Operation Pastorius was a failed plan for
sabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions...
via a series of attacks by
Nazi GermanNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
agents inside the United States. The operation was staged in June 1942 and was to be directed against strategic U.S. economic targets. The operation was named by Admiral
Wilhelm CanarisWilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...
, chief of the German
AbwehrThe Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
, for
Francis Daniel Pastoriusthumb|right|300px|Home of Francis Daniel Pastorius in Germantown, PA as it appeared circa 1919Francis Daniel Pastorius was the founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania, now part of Philadelphia, the first permanent German settlement and the gateway for subsequent emigrants from Germany.-Early life:Born...
, the leader of the first organized settlement of Germans in America.
Recruited for the operation were eight Germans who had lived in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Operation Pastorius was a failed plan for
sabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions...
via a series of attacks by
Nazi GermanNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
agents inside the United States. The operation was staged in June 1942 and was to be directed against strategic U.S. economic targets. The operation was named by Admiral
Wilhelm CanarisWilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...
, chief of the German
AbwehrThe Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
, for
Francis Daniel Pastoriusthumb|right|300px|Home of Francis Daniel Pastorius in Germantown, PA as it appeared circa 1919Francis Daniel Pastorius was the founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania, now part of Philadelphia, the first permanent German settlement and the gateway for subsequent emigrants from Germany.-Early life:Born...
, the leader of the first organized settlement of Germans in America.
Agents
Recruited for the operation were eight Germans who had lived in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Two of them, Ernst Burger and
Herbert HauptHerbert Hans Haupt was a German-American United States citizen executed as an enemy agent for the Germans in World War II.-Early life:...
, were American citizens. The others,
George John DaschGeorge John Dasch was a German spy and saboteur who landed on American soil during World War II. He helped to destroy Nazi Germany’s espionage program in the United States by defecting to the American cause, but was tried and convicted for treason and espionage.-Early life:Dasch entered a...
, Edward John Kerling,
Richard QuirinRichard Quirin was a German-American United States citizen executed as an enemy agent for the Germans in World War II...
, Heinrich Harm Heinck, Hermann Otto Neubauer and Werner Thiel, had worked at various jobs in the United States.
Mission
Their mission was to stage sabotage attacks on American economic targets: hydro-electric plants at
Niagara FallsThe Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York...
; the
Aluminum Company of Americathe river: Alcoa RiverAlcoa, Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 44 countries...
's plants in
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
,
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
and
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
; locks on the
Ohio RiverThe Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States....
near
Louisville, KentuckyLouisville is Kentucky's largest city and county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's estimated population as of 2008 was 713,877 , with a population of 1,244,696 in the Louisville...
; the
Horseshoe CurveHorseshoe Curve is a famous railroad horseshoe curve in central Pennsylvania, near Altoona in the United States. Called an "engineering marvel", it was completed in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was later used by the Penn Central, then Conrail, and is currently owned and operated by the...
, a crucial railroad pass near
Altoona, PennsylvaniaAltoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the principal city of the Altoona, PA MSA. The population was 49,523 at the 2000 census, making it the ninth most populous city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Scranton, Bethlehem and...
, as well as the
Pennsylvania RailroadThe Pennsylvania Railroad was an American railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
's repair shops at Altoona; a
cryoliteCryolite is an uncommon mineral identified with the once large deposit at Ivigtût on the west coast of Greenland, which ran out in 1987....
plant in
PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be over 1.4 million, while the metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth-largest...
;
Hell Gate BridgeThe Hell Gate Bridge is a steel arch railroad bridge between Astoria in the borough of Queens and Randall's and Ward's Islands in New York City, over a portion of the East River known as Hell Gate.The bridge is used...
in New York; and
Pennsylvania StationPennsylvania Station in Newark, New Jersey is a major transportation hub in Newark, New Jersey. Located at Raymond Plaza, between Market Street and Raymond Boulevard, Newark Penn Station is served by the Newark Light Rail, New Jersey Transit commuter rail, Amtrak long distance trains, the PATH...
in
Newark, New JerseyBrick City redirects here. For the township in Ocean County, see Brick Township, New Jersey.Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, and the county seat of Essex County. Newark has a population of 281,402, making it the largest municipality in New Jersey and the 65th largest city in the U.S...
. They were given a quick course in
sabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions...
techniques, given nearly $175,000 in American money and put aboard two
submarinesU-boat is the anglicized version of the German word , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
to land on the east coast of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
On June 13, 1942, the first submarine (U-202, the
Innsbruck) landed in
Amagansett, New YorkAmagansett is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 1,067. Amagansett hamlet was founded in 1680.The...
. This is about 115 miles east of
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
, at what today is Atlantic Avenue beach. It was carrying George Dasch, who was the head of the team, and three other saboteurs (Burger, Quirin, and Henck). The team came ashore wearing military uniforms so that if they were captured they would be classified as prisoners of war rather than spies. They also brought ashore, and buried, enough explosives, primers, and incendiaries to support an expected two-year career in the sabotage of American defense-related production. The group had not fully changed into civilian clothes when an unarmed
Coast GuardsmanThe United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of seven uniformed services. It is unique among the military branches in that it has a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set...
, John C. Cullen, spotted the
GermansNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
. One of them tried to bribe him. Cullen, however, returned to his station and reported the encounter to his superiors. By that time the Germans, weary from their transatlantic trip, had taken a train into
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
.
The other four-member German team headed by Kerling landed without incident at
Ponte Vedra Beach, Floridathumb|right|300px|Ponte Vedra Beach on a December afternoon. During the summer months, the beach is often filled with local families as well as tourists....
, south of
JacksonvilleJacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida, and is the county seat of Duval County. Since 1968, as a result of the consolidation of the city and county government, and a corresponding expansion of the city limits to include almost the entire county, Jacksonville became the...
on June 16, 1942. They came on U-584, another submarine. This group started their mission by boarding trains to Chicago and
CincinnatiCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. The municipality is located north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border. The population within city limits was estimated to be 333,336 in 2008, making it the state's third largest city...
.
Arrest and trial
Two of the Germans in New York, Dasch and Burger, decided to back out of the mission. Dasch went to
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
, and turned himself in to the
Federal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
. He was dismissed as a crackpot by numerous agents, until he finally dumped his mission's entire budget of $84,000 on the desk of Assistant Director D.M. Ladd. At this point the defection was taken seriously and Dasch was interrogated for hours. None of the others knew of the betrayal. Over the next two weeks, Burger and the other six were arrested, and all eight were put on trial before a seven-member
military commission"Military Court" redirects here. For courts with jurisdiction over military personnel, see Court-martial. For other uses see Military law.A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and...
on specific instructions from President
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , the only U.S. President elected to more than two terms, was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. They were charged with
1) violating the law of war; 2) violating Article 81 of the Articles of War, defining the offense of corresponding with or giving intelligence to the enemy; 3) violating Article 82 of the Articles of War, defining the offense of spying; and 4) conspiracy to commit the offenses alleged in the first three charges.
Lawyers for the accused, who included
Lauson StoneLauson Harvey Stone , son of US Chief Justice Harlan Stone, was US a lawyer and civic leader.In 1942, he was assigned by the War Department to be a defense lawyer for eight Nazi saboteurs involved in Operation Pastorius.Stone received a bachelor's degree in 1925 from Harvard and a law degree in...
and Kenneth Royall, attempted to have the case tried in a civilian court, but were rebuffed by the
Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
in
Ex parte QuirinEx parte Quirin, , is a Supreme Court of the United States case that upheld the jurisdiction of a United States military tribunal over the trial of several Operation Pastorius German saboteurs in the United States...
. The trial was held in the
Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans...
building in Washington. All eight defendants were found guilty and sentenced to death. Roosevelt commuted Burger's sentence to life and Dasch's to 30 years, because they had turned themselves in and provided information about the others. The others were executed on August 8, in the
electric chairExecution by electrocution is an execution method originating in the United States in which the person being put to death is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
on the third floor of the District of Columbia jail and buried in a
potter's fieldA potter's field is a place for the burial of unknown or indigent people.-Origin:The term comes from Matthew 27:3-8 in the New Testament of the Bible, in which Jewish priests take 30 pieces of silver returned by a repentant Judas:...
called Blue Plains in the
AnacostiaAnacostia is a historic neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Its historic downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. It is the most famous neighborhood in the Southeast quadrant of Washington, located east of the Anacostia River, which the area is...
area of Washington. In 1948, President
Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice-president and the 34th Vice President of the United States, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
granted executive clemency to Dasch and Burger on the condition that they be deported to the American Zone of occupied Germany.
Photographs of targets
This publication has a photo of the grave marker the
American Nazi PartyThe American Nazi Party was founded by George Lincoln Rockwell with the goal of reviving Nazism in the United States of America and was headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Initially called the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists , Rockwell reorganized and renamed it the American...
erected in Blue Plains.
Further information