text: Otto Skorzeny, born June 12, 1908, in Vienna, Austria. He was Hitler's favorite commando. At one time considered "the most dangerous man in Europe," by the Allies, Skorzeny was responsible for rescuing Benito Mussolini from a mountaintop resort in Italy, kidnaping the son of Hungarian regent Miklos Horthy, wreaking havoc at the Battle of the Bulge, and preventing Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D Eisenhower from leaving his headquarters in Versailles during Christmas week of 1944 for fear of an alleged assassination plot. At the end of the war, Skorzeny surrendered to the Allies, but was only interned for a few years before managing to escape.