This was an awesome story and
message given by my father, Jim Hartley, over 12 years ago at a church meeting. When
I first read this, I was completely astonished at the lengths evil
men took to defeat the Allies during World War II. But my father used this story
and applied it in a spiritual fashion, which helped strengthen my faith in the
restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope this story and message will be
of benefit to others. Below are my father's words:
In the Face of Deception, My Defense of the Truth
Adapted from an address given by
James E. Hartley to local LDS Church leaders in Murray, Utah,
15 May 2005
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| Otto Skorzeny |
Otto Skorzeny. Cold, ice-blue eyes. Six feet four inches tall and 220 pounds. A menacing scar running from his left ear to
his chin. He became one of Adolf Hitler’s most notorious secret agents, and at
one point, one of the most dangerous men in Europe. Scheming, daring, and intimidating,
Lieutenant Colonel “Scarface” Skorzeny of the Nazi SS led one of the largest
sabotage operations ever directed against American forces during World War II.
In October 1944, Hitler directed Skorzeny
to choose from among all the German services a special unit of “American” soldiers.
They were actually Nazi Germans, who could speak American English. Many of them
would be dressed in captured U.S. military uniforms. Part of this unit would be
sent behind American lines as spies and saboteurs. Skorzeny assembled 2,500 troops, including an
elite commando unit of 150 men, who were the best English speakers. In
addition, he accumulated a number of captured U.S. jeeps, trucks, and one
Sherman tank. To these, “Scarface” added many more German vehicles and tanks
that were “remodeled” and painted to look like their U.S. counterparts. When
completed, his collection of “American” vehicles and weapons included 50 tanks,
which were organized into his formidable 150th Panzer Brigade. Skorzeny’s
troops were divided into three groups, each with a mission to capture key
bridges over the Meuse River in Belgium and Luxemburg so that Hitler’s forces
could cross enemy lines and crush American and Allied forces.
Skorzeny’s operation was code-named
“Greif,” which, in German, means, “grab.” And each highly-skilled saboteur was
known as a “Greifer,” or “grabber.
In less than two months, Scarface Skorzeny
organized an exceptionally effective group.
He had them trained in American equipment, weapons, ranks, and
customs. They learned American swear words
and slang. They were also supplied with
American identification, money, and even letters and snapshots from the United
States.
Skorzeny’s infiltration of U.S.
forces was part of a massive German surprise assault. On December 16th, 1944,
29 German divisions attacked in what was the largest and one of the bloodiest
battles in World War 2. The U.S. and its allies called it, the “Ardennes Counteroffensive,” but, its more famous nickname is “The Battle of the
Bulge,” a battle that resulted in more than 186,000 German and Allied soldiers killed,
wounded, or captured.
After the battle began, 44 of Skorzeny’s
imposters slipped through the American line and began running wild in “U.S.”
jeeps and trucks. They rode in and out
of the American forces, scouting airstrips and supply dumps, and identifying
weak spots in their defenses. These
Greifers blocked roads with fallen trees, cut telephone wires, snarled American
maneuvers by mixing up road signs, destroyed U.S. trucks by removing warnings
of minefields, and guided devastating artillery attacks. One Greifer stood at a crossroad and directed
an entire American regiment in the wrong direction.
Initially, the execution of Skorzeny’s
plan was flawless. The real Americans didn’t
realize that imposters were among them. But
the plan started to unravel two days after the fierce battle began. Three
supposed GI’s were taken into custody because they didn’t know the correct U.S.
password. An interrogation specialist broke
them and uncovered Skorzeny’s scheme, including the 150th Panzer
Brigade using American-looking tanks.
U.S. forces were alerted and a
colossal spy hunt began. MP’s and guards
stuck guns into the ribs of all soldiers, including high-ranking officers, whose
Americanism seemed the slightest bit suspicious. They were asked questions like, “Where’s the
Windy City?” “Who is Betty Grable?” “Who
is Mickey Mouse’s girlfriend?” and questions about U.S. sports and history. Suddenly,
Skorzeny’s ruse no longer worked and most of the Greifers again slipped back
through U.S. lines to return to one of Skorzeny’s main attack units.
Ultimately, the Americans repelled Skorzeny’s troops and Panzer units, but not
before Scarface’s Greifers had caused substantial damage and confusion.
Unfortunately, U.S. forces were not initially
successful in other locations. Nazi troops pushed 50 miles into U.S. and Allied
lines before they were stopped. Ultimately,
the tenacity of the Americans and a German shortage of fuel and reinforcements
forced the Nazi’s to retreat. A little more than a month after it began, the
Battle of the Bulge ended in an Allied victory. It was the key turning point in
the war in Europe.
About five months later, the U.S and
its allies defeated Germany. Ten days after the end of the war, Skorzeny gave
himself up to American forces. He was
held in a German prison for two years before being tried for his role as a Nazi
offender. But, on July 27, 1948, three of Skorzeny’s former SS comrades impersonated
American military police, obtained custody of Skorzeny, and helped him escape. Skorzeny remained free and fiercely loyal to
Hitler until end of his life. He organized
covert neo-Nazi paramilitary organizations, and he became highly involved in
coups and assassination plots in at least 7 countries in Europe, Africa, and
South America.
Today’s
“Scarface” Deceivers
In the epic battle for men’s souls
waged by Satan against Jesus Christ, Satan recruits, trains, and dispatches countless
spiritual saboteurs like “Scarface” Skorzeny—masters of lies, deceit,
and fraud. Among their many targets are
the Prophet Joseph Smith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(“LDS Church,” “Mormon Church”). They are trying to flood the world with anti-Joseph
Smith and anti-Mormon misinformation. But,
those who genuinely seek truth recognize that not all so-called “information”
is truth, no matter how well it is presented.
If we are naïve or careless in our learning, and if we don’t have the
Holy Ghost as our guide, we will be deceived, sooner or later. Satan’s “Scarface imposters” are exceptionally
good at their treachery.
In
opposition to Satan’s attacks, I offer five defenses why Joseph Smith was a
true prophet of God.
1. Fantastic
Claims, But There Were Witnesses
Some allege that Joseph was a delusional fraud
because of his fantastic claims of seeing visions, receiving visits from
heavenly beings, and having translated a book from an ancient record made of gold
plates. When you think about it, Joseph
Smith’s claims are rather fantastic! He
claimed to have seen and conversed with God the Father and Jesus Christ! He also maintained to have been visited by ancient
Biblical prophets, including Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, and the ancient
Apostles Peter, James, and John. Then
there’s that other angel fellow, Moroni, from whom Joseph claimed to have received
a golden record.
Yes, those claims about visions and
gold plates are fantastic…but, I believe those claims for many reasons. One reason is that only once—the first
vision—was Joseph alone when the “fantastic” events occurred. For other major events, Joseph was joined by
other witnesses.
Oliver Cowdery was with Joseph when
John the Baptist and later Peter, James, and John appeared to them to restore
priesthood authority and power.
Three witnesses, Oliver Cowdery,
Martin Harris, and David Whitmer were with Joseph when they were visited by the
ancient Book of Mormon prophet, Moroni. Those witnesses solemnly declared “to
all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people” that they saw an angel of God (Moroni)
and the original gold plates of the Book of Mormon.
Joseph was allowed to show eight
others the ancient golden record. Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter
Whitmer, Jr., John Whitmer, Hiram Page, Joseph Smith, Sr., Hyrum Smith, and
Samuel H. Smith saw, touched, and hefted the original gold plates of the Book
of Mormon. Like the three witnesses, those
eight signed their names as a solemn testimony to the world of the authenticity
of the ancient record.
On February 16, 1832, Sidney Rigdon
was with Joseph in Hiram, Ohio when, together, they saw the God the Father, Jesus
Christ, and heavenly angels.
On April 3, 1836, Oliver Cowdery was
with Joseph in the Kirtland Temple when they were visited by the Savior, Moses,
Elias, and Elijah.
Joseph was not alone! There were, in fact, other witnesses to the reality
of the visions and the gold plates of the Book of Mormon.
2. Defectors
Never Denied the Fantastic Claims
There is an ironic extension of
those marvelous experiences that provide me with a second reason why Joseph
Smith was not a fraud. Of the twelve men
just mentioned, who shared in Joseph’s visions and witnessed the gold plates,
six of them left the faith, namely, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, Martin
Harris, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and Hiram Page. These had become highly critical of Joseph. Two of them eventually returned to the faith,
Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris. But,
while those six were disaffected and bitter, they would have naturally unveiled
any hoax, fraud, and deception. Yet, even as defectors, they never denied
that those visions and the Book of Mormon plates were authentic.
3. Intense Malice
toward Joseph Smith
A third reason why I know Joseph was
not a fraud is the extreme persecution and ultimate murder of the man. If the Kingdom of God really was restored to the
earth through Joseph Smith, I would expect Satan to unleash intense rage,
hatred, and murderous attempts to stop the young prophet. If evil had not attacked, then,
frankly, that would be a sign that Joseph was not really a prophet, and we would
not need to concern ourselves with him.
But, evil did attack, viciously.
Many times, Joseph Smith was
ridiculed, maligned, slandered, beaten, taken to court on false charges,
threatened, hunted, poisoned, and imprisoned because of his claims. Ultimately, he was murdered by a mob of about
200 men with their faces cowardly camouflaged in black paint.
Confronted over and over with malicious
opposition and brutality, a fraudulent Joseph Smith would have given up and
admitted his deceptions. The fact that
the “jaws of hell” repeatedly gaped open after him, and the fact that he stayed
true to his claims tell me that Joseph was, indeed, a true prophet of God. Otherwise Satan would not have worked so hard
to destroy him. And, Satan wouldn’t
still be working so hard today with slanderous anti-Joseph Smith and anti-Mormon
and materials.
4. The
Miracle of the Book of Mormon
The fourth and most powerful
evidence to me that Joseph Smith was a prophet is the miracle of the Book of
Mormon.
Only a servant of God blessed with
the gift and power of God could have produced that book. Consider the unlikelihood of someone like
Joseph Smith ever authoring such a marvelous book. When the work was completed, Joseph was only
23 years old. He had practically no
formal education. Yet, Joseph Smith
produced a printed volume that is over 500 printed pages that are replete with
doctrines, prophecies, testimonies, exposition, narration, parables, metaphors,
similes, chiasmus, and literary devices characteristic of ancient Hebrew. The book is an account that covers
approximately 2,600 years and includes 54 chapters on war, 21 historical
chapters, 55 chapters of visions and prophecies that agree completely with the
Bible, 71 chapters of doctrine and exhortation that also agree in greatest
detail with the Bible, and 21 chapters on the personal ministry of Jesus
Christ.
Linguists and statisticians have
carefully analyzed the language of the Book of Mormon, and have demonstrated
that no one man could have written it. Their conclusion was that the likelihood of
the Book of Mormon having only a single author are more than a billion-to-one. Furthermore, careful, scientific wordprint
(“stylometric”) analyses clearly show the work of multiple authors, none of
which match the wordprints of Joseph Smith or his close associates.
Translating the Book of Mormon from
English into another language today requires two to four years, even by highly
educated and skilled translators who have computers, dictionaries, and
comprehensive resources! Yet, the
uneducated farm boy, Joseph Smith, produced a 531-page testament of Jesus Christ
in about 65 working days without any reference materials!
I’ve read that book many times. I’ve prayed about that book. I try to live its teachings. It is another testament of Jesus
Christ!
I feel the same divine spirit and
testimony of Christ whether I’m reading the Bible or the Book of Mormon. In fact, the Book of Mormon helps me
understand and love the Bible much more.
Because of the Book of Mormon, I have a much better understanding of
essential gospel doctrines, such as who God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost
are; what my relationship is to God, my family, and my fellow men; the purpose
and plan for life; that Jesus Christ really did
resurrect and lives today; that all humankind will one day resurrect;
that my mistakes and sins can be forgiven; how to discern truth from error; and
how to lead a life that is purposeful and fulfilling.
Therefore, if the Book of Mormon is truly
the word of God—which it is—
then the man who translated it is a
true prophet of God.
Anyone who mocks the Book of Mormon
or denies its divinity has never humbly and prayerfully immersed him- or
herself in it. The Book of Mormon is a
great book! I love its stories. I love its teachings. I love how I feel when I read it. It is holy scripture, and, as Joseph
Smith said, “A man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by
any other book.” It’s a miracle
book! Without Joseph Smith and the Book
of Mormon, I would likely not be a Christian!
5. The
Greatest Witness—The Holy Spirit
The fifth reason I offer is the
decisive factor in my defense of Joseph Smith: the witness of God through the
Holy Ghost. Through the Holy Ghost, God has confirmed to me over and over the
reality that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, the Book of Mormon and the Bible
are companion witnesses of Christ, and that Heavenly Father loves all of us as
His children.
Not only does the Holy Spirit
confirm divine truth, he also helps us recognize fraud, deceit, and evil.
Years ago, one of my teenage sons, a
devout young man, acquired anti-Mormon information. He considered himself a valiant defender of
the LDS faith. So, he attempted to expose
and debunk the false claims of antagonists.
Before long, he discovered that he was no match for them. He became confused, dejected, and oppressed
by a dark and powerful spirit. He came
to me in great distress. Together we
prayerfully worked through enough of the anti-Mormon materials to clearly see
how facts were twisted; lies and half-truths were substituted for the whole
truth; concepts were cleverly pulled out of original context and placed in
fabricated contexts; highly questionable sources were quoted as if authoritative;
“maybe’s,” “possibly’s,” and “could-have-been’s” were skillfully presented as
fact. Most importantly, under the
guidance of the Holy Ghost, we sensed the spirit of the materials: dark,
bigoted, and hateful. Those kinds of
mean-spirited materials can never be trusted.
My son is now better equipped with a powerful weapon for defending the
faith: the Holy Spirit.
All religious materials carry a
spirit. When we pray while considering
the messages of those materials, the Holy Ghost can help us discern their
spirit. If the tone or spirit of the
materials is dark, intolerant, or malicious you can immediately conclude with
100% accuracy that they are not of God.
As soon as you know that, dispose
of the materials. Do not linger with them or try to prove them wrong. If you try, Satan and his saboteurs will wound
you and your faith will falter. Alone,
without God’s guidance through the Holy Spirit, you and I are no match for
Satan and his exporters of falsehoods!
Therefore, once the Holy Spirit identifies darkness, flee from it. Leave it alone. Trust in the Holy Ghost.
And, because of the Holy Ghost, I
know that a dark, malicious spirit does not exist in the Book of Mormon
or other revelations given through Joseph Smith.
Conclusion
In
1944, Nazi SS Lieutenant Colonel Otto “Scarface” Skorzeny and his 2,500 expert deceivers
wreaked havoc among the American forces in the early days of the Battle of the
Bulge. They were military masters of deception
and sabotage. In the epic battle for
men’s souls, there are many in the world today who are masterful religious
frauds and spiritual saboteurs. Do not
be fooled by a mean-spirited saboteur’s misinformation about Joseph Smith or
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph was a prophet of God. The church
restored through him is exactly what its name says, The Church of Jesus Christ.
May the assurance of these truths saturate our souls now and forever, and
protect us from Satan’s subversive lies and deceptions.
Thomas M. Johnson, “The Most
Dangerous Man in Europe,” Secrets & Spies: Behind-the-Scenes Stories of
World
War II, 1964, Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., 468-475
