Canaris, Wilhelm (vĭl`hĕlm känä`rĭs), 1887–1945, German admiral. He occupied various positions in the German navy during and after World War I. In 1935 he was made chief of the Abwehr [military intelligence]. A conservative, Canaris at first welcomed Hitler, but Hitler's methods and the fear that a new war would destroy Germany drove him into the opposition. The Abwehr became a center of conspiracy against the regime. Under Canaris's protection, one of his subordinates, Hans Oster, helped organize opposition to the Nazi regime. In Apr., 1943, many of Oster's co-conspirators were arrested and the Abwehr was put under constant surveillance, but Canaris was not dismissed until Feb., 1944. He was arrested shortly after the attempt (July, 1944) on Hitler's life, though he was not directly involved in the plot. He was executed by the Gestapo in Apr., 1945.

Canaris, Wilhelm (Franz)

(born Jan. 1, 1887, Aplerbeck, Westphalia, Ger.—died April 9, 1945, Flossenbürg concentration camp, Bavaria) German naval officer. Under Adolf Hitler, Canaris became head of military intelligence (Abwehr) in 1935. Believing that the Nazi regime would destroy traditional conservative values and that its foreign ambitions were dangerous to Germany, he enlisted some of the anti-Hitler conspirators into the Abwehr and shielded their activities. After the abortive July Plot against Hitler in 1944, Canaris was arrested and executed.