George John Dasch (7 February 1903 – 1992) was a German agent who landed on American soil during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He helped to destroy

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tang ...

program in the United States by defecting to the American cause, but was tried and convicted of

Early life

George John Dasch was born as Georg Johann Dasch in

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer lie ...

in the German Empire. He entered a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

seminary at the age of 13 to study for the priesthood, but was expelled the following year for unknown reasons. Lying about his age, he enlisted in the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

and served in Belgium during the final months of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 1923, he entered the United States illegally through the

Port of Philadelphia The Port of Philadelphia is located on the Delaware River in Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Generally the term applies to the publicly owned marine terminals located within Philadelphia city limits along west bank of the river. Th ...

as a

stowaway A stowaway or clandestine traveller is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship, an aircraft, a train, cargo truck or bus. Sometimes, the purpose is to get from one place to another without paying for transportation. In other ...

, then stayed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. For four years, he drifted among several restaurants, and spent one season at a hotel in

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which ...

. In 1927, he enlisted as a private in the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

. He was assigned to the 5th Composite Group in Honolulu, and served with the 72nd Bombardment Squadron, but after a year he bought himself out and received an

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

. He then worked as a waiter in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, and back in New York City. In 1930, he married Rose Marie Guille, an American citizen. Dasch re-enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1936 and was stationed at

Fort Ontario Fort Ontario is an American historic bastion fort situated by the City of Oswego in Oswego County, New York. It is owned by the state of New York and operated as a museum known as Fort Ontario State Historic Site. Geography and early history F ...

Oswego, New York Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port ...

. He served with the 1st Infantry Division,

28th Infantry Regiment Since the establishment of the United States Army in 1775, three regiments have held the designation 28th Infantry Regiment. The first was a provisional unit that was constituted on 29 January 1813 and served during The War of 1812. The second ...

, L Company, and married Charlotte Holliday in the parsonage of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Oswego in March 1936. He used the alias George Henry Aldasch to hide his

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. ...

. He and Charlotte lived at the home of her father, Jay Holliday, in Oswego while he served at Fort Ontario. They had a son, Howard Elliot Aldasch (October 29, 1937 – October 21, 2013). Some time in 1938, Dasch left the Army, abandoned his "wife" and their son, and returned to Germany. Charlotte Aldasch learned his real identity only in 1942, when he turned himself in to the FBI. She then sent their son to live anonymously with distant relatives in Madison, New York. Dasch's last communication with Charlotte and Howard was via a lawyer and military officer in 1955. At that time Dasch was trying to gain entry back into the United States, but it was denied by

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...

, head of the FBI.

Operation Pastorius

Preparation for espionage

Dasch and the others were trained for espionage activities in a school run by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the German High Command, on an estate at Quenz Lake, near

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. They received three weeks of intensive sabotage training, and were instructed in the manufacture and use of explosives, incendiary material and various forms of mechanical, chemical, and electrical delayed timing devices. Considerable time was spent developing the false background histories they were to use in the United States. They were encouraged to converse in English, and to read American newspapers and magazines.

Espionage activities

On 26 May 1942, Dasch and his team ( Ernest Peter Burger, Heinrich Harm Heinck, and Richard Quirin) left by submarine from

Lorient, France Lorient (; ) is a town (''commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presenc ...

. They landed on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18t ...

, shortly after midnight on 12 June. They were wearing German Navy uniforms to avoid being shot as spies if they were captured during the landing. Once they were ashore, they changed into civilian clothes, and buried their uniforms and other equipment. Early that morning, John C. Cullen, a Coast Guardsman from the station in

Amagansett, New York Amagansett is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, t ...

, spotted Dasch and the three others posing as fishermen on a

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels ...

off the coast of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

. He saw they were armed and also noticed a submerged submarine. The men gave him $260 (some sources say $300) to keep quiet. Increasingly alarmed, he took the

bribe Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...

but alerted his superiors. By the time an armed patrol could reach the site, the four Germans had taken the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average week ...

train from the Amagansett station into

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, where they checked in to a hotel. A search of the beach revealed concealed explosives, timers, blasting caps, incendiary devices, cigarettes, and the naval uniforms. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the FBI were immediately alerted, and the FBI conducted a massive

manhunt Manhunt may refer to: Search processes * Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive * Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies Social organisations * Manhun ...

. All information was kept secret to avoid public panic and to prevent the spies from knowing that they had been discovered. However, the FBI did not know exactly where the Germans were going.

Defection to the United States

Dasch was unhappy with the Nazi regime. He eventually talked to one of his compatriots, a naturalized American citizen named Ernst Peter Burger, about defecting to the United States. Their plan was to surrender immediately to the FBI. Dasch ordered Burger to stay and keep an eye on the other German agents. On 15 June, Dasch called the FBI office in New York from a

pay phone A payphone (alternative spelling: pay phone) is typically a coin-operated public telephone, often located in a telephone booth or in high-traffic outdoor areas, with prepayment by inserting money (usually coins) or by billing a credit or debi ...

on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

. The FBI agent did not believe his story, so Dasch hung up and took a train to Washington D.C. four days later and booked in at the

Mayflower Hotel The Mayflower Hotel is a historic hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., located on Connecticut Avenue NW. It is two blocks north of Farragut Square (one block north of the Farragut North Metro station). The hotel is managed by the Autograph Col ...

. He then went to the FBI headquarters asking to speak to Hoover. Dasch tried to tell the truth to the FBI officials, but they did not believe his story. While Dasch was at FBI headquarters, the FBI sent agents to his hotel room, where they found $82,500 in cash (worth more than $1 million in 2017 U.S. dollars). Dasch was arrested and interrogated for eight days. He disclosed the locations of the other men in the sabotage operation including Burger. He revealed that the goals of the sabotage program had been to disrupt war industries and launch a wave of terror by planting explosives in railway stations, department stores, and public places. Armed with the information Dasch provided, the FBI arrested Burger and six other German agents within the following week. The FBI withheld the true circumstances of their arrest prior to the trial of the eight men, including the fact that they did not actually consummate their plans of sabotage.

Aftermath

Dasch, Ernst Peter Burger, and six others – Edward John Kerling, Heinrich Harm Heinck,

Richard Quirin Richard Quirin (26 April 1908 – 8 August 1942) was a German agent executed as a spy for Nazi Germany in World War II. He was one of eight agents involved in Operation Pastorius, and gave his name to the Supreme Court decision on the trial, ...

, Werner Thiel, Hermann Otto Neubauer, and Herbert Hans Haupt (who had landed in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

to meet with Dasch and Burger) – were tried by a military commission appointed by President Roosevelt on 8 July 1942 and convicted of

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

and sentenced to

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. FBI Director Hoover and Attorney General Biddle appealed to President Roosevelt, who commuted the sentence to life imprisonment for Burger, and thirty years for Dasch. The others were executed in the

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

in Washington D.C Jail on 8 August 1942. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman had both Burger and Dasch released and deported to

American occupation zone in Germany The American occupation zone (German: ''Amerikanische Besatzungszone'', ''US-Zone'', or ''Southwest zone'') was one of the four occupation zones established by the Allies of World War II in Germany west of the Oder–Neisse line in July 1945, aro ...

. They were not welcomed back because they were regarded as traitors who had caused the death of their comrades. Although they had been promised pardons by Hoover in exchange for their cooperation, both men died without ever receiving them. Dasch wrote an account of his involvement with Operation Pastorius ("Eight Spies Against America," Publisher: R.M. McBride Co., 1959. Library of Congress catalog # 59-13612). He died in 1992 at the age of 89 in

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it ...

References

;Bibliography * Billy Hutter: ''Doppelkopp''. Llux Agentur & Verlag, Ludwigshafen 2013, (book about George Dasch in palatinate Language) # City of Oswego New York Marriage. license. # St Paul's Lutheran Church Oswego NY Marriage register # Service Photos of George John Dasch provided by Ft. Ontario historic site manager Paul Lear. # Family records and photos provided by George John Dasch's grandson Mark Aldasch aka Marc Holliday

External links

FBI account
Counterintelligence in World War II. Federation of American Scientists.
Six Nazi Saboteurs Executed in Washington
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dasch, George John 1903 births 1992 deaths Double agents East Hampton (town), New York German Army personnel of World War I People deported from the United States People from Speyer World War II spies for Germany Prisoners sentenced to death by the United States military Recipients of American presidential clemency Saboteurs United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army soldiers Polygamy Bigamists Child soldiers in World War I