Erich Gimpel (25 March 1910 in

Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...

– 3 September 2010 in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

spy 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 tangib ...

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Together with

William Colepaugh William Curtis Colepaugh (March 25, 1918 – March 16, 2005) was an American who, following his 1943 discharge from the U.S. Naval Reserve ("for the good of the service", according to official reports), defected to Nazi Germany in 1944. While a cre ...

, he took part in

Operation Elster Operation Elster ("Magpie" in English) was a Nazi Germany, German espionage mission intended to gather intelligence on United States, U.S. military and technology facilities during World War II. The mission commenced in September 1944 with two Naz ...

("Magpie") an

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 tangibl ...

mission to the United States in 1944, but was subsequently captured by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

in New York City.
Lamphere, Robert J. and Schactman, Tom "The FBI-KGB war: a special agent's story,"Mercer University Press, 1995, Page 7. . Retrieved March 11, 2011

German secret agent

Gimpel had been a

radio operator A radio operator (also, formerly, wireless operator in British and Commonwealth English) is a person who is responsible for the operations of a radio system. The profession of radio operator has become largely obsolete with the automation of ra ...

for mining companies in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

in the 1930s. When World War II began, he became a secret agent, reporting the movement of enemy ships to Germany. When the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

entered the war in December 1941, Gimpel was deported back to Germany. He then served as an

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Gimpel was next chosen to attend a spy-school in Hamburg. His final exam was to infiltrate German-occupied

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, where he first met the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

malcontent and

traitor Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, an unstable drifter who would ultimately betray him.

Operation Elster

Gimpel and Colepaugh were transported from

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

to the U.S. by the , landing at Frenchman Bay in the

Gulf of Maine The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast ...

on 29 November 1944. Their mission was to gather technical information on the Allied war effort and transmit it back to Germany using an 80

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

radio transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

Gimpel was expected to build. Together they made their way to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and then by train to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Before long Colepaugh decided to abandon the mission, taking US$48,000 ($ today) of the currency they had brought and spending a month partying and carousing with local women. After spending $1,500 ($ today) in less than a month, Colepaugh visited an old schoolfriend and asked for help to turn himself in to the

, hoping for immunity. The FBI was already searching for German agents following the sinking of a Canadian ship a few miles off the Maine

coastline The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

(indicating a U-boat had been nearby) and suspicious sightings reported by local residents. The FBI

interrogated Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...

Colepaugh, who revealed everything, enabling them to track down Gimpel.

Prisoner of war

After Gimpel's capture, the spies were handed over to U.S. military authorities on the instructions of the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. In February 1945, they stood trial before a Military commission, accused of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

and violating the 82nd

Article of War The law of war is the component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of warring parties (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territor ...

. They were found

guilt Guilt may refer to: *Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard *Culpability, a legal term *Guilt (law), a legal term Music *Guilt (album), ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims *Guilt ( ...

y and sentenced to be

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

. An execution date was set for 15 April 1945. However, three days before their scheduled executions,

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

unexpectedly died. Due to a custom to not hold any executions during a period of state mourning, the executions were delayed. After the war ended, the sentences of both Gimpel and Colepaugh sentence was commuted to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

. Gimpel was sent to

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

, where he played chess with

Machine Gun Kelly George Kelly Barnes (July 18, 1895 – July 18, 1954), better known by his pseudonym "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, active during the Prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thom ...

. Gimpel was paroled in 1955, after serving 10 years in prison (Colepaugh would be paroled in 1960) and returned home to West Germany. Gimpel would later make his home in South America.

Post prison life

Gimpel was the last person to be tried before a U.S. military tribunal in the Second World War. His autobiographical account of his undercover work, ''Spy For Germany'', was first published in English in 1957, in Great Britain. Following the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001, several books about Nazi spies in America were published, and his book finally appeared in the U.S. under the title ''Agent 146'' (2003). Gimpel was interviewed by

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...

for his

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

program ''

War Stories with Oliver North ''War Stories'' is a military history program on Fox News, hosted by Oliver North, a decorated Marine Corps officer, Vietnam war veteran, and key participant of the Iran–Contra affair. The program covered a number of different stories relating ...

'' in the episode "Agent 146: Spying for the Third Reich". The 100-year-old Gimpel died in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on 3 September 2010. Although widely repeated in reference sources that Gimpel died in 1996, it is known that Gimpel celebrated his 94th birthday in 2004 in Brazil.

Film

Erich Gimpel's career as a spy was dramatized in the 1956 film ''

Spy for Germany ''Spy for Germany'' (german: Spion für Deutschland) is a 1956 West German thriller film directed by Werner Klingler that stars Martin Held, Nadja Tiller and Walter Giller. Based on a book by Will Berthold, the film depicts the mission of a Germ ...

'' (German title: ''Spion für Deutschland''). The actor

Martin Held Martin Held (1908–1992) was a German television and film actor. Partial filmography * '' Dark Eyes'' (1951) - Alexander Grabner * ''Homesick for You'' (1952) - Direktor Petermann * '' Canaris Master Spy'' (1954) - Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich ...

played the leading role.

Notes

External links

Photo of Gimpel on Sharkhunters

at fas.org
Allied report on the interrogation of Colepaugh and Gimpel
at

ibiblio.org ibiblio (formerly SunSITE.unc.edu and MetaLab.unc.edu) is a "collection of collections", and hosts a diverse range of publicly available information and open source content, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics ...

Contains a report on Colepaugh and Gimpel
at navy.mil

book author on foreign spies on US soil
The movie "Spion für Deutschland (1956)" at IMDB

G-Men Grab Two Nazi Spies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gimpel, Erich 1910 births German centenarians Men centenarians World War II spies for Germany 2010 deaths German emigrants to Brazil