Albert Schnez

Albert Schnez (born August 30, 1911 in Abtsgmünd, died April 26, 2007 in Bonn) was an officer in three successive German armies: the Reichswehr, the Wehrmacht, and finally the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of the modern Federal Republic of Germany. He was involved in the debate on the internal leadership of the newly formed Bundeswehr and was close to the German defense minister, Franz Josef Strauss. Schnez served from 1968 to 1971 with the rank of lieutenant-general (Generalleutnant) as the Inspector of the Army.

From 1949, Schnez, together with other veterans of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, built a clandestine shadow army, the "Schnez-Truppe", that intended to fight against the Soviet Union. By 1951, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer had learned of the existence of this secret army and its head Schnez &mdash; and did nothing.