Hitler's Black Book

To mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, Forces War Records have translated and put online for the first time what is known as Hitler’s Black Book (officially called Sonderfahndungsliste Gross Britannien). It lists 2,820 English people that the Nazi regime viewed as enemies of the state, people in the UK who were targeted for execution if Germany was successful in winning the Battle of Britain.

The list was drawn up by SS General Walter Schellenbergs office.
Schellenberg was to become the ‘Police’ chief responsible for GB after an invasion, the main Gestapo offices were to be based in Birmingham.
The list shows the department of the RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt- Reich security service) which would investigate each individual, giving insight into what ‘crimes’ the individual was suspected of being involved in.

Hitler studying invasion plans

Most of the people on the list were politicians, writers, prominent émigrés, known intelligence agents, scientists, entertainers and artists.  Not surprisingly, the hit list is full of people whom the Nazis knew spied on Germany, such as Conrad Fulke Thomond O’Brien-french, the real-life British Secret Intelligence officer who served as the role model for 007 James Bond. Also included are well-known politicians such as Winston Churchill. What is surprising are some of the other names on the list, such as Lord Baden-Powell (the founder of scouts), the author HG Wells and the entertainer Noel Coward.