Interrogator - the story of hanns joachim scharff, master interrogator of t

This is the story of Hanns Scharff the master interrogator of the
Luftwaffe who questioned captured American fighter pilots of the USAAF
Eighth and Ninth Air Forces in World War II. This Intelligence Officer
gained the reputation as the man who could magically get all the
answers he needed from the prisoners of war. In most cases the POWs
being interrogated never realized that their words, small talk or
otherwise, were important pieces of the mosaic Hanns Scharff was
constructing for the benefit of Germany\s war effort. In the words of
one erstwhile POW; "What did Scharff get from me? Nothing, yet there is
no doubt he got something. If you talked about the weather or anything
else he no doubt got some information or confirmation from it. His
technique was psychic, not physical." Another POW commented, "Hanns
Scharff could probably get a confession of infidelity from a Nun!" They
are right. To this day ex-POWs fret and worry over what they said or
even might have implied during their interrogations, and over what use
Scharff may have made of their slip-ups. This book delves into the
question: What was this magic spell or formula used by Scharff which
made prisoners drop their guard and converse with him even though they
are conditioned to remain silent? The tortures and savagery of the North
Koreans and North Vietnamese caused prisoners to resist to the death.
Hanns Scharff\s methods broke down barriers so effectively that the USAF
invited him to speak about his methods to military audiences in the
United States after World War II. Raymond Toliver is also the author
(with Trevor Constable) of Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe (available from
Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).