Paul Winzer

Paul Winzer, also known as "Walter Mosig", (born in Cottbus on June 24, 1908 and disappeared after World War II in 1945 or 1946) was a German diplomat and policeman and one of the leaders of Miranda de Ebro's concentration camp (in Castille) during Franco's dictatorship. He was also the head of Gestapo in Franco 's Spain. 

 Biography 

 Early years 
He was born in Cottbus in 1908  and studied law at the universities of Breslau and Berlin, but did not complete his Abschluss - degree -; he failed final exams twice and failed to complete his studies. In April 1932 he joined the Nazi Party (member number 1,106,851). Shortly after the Nazi rise to power, in 1933 Winzer joined the Schutzstaffel (SS).  Then he joined the Kriminalpolizei in 1934. 

 Stage in Iberian Peninsula 

 Assigned to the embassy of Nazi Germany in Spain 
In May 1936 he was assigned to the German embassy in Madrid, on the express desire of Heinrich Himmler to investigate the Spanish communists and anarchists. On 18th July, when the coup took place, going from what the fascists intended to be a Blitzkrieg to the Spanisch Civil War of three years, Winzer was in Barcelona, where he was watching the German leftists participating in the People's Olympics.  After staying there for a few days, Winzer boarded an Italian steamer and returned to Germany. However, when Nazi Germany, which had participated in the war alongside Franco's forces, immediately recognized Franco's legitimacy, Winzer was again sent to Spain with the new ambassador, Wilhelm Faupel, as police attaché at the German embassy in the post of Kriminalkommissar.

 Head of the Gestapo in Spain and concentration camps 
After his arrival in Spain controlled by the fascist insurgents, he held various positions. Winzer oversaw Miranda de Ebro's Concentration Camp, built by fascist forces inspired by German concentration camps such as the one in his hometown, and in turn the Miranda de Ebro camp served as a testing ground for Nazi camps in Central Europe.  Some authors point to Winzer as one of the designers of the structure of the camp, while others point to him as the designer of the entire Francoist concentration camps system. 

However, Winzer also carried out activities beyond his theoretical functions. For example, he cooperated with other embassy officials on plans to build a German oil refinery at Santa Cruz de Tenerife (in Canary Islands) with a view to using it in a future war; he was also responsible for the formation of the new political police (politico-social brigade) of the Franco regime. After the signing of a police cooperation agreement between Franco's Spain and Germany in 1938 (which established the mutual extradition of "political criminals" arrested in both countries), Winzer's power in Spain increased considerably. After the end of the civil war, a later agreement further strengthened his power, and also allowed the installation in Spain of a network of Sicherheitsdienst (SD) agents under the supervision of Winzer himself. The network under his supervision consisted of around 30 agents who were spread across the entire Iberian Peninsula. 

 Espionage in World War II 
After the end of the Civil War, Winzer remained in Spain and moved to Madrid, along with the German diplomatic delegation. When World War II began, he became one of the main contacts for Walter Schellenberg, the German head of intelligence and counterintelligence.  As a police attaché, his duties also included monitoring the German colony residing in Spain. Winzer, for example, always suspected of Delegate of the Ministerio de Propaganda in Madrid Embassy, Josef Hans Lazar, who, despite being of Jewish origin, carried out a major propaganda campaign in Spain in favor of Nazi Germany.  Winzer's power also extended to Portugal, even establishing contacts with the police of Salazar's dictatorship. He even hatched a plan to kidnap and/or murder Otto Strasser,  a former Nazi who turned against the regime in Portugal. In early 1945 he was still at the embassy in Madrid. After the end of World War II, his whereabouts are unknown. 

 Related pages 
 Nazism
 Fascism
 Francoist Spain
 Concentration camp

 Bibliography 















 Notes and references 

Category:1908 births
Category:Year of death unknown
Category:German diplomats
Category:Gestapo people
Category:SS people