Definitions for "Abwehr"
('defence') German military intelligence and counter-intelligence organisation
The intelligence wing of the German armed forces, led by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, a naval veteran of the Great War, and hero of the Battle of the Falkland Isles. He was the captain of the Dresden, the only ship to escape the British fleet. Their emphasis on working to military and practical objectives frequently places them at odds with the Gestapoâ€(tm)s pursuance of ideological and political objectives in occupied territories, where their jurisdictions overlapped.
This was Nazi Germany's counter intelligence organisation. During the war the Abwehr managed the country's spies and organised sabotage operations, many of them behind enemy lines. It often came into conflict with other branches of the Nazi secret services, the SD (Sicherheitsdienst) and the Gestapo.