Return to the Reich

A Holocaust Refugee's Secret Mission to Defeat the Nazis

De: Eric Lichtblau

Narrado por: Dennis Boutsikaris

The remarkable story of Fred Mayer, a German-born Jew who escaped Nazi Germany only to return as an American commando on a secret mission behind enemy lines.

Growing up in Germany, Freddy Mayer witnessed the Nazis' rise to power. When he was 16, his family made the decision to flee to the United States - they were among the last German Jews to escape in 1938.

In America, Freddy tried enlisting the day after Pearl Harbor, only to be rejected as an “enemy alien” because he was German. He was soon recruited to the OSS, the country’s first spy outfit before the CIA. Freddy, joined by Dutch Jewish refugee Hans Wynberg and Nazi defector Franz Weber, parachuted into Austria as the leader of Operation Greenup, meant to deter Hitler’s last stand.

There, he posed as a Nazi officer and a French POW for months, dispatching reports to the OSS via Hans holed up with a radio in a nearby attic. The reports contained a goldmine of information, provided key intelligence about the Battle of the Bulge, and allowed the Allies to bomb 20 Nazi trains.

On the verge of the Allies victory, Freddy was captured by the Gestapo and tortured and waterboarded for days. Remarkably, he persuaded the Nazi commander for the region to surrender, completing one of the most successful OSS missions of the war.

Based on years of research and interviews with Mayer himself, whom the author was able to meet only months before his death at the age of 94, Return to the Reich is an enlightening, unforgettable narrative of World War II heroism.

©2019 Eric Lichtblau (P)2019 Eric Lichtblau

Must read! Inspiring real story of bravery.

Think often of this book months after reading it. Wish I could meet Freddie- love his smile, persistence & moxy.
Fascinating war tale. Loved that it's in Innsbruck too.

Wonderful

Fantastic history. Wonderful story. We need more
Heroes like this. I wish I could have met Fred

Short, Non Fiction, Enjoyable

I am stuck on WW2 and the Holocaust lately. I enjoyed this non fiction title about one of the most effective US spies during WW2 in Europe. Recommended!

An exciting and incredible story

This must be one of the most incredible stories from WW2 and I’ve read a lot of them. It’s just one thing after another as three Europeans (two German Americans and a Dutch deserter from the German army) go deep behind German lines to gather important details about enemy plans. This story is well written and easy to read. What’s not to like?

so good and exciting

very exciting and neat
edge of seat listening. hard to stop listening. I would recommend.

How many lives does Freddie have?

Almost unbelievable aspects of Freddie’s life during ww2 . He was very sure of himself and took a lot of chances.

Great story, weak author

The story of Freddie is great. Unfortunately, the author decided to interject his own politics right up front, making a not so subtle implication that Donald Trump living up to his campaign promises to enforce immigration laws inAmerica is somehow analogous to the Nazis perpetrating the Holocaust. Just outrageous, and a disservice to both Freddie and the victims of the Holocaust.

The author also seems to make the rather offensive implication that American hesitancy to enter WWII was due to anti-semitism, which is outrageous. Not once did the author even mention that the entire “Lost Generation” was named for its reaction to the horrors of WWI and was a large reason for American isolationism in the 1930’s and 40’s.

The author also throws around the term “Nazi” to describe every single German official or soldier in the story, which is historically inaccurate and quite confusing to the reader. Rather than distinguishing between Wehrmacht soldiers of the regular German army from the SS and Gestapo, everyone was just a “Nazi” according to the author. This contrasts with most authors and historians accounts, and is confusing for the reader and frustrating. One wouldn’t call every Russian soldier a “Communist,” but rather, a member of the Red Army. It was just confusing and something you’d expect in a high school essay not a professional writer.

I also thought the book could have had a more professional reader.

The story of Freddie was great though.