March 28, 2004
BOOKNOTES:
Saboteurs: The Nazi Raid on America by Michael Dobbs (C-SPAN, March 28, 2004, 8 & 11pm)
Shortly after America's entry into World War II, Adolf Hitler ordered an extensive sabotage campaign against the United States to disrupt the production of tanks and airplanes and blow up bridges and railroads. Eight German saboteurs were dispatched across the Atlantic by U-boat, one team landing in Amagansett, Long Island, the other near Jacksonville, Florida. They brought with them enough money and explosives for a two-year operation and traveled inland to explore potential targets.The full story of this audacious endeavor is a remarkable account of a terrorist threat against America. Michael Dobbs describes the saboteurs' training in Nazi Germany, their claustrophobic three-week voyage in submarines, and their infiltration into American life. He explores the reasons each volunteered, and their links to a network of Nazi sympathizers in the United States. He paints a portrait of the group's leaders: George Dasch, a onetime waiter who dreamed of leaving his personal mark on history, and Edward Kerling, a fanatic Nazi caught between his love for his mistress and his love for his wife. And he shows how the FBI might never have captured the saboteurs had one of them not helped J. Edgar Hoover transform a hapless manhunt into one of his proudest accomplishments. A military tribunal, a historic Supreme Court session, and one of the largest mass executions in American history provide a stunning climax to a dangerous but failed mission.
MORE:
-BOOK SITE: Saboteurs: The Nazi Raid on America by Michael Dobbs (Knopf)
-ESSAY: A Familiar, Thorny Record Of Wartime Justice (Michael Dobbs, February 8, 2004, washingtonpost.com)
-ESSAY: Back in Political Forefront: Iran-Contra Figure Plays Key Role on Mideast (Michael Dobbs, May 27, 2003, Washington Post)
-REVIEW: of MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: A 20TH Century Odyssey By Michael Dobbs
(Michael Hirsh, Washington Monthly)
O for pete's sake. 8 men carried enough explosives to run a TWO-YEAR campaign against the United States?
They were caught by a Coast Guardman on a horse.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at March 29, 2004 1:52 AMThey had more luck the first time...
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/lifestyle/bal-to.memory14oct13,0,3503645.column
"History: Massive 1916 explosion which tore into Manhattan, Jersey City was planned in Baltimore's Hansa Haus by German saboteurs. "
Harry:
You are right - these guys were feeble. But I'm sure there were true believers (SS) who spoke good English, had lived in the States for a time, and could have raised heck (at least with blowing up bridges). Certainly the Russians had no trouble finding agents over here in the 1930s.
Posted by: jim hamlen at March 29, 2004 2:39 PMI was not aware that Russia agents sabotaged American industry in the '30s.
There is a good history of the German-American Bund, whose author I cannot recall (it's been 30 years since I read it), which makes a persuasive case that the Nazis never really put any effort into America. The Auslandsamt had closer fish to fry.
The one known German spy who operated across the United States was also a nincompoop with little support. Some of the stuff he sent back, before he was caught, was just silly, like pictures of the undersides of airplanes taking off at commercial airports.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at March 29, 2004 3:25 PMHarry:
What'd you think the Communists recruited the Rosenbergs, Hiss's, etc. after the Cold War started?
Posted by: oj at March 29, 2004 3:35 PMHarry:
What'd you think the Communists recruited the Rosenbergs, Hiss's, etc. after the Cold War started?
Posted by: oj at March 29, 2004 3:49 PMI'm still not aware they sabotaged American industry.
They hardly needed to, from their point of view, Coolidge had done such a good job.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at March 29, 2004 8:18 PM