Magician in Black

At least 62 verified plots to assassinate Adolph Hitler took place between 1932 and 1944. None succeeded. When threats appeared in the early 30’s, Hitler told Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer-SS, he required someone who might ’be trusted with his life’. Based on these needs, Himmler had his protégé, Reinhard Heydrich, head of the German Security Services, seek someone to perform the task. His choice was Dieter Goff, a WWI veteran, now a police officer in Berlin. Goff became known as ’The Magician in Black’ due to his talent for extracting confessions without violence. Hitler, Goebbels, and Göering all admired him for his success, and as head of the Führer Protection Unit of the SD, he became a Brigadier. However, in 1937, disillusioned with Hitler, he defected to the Americans and helped to found what was to be the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, later the CIA. This is Goff’s story.