He infiltrated it by obtaining work as an electrician, using a French translation of his own name,discovering that supply problems with parts meant that no aircraft were being completed. Sadly, "Inglourious Basterds" was to be Menke's last film with Tarantino (the last film she edited was"Peacock" in 2010, directed by Michael Lander) because she died while hiking in the heat on September 27, 2010 (via The Los Angeles Times). Tags:quentin tarantino world war ii world history. He says Waltz was also instructed to not show up to rehearsals with any of his co-stars, with the one exception ofDenis Mnochet (who played the dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite and shares the film's suspenseful opening scene with Waltz). Mayer was then betrayed and captured. You had to go on and on and on about your backstory. Their most daring operation, however, involved finding the Alpine Redoubt in Austria a fortress where the German government could supposedly retreat to in the event of defeat. But at the radio station, Mayer persuaded the Nazi to declare Innsbruck an open city, and place himself under his arrest, effectively surrendering the city and his forces to Mayer. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Mollis, Glarus, Canton of Glarus, Switzerland. He was finally arrested when a black marketeer was caught by Nazi authorities and fingered Mayer as a spy. She paid for her own plane ticket to Germany for the audition, which thankfully worked out for the best. It was "The Fifth Element" director Luc Besson who encouraged Tarantino to finish "Inglourious Basterds" as a movie rather than a miniseries. (371) 7.4 52min 2012 13+. Mayer, Wijnberg, and Weber were parachuted with their supplies into Austria on 26 February 1945 in total darkness which was why they ended up on the crest of the Sulztaler glacier some 9,000 feet up a mountain. The Nazi governor wined and dined his Jewish captive, then explained that he wanted to surrender but not to the Soviets. 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. His father didnt want to leave Germany. 12 min. A secondary mission was to monitor all of the rail traffic from Innsbruck traveling thru the Brenner Pass into Italy. At the start of 1945, Mayer was a highly trained agent for the Secret Intelligence division of the OSS and became the leader of the Operation Greenup. In the summer of 1944 after extensive training, the OGs received the call to duty. He dominated the sport of speed skiing from 1980 to 1985, winning over eighty percent of the races he entered. Franz Weber. Thanks to their intelligence, the Allies were able to bomb over 25 supply trains trying to get into Italy. Data gleaned from these reports helped US intelligence officers explode the myth that the Germans were concentrating men and weapons in the south for the Alpine redoubt. Despite being captured by the Gestapo and nearly tortured to death, Mayer was able to make contact with a number of local officials, including Franz Hofer, the Nazi Gauleiter(district leader) of Tyrol. It is constructed out of a dyed yellow cotton base with black ink print. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. - Narrative histories highlighting organization, combat experiences, and casualties of each division - Lists of constituent units and division commanders - Sources for further reading on each division This is the first of 3 definitive volumes that cover the German ground forces that swept across Europe with such ruthless efficiency in 1939 and 1940 and battled the Allies around the globe until . 504-528-1944. They approached speeds of 60 mph or more as the craft careened down the mountain. ), Austrian football player Franz Weber (soldier) (1921-2014), German soldier Franz Weber (activist) (1927-2019), Swiss environmentalist and animal welfare activist Franz Weber (skier) (born 1956), Austrian skier Busting the Myth Behind Moctezumas Headdress; Did It Really Belong Him? Franz Weber was born on March 24, 1888 in Haspe, Germany. As the Germans surrendered, the Gestapo officer who had savagely beaten Mayer was taken to the very cell where he tortured him. In one of the most incredible scenes from World War II, Frederick Mayer approached the American lines and informed the advancing 103rd division that the Germans had surrendered Innsbruck to him, saving potentially thousands of German and American lives in the process. A Nazi SS general responsible for deporting tens of thousands of Jews to death camps worked for West German intelligence after World War . STIWOT, 1999-2023. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Colombo, V; Correro, M R; Riener, R; Weber, Franz E; Gallo, L M (2011). He responded, Who do you think we are, Nazis?. There was only one problemthey got dropped off at the wrong port. After unexpectedly arriving at the OSS post, the men sat and languished for months, waiting for a mission. Fridolin Weber. Barrett products are used by civilians, sport shooters, law enforcement agencies, the United States military, and more than 75 State Department-approved countries around the world. You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article. Shes Not Madeleine: Scotland Yard Refutes Julias Allegations of Being Madeleine McCann. September 1734 in Zell im Wiesental; 16. From 0-99, there is something for the child in all of us. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ Any intel they can glean here will give the Allies hints about how the German Army intends to fight in the wars endgame, whether it will try to circle the wagons in some sort of Allied redoubt for a last-ditch fight. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 8 daughters. 3, No. Deutsches Kreuz in Gold . Praesidus brings homage to the military watch tradition. He was replaced with director Eli Roth. In May 2011, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) completed construction of its new facility in St. Louis, Mo. Exhausted, they finally sledded their way down, something Mayer later claimed was the scariest part of the mission. He found and recruited deserter-volunteer, Franz Weber. He would later on return to Germany to start over. Weber, a Catholic, had deserted, convinced . The threewere to be dropped byparachutednear Innsbruckin February 1945. Beck's name is among the more than 72,000 Americans from World War II listed as unaccounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. The next day, Mayer tried to enlist, but the military said no. He was German, after all, and, therefore, an enemy alien. The U-boat War in World War Two (Kriegsmarine, 1939-1945) and World War One (Kaiserliche Marine, 1914-1918) and the Allied efforts to counter the threat. 1" in 2003, there were seven long years without a single new Quentin Tarantino film. 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. A real world spy story fit for the silver screen. Posing as a recovering German officer, Mayer befriended an Engineer Officer who worked on the Fuhrer Bunker in Berlin. The OSS went to the only available source of that nearly impossible combination: an Allied prisoner of war camp. Franz Weber. In 2005, he and five others were honored by Austrian Chancellor Dr. Wolfgang Schssel for their athletic achievements and economic contributions to Austria. "Quentin said to close our scripts and asked us who we were. Mayers incredible story provided the basis for my book They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany. Like many other Germans by the end of the war, Hofer was looking for a safeguard with the Allies to secure his own freedom. Translated by Mara Isabel Carrasco Cara Chards, Read more:"Say 'What' Again!" Hiseyes grew wide, Youre all as good as dead! he gasped, shaking his head in disbelief. RecPak is a meal replacement for the outdoors that saves you weight, space and time in the most challenging environments, just add water. They traveled by ship to North Africa. Few films could get away with an ending where a character turns to the camera and says, "This might just be my masterpiece," but "Inglourious Basterds" might trulybe QuentinTarantino's masterpiece. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. It was the nightmare he dreaded. They jumped in on February 26, 1945. Now, though Hofer had the connections and supplies to resist an invasion by the Allies, its known that it was thanks to his conversations with Mayer that he decided to surrender. Without making specific promises, he offered salvation. With robust designs and vintage classic style, discover the heritage of military timepieces today! Support Veteran Journalism . 1 was here. or. There they were helped by his family. His captors whipped him, doused him with water and suspended him from a rifle, but he only admitted he was an Americanofficer when the man who had betrayed him was brought in and identified him. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. They made their way to Webers family and then Mayer actually stayed in the Officers barracks in Innsbruck for several weeks, gleaming as much intelligence as he could and then relaying it to Wynberg (the radio operator) who would then relay it to OSS HQs. Dulles cabled OSS HQs in Italy, Fred Mayer reports he is in Gestapo hands but cabled Dont worry about me, Im really not bad off a remarkable message considering that it was coming from a Jew. And that was after they had tortured him. Nonetheless, this story has made some people uncomfortable. The Messerschmitt design team were on to something . John Billings, his command pilot on the mission, described Mayer as fearless about returning to Nazi Germany. In an 2015 interview with HuffPost Live, Eli Roth claimed that he and other actors nearly burned to death during the movie's climax, in which a theater filled with Nazis burns to the ground. Ian Harvey is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. Read Next: OSS Finally Recognized More Than 70 Years Later By Congress. He died on August 10, 1962 in West Berlin, West Germany. When youre a World War II hero, you can do whatever the hell you want. See Photos. 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. Part of the reason Tarantino decided to make "Kill Bill" first was due to the fact the story for his epic was growing so large in scale that he was having trouble cutting it down. They didn't end up killing Hitler, but they were able to negotiate the surrender of the German Army in Austria. We use our own and third-party cookies to personalize and improve the use and experience of our users on our website. Out jumped a bruised and battered Mayer, who offered the formal surrender of the entire regions German Army. The three were to be dropped by parachuted near Innsbruck in February 1945. Mayer gave what perhaps was the best answer of all, This is more our war than yours.. Jason Dawsey, PhD, is a Research Historian at the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy. He was 94 years old. Here is the short version: two Jewish refugees to the United States, living in Brooklyn (Frederick Mayer, 23, and Hans Wijnberg, 22) enlist in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the postwar CIA, and parachute deep behind German lines into the Austrian province of Tyrol in February 1945. Tarantino will never tell us the full logic behind misspelling the title, though in various interviews he's offered partial explanations. Finally, an intrepid American Air Corps pilot, Lt. John Billings, and his crew stepped forward and volunteered. Mayer obtained a German uniform and impersonated a wounded officer. Edit Search New Search Jump to Filters.