Hans Gisevius was born in Germany in 1904. After studying law he was employed by the Prussian Ministry
of the Interior. When Adolf
Hitler came to power in 1933, he became increasingly concerned about
the illegal activities of the police. After the Night
of the Long Knives he left the ministry and went to work in the
private sector.
Gisevius had compiled dossiers on Nazi officials which he eventually
took to Wilhelm Canaris and Hans Oster of Abwehr.
In 1939, Canaris employed Gisevius as chief of special projects. The
following year he was sent as military intelligence officer in the German
consulate in Zurich where he made contact with Allen Dulles of
the Office of Strategic Services.
With Wilhelm Canaris and Hans Oster, Gisevius
began to plot the overthrow of Adolf
Hitler. When Gisevius was exposed as being involved in the July
Plot in 1944 he fled to Britain. Hans Gisevius, who provided important
evidence against the Nazi leaders during the Nuremberg
War Trials, died in 1974.
