Frederick Mayer, German-born American spy, Died at 94

  Military

Frederick “Fred” R. Mayer was born on October 28, 1921, in Freiburg, Weimar Republic, and died on April 15, 2016.

He was a German-born Jewish American.

He was an OSS agent for the United States during World War II.

Frederick Mayer also arranged the surrender of the German Army in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1945 after he was captured in Operation Greenup.

During December 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Mayer enlisted in the United States Army.

In one of his training exercise in Arizona, he crossed the “enemy” lines and “captured” several officers, including a brigadier general.

And, The general said, “You can’t do that! You are breaking the rules!” Mayer replied, “War is not fair.

However, the rules of war are to win.”

And, the general raised his hands in the air, admitting defeat.

He was trained in demolition, infiltration, raiding, sniping, and hand-to-hand combat.

His knowledge of several European languages (German, French, Spanish) made him a good candidate for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

His group of 30 men included four other European Jewish refugees: George Gerbner (Hungary), Alfred Rosenthal (Germany), Bernd Steinitz (Germany) and Hans Wynberg (Netherlands).

Ultimately, all five would serve in Austria in various OSS operations.

He became commander of Operation Greenup, with Wynberg serving as his radio operator.

Frederick Mayer passed away 94 yrs old.