Return to the Reich

August 1, 2019
A real-life World War II spy thriller from a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Lichtblau (The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men, 2014, etc.) narrates the exciting story of Freddy Mayer (1926-2016), from his childhood in Germany before the rise of the Nazis to his escapades in the OSS. His family was lucky to escape from Germany, arriving in New York in 1938. After Pearl Harbor, he tried to enlist, hoping to use his German training as a mechanic, but he was rejected as an "enemy alien." Soon, the need for able-bodied men eased the restrictions, and Mayer's older brother was called up. Freddy appealed, and the draft board took him instead, allowing his brother to finish college. His dauntlessness, abilities, and outlandish maneuvers brought him to the attention of the OSS, and after months of training, he arrived in Africa in June 1944. His partner was Hans Wynberg, a Dutch Jew and Morse code expert. Frustrated at the lack of action, Mayer came up with audacious ideas for missions. While his superiors never doubted his motives, they worried that he had no limits. Finally, they engaged in a mission into the Austrian Tyrol, but there were no local resisters to meet their landing; they needed a guide. Thus Mayer was sent to a Nazi POW camp to find a German ready to turn to their side. He struck gold with Franz Weber, a German deserter born in the Alps. Mayer, Wynberg, and Weber ended up in Weber's hometown, where some local citizens helped them. And that's just the backstory. Recounting one of the most successful espionage missions, Lichtblau delivers the goods, shining a bright spotlight on a truly unique character: Mayer was aggressive, ingenious, and often disregarded the rules, to great effect. An enthralling page-turner.

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August 5, 2019
The title is a giveaway in this gripping WWII tale by Pulitzer Prize–winner Lichtblau (The Nazis Next Door) about Freddy Mayer, a Jewish refugee who fled Hitler’s Germany only to return as an American spy. In chilling detail and skillful prose, this deeply researched narrative recounts Mayer’s family fleeing Freiburg for Brooklyn in 1933. Although the U.S. Army initially rejected Freddy as an enemy alien, after Pearl Harbor “officials came to realize that they would need every able-bodied man,” and he was recruited into a unit of the espionage-focused Office of Strategic Services composed mainly of Jewish refugees, including Dutch-born Morse code expert Hans Wynberg. Their assignment was to go behind enemy lines with a “Mission Impossible mandate... to harass the enemy.” Along with Franz Weber, an Austrian POW they convinced to defect, in February 1945 Mayer and Wynburg were dropped into the heart of Nazi territory. Things, unsurprisingly, got hairy: Gestapo officers demanded to see their papers, and Weber was recognized by a teenage girl. But before long, everyone at HQ was impressed with the intelligence the trio sent back. Despite his best efforts, the Nazis arrested Mayer, and he was summoned to meet with “the most powerful Nazi in Tyrol,” regional party leader Franz Hofer. No spoilers on the rest—readers will devour Lichtblau’s fresh and masterfully told WWII story.

Starred review from September 1, 2019

Ostracized from his country for being a Jew, young Frederick Mayer wants only one thing when war is declared on Germany: retribution. Following the life of the American refugee today known as Freddy, this piece of investigative journalism from Lichtblau (The Nazis Next Door) brings the story of Freddy's pursuits with the American OSS to light, and shows how one man's determination and bravado brought a swift end to the war in the Nazi stronghold of Tyrol, where the Allies were sure they would encounter Hitler's last stand in the rumored Alpine fortress. From parachuting onto an Austrian glacier to impersonating a Nazi officer after the OSS shot down the idea, the complete history of the mission reads like an Ian Fleming novel. The larger-than-life antics of the Gulliver unit of Hans, Franz, and Freddy in finding Austrian resisters in a bastion of Nazi support are chronicled through interviews, archives, military documents, and personal correspondence across Europe and America. VERDICT An extremely accessible read, this well-researched book will appeal to fans of espionage tales, World War II history, biographies, as well as young adult audiences.--Elan Marae Birkeland, Arizona Western Coll., Yuma

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