Throughout the Second World War, one of the most dangerous jobs for someone to undertake
was being a spy.
Spies were often dealt with brutally, and Hitler would sentence those to death having
some executed on the guillotine, or being shot by a firing squad.
Spies were pivotal for a country to get one over their enemies, however if caught they
were subjected to torture and a horrific ordeal.
The Americans in 1942 captured a number of German spies who had been involved in Operation
Pastorius, a failed intelligence plan for sabotage within America during World War 2.
But this plan did not go well, and because of this a number of people went to their deaths,
but a few were executed on the electric chair.
Today we look at the execution of Richard Quirin, a man who was one of 8 agents involved
in the German intelligence operation.
Join us today as we look at the execution of the German spy sent to the electric chair,
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Richard Quirin was born on the 26th April 1908, and he was born in Berlin.
But then in 1927 he moved to America and he lived in the state of New York.
During his life he worked as a mechanic for the company General Electric, but he lived
in America for 12 years until 1939.
He was a man who was invested in the politics of his homeland, and he was captivated by
the rise of Hitler and Nazism, and whilst he was in America he even joined the German
American Bund, a Nazi spin off group that held an infamous rally at Madison square gardens.
But then in 1939, Quirin returned home to Germany with his wife and he took a job with
Volkswagen.He worked at a plant in Braunschweig, but then he was recruited by the publisher
of a nazi newspaper for a mission which became known as Operation Pastorius.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbour and the German declaration of War on America,
Hitler had given authorisation for a mission to sabotage the American war effort, and to
attack civilian targets within the country.
The Abwehr were given the mission, and there were a number of germans who were recruited
for the mission.
8 men were picked, and 2 of them were American citizens, but Richard Quirin was seen as an
experienced man who had worked in America.
He was recruited into the Abwehr and was given three weeks of sabotage training near to Berlin.
He was schooled in how to make and detonate explosives, and also in how to make timers
for bombs.
He was given a new backstory, and was told to improve his English to not attract attention.
The mission was to sabotage and hit American economic targets including hydroelectric plants
at Niagara Falls, Plants that made metal objects, and many more places including railroad passes.
The agents were to spread terror and they would plant bombs on bridges, train stations
and in public places, and they were given everything they needed.
They were then put on board two U-Boats which would land on the east coast and drop them
off.
Quirin was given the identity Richard Quintas, who was said to have been Portuguese and he
was said to have been a ‘cool, cruel man who would not hesitate to kill anyone to accomplish
the missions objective.’
On the 13th June 1942, he was one of the first four to go to America, and landed on American
soil on a U-boat.
However, George John Dasch another conspirator would turn himself in to the FBI, and then
Quirin was named as one of the conspirators, and a week later Quirin was the first who
was arrested, and as he tried to run, the FBI surrounded him and took him in to custody.
Dasch had told another conspirator that he had no intention of going through with the
mission, and that he hated Nazism and he planned to bring down the objective.
But Richard Quirin was then taken to trial, and when he was placed on the stand he stated
that he did not know the true purpose behind Operation Pastorius, and he said that he just
used this as a way of getting back to America.
But it was then discovered that he was in fact a devout and loyal nazi and that he willingly
participated with training and with the operation.
If it would have succeeded, without doubt Quirin would have killed a number of civilians
and caused problems within America, but he was then for his work as a spy sentenced to
death and when the death sentence was announced he stood emotionless.
The only fight he showed was that he wanted to let the Nazis back in Germany know that
it was Dasch who had defected and had given over information to the FBI.
Before his execution, Richard Quirin wrote to his wife and daughter and he said, ‘"These
are the last lines I can write to you.
I should like to tell you that I have always loved you and that I came here to make a better
life for you, my dear ones.
But unfortunately, God willed it otherwise.
. . . Tell Kappe or one of his people that George Dasch and Peter Burger betrayed us.
Begin a new life and think of me often."
But he was sentenced to death to die by the electric chair, an execution method which
became notorious in its use in America.
On the 8th August 1942, inside of DC Jail in Washington DC, Quirin was taken from his
cell into the execution chamber.
There were a number of witnesses who were there to see his execution, and he was brought
in and was secured to the electric chair through belts which were wrapped around him.
Then the probes were attached to him that would carry the deadly current, and within
minutes of entering the execution chamber, the electricity was turned on and quickly
Richard Quirin the Nazi spy was executed.
Following his death, his remains were then buried in a potter’s field in a pauper’s
grave.
The failing of Operation Pastorius caused Hitler to fly into a rage to the head of the
Abwehr, Wilhelm Canaris and no other sabotage attempts were made on American soil.
Clemency was given to Dasch after the war, and he was then sent back to the American
occupation zone in America, but in Germany he was considered a traitor, who had caused
the death of Quirin and the other conspirators.
Richard Quirin was a man who was an ardent Nazi, and he joined Nazi factions when he
lived in America, but when the war broke out he would return home and would do what he
could to help the Germans.
He was executed as a spy and a saboteur, and the Americans sought to administer swift justice
onto those who were Nazi spies working on American soil.
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