From 1964 until 1968 Schiller served as deputy intelligence officer
of the IDF Southern Command, and he became its intelligence offi-
cer in 1974. He served in senior staff positions in the Intelligence
Corps from 1976 until 1978, after which he resigned from regular
service in the IDF as a colonel and moved to civilian life, where he
went into industry. However, in 1979 he returned to regular service
and was appointed chief intelligence officer with a promotion to
brigadier general. He served in this position until 1981.SCHNAFT, ULRICH (1923–?). According to a recent Hebrew book
by Melman and Haber, The Spies: Israel’s Counterespionage Wars,
Ulrich Schnaft, a gentile German born in Königsburg, Germany, was
recruited in 1941 to the Nazi SS. At the end of World War II he
was captured by American troops in Italy and was soon released af-
ter his U.S. interrogators were convinced that he was just a soldier.
He returned to Munich where conditions, especially the economy,
were appalling. Schnaft found out that the situation of the Jews who
had survived and been released from the concentration camps was
much better. The Joint and other volunteer groups did their best to as-
sist the Jews with food, clothing, and shelter. Schnaft was somehow
able to pass himself off as a Jew under the assumed name Gavriel
Weissman. He managed to obtain economic aid. He heard that groups
of Jews planned to emigrate to Palestine, and on 1 November 1947
he joined a group of illegal immigrants attempting to get into Pales-
tine. The immigration was organized by Ha’Mossad Le’Aliyah
Beth. En route to Palestine the ship they were traveling on was de-
tected by the British, and all the passengers were deported to camps
in Cyprus. After the establishment of the state of Israel in May 1948
and the release of the Cyprus detainees, Schnaft sailed to Israel where
he was conscripted to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Experienced
in military techniques, he soon rose to the rank of captain; however,
when he got drunk he would talk about his Nazi past. His command-
ers decided not to extend his commission.
Being unemployed and then hearing about the “economic miracle” in
West Germany, Schnaft resolved to return there; however, with an Is-
raeli passport this was impossible. During the 1950s every Israeli pass-
port was stamped “excluding visiting Arab countries and Germany.” In
February 1954 Schnaft sailed to Genoa, with just 20 dollars in his
pocket. Unable to return to his native country, he decided to approach246 • SCHNAFT, ULRICH06-102 (04) Q-Z.qxd 3/24/06 7:25 AM Page 246