{{short description|German spy during WWII}} thumb|Helmut Clissmann '''Helmut Clissmann''' (11 May 1911 &ndash; 6 November 1997)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clissmann.com/family/he.htm|title=Helmut E. Clissmann - An Appreciation|website=clissmann.com|publisher=H.E. Clissmann|access-date=2014-12-30|archive-date=2014-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303070955/http://clissmann.com/family/he.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> was an Ireland-based Nazi Abwehr agent during World War II.<ref>{{cite news |last=Peterkin |first=Tom |date=9 Jan 2007 |title=Ireland 'welcomed Hitler's henchmen' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1538969/Ireland-welcomed-Hitlers-henchmen.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph }} </ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/sligo-womans-links-to-the-old-ira-and-nazi-germany-27591093.html |title=Sligo woman's links to the Old IRA and Nazi Germany |date=25 Apr 2012 |website=independent.ie |publisher=Irish Independent }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/new-evidence-on-iranazi-links/ |title=New evidence on IRA/Nazi links |date=March 2011 |website=historyireland.com/ |publisher=History Ireland }}</ref>

He engineered the release of Frank Ryan from a Spanish prison. {{citation needed|date=November 2021}} {{how|date=November 2021}} Before World War II, Clissmann was active in the German academic exchange service in Dublin.<ref name=hi>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/new-evidence-on-iranazi-links/|title=New evidence on IRA/Nazi links|date=February 26, 2013}}</ref> He was involved in both Operation Lobster and Operation Sea Eagle which were both failed operations with the intent of getting Clissmann into Ireland.<ref name=it/>

In 2012, a Danish research paper revealed that during his time as an Abwehr agent Clissmann was responsible for training two Danish pro-Nazi covert anti-partisan groups called Schiøler Group and Peter group. He was surprisingly let off during the post-war Nazi court cases in Denmark and travelled shortly afterwards to Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yumpu.com/da/document/view/17672251/941-et-diis/|title=Schiøler-Gruppen Danske Terrorister i Tysk Tjeneste|date=July 17, 2013}}</ref>

He became a businessman and set up an agency to import pharmaceutical products. He was also a founding member of what is now the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association and Amnesty International Ireland. St Killian's German School was co-founded by him and he was made its honorary president-for-life.<ref name=it/>

Clissmann was friends with fellow German spy Jupp Hoven.<ref name=hi/> He married a County Sligo republican, Elizabeth "Budge" Mulcahy. They had multiple children.<ref name=it>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/death-of-the-best-informed-german-on-ireland-during-war-1.124255|title=Death of the best informed German on Ireland during war|first=Joe|last=Carroll|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref>

==See also== *Fay Taylour *Hermann Gortz *William Joyce

==References== {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clissman, Helmut}} Category:1911 births Category:1997 deaths Category:Abwehr personnel of World War II Category:People from Aachen Category:World War II spies for Germany Category:German expatriates in Ireland

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