Nazi Leader's Daring Escape to Spain 1945

Find out how Belgian SS leader Leon Degrelle managed to escape from Norway to Spain in May 1945.

Thanks to subscriber 'Tommy Sands' for suggesting this topic.

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[shizeine]

Degrelle must have had some close ties with the Spanish to be comfortable enough to wear his SS uniform to events while managing the construction of US airstrips.

[vvr]

And no radar, fighter or ship picked up the lone German aircraft flying past or thru the most militarised areas of the war ...this guy had some unbelievable good luck

[zulu]

If ever a guy deserves sponsorship or donations... its this man's channel.

[christosvoskresye]

"Degrelle was, by April 1945, seriously concerned for his future." Imagine that!

[tomb]

How this hasn't been made into a movie is beyond me. What a tale! Thanks Mark!

[koldomakazaga]

My parents always spoke about The nazi plane that crashed at the CONCHA bay in San Sebastián. They went to the beach to watch The wreck. All my family is born in San Sebastián and my parents were 15 and 19 years old in i did not know all the story of that plane, i guess it was not so public...thanks!

[johnsomers]

Random Degrelle fact of the day: Montgomery & Rommel both won the Iron Cross second class under his command in Estonia. Not that Montgomery or the Rommel you're thinking of, there just happened to be 2 Walloon members of his unit, 1 named Montgomery & 1 named Rommel who both won the Iron Cross in the same engagement.

[xrlad]

That man had the lives of a cat. Injured in fighting how many times; made his way across a chaotic Germany falling apart; made it on a troop ship without getting bombed or torpedoed. Then a flight across nations crawling with opposition troops; planes etc in his own plane at the stretch of it's endurance; then survived a crash of it plus actually lived to old age and being given sanctuary in a country not that far from his own - and his wife and kids remained loyal after all that. He did better than many from either side.

[tobymcelhinney]

I don't know how you find these obscure stories but they are great; keep it up.

[gillisassociates]

When he enlisted into the volunteer army, Hitler wanted to give him an instant officer commission but he refused, he said he wanted to earn the respect of his men and start from the bottom. Hitler and Mussolini had met with him prior to the war and made donations to his fascist party in Belgium. He was a fierce fighter and had won the "close-combat " award, awarded at the highest level, Gold. An award revered as a higher award than the Knights Cross by German soldiers. His daughter said that when Hitler awarded him the Knights Cross personally, Hitler whispered to Degrelle, "if I had a son, he would just be like you."

[AFilmaciones]

6:41 General Franco resisted calls from Belgium to extradite Degrelle... "If Belgium calls tell them I'm not here"

[Basement_Operator]

This show reminds me of the old days of the History Channel

[samg]

Regardless of his politics, its impressive he was wounded 7 times and continued to go back to active duty.

[littlejimmy]

I dont know how that He 111 even took off with the balls of those 4 airmen.

[redrr]

I lived in Spain for 3 years in the late 60's. My Dad who was in the Navy at the time was stationed in Rota. In my wanderings one weekend, some friends and I had taken a train up to a town near Jerez de la Frontera. While walking around, we came around a corner and into some kind of gathering of veterans from the Spanish Civil War days, some 30 years before. Someone asked us who we were and we said "Americans from Base Naval en Rota" Much shaking of hands and back slapping. We were invited to an outdoor lunch. During conversation my fathers Naval service came up, and I mentioned that he had had fought in the Korean War, there was much nodding and signs of approval. They asked me what I wanted to do when i was out of school and I said "Join the Navy and go to Vietnam to fight communists." Much more approval and hand shakes all around. We must have been there for a good 8 hours. I think the guest of honor was Leon Degrelle. We were introducerd to him and we shook hands. I said the right things at the right time. It was something to remember.

[Sewertheonlyone]

I met Leon Degrelle in 1992 in Malaga.

[generalfailure]

After his death, Degrelle was cremated and his ashes were dispersed at Berchtesgaden by one of his men

[colboysigmax]

Getting the Close Combat Clasp in Gold was pretty impressive. Much rarer than the high end Knights Cross.

[samt]

Degrelle, the true definition of 'Meine Ehre heist Treue'.
If some of his videos are still on Youtube and have not been removed, highly recommended viewing.

[mitchel]

I'm a simple man. I see Mark Felton, I click.