Throwing the spotlight on Tyrolean history – with Inzing being involved: March 3, 1945

On March 3 1945 three men, standing on the outside platform of a waggon, quickly got off the train from Haiming towards Innsbruck at Inzing. One of them, Franz Weber, had been spotted by two girls through the glass window of the carriage door. The girls, Elsa aged 13 and Gretel, 14, from Oberperfuss, were on their way home from their school in Pfaffenhofen.
Elsa said: “Du bist der Honnisn Franz.“
She was surprised to see her former neighbour.  People in the area knew that Franz had deserted from the Wehrmacht and was probably with the Americans. He had been condemned to death by the Wehrmacht.
“Und du bist die Honsilis Elsa”, Franz replied. “Sei still. Versprich mir, niemandem etwas zu sagen.”
Elsa nodded and turned away.
This story was related by Josef Weber, brother of Elsa and Gretel, on August 18, 2018, and is documented by Peter Pirker in his book ‘Codename Brooklyn. Jüdische Agenten im Feindesland. Die Operation Greenup 1945’. (Tyrolia Innsbruck, 2019)
Leaping from the carriage, all three men walked around Inzing and up along the forest path to Ranggen, and on to Oberperfuss. Franz wanted to look up his sister Monika, but decided first to contact the mayor of the village, Alois Abenthung. His farm was not far off, and near part of the forest. It was now snowing and getting dark.
Franz Weber sent a second member of the trio, Frederick ‘Fred’ Mayer, to knock at the door. Alois Abenthung, in his night-dress, opened the door. When Mayer said to him that Franz Weber had sent him, the mayor pretended he didn’t know the name, and shut the door.
Alois Abenthung had to be careful. He had already been imprisoned by the Gestapo the previous year:  he was on the list of political opponents of the NSDAP.

Only when Mayer returned and knocked again, and gave the local name ‘Honnism Franz’, did Alois open the door, and all three slipped into the house. Alois was not too happy about receiving the three men: he been required to quarter a German family whose home had been bombed, a Yugoslav worker and a Russian woman, also a forced labourer.
Alois took in the third member of the group, Hans Wijnberg, with his radio transmitter. The next day he arranged for Hans to be moved to his neighbours, Alois and Josefine Schatz, together with his radio. This Hans installed in an attic room, under the roof.  On that first night, Alois had taken the other two men, Franz and ‘Fred’, to Johann and Maria Hörtnagl, in the Silbergasse. Alois then went on to the Hotel Krone, where Anna Niederkircher and her daughter Anni lived. Anni was actually engaged to Franz Weber!
Who were the three men?  
A report by the OSS (Office of Strategic Services, of the US Army), of February 10 1945, describes ‘Project Greenup’ targeting Innsbruck, consisting of a 3-man team:
Frederick ‘Fred’ Mayer, a German Jew….
“Fred, team captain, is 23 years old, aggressive, husky, resourceful German-American, son of a former Colonel in the German Army. He speaks German and French. A diesel engineer in civil life, he is qualified to report industrial as well as military intelligence. He is a natural leader and has a remarkable ability to improvise in unexpected situations.”
Hans Wijnberg, a Dutch Jew…
“Hans, radio operator, is a Dutch-American, aged 23, speaking Dutch, French and German. He is intelligent, cautious and completely loyal and devoted to Fred.”
Franz Weber, a disillusioned Wehrmacht officer, code-named ‘Frank Winston’ by the OSS …
“Frank Winston is a native of Innsbruck, 25 years old, who was a student prior to being drafted in the German Army in 1940. He speaks fair Italian and English in addition to his native tongue. He was recruited from 209 Prisoner of War camp, with a strong recommendation from the commandant.
Winston is one of the finest volunteers chosen for use by this section. He had the reserve rank of Lieutenant in the German Army but showed no ‘officer caste’ attitude while in training with enlisted men. He is conservative, sound, and mature. His contacts are relatives and friends of long standing.”
The three men had been flown from Bari in Southern Italy, parachuted into the inner Oetztal (Sulztaler Ferner), broke into the Amberhger Hütte, sledged and walked to Längenfeld, trucked to Oetztal Bahnhof, crept to Haiming, then trained to Inzing. Their objective was to gather intelligence about the railway network around Innsbruck and the Messershmitt factory at Kematen, and to send key information back to the OSS office in Bari.

If you wish to find out more about this extraordinary story, then consult:
– Codename Brooklyn, by Peter Pirker (Tyrolia 2019)
– Ende und Anfang in Oberperfuss, by Hermann Mix (with Foreword by Alfons Hörtnagl, Oberperfuss, 2021)
– The Lost Café Schindler, by Meriel Schindler (Hodder & Stoughton, 2021)
– The Real Inglourious Bastards (documentary film by Min Sook Lee, 2012)
– Map Z-6 Innsbruck (Army Map Service, U.S. Army, Washington D.C, 1943)