Saboteurs: The Nazi Raid on America

by Michael Dobbs

Book Overview

In 1942, Hitler's Nazi regime trained eight operatives for a mission to infiltrate America and do devastating damage to its infrastructure. It was a plot that proved historically remarkable for two... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375414703
• ISBN13: 9780375414701
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.6" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Full of adventure and not a little farce!

Shortly after America's entry into World War 2, Adolf Hitler authorized a daring mission - a group of returned German-Americans would be recruited, trained, and sent back to the United States to sabotage the American war effort. And so, a mission began. Ill-trained and unmotivated, the saboteurs landed on the American shore, and encountered an America whose homeland defense network was every bit as incompetent as themselves. This is the story of the great Nazi terrorist mission against the United States. I had heard about the story of these men before, and was quite pleased to find a book about them. Author Michael Dobbs does an excellent job of telling the story of the saboteurs, their backgrounds, the background of their mission, and what happened. Overall, I found this to be a fascinating read, full of adventure and not a little farce! I highly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to you.

Fascinating story, superbly told

Spring of 1942 Nazi Germany sends a team of eight saboteurs to the United States for purposes of causing havoc in America and crippling their new enemy's war industries. It is a seldom told tale but Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs presents a stirring account of this incredible episode in "Saboteurs: The Nazi Raid on America."One is left to contemplate how easily the Nazi plot might have worked and to marvel at the audacity of the plan which featured the training of former US residents and the transporting of them by U Boat.Dobbs skillfully introduces not only the saboteurs but also all the other featured characters of this story. Some familiar to the reader such as J. Edgar Hoover and others who are new to us.This is a story about the best-laid plains and how badly they can turn out in the hands of those with other agendas.The saboteurs, it turns out were a motley crew, poor choices indeed to pull of us such brazen acts. Arriving in America with thousands of dollars after years in war-deprived Germany, it is the good life, old friends and in some cases, betrayal that is foremost in their minds.Their bungling is nearly matched by that of the Americans charged with keeping the country secure and pursuing its enemies.It is no spoiler to say that all the saboteurs are quickly rounded up. But the story does not lag when it comes to their fate after capture and their consequent trial.The interest never wanes in this compelling book.This book is also recommended for people interested in wartime America. Both life in the city and the machinations of top US officials, up to and including President Roosevelt.It's an amazing story and Dobbs deserves full marks for his presentation of it.

Bungling On Both Sides

We have, sadly, come to understand that foreigners will enter our nation with secret plans to make havoc and scare us. It has, of course, happened before. In World War II, people didn't call these agents "terrorists," but "saboteurs." Americans at that time were lucky: the eight saboteurs authorized by Adolph Hitler to come and blow up targets in the United States were bunglers. That does not keep _Saboteurs: The Nazi Raid on America_ (Knopf) by Michael Dobbs from being entertaining and even suspenseful. It certainly shows how the case was a sensation in its day, and how agencies such as the FBI operated at the time. Surprisingly, judgements made by the Supreme Court in the case of yesterday's saboteurs are being cited in the cases of today's terrorists.Operation Pastorius was born out of the recognition that American industries were a threat to the fatherland. The saboteurs rounded up for the assignment all had histories qualifying them for it; they were all German-Americans, and one was even a U.S. citizen. They had all lived in the United States, and some had families there. They got sometimes farcical training in bomb-making, invisible inks, and so on, and were transported by U-boat to the U.S. A Coast Guardsman on foot patrol on the beach came across the four who landed at the Hamptons, but his fellow Guardsmen did not believe him. They eventually went to the scene, and even saw the U-boat, but there had been so many false alarms of U-boat sightings, there was little urgency to take them seriously when they reported it. Saboteurs George Dasch and Peter Burger revealed to each other that they were ready to go over to the U.S. side. Dasch called the New York FBI, but they thought it was a crank call. He eventually traveled to Washington, went to the FBI building, and started telling his story. J. Edgar Hoover bombastically grandstanded by claiming credit for the FBI's breaking the case, skipping over the fact that the FBI had come to dead ends until it reluctantly started interviewing Dasch. It was not long before the eight were rounded up, never having accomplished much besides shopping sprees. President Roosevelt wanted quick trials and quick executions, and a secret military commission was hand-picked to hold the trial. To the dismay of the other officers, the defense counsel took his work seriously and appealed to the Supreme Court about the constitutionality of such a secret military trial. The Court, in a decision known as _Ex Parte Quirin_, allowed the trial to stand, but the decision troubled the justices, who decided that they had to deny habeas corpus to the saboteurs (it was a war effort, after all) and then scurried to find legal pretext to do so. It is a troubling decision, which has become the precedent for the Bush administration to use military tribunals against the Guantanamo captives. The Supreme Court's decision meant for the saboteurs themselves that they were all sentenced to death. The sentences were

An even-handed look at a past case with resonance today

The 1942 case of Nazi saboteurs in America is the best World War II story you've never heard. More than just an adventure tale, however, the case has been cited by the current administraton as a precedent for military tribunals of suspected terrorists. Through this account, we learn that the events of 1942 don't present a clear-cut parallel to our own times. Thoughtful readers with an interest in the constitutional issues of today's anti-terrorism campaign are urged to read this book. Well-researched, well-documented, and very well-written.

10 stars; must read

A fascinating story, told in flawless, fast-moving prose. Dodds has done his homework in Germany, in the archives, and at the Supreme Court. He has managed to capture the personalities of the Nazi saboteurs and the feel of World War II in America. Buy and read even if you already know the story, or think you have no interest in it.