Hanns Scharff
Encyclopedia
Hanns-Joachim Gottlob Scharff (December 16, 1907 – September 10, 1992) was a German
Luftwaffe
interrogator during the Second World War. He has been called the "Master Interrogator" of the Luftwaffe and possibly all of Nazi Germany
; he has also been praised for his contribution in shaping U.S. interrogation techniques after the war. A mere Obergefreiter
(the equivalent of a senior lance corporal
), he was charged with interrogating German-captured American fighter pilot
s during the war after he became an interrogation officer in 1943. He has been highly praised for the success of his techniques, in particular because he never used physical means to obtain the required information. Scharff’s interrogation techniques were so effective that he was occasionally called upon to assist other German interrogators in their questioning of bomber
pilots and aircrews, including those crews and fighter pilots from countries other than the United States
. Additionally, Scharff was charged with questioning many V.I.P.s (Very Important Prisoners) that were funneled through the interrogation center, namely senior officers and world-famous fighter aces.
After the end of World War II, Scharff was invited by the United States Air Force
to give lectures on his interrogation techniques and first-hand experiences. The U.S. military later incorporated Scharff’s methods into its curriculum at its interrogation schools. Many of Scharff's methods are still taught in US Army interrogation schools.
After the war, Scharff immigrated to the United States from South Africa
. From the 1950s until his death in 1992, Scharff redirected his efforts to artistry, namely mosaics. He eventually became a world-renowned mosaic artisan, with his handiwork on display in such locations as the California State Capitol
building; Los Angeles City Hall
; several schools, colleges, and universities, including the giant Outdoor Mosaic Mural facade of the Dixie State College
Fine Arts Center; Epcot Center; and in the 15-foot arched mosaic walls featuring the story of Cinderella
inside Cinderella Castle
at Walt Disney World, Florida
.
, East Prussia
(now Kętrzyn
, Poland
) to Hans Hermann Scharf and Else Scharf (née Jahn) and was the second of three sons, the elder being Eberhardt and the younger, Wolfgang, who died in his teens. Hanns Scharff added an extra ‘f’ to the end of his last name as an adult; some ancestors spelled their last names that way.
Scharff’s father, a Prussian Army
officer before and during the First World War, died in 1917 in Wiesbaden
from wounds received during World War I on the Western Front
in France
in July 1916. He was the recipient of the Iron Cross
(I and II Class), the Reuss Cross, and the Hanseatic Cross
, "all for bravery in combat," of which his son was immensely proud.
Scharff’s mother was the daughter of one of the founders of one of the largest textile
mills in Germany. Her father, Christian G. Jahn, lived at the spacious Villa Jahn in Greiz
, Germany, just south of Leipzig
, and adjacent to the large textile factory compound. After Hans Scharf’s first stint in the army prior to World War I, he joined Christian Jahn as a partner in the textile business, moving his family into the Villa Jahn to live with his father-in-law
. His son, Hanns Scharff, was raised in the Villa Jahn until adulthood and schooled in Leipzig
. It was during his schooling there that he was first trained in various forms of art, which would eventually serve as a basis for his profession after World War II.
while still a teenager. Next, he was trained in merchandizing and marketing
, and finally exporting
. Scharff then traveled to work in the Adlerwerke Foreign Office in Johannesburg
, South Africa to gain experience in sales (specifically of the Adler automobiles
produced in Frankfurt, Germany) for one year. However, he was so successful at his job that, instead of returning to Germany, he was promoted to Director of the Overseas Division and continued to make Johannesburg his home for the next 10 years leading up to the outbreak of World War II.
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, and later a squadron leader in the Royal Flying Corps
.
was summarily revoked and he was more or less stranded in Germany. After finding work in Berlin
and while living again at the Villa Jahn with his wife and then three children, he was drafted into the German Wehrmacht
as a panzergrenadier
; he subsequently trained for two months in Potsdam
. Scharff was originally to be deployed to the Russian Front
. However, when Margaret Scharff learned of her husband's destination, she, angry at the thought of a fluent English-speaking German soldier's life being wasted at the Eastern Front, intervened. 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. Scharff had been slated to leave for the Russian Front the morning the telegram arrived. The rest of his fellow grenadiers were sent on to Russia.
After traveling by train to Wiesbaden
, Scharff asked at the train station where Dolmetscher Kompanie XII was based, not having been given any indication of its location before leaving his panzer unit. Unfamiliar with Kompanie XII, the Military Police at the train station directed Scharff to report to another panzergrenadier battalion destined for the Eastern Front. Frustrated and concerned over his new battalion's unwillingness to transfer him to his correct unit, Scharff recalled a letter that his father had written to each of his boys shortly before he died. In the letter, his father told him that, should he ever need help or guidance, to contact one or both of his dearest friends in his regiment, Majors Ledebur and Postel. Scharff contacted the then-Lieutenant Colonel Postel, who agreed to take his situation up with the commanding general, whom he knew personally. The next morning, the general telephoned the panzer unit and ordered that Scharff be released to his proper unit.
After arriving at Kompanie XII in Mainz
, Scharff trained in British
nuances and military organization. During the spring of 1943, Scharff was promoted to Hauptgefreiter (lance corporal) and transferred to headquarters in Wiesbaden. Unsatisfied with his job of "manufactur[ing] little round holes" as a clerk at Headquarters, he joked to the adjutant
that he had figured out that the cost of each hole he punched was five cents
. The adjutant informed the general of Scharff's calculations, and the general summoned Scharff and told him that he did not like low-ranking personnel "figuring out costs what were none of their business." However, after hearing Scharff's story, the general agreed to send Scharff—only one of three allowed per year—to the Luftwaffe interrogation center at Oberursel
, Germany, to interpret for the interrogators.
, was officially known as Auswertestelle West (Intelligence and Evaluation Center West). It served as the initial in-processing and interrogation center for all captured Allied
Air Force personnel, except for Soviet aircrews, who were interrogated elsewhere. Upon arrival, Scharff began in the Camp Office—Reception (COR) and was eventually promoted by the Chief of the Fighter Interrogation Section, Captain Horst H. "Big Chief" Barth, to assistant interrogation officer of the American Fighters section responsible for the 8th
and 9th Air Forces
. It was during his training as an assistant interrogation officer that Scharff claims he learned his interrogation techniques through observation; he was never formally trained.
Scharff assisted two USAAF Fighter interrogators named Weyland and Schröder. While Scharff was on leave in late 1943, Weyland and Schröder went up in a Fieseler Storch
aircraft with a Luftwaffe fighter pilot from the Kampfgeschwader 27
unit at Eschborn Airbase. The aircraft's engine malfunctioned and the plane crashed, killing the pilot and Schröder, and mortally injuring Weyland. The accident prompted Barth to promote Scharff to interrogation officer over the USAAF Fighter Section; Scharff was also officially transferred from the Army to the Luftwaffe at that time, but was not promoted in rank. He was later provided with an assistant interrogator, Otto "Canadian Wild Bill" Engelhardt.
Scharff was opposed to physically abusing prisoners to obtain information. Learning on the job, Scharff instead relied upon the Luftwaffe's approved list of techniques, which mostly involved making the interrogator seem as if he is his prisoner's greatest advocate while in captivity.
Scharff described various experiences with new POWs, outlining the procedure most of his fellow interrogators were instructed to use. Initially, the POW's fear and sense of disorientation, combined with isolation while not in interrogation, were exploited to gain as much initial biographical information as possible. A prisoner was frequently warned that unless he could produce information beyond name, rank, and serial number, such as the name of his unit and airbase, the Luftwaffe would have no choice but to assume he was a spy and turn him over to the Gestapo
for questioning. For Scharff, this technique apparently worked quite well. In addition to initially preying upon his prisoner's fears of the infamous Gestapo, he portrayed himself as their closest ally in their predicament, telling them that while he would like nothing more than to see them safely deposited in a POW camp, his hands were tied unless the prisoner gave him the few details that he requested to help him properly identify the prisoner as a true POW.
After a prisoner's fear had been allayed, Scharff continued to act as a good friend, including sharing jokes, homemade food items, and occasionally alcoholic beverages. Scharff was fluent in English and knowledgeable about British customs and some American ones, which helped him to gain the trust and friendship of many of his prisoners. Some high profile prisoners were treated to outings to German airfields (one POW was even allowed to take a German aircraft for a trial run), tea with German fighter aces, swimming pool excursions, and luncheons among other things. Prisoners were treated well medically at the nearby Hone Mark Hospital, and some POWs were occasionally allowed to visit their comrades at this hospital for company's sake, as well as the better meals provided there. Scharff was best known for taking his prisoners on strolls through the nearby woods, first having them swear an oath of honor that they would not attempt to escape during their walk. Scharff chose not to use these nature walks as a time to directly ask his prisoners obvious military-related questions, but instead relied on the POWs' desire to speak to anyone outside of isolated captivity about informal, generalized topics. Prisoners often volunteered information the Luftwaffe had instructed Scharff to acquire, frequently without realizing they had done so.
The Luftwaffe kept a vast collection of personal information about any pilot or commander in an enemy airwing in individual files. Scharff, when faced with a tight-lipped prisoner, usually consulted these files during interrogation sessions. Scharff began by asking a prisoner a question he already knew the answer to, informing the prisoner that he already knew everything about him, but his superiors had given instruction that the prisoner himself had to say it. Scharff continued asking questions that he would then provide the answers for, each time hoping to convince his captive that there was nothing he did not already know. When Scharff eventually got to the piece of information he did not have, prisoners would frequently give the answer, assuming Scharff already had it in his files anyway, often saying so as they provided the information. Scharff made a point of keeping the Luftwaffe's lack of knowledge a strict secret so as to exploit the same tactic further in later conversations.
Scharff interrogated many prisoners over the course of his few years as an interrogator at Auswertestelle West. Among the most famous of these was Lt. Col. Francis "Gabby" Gabreski
, the top American fighter ace in Europe during the war. Scharff expressed his delight at finally being able to meet Gabreski, who had crashed his P-47 while strafing a German airfield, as he stated he had been expecting his arrival for some time. Scharff had Gabreski's photo hanging on the wall in his office for months prior to his arrival in anticipation of his capture and interrogation. Gabreski holds the distinction of being one of the few captives that Scharff never gained any intelligence from during interrogation. Scharff and Gabreski remained friends well after the war.
Scharff also interrogated Col. Hubert Zemke
, Maj. Duane Beeson
, Capt. John T. Godfrey, Col. Charles W. Stark, Maj. Gerald W. Johnson, and Col. Einar Axel Malmstrom
, among many others.
Scharff was also asked to interrogate Lt. Martin J. Monti, who was later tried with and found guilty on counts of treason in the United States for his activities during the war. Scharff was asked to testify during his trial in the U.S. in 1948.
In 1971 Scharff invited his daughter-in-law, Monika Scharff, to study under him alongside other mosaic artists in his expanding business. Both Scharffs created one of the most well known mosaics associated with Scharff's business, the five 15-foot wall mosaics telling the story of Cinderella in the Cinderella Castle
at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Among the many commissions Scharff received, he and his studio created the marbled mosaic floor in the California state capitol building, the mosaic entry ramps at Disney's Epcot Center in Florida, a large outdoor building fascade mosaic at Dixie College in Utah, and the mosaiced eagle floor at the University of Southern California
campus, in addition to several other private homes, hotels, schools, universities, department stores, shopping malls and churches worldwide.
In the mid-1980s Scharff asked Monika to be his business partner, forming the new "Scharff and Scharff." The two Scharffs continued to work together, expanding their business, until the elder Scharff's death on September 10, 1992. Monika continued their business as Scharff and Scharff, which is still in operation.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
interrogator during the Second World War. He has been called the "Master Interrogator" of the Luftwaffe and possibly all of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
; he has also been praised for his contribution in shaping U.S. interrogation techniques after the war. A mere Obergefreiter
Obergefreiter
Obergefreiter is a rank of the German and Swiss militaries which dates from the 19th century.The rank was only used in the German army's heavy artillery branch before 1919 and commonly established with the founding of the Reichswehr...
(the equivalent of a senior lance corporal
Lance Corporal
Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organizations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer, usually equivalent to the NATO Rank Grade OR-3.- Etymology :The presumed...
), he was charged with interrogating German-captured American fighter pilot
Fighter pilot
A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...
s during the war after he became an interrogation officer in 1943. He has been highly praised for the success of his techniques, in particular because he never used physical means to obtain the required information. Scharff’s interrogation techniques were so effective that he was occasionally called upon to assist other German interrogators in their questioning of bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
pilots and aircrews, including those crews and fighter pilots from countries other than the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Additionally, Scharff was charged with questioning many V.I.P.s (Very Important Prisoners) that were funneled through the interrogation center, namely senior officers and world-famous fighter aces.
After the end of World War II, Scharff was invited by the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
to give lectures on his interrogation techniques and first-hand experiences. The U.S. military later incorporated Scharff’s methods into its curriculum at its interrogation schools. Many of Scharff's methods are still taught in US Army interrogation schools.
After the war, Scharff immigrated to the United States from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. From the 1950s until his death in 1992, Scharff redirected his efforts to artistry, namely mosaics. He eventually became a world-renowned mosaic artisan, with his handiwork on display in such locations as the California State Capitol
California State Capitol
The California State Capitol is home to the government of California. The building houses the bicameral state legislature and the office of the governor....
building; Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall, completed 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council...
; several schools, colleges, and universities, including the giant Outdoor Mosaic Mural facade of the Dixie State College
Dixie State College of Utah
Dixie State College of Utah is a college located in St. George, Utah, United States.-History:...
Fine Arts Center; Epcot Center; and in the 15-foot arched mosaic walls featuring the story of Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
inside Cinderella Castle
Cinderella Castle
Cinderella Castle is the fairy tale castle at the center of two Disney theme parks: the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, and Tokyo Disneyland at the Tokyo Disney Resort. Both serve as worldwide recognized icons and the flagship attraction for their respective theme parks.-Inspiration...
at Walt Disney World, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Early life
Scharff was born on December 16, 1907 in RastenburgKetrzyn
Kętrzyn , is a town in northeastern Poland with 28,351 inhabitants . Situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship , Kętrzyn was previously in Olsztyn Voivodeship . It is the capital of Kętrzyn County...
, East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
(now Kętrzyn
Ketrzyn
Kętrzyn , is a town in northeastern Poland with 28,351 inhabitants . Situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship , Kętrzyn was previously in Olsztyn Voivodeship . It is the capital of Kętrzyn County...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) to Hans Hermann Scharf and Else Scharf (née Jahn) and was the second of three sons, the elder being Eberhardt and the younger, Wolfgang, who died in his teens. Hanns Scharff added an extra ‘f’ to the end of his last name as an adult; some ancestors spelled their last names that way.
Scharff’s father, a Prussian Army
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
officer before and during the First World War, died in 1917 in Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
from wounds received during World War I on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in July 1916. He was the recipient of the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
(I and II Class), the Reuss Cross, and the Hanseatic Cross
Hanseatic Cross
The Hanseatic Cross was a decoration of the three Hanseatic Cities of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, who were member states of the German Empire during World War I...
, "all for bravery in combat," of which his son was immensely proud.
Scharff’s mother was the daughter of one of the founders of one of the largest textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
mills in Germany. Her father, Christian G. Jahn, lived at the spacious Villa Jahn in Greiz
Greiz
Greiz is a town in Thuringia, and it is the capital of the district of Greiz. Greiz is situated in eastern Thuringia on the river Weiße Elster....
, Germany, just south of Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, and adjacent to the large textile factory compound. After Hans Scharf’s first stint in the army prior to World War I, he joined Christian Jahn as a partner in the textile business, moving his family into the Villa Jahn to live with his father-in-law
Father-in-law
A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship...
. His son, Hanns Scharff, was raised in the Villa Jahn until adulthood and schooled in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. It was during his schooling there that he was first trained in various forms of art, which would eventually serve as a basis for his profession after World War II.
Pre-war career
Scharff's older brother, Eberhardt, was expected to take over the textile business from his grandfather, Jahn. Hanns Scharff himself was also encouraged to learn the family business and trained for three years in textiles and weavingWeaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
while still a teenager. Next, he was trained in merchandizing and marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, and finally exporting
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
. Scharff then traveled to work in the Adlerwerke Foreign Office in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa to gain experience in sales (specifically of the Adler automobiles
Adler (automobile)
Adler was a German automobile and motorcycle manufacturer from 1900 until 1957. Adler is German for eagle.-History:The Adler factory produced bicycles, typewriters, and motorcycles in addition to cars...
produced in Frankfurt, Germany) for one year. However, he was so successful at his job that, instead of returning to Germany, he was promoted to Director of the Overseas Division and continued to make Johannesburg his home for the next 10 years leading up to the outbreak of World War II.
While in South Africa, Scharff met and married a South African British woman, Margaret Stokes. Margaret was the daughter of Captain Claud Stokes
Claud Stokes
Captain Claud Harry Stokes was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories, all while flying the Airco DH.4. He is also notable for being the last fighter ace killed before the war's end, having been shot down by anti-aircraft fire....
, first a pilot in Rhodesia in 1913, and later a squadron leader in the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
.
Pre-Auswertestelle West military career
Scharff was visiting Greiz, Germany during the summer of 1939 when World War II broke out. His visaVisa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
was summarily revoked and he was more or less stranded in Germany. After finding work in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and while living again at the Villa Jahn with his wife and then three children, he was drafted into the German Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
as a panzergrenadier
Panzergrenadier
is a German term for motorised or mechanized infantry, as introduced during World War II. It is used in the armies of Austria, Chile, Germany and Switzerland.-Forerunners:...
; he subsequently trained for two months in Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
. Scharff was originally to be deployed to the Russian Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
. However, when Margaret Scharff learned of her husband's destination, she, angry at the thought of a fluent English-speaking German soldier's life being wasted at the Eastern Front, intervened. 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
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
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. Scharff had been slated to leave for the Russian Front the morning the telegram arrived. The rest of his fellow grenadiers were sent on to Russia.
After traveling by train to Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, Scharff asked at the train station where Dolmetscher Kompanie XII was based, not having been given any indication of its location before leaving his panzer unit. Unfamiliar with Kompanie XII, the Military Police at the train station directed Scharff to report to another panzergrenadier battalion destined for the Eastern Front. Frustrated and concerned over his new battalion's unwillingness to transfer him to his correct unit, Scharff recalled a letter that his father had written to each of his boys shortly before he died. In the letter, his father told him that, should he ever need help or guidance, to contact one or both of his dearest friends in his regiment, Majors Ledebur and Postel. Scharff contacted the then-Lieutenant Colonel Postel, who agreed to take his situation up with the commanding general, whom he knew personally. The next morning, the general telephoned the panzer unit and ordered that Scharff be released to his proper unit.
After arriving at Kompanie XII in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Scharff trained in British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
nuances and military organization. During the spring of 1943, Scharff was promoted to Hauptgefreiter (lance corporal) and transferred to headquarters in Wiesbaden. Unsatisfied with his job of "manufactur[ing] little round holes" as a clerk at Headquarters, he joked to the adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
that he had figured out that the cost of each hole he punched was five cents
Cent (currency)
In many national currencies, the cent is a monetary unit that equals 1⁄100 of the basic monetary unit. Etymologically, the word cent derives from the Latin word "centum" meaning hundred. Cent also refers to a coin which is worth one cent....
. The adjutant informed the general of Scharff's calculations, and the general summoned Scharff and told him that he did not like low-ranking personnel "figuring out costs what were none of their business." However, after hearing Scharff's story, the general agreed to send Scharff—only one of three allowed per year—to the Luftwaffe interrogation center at Oberursel
Oberursel
Oberursel is a town in Germany. It is located to the north west of Frankfurt, and is the second largest town in the county of Hochtaunuskreis and the 14th largest town in Hessen.-Extent of municipal area:...
, Germany, to interpret for the interrogators.
Auswertestelle West Interrogation Officer
The Luftwaffe interrogation center at Oberursel, just north of FrankfurtFrankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, was officially known as Auswertestelle West (Intelligence and Evaluation Center West). It served as the initial in-processing and interrogation center for all captured Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
Air Force personnel, except for Soviet aircrews, who were interrogated elsewhere. Upon arrival, Scharff began in the Camp Office—Reception (COR) and was eventually promoted by the Chief of the Fighter Interrogation Section, Captain Horst H. "Big Chief" Barth, to assistant interrogation officer of the American Fighters section responsible for the 8th
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
and 9th Air Forces
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
. It was during his training as an assistant interrogation officer that Scharff claims he learned his interrogation techniques through observation; he was never formally trained.
Scharff assisted two USAAF Fighter interrogators named Weyland and Schröder. While Scharff was on leave in late 1943, Weyland and Schröder went up in a Fieseler Storch
Fieseler Fi 156
The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was a small German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II, and production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market...
aircraft with a Luftwaffe fighter pilot from the Kampfgeschwader 27
Kampfgeschwader 27
Kampfgeschwader 27 “Boelcke” was a Luftwaffe medium bomber wing of the Second World War.- Formation :Formed on 1 May 1939, the Stab and I Gruppe were based in Hanover-Langenhagen, with II and III Gruppe at Wunstorf...
unit at Eschborn Airbase. The aircraft's engine malfunctioned and the plane crashed, killing the pilot and Schröder, and mortally injuring Weyland. The accident prompted Barth to promote Scharff to interrogation officer over the USAAF Fighter Section; Scharff was also officially transferred from the Army to the Luftwaffe at that time, but was not promoted in rank. He was later provided with an assistant interrogator, Otto "Canadian Wild Bill" Engelhardt.
Technique
Scharff was opposed to physically abusing prisoners to obtain information. Learning on the job, Scharff instead relied upon the Luftwaffe's approved list of techniques, which mostly involved making the interrogator seem as if he is his prisoner's greatest advocate while in captivity.
Scharff described various experiences with new POWs, outlining the procedure most of his fellow interrogators were instructed to use. Initially, the POW's fear and sense of disorientation, combined with isolation while not in interrogation, were exploited to gain as much initial biographical information as possible. A prisoner was frequently warned that unless he could produce information beyond name, rank, and serial number, such as the name of his unit and airbase, the Luftwaffe would have no choice but to assume he was a spy and turn him over to the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
for questioning. For Scharff, this technique apparently worked quite well. In addition to initially preying upon his prisoner's fears of the infamous Gestapo, he portrayed himself as their closest ally in their predicament, telling them that while he would like nothing more than to see them safely deposited in a POW camp, his hands were tied unless the prisoner gave him the few details that he requested to help him properly identify the prisoner as a true POW.
After a prisoner's fear had been allayed, Scharff continued to act as a good friend, including sharing jokes, homemade food items, and occasionally alcoholic beverages. Scharff was fluent in English and knowledgeable about British customs and some American ones, which helped him to gain the trust and friendship of many of his prisoners. Some high profile prisoners were treated to outings to German airfields (one POW was even allowed to take a German aircraft for a trial run), tea with German fighter aces, swimming pool excursions, and luncheons among other things. Prisoners were treated well medically at the nearby Hone Mark Hospital, and some POWs were occasionally allowed to visit their comrades at this hospital for company's sake, as well as the better meals provided there. Scharff was best known for taking his prisoners on strolls through the nearby woods, first having them swear an oath of honor that they would not attempt to escape during their walk. Scharff chose not to use these nature walks as a time to directly ask his prisoners obvious military-related questions, but instead relied on the POWs' desire to speak to anyone outside of isolated captivity about informal, generalized topics. Prisoners often volunteered information the Luftwaffe had instructed Scharff to acquire, frequently without realizing they had done so.
The Luftwaffe kept a vast collection of personal information about any pilot or commander in an enemy airwing in individual files. Scharff, when faced with a tight-lipped prisoner, usually consulted these files during interrogation sessions. Scharff began by asking a prisoner a question he already knew the answer to, informing the prisoner that he already knew everything about him, but his superiors had given instruction that the prisoner himself had to say it. Scharff continued asking questions that he would then provide the answers for, each time hoping to convince his captive that there was nothing he did not already know. When Scharff eventually got to the piece of information he did not have, prisoners would frequently give the answer, assuming Scharff already had it in his files anyway, often saying so as they provided the information. Scharff made a point of keeping the Luftwaffe's lack of knowledge a strict secret so as to exploit the same tactic further in later conversations.
Scharff's prisoners
Scharff interrogated many prisoners over the course of his few years as an interrogator at Auswertestelle West. Among the most famous of these was Lt. Col. Francis "Gabby" Gabreski
Gabby Gabreski
Francis Stanley "Gabby" Gabreski was the top American fighter ace in Europe during World War II, a jet fighter ace in Korea, and a career officer in the United States Air Force with more than 26 years service.Although best known for his credited destruction of 34½ aircraft in aerial combat and...
, the top American fighter ace in Europe during the war. Scharff expressed his delight at finally being able to meet Gabreski, who had crashed his P-47 while strafing a German airfield, as he stated he had been expecting his arrival for some time. Scharff had Gabreski's photo hanging on the wall in his office for months prior to his arrival in anticipation of his capture and interrogation. Gabreski holds the distinction of being one of the few captives that Scharff never gained any intelligence from during interrogation. Scharff and Gabreski remained friends well after the war.
Scharff also interrogated Col. Hubert Zemke
Hubert Zemke
Colonel Hubert A. "Hub" Zemke was a career officer in the United States Air Force, a fighter pilot in World War II, and a leading USAAF ace...
, Maj. Duane Beeson
Duane Beeson
Duane Willard Beeson was a World War II fighter pilot and flying ace. He scored 22.08 victories, including 17.3 air-to-air kills,12 of which were scored in the P-47C/D Thunderbolt, and 5.3 of which were scored in the P-51-B Mustang...
, Capt. John T. Godfrey, Col. Charles W. Stark, Maj. Gerald W. Johnson, and Col. Einar Axel Malmstrom
Einar Axel Malmstrom
Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom enlisted as a private in the Washington State National Guard on May 12, 1929, and was commissioned a second lieutenant on May 25, 1931....
, among many others.
Scharff was also asked to interrogate Lt. Martin J. Monti, who was later tried with and found guilty on counts of treason in the United States for his activities during the war. Scharff was asked to testify during his trial in the U.S. in 1948.
Immigration to the U.S.
Scharff first came to the U.S. in 1948 when he was asked to testify in Lt. Monti's treason trial. While there, he met with various USAF officials and lectured about prisoner interrogation techniques at the Pentagon and other locales.Mosaic artistry
After immigrating to the United States following World War II, Scharff fell back upon the artistic influences and training he had acquired during his youth in Germany and began creating mosaic art and furniture products decorated with mosaics for sale within the New York City area. Reportedly instantly successful, Scharff expanded his business to locations around the U.S. Now financially successful, Scharff moved his business to Los Angeles, California less than a decade after starting it. His new business, Hanns Scharff Designs, brought in even more business in the private, public, and business realms, with each design making Scharff's name and work better known and desirable.Cinderella Castle
Cinderella Castle is the fairy tale castle at the center of two Disney theme parks: the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, and Tokyo Disneyland at the Tokyo Disney Resort. Both serve as worldwide recognized icons and the flagship attraction for their respective theme parks.-Inspiration...
at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Among the many commissions Scharff received, he and his studio created the marbled mosaic floor in the California state capitol building, the mosaic entry ramps at Disney's Epcot Center in Florida, a large outdoor building fascade mosaic at Dixie College in Utah, and the mosaiced eagle floor at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
campus, in addition to several other private homes, hotels, schools, universities, department stores, shopping malls and churches worldwide.
In the mid-1980s Scharff asked Monika to be his business partner, forming the new "Scharff and Scharff." The two Scharffs continued to work together, expanding their business, until the elder Scharff's death on September 10, 1992. Monika continued their business as Scharff and Scharff, which is still in operation.