It wasn;t until they brought in the informant that Mayer finally admitted he was an American agent, but insisted that he worked alone. They didn't end up killing Hitler, but they were able to negotiate the surrender of the German Army in Austria. For the next several months, Mayer and his best friend Hans Winberg went about planning Operation Greenup. Website zuerich@fcw.ch +41 44 225 78 78 Google Maps Public transport. Franz Weber remains very active in numerous alpine skiing events and competes on the popular Legends/Champions Tour. Mayer died in 2016, aged 94. It was difficult to find a suitable drop point, as the obvious places were all occupied by the enemy. Quentin Tarantino's 2009 war film was partly based on a real story. STIWOT, 1999-2023. On the outskirts of a sleepy West Virginia town lives 92-year-old Frederick Mayer. Mayers incredible story provided the basis for my book They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany. Cookies help us deliver our Services. A German soldier, Matull had deserted and was caught by the Allies who threw him into a POW camp. When Fridolin Weber was born in 1526, in Beglingen, Glarus, Switzerland, his father, Georg Weber, was 20 and his mother, Anna Maria Kohl, was 21. Operation Greif was a special false flag operation commanded by Waffen SS commando, SS Obersturmbannfhrer, Otto Skorzeny during the Battle of the Bulge, Skorzeny died age 67, on 05-07-1975, The . All rights reserved 2022 Collective Culture. So, though the story is completely fictional, the Basterds are pretty much based on some real-life groups that gave their lives to defeat the Nazis, like Nakam, the Jewish group devoted to killing or, as it's literally translated from Hebrew, "to avenge their people." Unlike the strange and often idiotic Tarantinos movie, however, the truth was far more bizarre. He was finally arrested when a black marketeer was caught by Nazi authorities and fingered Mayer as a spy. Franz Weber. A native Austrian, Weber fought on the Eastern Front but was convinced that Austria needed to be free of Hitler and the Nazis. On November 26, 2007, Franz was the recipient of the prestigious Schneekristall award (providing him with lifelong free skiing privileges in Austria). With the cash, the group purchased train tickets to an OSS spy base in Algiers. To get better results, add more information such as Birth Info, Death Info and Locationeven a guess will help. 8001 Zrich. The Basel activist was responsible for over 150 campaigns but is best known for his defence of the alpine landscape, in particular . Mayer obtained a German uniform and impersonated a wounded officer. STIWOT, 1999-2023. Their mission was given the name of "Operation Greenup," and though their deeds aren't that well known, they manage to destabilize the Nazi regime. The Methodology of the Social Sciences (Max Weber) Give Me Liberty! From 0-99, there is something for the child in all of us. There were some contributions from historians, mainly to set things in context, and some re-enactments in the absence of archival footage, but the story was told largely in Mayer and Wijnbergs own words. The top and bottom have been folded over and stitched together. By Tom Linder West Hawaii Today tlinder@westhawaiitoday.com | Wednesday, May 6, 2020, 12:05 a.m. Franz Weber, a longtime Kona resident, started Paying it Forward, which serves as a bridge between . Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Infantry Assault Badge Close Combat Clasp Panzer Badge "25" s/d "100" on 20 September 1944 as Obergefreiter in the 4./Panzer Regiment 35 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 28 October 1944 as Obergefreiter in the 8./Jger-Regiment 28 This man was Hermann Matull, who was also working as a spy in the region. But unlike other refugees, Mayer decided to return to German-occupied Europe to strike back at the very individuals who imprisoned some of his family members in concentration camps. Now, a new History Channel film, The Real Inglorious Bastards, returns to the true story chronicled in the book and captures Mayers amazing exploits in historically accurate detail. However, Tarantino based his film on an actual operation codenamed, Greenup. Consider an Allied espionage operation code-named GREENUP, which in some ways is even more improbable than a Hollywood pot-boiler. The next day, Mayer tried to enlist, but the military said no. He was German, after all, and, therefore, an enemy alien. He was 94 years old. Mayer was the son of a German WWI veteran. He also determined the times for troop and ammunition trains heading thru the Brenner Pass and called in airstrikes. He acted as the breadwinner while working as a mechanic at companies such as General Motors and Ford. All rights reserved. Sent to Italy, he was teamed up with Hans Wijnberg another Jewish-American whose family was thrown intoAuschwitz. Waffen-SS Armband. . His cover wasnt holding water, and so the tall one stripped him from head to toe. He was an actor, known for The Marriage of Figaro (1949), Pillars of Society (1935) and So ein Flegel (1934). She was only 56 years old when she passed away. However, using his own guile, wit, and a fortunate set of circumstances, Mayer turned the tables on his captors. 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. fifty races he entered. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 A pilot called Billings volunteered to drop them on a glacier. Their mission was given the name of Operation Greenup, and though their deeds arent that well known, they manage to destabilize the Nazi regime. So I was trying to keep taming it, and I couldn't My idea at the time, because it was just so big and so unwieldy, was to do it as a miniseries, and that really was what I was planning on doing." And in one of the craziest turn of events, the German Army in Austria surrendered to a Jewish sergeant without firing a shot. Hans Wynberg, a Dutch-born Jew whose family was sent to Auschwitz, and Franz Weber, an Austrian officer who had defected from the German army, worked with Mayer. Bahnhofplatz 9. Working alongside Mr Mayer were Hans Wynberg, a Dutch-born Jew whose family had been deported to Auschwitz, and Franz Weber, an Austrian officer whose patriotism had led him to defect from the . Mayer originally volunteered for the U.S. Army, but they rejected him as an enemy alien. However, the OSS, the forerunner to the CIA, saw Mayers potential and recruited him to join its ranks. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Moscow Should Prepare For Probable US Nuclear Aggression: Reports Russian Military Journal, Destroying American Monster Abrams: Pro-Russian Group Release A How-To Video, Dr. Mary E. Walker: The First AND Only Female Medal Of Honor Recipient, Bakhmut on the Brink of Falling to Russian Troops, Decorated Navy SEAL Died in HALO Training Accident, Adam Brown: A SEALs Life of Courage and Redemption, Complete List: Ticonderoga-class Missile Cruisers To Retire By 2027, Nuclear Close Calls That Nearly Caused World War III, Russian Sausage Millionaire and Putin Critic Falls to His Death in India, Deadly Russian Rifle Brigade Wiped Out During War in Ukraine. The Messerschmitt design team were on to something . It was "The Fifth Element" director Luc Besson who encouraged Tarantino to finish "Inglourious Basterds" as a movie rather than a miniseries. See Photos. One of the mainsprings of the group spoke eight different languages, had fought and escaped from the French Legion, and had previously worked as a matre d at the Copacabana nightclub. The war pitted the Central Powersmainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkeyagainst the Alliesmainly France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and, from 1917, the United . Mayer eventually headed back into Nazi-occupied territory in Europe serving as U.S. spy. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 286 (27):24458-24466. The Germans had captured another American agent named Hermann Matull. Franz Carl Weber. Mayer was asked to dine with Hofer, his wife and the German Ambassador to Italy, Rudolph Rahn. There are a few different reasons people have speculated on. Then the Nazis came to power. It turns out she was not Quentin Tarantino's first choice for the part in fact, he initially wasn't interested in casting her at all, due to disliking a movie she had starred in (Kruger did not state which movie this was). High winds buffeted the plane making them lose 6000 feet of altitude in just 18 seconds. The Journal of Neuroscience 33(3): 902-5, Jan 2013 Notes: Joesch M and Weber F are co-first authors. Hofer, convinced that the war was a lost cause, was looking for a way to surrender to the Americans rather than to the Soviets. View Franz Weber results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. And 15 Other Iconic Lines From Tarantino's Films, The Real-Life Django Who Rebelled Against Slavery And No One Talks About Enough, 10 Lessons We Learned From The Bad-Ass Women In Tarantino's Universe, Olympe de Gouges, the Precursor of Feminism that Was Persecuted During the French Revolution. Wijnberg was sent by his parents, along with his twin brother, from the Netherlands in 1939to live with his fathers business partner in the USA in 1939. Franz Weber may refer to: . He is a two-time overall winner of the Tournament of Champions and four-time Rolex Legends Series Champion. ORCID record for Franz Weber. They didn't end up killing Hitler, but they were able to negotiate the . He dominated the sport of speed skiing from 1980 to 1985, winning over eighty percent of the races he entered. World War II Military Records. In an amazing turnabout, Mayer received an opportunity for revenge. Fred Raskin, Menke's assistant editor on "KillBill," would become Tarantino's go-to editor following her death, starting with "Django Unchained" in 2012. Mollis, Glarus, Canton of Glarus, Switzerland. In 1944, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) of the United States Army trained three soldiers: Frederick Mayer, Hans Wynberg, and Franz Webe. Enter Hermann Matull. Kruger did consent to this, and she posted on Instagramin 2018 that Tarantino "treated me with utter respect and never abused his power or forced me to do anything I wasn't comfortable with." His father didnt want to leave Germany. Learn More. Mayer donned Webers old uniform and took on the cover story of a recovering German officer at the local hospital where Webers sister was a nurse. Support Veteran Journalism . That didnt stop the intrepid OGs. 1526 1526. His two interrogators discounted the possibility that he might be Jewish, because their anti-Semitism meant that they refused to believe that a Jew could be brave enough to withstand their tortures. This fact caught the attention of Franz Hofer, a member of the Reichsgau, a Nazi administrative subdivision based on occupied territories. But America desperately needed to beef up its military, so they let him join the 81st Infantry Division the following year. The Germans even broke his teeth with a powerful haymaker punch while stuffing a pistol in his mouth. The head of SI was a LT. Alfred Ulmer. Hollywood tried to capture an actual OSS operation in a highly fictionalized film called Inglorious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino. The trio had supplies packages dropped with them, but unfortunately were unable to locate the packet containing their skis. In fact, it deserves nothing less than a movie. But after several weeks behind enemy lines that provided reams of actionable intelligence, a knock on the door of Mayers safe house changed his life. Early on May 3, 1945, the American 103rd Infantry Division of the Seventh Army was ordered to take Innsbruck. One of their pieces of intelligence enabled the Allied air forces to bomb a large number of trains in a nearby marshalling yard. The "Inglourious Basterds" screenplay was a particular challenge both to write and to edit down into a workable feature. It was feared that the Nazis would establish an Alpine redoubtin order tomake a last stand there. Sign Up. When telling this story to The Los Angeles Times in 2009, Roth also noted that the part where the giant swastika falls in the theater was an accident, resulting from the unexpectedly powerful fires burning the steel cables holding it up. Being an actor in a Quentin Tarantino film means you're going to be in for an intense experience. There was also Franz Weber - a Catholic Austrian Wehrmacht officer and POW, who felt loyal to . Bingeing spy movies, let us say from Orson Welless The Third Man(1949) through Quentin Tarantinos Inglourious Basterds(2009), would be a lifetime occupation. But he wasnt so honored. A masterpiece like "Inglourious Basterds" takes a lot of work to get right. That mans a bigshot in the US Military. Feigning the role of a captured German POW, Fred entered a camp and networked within its gates. Service on a half-dozen fronts, including the bloody struggle against Marshal Tito's partisans in occupied Yugoslavia, has opened Weber's eyes. Find your friends on Facebook. I was really training for it.". . Undeterred by the units previous record, Mayer and his friends approached the units commander, Lt. Alfred Ulmer, and begged to sign up. These are the untold truths of the making of "Inglourious Basterds.". Franz was the only son of this couple to survive into adulthood. 12 min. Once at the bottom of the mountain, the men boarded an Innsbruck-bound train infested with Gestapo. Log In. OSS was the forerunner to both the Special Operations Command of the military, OSS Jedburgh and Operation Groups were the units that became the US Army Special Forces and Navy SEALs owe part of their legacy to OSS Maritime Group operatives, where one of them invented the US version of SCUBA. Franz did Research in the Field of Nephrology and Hypertension. They approached speeds of 60 mph or more as the craft careened down the mountain. The third soldier was the Austrian Franz Weber, a Nazi officer who had deserted the army. Mayer said to him, What do you think we areNazis?. See Photos. It was the scariest part of the entire mission.. Jason Dawsey, PhD, is a Research Historian at the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy. One of the OSS men chosen for this mission was Frederick Mayer. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ Historian K. ODonnell published a volume called They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany. The trio got off at the town of Oberperfuss near Innsbruck and split up. So how did the title of Tarantino's WWII revenge flick go from "Inglorious Bastards" to "Inglourious Basterds"? One of the most popular genres of WWII literature is espionage, the spy novel, the thriller. Books abound on the topic, dealing with undercover operatives, double agents, and breathless derring-do. He was imprisoned and tortured. M7/109 Thomas Wielptz, Solingen . The interrogation was watched by a third man, who eventually took Mayer to the house of Franz Hofer, the local Gauleiter [Nazi Party boss]. Webers sister, Louise, was a nurse who gave Mayer the uniform and documents of a recently-deceased German officer. He described these men: A more eclectic group of desperados could not be found: former Luftwaffe pilots, Jewish escapees from German death camps, Polish deserters, world-class athletes, and even a former convict. One recruit referred to the group as the craziest people he ever met. Mayer was then ordered to investigate a nearby underground factory that was building Me 262 jet fighters. In an interview, Mr. Mayer stated that he had a good combination of hatred and love: a hatred of the Nazis and a love for America. His father fought valiantly in World War I, and Mayer had seen his family forced from their homeland by an evil regime that later murdered 6 million European Jews in the Holocaust. He was born in Germany and forced to flee as the Holocaust was beginning. Bis current project is . See Photos. Franz Carl Weber is a lovely toy store spread across four large floors. During World War II, he led one of the greatest missions of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). They teamed up with Franz Weber a Germany army officer that became a "deserter-volunteer" OSS agent. son. He volunteered for the US Army but was denied service because he was considered an enemy alien. OSS immediately saw his potential and recruited him into their ranks. What hotels are near Franz Carl Weber Geneva? His torturers wanted to know the location of his radio operator, but Mayer insisted that he worked alone. Franz Ferdinand was born in Graz, Austria, on December 18, 1863, the oldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig, who was the younger brother of Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph. DiCaprio would certainly have had fun playing the film's villain, if his performance as Calvin Candie in Tarantino's follow-up film, "Django Unchained," is anything to go by. Frederick Mayer (28 October 1921, Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden, Germany - 15 April 2016, Charles Town, Jefferson County, West Virginia) was a German-born Jew who became an American spy as an OSS agent for the United States during World War II.He negotiated the surrender of the German Army in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1945 after he was captured in "Operation Greenup". OK During World War II, the OSS twice nominated Fred Mayer for the Medal of Honor. They showed him a picture of Mayers ruined face, but Matull was a world-class hustler before the war. They purloined a Jeep, mutinied from the OGs and arrived at OSSs Secret Intelligence (SI) section, which had been dropping agents deep inside Nazi Germany. A former German commando and officer, Weber had fought on the Eastern Front but now was convinced that it was his duty to defeat the Third Reich for the sake of his country, Austria.