A Nazi Sabotage Mission Undone by Its Own Idiots — and the One Smart Man Who Faked His Way Out
In WWII the Nazis landed eight saboteurs in America, and the mission collapsed under the weight of its own stupidity, infighting and betrayal. The one clever member escaped by injecting himself with baking soda — a story about how lethal recruiting and individual judgment really are.
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What doomed the sabotage team was who was picked, not how they trained
The Abwehr, Germany's military intelligence service, recruited nine Germans who had previously lived in North America and formed them into a sabotage team codenamed Operation Pastorius, tasked with slipping into the United States to blow up railways, canal locks and aluminum plants. Training took place on a farm near Brandenburg and covered explosives, timing devices, invisible ink and more. But the quality of the recruits was the problem: most of them were fools, and that sowed the seeds of everything that followed.
— Tim HarfordFaking VD by injecting himself was the only rational decision anyone made
Joseph Schmidt realized his teammates were all idiots and might well get him killed, so he came up with an extreme solution: inject a baking soda solution into his penis to simulate a venereal disease and get himself out of boarding the submarine. The naval officer examined him and duly refused to let him aboard. Schmidt escaped that way, the only member of the group to come through unscathed — a case study in the self-preserving intelligence an individual can bring to a dangerous situation.
— Tim HarfordGetting away with it the first time is exactly what ruined them
The four-man team led by George Dasch landed at Amagansett Beach on Long Island, got lost in heavy fog, and was spotted by a young coastguardsman. Dasch tried to buy him off with 260 dollars, but the coastguardsman refused and reported it up the chain. The Coast Guard was suspicious for a while but did not pursue them in time, and Dasch and the others managed to catch a train to New York. That lucky escape only made them bolder.
— Tim HarfordSpies carrying explosives went shopping for a gold watch and a car first
Herbie Haupt was a German-American who grew up in Chicago and left home to dodge the draft after getting his girlfriend pregnant, drifting through Mexico, Japan and France before the Abwehr recruited him. He came ashore in Florida by submarine with 14,000 dollars and explosives, then simply put the mission out of his mind: he bought a gold watch, bought a car, proposed to his girlfriend — behaving nothing like a man on a sabotage assignment. His naivety and impulsiveness eventually got him caught.
— Tim HarfordThe decision to defect was made on the spot; the surrender took days
In a thirteenth-floor hotel room in New York, Dasch told Burger to cooperate or go out the window, and Burger went along and agreed to defect. The two decided to turn themselves in to the FBI, but Dasch dragged his feet for days — playing cards, spending money — and did not contact the FBI until Friday. Burger supplied the crucial intelligence, including the handkerchief written in invisible ink and the existence of Schmidt. The defection grew out of fear of the mission and disillusionment with the Nazis.
— Tim HarfordThe two who turned themselves in were the only two not executed
Acting on what Dasch and Burger told them, the FBI rapidly arrested all eight spies. The trial was held before a secret military tribunal; Dasch's testimony ran to 254 pages but was rambling and disorganized, while Burger was concise and supplied a great deal of detail. Defense counsel argued that the men had not actually carried out any sabotage, but the prosecutor asked for the death penalty, and all eight were sentenced to death — with Dasch and Burger's sentences commuted to life imprisonment because they had cooperated.
— Tim HarfordWhat crushed these eight men was not the Nazis, it was conformity
The host cites a classic psychology experiment: when a room fills with smoke, a person alone leaves quickly, but if actors sitting nearby ignore the smoke, only one in ten people leaves. The experiment shows that when the people around us are unmoved, we start doubting our own judgment. In Operation Pastorius, only Schmidt had the nerve to break away; the other eight followed the crowd all the way to their destruction.
— Tim HarfordIn their own words · checked verbatim
These idiots, thought Joseph Schmidt, are going to get me killed.
Tim Harford4:24
Another figure appeared from the fog and said something to Dash in German. In German! In German! What an idiot!
Tim Harford9:42
We're going to talk, and if we disagree, only one of us will leave this room by the door. The other will leave by the window.
Tim Harford22:13
If you perceive danger, but others around you aren't taking action, don't assume you're the one who's wrong.
Tim Harford34:47
I had all reason to believe that I would be greeted with open arms, befriended as an ally.
Tim Harford35:49
Figures
| Size of the operation | 9 men (8 landed, 1 backed out before departure) | 1:18 |
| Submarine crossing | 17 days | 6:33 |
| Length of Dasch's testimony | 254 pages | 30:40 |
Glossary
- Abwehr
- Nazi Germany's military intelligence service, responsible for foreign intelligence and sabotage operations.
- Operation Pastorius
- The secret Nazi German operation during WWII that sent spies into the United States to carry out sabotage.
- unlawful combatant
- Someone who fights without wearing a uniform or without observing the laws of war, and who may be executed.
How to listen
Listeners interested in history, spy stories, organizational management and the psychology of decision-making, especially executives and founders.
The closing production credits and subscription promo, from roughly 37:55.