They Dared Return

September 28, 2009
Revisiting one of the most dangerous WWII missions ever, O'Donnell (We Were One
) examines the planning and execution of a 1944 strike by Jewish soldiers against a top-secret target in Austria that, it was believed, could shorten the conflict. He fleshes out the tale of sacrifice, spies, courage and betrayal organized by the American Office of Strategic Services to take on Gestapo troops in a heavily fortified district, Alpine Redoubt, the site of a planned bunker where Nazi leaders would hide after the Allies arrived in Germany. Under the command of Frederick Mayer—a German-Jewish refugee, naturalized American citizen and Wildcat Ranger—Operation Greenup was a brazen military exercise behind enemy lines, using a core of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany and locals to gather intelligence and reduce the resistance from SS soldiers. Armed with research in the National Archives, confidential documents and personal interviews, O'Donnell tells a heart-stopping tale of sabotage by men and women who placed everything on the line against a seemingly unstoppable tyranny. 8 pages of b&w photos; map.