Citizen Fred

A Nuremberg Jew's tale of World War II

This is a memoir of Holocaust survivor Fred Rodell, a German-born Jewish man who migrated to the United States in 1936 at the age of 16, was one of “Wild Bill” Donavan’s first OSS recruits and ultimately served as an interrogator at the Nuremberg War Tribunal. Broken into three sections – Growing Up in Nuremberg and New York; Behind Enemy Lines; and Return to Nuremberg for the Trials, it recounts the details of Fred’s early life as a Jewish boy in the cradle of rising Nazi anti-Semitism; his adventures as an resourceful young man making a life for himself in New York; how he came to join the U.S. military after Pearl Harbor and was recruited into the OSS, predecessor to the CIA; his time as a spy during the war in London, Paris and behind enemy lines; and his role as an interrogator at the Nuremberg War Tribunal. Fred is an American WW II hero we did not know about until now. Citizen Fred: A Nuremberg Jew's Tale of World War II illuminates how an ordinary man responded to extraordinary historical events and thrived through sheer force of will. From Nuremberg back to Nuremberg, Fred comes full circle. It is a one-man show that starts at his graveside and continues through flashback.