Talk:Elyesa Bazna
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In the Jan 11, 1971 issue of Time magazine, they report that he died of kidney disease; in Munich. They also state that "in 1960, Bazna emigrated to Germany, where he most recently worked as a night watchman in Munich."
[edit] Discrepancy
Bazna published his book I am Cicero in 1962. The film 5 Fingers was made in 1951 and released in 1952. It used another book, Operation Cicero, by L.C. Moyzisch, published in 1950. Orbicle 11:16, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Ethnicity/Nationality
Searches on Google for "Elyesa Bazna" +Turk return about 14 hits, while "Elyesa Bazna" +Albania return about 650. The situation would appear to be that he was born to a Moslem family in Pristina, Kosovo, in 1904, which at that time was still part of the Ottoman Empire, and that his family moved to Istanbul after the Ottomans' defeat in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, so it would appear that "Turkish" is the appropriate description of his nationality, and would certainly account for his employment at the British embassy in Ankara. -- Arwel (talk) 22:48, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
The mere fact that he had Moslem parents that moved to Turkey after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire does not mean that he is a Turk. Based on my research, the Bazna family is a Kosovar-Albanian family that was forced to move by Serbs in 1913. Most of the old Pristina families maintain a strong Turkish influence to this day but very few of them identify themselves as Turks. I guess that the more appropriate description would have been "Turkish national of Albanian origin!" [DZH, Pristina, Kosovo]
[edit] Abwehr effectiveness
Back on 1 December, Kraxler's additions included "Furthermore, the Abwehr, when asked to evaluate the material, pronounced it unreliable, because until the fall of Wilhelm Canaris the Abwehr was secretly working against Hitler and collaborating with the English secret service to make the German government swallow any type of deception, like Operation Mincemeat and Operation Fortitude." What is the justification and citation for this statement? As far as I'm aware the Abwehr was doing its best and was simply deceived by the British secret services. I'm commenting this out unless/until citations can be shown. -- Arwel (talk) 19:07, 19 January 2007 (UTC)
- I suggest to read: Chief of Intelligence by Ian Colvin (Gollancz, 1951; republished as Canaris - Hitler's Secret Enemy by Pan Books) and Spy/Counterspy, the memoirs of Duško Popov to get more insight in the Abwehr. Colvin was quite an expert on the subject, and Popov's memoirs are first-hand evidence, in print! The Abwehr's Old Guard were pre-Nazi army officers and diplomats who did its best against Hitler until the downfall of Canaris, his successor Schellenberg really was a Nazi and things changed. Kraxler 18:45, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
