Catalogue description Kurt WIELAND, alias Heinz HECHT, Frederick BAKSEN, ABU YASSIM: German. WIELAND was...

Kurt WIELAND, alias Heinz HECHT, Frederick BAKSEN, ABU YASSIM: German. WIELAND was leader of a 5-man German-Arab Unit, parachuted into Palestine in September 1944 and captured shortly after. The object of the 'Commando', jointly operated by German Intelligence and their protege, the Berlin-based Mufti of Jerusalem, was, through contact with local Palestinians and the supply of cash and arms, to organise local resistance activity, including sabotage. This was to be directed against Jewish rather than British targets. Following their capture, WIELAND and others were interrogated at length. Interrogation reports and other papers provide a vivid account of the circumstances in which this operation, codenamed ATLAS, was planned and launched. It proved to be an extraordinary chapter of accidents and mismanagement