Gerhard Mertins Explained

Gerhard Georg Mertins
Birth Date:	30 December 1919
Birth Place:	Berlin, Germany
Death Place:	Florida, United States
Allegiance:	Germany (1940-1945) Iran (1976)
Branch:	Luftwaffe
Rank:	Hauptmann
Commands:	Fallschirm-Pionier-Bataillon 5
Battles:	World War II Operation Mercury^[1] Eastern Front Operation Greif
Awards:	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Gerhard Georg Mertins (30 December 1919 – 19 March 1993) was a German paratrooper, post-war arms dealer and German Intelligence operative. In 1943, he participated in the Gran Sasso raid rescuing Benito Mussolini from prison.^[2] According to Manuel Contreras, he allegedly supplied the Pinochet regime with arms and helicopters. In 1976, he and Manuel Contreras traveled to Tehran to offer the Shah regime help in killing Carlos the Jackal.^[3]

Awards

• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 December 1944 as Hauptmann and leader of Fallschirm-Pionier-Bataillon 5^[4]

References

Bibliography

• Book: Scherzer , Veit . 2007 . Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives . The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives . German . Jena, Germany . Scherzers Militaer-Verlag . 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Book: Hammerschmidt . Peter . 2013 . Die Nachkriegskarriere des "Schlächters von Lyon" - Klaus Barbie und die westlichen Nachrichtendienste . Mainz, Germany . German . Johannes Gutenberg-Universität . 11 February 2024.

Notes and References

1. Hammerschmidt 2013, p. 392.
2. Romano Mussolini, My father, il Duce, Kales Press 2006, S.29: "For more than sixty years, my father´s liberation from Gran Sasso was attributed solely to Skorzeny, even though Mors and Mertins played crucial roles."
3. Web site: El día en que Manuel Contreras le ofreció al Sha de Irán matar a "Carlos, El Chacal" . González . Mónica . Mónica González (journalist) . 6 August 2009 . ciperchile.cl . CIPER . 11 August 2015 . Spanish.
4. Scherzer 2007, p. 538.