Ernst Werner Techow (12 October 1901 – 9 May 1945) was a German right-wing assassin. In 1922, he took part in the assassination of the Foreign Minister of Germany Walther Rathenau. After his release from prison Techow initially joined the Nazi party, but soon fell out with the movement and dropped into obscurity. Late in World War II he joined the Volkssturm. He was killed after being captured by the Soviet Red Army near Dresden on 9 May 1945. Techow supposedly changed his political beliefs after his release from prison, joined the French Foreign Legion under the name of "Tessier" and later embarked on helping Jews escape from occupied France. This unfounded narrative can be traced back a story by George W. Herald of Harper's Magazine in 1943. Early life Techow came from a distinguished magistrate's family in Berlin; his grandfather had been one of the heroes of the liberal revolution of 1848. In 1918 Techow volunteered for the German navy. After the German revolution of November 1918 he came into contact with counter-revolutionary forces. He joined Marinebrigade Ehrhardt and participated in the Kapp Putsch. After the dissolution of the Free Corps he connected himself with the Organisation Consul, the secret follow organization of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt. Like many of his comrades he was also a member of the violently antisemitic Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund. Assassination of Walther Rathenau On 24 June 1922, two months after the signing of the Treaty of Rapallo, 1922, Rathenau was assassinated by two members of the secret, far-right Organisation Consul, Erwin Kern and Hermann Fischer. On that morning, he was driving from his house in Grunewald to the Foreign Office in the Wilhelmstraße, as he did nearly daily. During the trip his vehicle was passed by another in which three men were sitting. While passing, Kern shot Rathenau with an MP 18 submachine gun and Fischer threw a hand grenade into the car, before Techow quickly drove them away. A memorial stone in the Koenigsallee in Berlin-Grunewald marks the scene of the crime. Rathenau was fervently mourned in Germany. The news of his death lead to turmoil in the Reichstag and prompted millions of Germans to rally against terrorism. Arrest and trial Since a confidant bragged about the plot in public, the assassins were identified within days. Techow was turned in by relatives on 29 June. Kern and Fischer managed to escape their pursuers