Colin_Fraser
A Fixture
Here is my substantially complete 1/6 portrait of Wilhelm Canaris, head of the German military intelligence service (Amt Ausland/Abwehr) between the years of 1935 to 1944. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Canaris He is holding one of his cherished wire haired dachsunds - Kasper. I still need to finish the stand under the bust (it's only undercoated) and I need to add the various devices (eg. crossed swords to his ribbon bar).
Why the dog? This quote by Walter Schellenberg provides some background - Canaris was a highly intelligent and sensitive man with many likeable qualities. He loved his dogs and his horse almost more than any other living creatures. He often said to me, 'Schellenberg, always remember the goodness of animals. You see, my dachshund is discreet and will never betray me — I cannot say that of any human being...'
The model is scratch built in super sculpey firm (the 2 heads) and magicsculpt. It is painted in various acrylics and inks.
If you haven't seen the SBS posts I did, here is a little background on Canaris. Wilhem Canaris was a decorated navy officer and U Boat commander in WWI. His true gift was intelligence work however. He was right wing, monarchist, nationalist and anti-Nazi. He loved the latin edge of Europe, especially Italy, Greece and Spain. He was personally responsible for German intervention in Spain in the civil war and was also personally responsible for encouraging Franco to not ally himself to Hitler, thus saving Gibralter and allowing continued British access to the Med. He also undermined Nazi plots to kidnap the Pope, to kill senior French officers like Generals Weygand and Giraud, and he assisted several hundred Jews escape Nazi clutches, including the Lubovicher Rebbe. There was a move sponsored by this Hasidic movement to name Canaris a righteous gentile a few years ago.
Most importantly, from my perspective, he encouraged the creation of a major and effective resistance cell within the Abwehr and provided cover for the various officers working against the Nazis from within that service. They included Oster, Groscurth, Dohnanyi, Bonhoeffer, Delbruck, Perels, Schrader, Heinz, Gisevius etc. Almost all of these men died through execution after the failure of the July 20 plot. Canaris and his immediate circle were executed in KZ Fossenburg in the last days of the war. They were subjected to a kangaroo court, stripped naked and hung early on the morning of April 9, 1945. There is evidence that Hitler ordered Canaris hung twice, once until almost dead, when he was revived and hung again. It took him a half hour to die. Canaris' personal diary had been found in a secret safe in the OKH Zossen HQ a few days before and when its contents were reported, the extent to which Canaris had ruined Hitler's war became known.
His last message, tapped out in morse to the Chief of Danish intelligence, a co-prisoner in a neighbouring cell who survived the war, was: "I die for my fatherland. I have a clear conscience. I only did my duty to my country when I tried to oppose the criminal folly of Hitler."
A great and fascinating man.
Colin
Why the dog? This quote by Walter Schellenberg provides some background - Canaris was a highly intelligent and sensitive man with many likeable qualities. He loved his dogs and his horse almost more than any other living creatures. He often said to me, 'Schellenberg, always remember the goodness of animals. You see, my dachshund is discreet and will never betray me — I cannot say that of any human being...'
The model is scratch built in super sculpey firm (the 2 heads) and magicsculpt. It is painted in various acrylics and inks.
If you haven't seen the SBS posts I did, here is a little background on Canaris. Wilhem Canaris was a decorated navy officer and U Boat commander in WWI. His true gift was intelligence work however. He was right wing, monarchist, nationalist and anti-Nazi. He loved the latin edge of Europe, especially Italy, Greece and Spain. He was personally responsible for German intervention in Spain in the civil war and was also personally responsible for encouraging Franco to not ally himself to Hitler, thus saving Gibralter and allowing continued British access to the Med. He also undermined Nazi plots to kidnap the Pope, to kill senior French officers like Generals Weygand and Giraud, and he assisted several hundred Jews escape Nazi clutches, including the Lubovicher Rebbe. There was a move sponsored by this Hasidic movement to name Canaris a righteous gentile a few years ago.
Most importantly, from my perspective, he encouraged the creation of a major and effective resistance cell within the Abwehr and provided cover for the various officers working against the Nazis from within that service. They included Oster, Groscurth, Dohnanyi, Bonhoeffer, Delbruck, Perels, Schrader, Heinz, Gisevius etc. Almost all of these men died through execution after the failure of the July 20 plot. Canaris and his immediate circle were executed in KZ Fossenburg in the last days of the war. They were subjected to a kangaroo court, stripped naked and hung early on the morning of April 9, 1945. There is evidence that Hitler ordered Canaris hung twice, once until almost dead, when he was revived and hung again. It took him a half hour to die. Canaris' personal diary had been found in a secret safe in the OKH Zossen HQ a few days before and when its contents were reported, the extent to which Canaris had ruined Hitler's war became known.
His last message, tapped out in morse to the Chief of Danish intelligence, a co-prisoner in a neighbouring cell who survived the war, was: "I die for my fatherland. I have a clear conscience. I only did my duty to my country when I tried to oppose the criminal folly of Hitler."
A great and fascinating man.
Colin
