed to materialize , he received the approval of Hitler to send Canaris to an SS drumhead court - martial presided over by Otto Thorbeck with Walter Huppenkothen as prosecutor that sentenced him to death . Together with his deputy General Hans Oster , military jurist General Karl Sack , theologian Rev . Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Ludwig Gehre , Canaris was humiliated before witnesses and then executed on 9 April 1945 , in the Flossenbürg concentration camp , just weeks before the end of the war . He was led to the gallows naked . Just before his execution he tapped out a message in Morse code , which was heard by another prisoner , claiming he acted for the good of Germany and denying he was a traitor . Erwin von Lahousen and Hans Bernd Gisevius , two of Canaris ' main subordinates , survived the war and testified during the Nuremberg Trials about Canaris ' courage in opposing Hitler . Lahousen recalled a conversation between Canaris and General Wilhelm Keitel in which Canaris warned Keitel that the German military would be held responsible for the atrocities in Poland . Keitel responded that they had been ordered by Hitler . Keitel , who also survived the war , was found guilty of war crimes at Nuremberg and hanged . Decorations and awards . During his military career , Canaris had been decorated with the Iron Cross First and Second Class , the Silver German Cross , the Cross of Honour and the Wehrmacht Twelve and Twenty - Five Year Long - Service Ribbons : He is mentioned in the first half of Ken Follett ' s 1977 thriller The Eye of the Needle .