In 2005, he and five others were honored by Austrian Chancellor Dr. Wolfgang Schssel for their athletic achievements and economic contributions to Austria. Sent to Italy, he was teamed up with Hans Wijnberg another Jewish-American whose family was thrown intoAuschwitz. He was imprisoned and tortured. And in one of the craziest turn of events, the German Army in Austria surrendered to a Jewish sergeant without firing a shot. It could be a way to distinguish the film from Enzo G. Castellari's 1979 film "The Inglorious Bastards," which Tarantino's film is loosely inspired by but is decidedly not a remake of. Their mission was to infiltrate the area around Innsbruck, Austria and monitor the reports of the Nazis stockpiling arms and ammunition there, the Alpine Redoubt. Between "Jackie Brown" in 1997 and "KillBill Vol. Webers sister was a nurse who helped Mayer disguise himself as a German officer in uniform and bandaged up from a head wound. They showed him a picture of Mayers ruined face, but Matull was a world-class hustler before the war. Compared to dozens of other cities and towns, defended till the last shell and cartridge by German forces, then pulverized by US air power and artillery, Innsbruck survived the war nearly unscathed. See Photos. In the summer of 1944 after extensive training, the OGs received the call to duty. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, and won Best Supporting Actor for Christoph Waltz, who played the villain Hans Landa. And that was after they had tortured him. The story of Operational Greenup deserves greater attention than it has received. The Gestapo burst in and arrested Mayer and took him to their HQs. 3 (Fall 2010), pp. With a man on each side of the rifle, they lifted his naked, rolled-up body and suspended the human ball between two tables, like a piece of meat on a skewer. General William Donovan the creator of OSS and a WWI Medal of Honor winner wanted PHDs who can win a bar fight but he also called them Glorious Amateurs as they learned as they went. There was one person who didn't know, and he wasn't there the next day. M7/99 Franz Weinrank, Wien M7/100 Franz Pils & Sobn, Wien M7/101 Fritz Weber, Wien M7/102 Franz Pils & Sohn, Steinbach am St. M7/103 Josef Hack, Steyr M7/104 Ludwig Zeitler, Wien M7/105 Rudolf Wurzer, St. Christophen M7/106 Georg Kerschbaumer, Steinbach an der Steyr M7/108 Karl Oschmann & Co., Brotterode i. Th. And although he was circumcised, the Gestapo thought nothing of it since many non-Jews also practiced circumcision. "Literally, the only reason he auditioned me is because there was no one left to audition," said Kruger. The Americans will slaughter everyone who did this!. . And when youre done with all of those hundreds of books, you can turn to film. 504-528-1944. Quentin Tarantinos 2009 warfilmwas partly based on a real story. The Methodology of the Social Sciences (Max Weber) Give Me Liberty! OSS ran many fantastic operations and had an eclectic group of operatives. Mayer became an Army Ranger and went on to join the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) the precursor of todays CIA. Go to the front lines of World War II in this war documentary, chronicling a group of Jewish agents for the American OSS who infiltrated Nazi territories, many of them German Jews returning to avenge Hitler's sinister acts. This fact caught the attention of Franz Hofer, a member of the Reichsgau, a Nazi administrative subdivision based on occupied territories. Hofer was later judged in absentia and sentenced to death in Austria in 1949. Feigning the role of a captured German POW, Fred entered a camp and networked within its gates. Mayer was then ordered to investigate a nearby underground factory that was building Me 262 jet fighters. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. At the Arcadia Conference, held in Washington, DC, from December 24, 1941 to January 14, 1942, the Western Allies agreed to a Germany First policy to govern global strategy, but the question where to engage Germany, and when, remained unsettled. . THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ It was the nightmare he dreaded. On 7 December 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, forcing America to enter the war. Their mission: to compile reports on German rail traffic over the Brenner Pass between Italy and Austria. People named Franz Weber. There was also Franz Weber - a Catholic Austrian Wehrmacht officer and POW, who felt loyal to . He retired as World Champion in 1985 but returned to the sport of speed skiing seven years later to compete in the 1992 Winter Olympics at Albertville, France where he clocked his fastest personal time of 138.112 mph/222.222 kph (average speed). Fortunately for Webers fiance and her family, Mayer had found other lodgings before being captured. Their little band soon adds a third member: Franz Weber, a Wehrmacht lieutenant who has belatedly come to his senses about the murderous nature of Adolf Hitler's war. However, Inglorious Basterds highlights the work of one group specifically: "Operation Greenup, a real American battalion in charge of a similar mission. World War I, also called First World War or Great War, an international conflict that in 1914-18 embroiled most of the nations of Europe along with Russia, the United States, the Middle East, and other regions. It was the scariest part of the entire mission.. 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. They didn't end up killing Hitler, but they were able to negotiate the surrender of the German Army in Austria. Franz Anton von Weber (* 26. Last week we posted a story on the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) and how after 73 years they were finally recognized as a group and were honored with a Congressional Gold Medal. . Quentin Tarantinos Inglorious Basterds tells the story of a special battalion posted in France in charge of sabotaging German military activities and, most importantly, killing Nazis. They teamed up with Franz Weber a Germany army officer that became a "deserter-volunteer" OSS agent. 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. Inhibition of osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption by N-methylpyrrolidone. Weber stayed with his family, his fiances mother took Mayer in, and Wijnberg stayed at a neighbors house. April 1812 in Mannheim) war ein deutscher Musiker, Kapellmeister und Theaterdirektor. Two of them, Mayer and Wynberg, were exiled Jewish men in America who had fled their countries when hostilities began in Germany. Matull gave fake information on Mayer, claiming he was an important general of the American Army. Deutsches Kreuz in Gold . Once at the bottom of the mountain, the men boarded an Innsbruck-bound train infested with Gestapo. info@nationalww2museum.org When the American 103rd Infantry Division of the Seventh Army closed in on Innsbruck on the morning of 3 May 1945, they were met by a car sporting a white bedsheet. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ , Last week we posted a story on the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) and how after 73 years they were finally recognized as a group and were honored with a Congressional Gold Medal. You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article. There was only one problemthey got dropped off at the wrong port. Birth of Franz Weber. One recruit summed up the band of desperadoes: The whole bunch were the craziest people I ever met in my entire life.. The two men needed a third teammate who spoke German and knew the areaand was willing to risk certain death if captured. Cowering in the corner, the agent was terrified to see his former captive. His parents and younger brotherwere all murdered in the Holocaust. All rights reserved. I'd have a 100-page script and no end in sight. Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Franz Weber, Inc. is a sports management and consulting company founded in 1984 by Franz Weber and his wife Janett. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. On May 7, an invitation-only screening of the film will open the GI Film Festival with a Congressional Reception at the U.S. Capitol Building to honor the veterans of the mission, including Mayer. 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. Mayer was put in command of Operation Greenup, with Wijnberg as his radio operator. World War II was not only the greatest military conflict in history, it was also America's most important twentieth-century war. Matull then said that a person as high ranking as Mayer should be interrogated by a person of equal importance, namely the Gauleiter of Tyrol and Vorarlberg, Franz Hofer. After three months, Mayer changed his cover to that of a French electrician who was fleeing the Soviets. Matull insisted that only someone as important as Franz Hofer (the local administrator) could get away with interrogating Mayer. 8001 Zrich. In 1998, he won the National SG Masters Championships, and his Masters record includes winning all but two of the more than His alias was establishedso he then moved into the officers barracks, where he sent information to Wijnberg, the teams radio operator. Read Next: OSS Finally Recognized More Than 70 Years Later By Congress. United States. Mayer convinced Hofer the war was over. Later, West learned that Mayer was a sergeant. Representing a variety of world class athletes, the company specializes in client hospitality and luxury adventure travel notably . All Rights Reserved. The largest of the ghettos where Eastern European Jews were first confined and, later, deported to extermination camps by the Nazis was set up in Warsaw, Poland. Webers sister, Louise, was a nurse who gave Mayer the uniform and documents of a recently-deceased German officer. During these discussions, it was agreed that the Germans under Hofer should surrender to Mayer, as the representative of the US military. Bursting through the door and into the room, a dozen Gestapo agents, armed with MP-40 machine pistols, quickly surrounded and apprehended Mayer. There was also the issue of competition: other great directors were also doing World War II epics in the late '90s, notably Steven Spielberg with "Saving Private Ryan" and Terrence Malick with "The Thin Red Line." Tarantino worked on the script for years, made tough decisions in casting the film, and took time to get the final cut just right. Franz Weber was born on March 24, 1888 in Haspe, Germany. 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 then pushed into Innsbruck, determining the schedules for troop and munitions trains bound through the Brenner to Italy. He introduced himself as Lt. Mayer of the OSS and explained that he was going to take the major with him to accept the German surrender from Hofer. The documentary ended with Fred Mayer talking to Hans Wijnberg via Skype. Friedrich Fred Mayers father was a decorated war veteran for his distinguished service to the German Empire in WWI. However, using his own guile, wit, and a fortunate set of circumstances, Mayer turned the tables on his captors. Though they managed to retrieve most of their supplies, their skis were another matter entirely, forcing them to climb down in waist-deep snow. Franz Weber (actor) (1888-1962), German actor Franz Weber (footballer) (1888-? As a result, the crew and the three OSS agentsWalter Hass, a refugee from Nazi Germany, Frederick Mayer, a German Jew whose father moved the family to the US before the war, and Franz Weber, who was born and raised in Austria, became a German officer but eventually came to disagree with Hitler's movementworked together closely for five . 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. Both programmetitles are somewhat misleading, since the members of Operation Greenup were tasked withgathering intelligence rather than directly killing Nazis, and the only connection with the filmInglorious Basterds is that they were American Jews operating behind enemy lines. His father didnt want to leave Germany. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. Mayer then turned his back on the agent and the war, refusing to speak about it for decades. The third soldier was the Austrian Franz Weber, a Nazi officer who had deserted the army. In zweiter Ehe war er mit Genovefa Brenner verheiratet; aus dieser . They tortured him brutally, but he didnt break. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 1 daughter. As the troops approached the city, they saw a car with a large white bed sheet attached to a pole racing toward them. She thinks this experience was a "lesson" for Tarantino: "Sometimes you are the one that puts and I'm sure I'm guilty of that too you put people in boxes. Mayer saved the lives of perhaps thousands of troops on both sides by arranging the surrender of the German troops in Austria. STIWOT, 1999-2023. Theres no doubt that Operation Greenup saved many thousands of lives, Austrian and American, civilian and military. 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. The members of Operation Greenup ended up helping the Allies get their victory and were later on decorated for their heroic services during the war. In an amazing turnabout, Mayer received an opportunity for revenge. After tramping through chest-deep snow, the men literally sledded down the side of the glacier in a Santa Claus-like sleigh. It was "The Fifth Element" director Luc Besson who encouraged Tarantino to finish "Inglourious Basterds" as a movie rather than a miniseries. He would later on return to Germany to start over. Avoiding roaming German fighters, flak, and forceful Alpine winds and backdrafts, Billings threaded through 9,000-foot high canyon-like mountains and found the drop zone. "Inglourious Basterds" made its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes FilmFestival, but the version of the film that screened there wasn't quite the same as the version which ultimately make it to theaters later that summer. The three were to be dropped by parachuted near Innsbruck in February 1945. By then it was April of 1945 and the Germans knew they were done. An Olympian, six-time consecutive World Speed Skiing Champion - Franz Weber is also a former world record-holder and still holds the North American record, at 129.303 mph/208.092 kph which he set in 1983 in Silverton, Colorado. His undercover work led to valuable intelligence and a network of informants that helped identify the location and dimensions of Hitlers Fhrerbunker in Berlin, the condition of Nazi war plants and movement of enemy freight and troops through the Brenner Pass. While Tarantino's films have featured many strong female characters, the director's treatment of women in real life has been the subject of controversy. Fridolin Weber. The Messerschmitt design team were on to something . The revelations about Weinstein and Thurman's car accident placed an extra dark light on one anecdote about filming the scene in "Inglourious Basterds" where Hans Landa chokes Bridget Von Hammersmark to death. 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. 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. Find your friends on Facebook. Franz Josef Huber, responsible for deporting tens of thousands of Jews, escaped punishment with U.S. backing and went on to work for West German intelligence, newly disclosed records reveal. With robust designs and vintage classic style, discover the heritage of military timepieces today! She was only 56 years old when she passed away. What hotels are near Franz Carl Weber Geneva? Mayer was allowed to send a message to the OSS. And 15 Other Iconic Lines From Tarantino's FilmsThe Real-Life Django Who Rebelled Against Slavery And No One Talks About Enough10 Lessons We Learned From The Bad-Ass Women In Tarantino's Universe. The Germans even broke his teeth with a powerful haymaker punch while stuffing a pistol in his mouth. 1526-24 January 1624 (Age 98) Beglingen, Glarus, Switzerland. Mr. Mayer was recommended for a medal of honor in 1945 by a superior officer. Since 2013, Fondation Franz Weber is working closely with the World Heritage Centre to support the conservation and safeguard of natural World Heritage sites.This partnership intends to strengthen the Rapid Response Facility (RRF), a programme jointly managed by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Fauna & Flora International aimed at protecting natural World Heritage sites in emergency . In 1944, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) of the United States Army trained three soldiers: Frederick Mayer, Hans Wynberg, and Franz Webe. A native Austrian, Weber fought on the Eastern Front but was convinced that Austria needed to be free of Hitler and the Nazis. His current life is fairly peacefulhe still chops wood nearly every day and volunteers with Meals on Wheels. Birth of Fridolin Weber. But he wasnt so honored. The team would infiltrate using a blacked out B-24 bomber. Cookies help us deliver our Services. To get better results, add more information such as Birth Info, Death Info and Locationeven a guess will help. According to Roth, "[The flames] were spreading so exponentially. Modifying the papers so that Mayers picture appeared on it, he moved into her hospital to recover.. That mans a bigshot in the US Military. The Life Summary of Georg. It is constructed out of a dyed yellow cotton base with black ink print. The other objective was to identify rail traffic travelling from Innsbruck to Italy through the Brenner Pass. The Basel activist was responsible for over 150 campaigns but is best known for his defence of the alpine landscape, in particular . A movie that climaxes with a group of Jewish soldiers shooting Hitler in the face isn't particularly concerned with historical accuracy, but "Inglourious Basterds" still draws some inspiration from real history. 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. 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 . He asked if they were willing to kill. Their task was to penetrate one of the most secured areas of the Third Reich, an area of Austria near Innsbruck, where Nazis reportedly had been fortifying and massing vast quantities of troops and supplies. His captors, including Franz Hofer, the governor of the Alpine Redoubt and an immensely powerful man within Hitlers inner Circle, faced war crimes prosecution. (The original radio transcripts are preserved at The National Archives in College Park, Maryland.). Or are you interested in war medals and their recipients? Waffen-SS Armband. This is a horrible place where the Nazis tortured and killed members of the Belgium resistance. 3, No. This was worn by civilians in the employment of the Waffen SS. fifty races he entered. They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany, Dog Company: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Rangers Who Accomplished D-Days Toughest Mission and Led the Way Across Europe. Inform us! The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) in the European Theater was one of Americas bloodiest campaigns. Log In. 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. He was born in Germany and forced to flee as the Holocaust was beginning. From 0-99, there is something for the child in all of us. Mayer died in 2016, aged 94. Does anyone out there have Quentin Tarantinos cell? By this time Hofer, like many Nazis, realised that the war was lost and was interested only in surrendering to the Western Allies rather than the Soviets. Being an actor in a Quentin Tarantino film means you're going to be in for an intense experience. Jason Dawsey, PhD. Design, construction and validation of a computer controlled system for functional loading of soft tissue. There was also Franz Weber a Catholic Austrian Wehrmacht officer and POW, who felt loyal to Austria, not to Nazi Germany. In May 2011, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) completed construction of its new facility in St. Louis, Mo. Tarantino's movies tend to be on the longer side, with many of them running close to three hours. Despite being intensely tortured, Mayer never mentioned this to his partners. His work was to get as much information as possible from the Germans, from plans for troop displacement, to attacks, and where they stored supplies, so him and his partners could sabotage them. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. Over 40.000 pages on the officers, the boats, technology and the Allied efforts to counter the U-boat threat. Not surprising to those who know him, Fred Mayer may not attend the Congressional reception and the screening of the movie chronicling his feats. 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. He continued to work with producer Harvey Weinstein even though, he admitted to The New York Times, "I knew enough to do more than I did" about Weinstein's serious sexual misconduct. They were sent to enemy lines to sabotage Nazi activities. You really would have to quit your job and become a monk to get through them all. After completing their training in Allied territories, the three soldiers were dropped off in Tirol on February 26, 1945. His family owned a hardware store that was boycotted because they were Jewish once Hitler became chancellor in 1933. He responded, Who do you think we are, Nazis?. The Nazi governor wined and dined his Jewish captive, then explained that he wanted to surrender but not to the Soviets. By wars end, OSS had 13,000 personnel in their ranks, nearly a third were women and included were some Hollywood types like John Ford, Sterling Hayden, Marlene Dietrich, Julia Child and others. A masterpiece like "Inglourious Basterds" takes a lot of work to get right. Allies suspected the Germans were plotting to make their final stand in the war there. IndieWire reported that Tarantino wanted the movie edited on a much tighter schedule that his previous productions, both as a reaction to spending too much time "overfiddling" with "Death Proof" and so the film would be ready to screen at Cannes. It was hard to find a pilot to volunteer to fly in the difficult winter conditions over the glacier, but eventually, Billings stepped up, saying,If they are crazy enough to jump there, I will be crazy enough to take them there.. At one point, the writer-director feared it would be too long for a movie and that the epic story would be better suited for a TV miniseries. OK The Gestapo agent that had mercilessly beaten him was taken to the very cell where he had tortured Mayer. His carelessness in preparing for a car stunt in "Kill Bill Vol. 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. All results for Franz Weber. 129.303 mph/208.092 kph which he set in 1983 in Silverton, Colorado. In the dead of winter, 1945, German-born Fred Mayer, Dutch-born Hans Wijnberg and former Wehrmacht officer Franz Weber parachuted into the Austrian Alps. ADVERTISING. A long-time resident of Lake Tahoe, Weber and his wife, Janet, founded Franz Weber Inc., a Reno-based sports management and consulting company, in 1984.Today, the company represents world-class . Claiming to be on the run from the advancing Soviets, he got a job at the facility. There is a nice WC on the ground floor with baby changing facilities. And what a cast of characters: emigr Jews like Mayer and Wijnberg, bent on destroying the regime that had persecuted them and their families and, in Wijnbergs case, had even killed his parents; Lieutenant Weber, a German soldier currently on the run from a death sentence for desertion, then being handed out in the thousands by Nazi officials; not to mention Anna Niederkircher, the mother of Webers fiance. The top and bottom have been folded over and stitched together. M7/109 Thomas Wielptz, Solingen . One of the guards saw him, reported him to the authorities, and he was arrested.