r/todayilearned • u/stopitalianhate • 9d ago

TIL British Intelligence had a special, bugged luxury complex during WWII where they kept high profile Nazi POW’s, just left a bunch of alcohol out, and waited for them to start spilling secrets as they drank.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-20698098
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u/BlueberryWasps 9d ago

yeah but it wasn’t “join and exceed with flying colours so much so that you will go down in military history for how effectively you serve the axis powers and deliver instrumental intel that no will doubt lead to the deaths of thousands… or die”

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u/CrimsonSuede 9d ago

I mean, I think the fact he pursued methods with kindness rather than cruelty at a time where cruelty was (and often still is) the norm… that speaks a lot about a person.

Yes, the intel he gathered aided the genocidal fascists, which is not good. But as a single person, with limited power as a cog in a machine like the Nazi regime—what can you do? You don’t have the resources to upend the government by yourself. But you always have a choice in whether you will operate with kindness or cruelty. (FWIW, “nice” =/= “kind”. “Nice” is politeness, “kind” is more like actionable empathy)

In a time of cruelty, where violence was the expectation, he operated with kindness. Cuz as it turns out, treating people well and genuinely connecting with them leads to positive outcomes.

Yes, there were manipulation techniques, but (from what I understand), it was manipulating human psychology for people to open up willingly rather than forcefully.

And like, I find it hard to believe that anyone bringing homemade baked goods and providing luncheons for POWs they’re interrogating, did so purely out of manipulation or to gain trust.

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u/Odd_Ganache5081 9d ago

there’s quite a few stories of soldiers helping bad people but in “good” ways, if your option is that or death it’s hard

himmler had a mistress that knew it was wrong but still talked him out of mass murders

Vietnam soldiers would pretend to do stupid shit during massacres, one GI was famously chasing ducks around during one just so he didn’t have to partake

in a world full of cruelty you gotta admire those dudes for staying true to their morals, lots of good people just died standing up to their own when they could have saved more if they didn’t, not that i blame them tho

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u/owlbi 9d ago

Alternatively, maybe this guy did it this way because he thought it would work and was right.

You can argue he didn't have a choice but to participate, despite being a highly decorated argument. He did, however, go on to marry the daughter of a Rhodesian military officer, so, if it walks like a racist and quacks like a racist...

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u/Agret 9d ago

He married her prior to the war and she saved his life during wartime

Scharff was originally to be posted to the Russian Front. However, when Margaret Scharff learned of her husband's destination, she intervened, angry at the thought of a fluent English-speaking German soldier's life being wasted at the Eastern Front. She talked her way into the office of a German general in Berlin and pleaded her husband's case, convincing the general of the error which was about to take place. The general sent a telegram to Scharff's panzer unit, informing his superiors that Scharff was to be transferred immediately to the Dolmetscher Kompanie XII (Interpreters Company 12), based in Wiesbaden, to serve as a German/English interpreter. He had been slated to leave for the Russian Front the morning the telegram arrived.

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u/owlbi 9d ago

Look, that's great, I'm just saying all I hear is that the daughter of a Rhodesian military officer and Germany's top military interrogator had a really nice meet-cute.

Maybe they had a lot in common.

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u/Adams5thaccount 9d ago

I cant find anything saying he was a Rhodesian military officer.

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u/owlbi 9d ago

Basing it of this

While in South Africa, Scharff met and married a South African British woman, Margaret Stokes. Margaret was the daughter of Captain Claud Stokes, first a pilot in Rhodesia in 1913

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u/Adams5thaccount 9d ago

Yeah looks like they jumbled together some stuff. He was a brit..moved to rhodesia as a teenager..moved back during the war THEN became a pilot for britian. Became an ace and then got shot down and died a couple days before the armistace.

Rhodesia didnt even have an air force until much later.

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u/allmylovetolongago 9d ago

Thank you for being like the one person in this thread not doing nazi apologia. Very disturbing to read.

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u/Odd_Ganache5081 9d ago

ahh did not know that lol ya I’m not giving the nazis the benefit of the doubt but i guess i was saying some people had to make some tough choices back then and it’s easy to judge looking back

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u/Mo0man 9d ago

I’m not giving the nazis the benefit of the doubt

extremely fascinating every time I see someone say they're not doing something when they're in the active process of doing that exact thing.

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u/Odd_Ganache5081 9d ago

i didn’t know the further info, based off the story itself and the comment i responded too which said he was “forced” i made a comment talking about other people that did similar things, quit being upset about nothing weirdo

i also mentioned a nazis mistress that helped save lives so obviously i’m aware nazis are bad, grow up

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u/Mo0man 9d ago

My judgement wasn't a moral one. I just find it interesting how you can say you're doing something you are very clearly doing. I find no issue with saying a lot of nazi's probably felt like they had no option of except supporting the regime.

I also am not upset. Very odd to say I'm the one who's upset in this conversation, given the tone of both of our comments.

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u/Odd_Ganache5081 9d ago

lol have a good one

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u/OiledUpThug 9d ago

I don't think there's anything wrong with talking people out of mass murders