Post by bookrefuge on Dec 26, 2011 18:18:47 GMT -5
During the 1990s, biographies were written about the mysterious Moe Berg—Princeton graduate, major league baseball player, master of many languages, and OSS spy during World War II.
However, long before Berg came into the biographical spotlight, a little-known piece of information surfaced about him. It appeared in the June 1976 newsletter of Hilaire du Berrier. Du Berrier, who had been with the OSS, ran an intelligence newsletter out of Monaco from 1958 to 2001. The last issue before his death covered the events of 9-11. I had the pleasure of meeting du Berrier when he visited Boston over 20 years ago, and I have read all of his newsletters.
According to du Berrier, Moe Berg was the mastermind behind the 1937 destruction of the zeppelin Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey, with the express intention of exacerbating German-American relations toward war. This does not relate to the LKC directly, but it has possible parallels: a team of operatives, working in New Jersey during the 1930s, seeking to impact German-American relations. I will connect a couple more dots after the quote.
Du Berrier recounted this story in his June 1976, May 1989 and May 2000 newsletters. It is hard to choose which to post, because each provides some unique details, but I am going to paste in the last one from the PDF of May 2000. Bear in mind he was in his mid-nineties when writing this, so I hope we can forgive him any typo and a seemingly incoherent remark about the Red Sox playing only 10 home games. Du Berrier’s reports are not on the Web, and I don’t believe the Berg-Hindenburg story has ever been posted elsewhere on the Internet. So if nothing else, here’s a “You saw it here first” for our board:
I realize some people may think “So what? Second-hand rubbish told by a washed-up OSS man. Big deal.”
I don’t assert that the above report is true—just as we don’t know the truth of many statements about the LKC. I post it for whatever it may be worth. I have been able to verify from old newspaper accounts on the Web that Tim McAuliffe was a major figure in Boston sporting goods. Moe Berg did play for the Red Sox in 1937; I checked the team’s schedule for that year, and they did indeed open a series at Yankee Stadium on May 1. On May 6, they played the Browns in St. Louis, though Berg (the back-up catcher) did not play. They returned to Boston on May 19 (not May 14)—du Berrier perhaps confused a “9” with a “4” in his old handwritten notes. So thanks to the Internet, I can at least say that underlying details of this story, though not 100 percent correct, are not “out to lunch.” And I will also say: if the Hindenburg disaster was simply an accident, it is one heck of a coincidence that it burst into flames just as it came in to land after crossing the Atlantic.
Relevance to the LKC? I don’t believe anyone has ever mentioned Moe Berg in connection with the LKC. He does bear some comparing, however, with LKC suspect Jacob Nosovitsky. Both men were spies who worked for government intelligence agencies; both were masters of many languages; both were Jewish. One might wonder if their work ever brought them into contact with each other. Both tragedies occurred in New Jersey, and as a graduate of Princeton, Berg probably knew the Hopewell region pretty well. Berg’s future boss at the OSS, Bill Donovan, was an early LKC figure. I have always felt that the impenetrability of the LKC may suggest that it was the work of an intelligence service, for whom deception is a modus operandi.
Any Berg connection to the LKC is PURE SPECULATION on my part. But if the du Berrier-McAuliffe report is true, and Berg really used a team of operatives to take down the Hindenburg, one wonders if any members of this group were also tied to the LKC.
OK, just to finish with a laugh. Wikipedia says that when one of Berg’s baseball teammates was told that Berg could speak seven languages, he said: “Yeah, I know, and he can’t hit in any of them.”
However, long before Berg came into the biographical spotlight, a little-known piece of information surfaced about him. It appeared in the June 1976 newsletter of Hilaire du Berrier. Du Berrier, who had been with the OSS, ran an intelligence newsletter out of Monaco from 1958 to 2001. The last issue before his death covered the events of 9-11. I had the pleasure of meeting du Berrier when he visited Boston over 20 years ago, and I have read all of his newsletters.
According to du Berrier, Moe Berg was the mastermind behind the 1937 destruction of the zeppelin Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey, with the express intention of exacerbating German-American relations toward war. This does not relate to the LKC directly, but it has possible parallels: a team of operatives, working in New Jersey during the 1930s, seeking to impact German-American relations. I will connect a couple more dots after the quote.
Du Berrier recounted this story in his June 1976, May 1989 and May 2000 newsletters. It is hard to choose which to post, because each provides some unique details, but I am going to paste in the last one from the PDF of May 2000. Bear in mind he was in his mid-nineties when writing this, so I hope we can forgive him any typo and a seemingly incoherent remark about the Red Sox playing only 10 home games. Du Berrier’s reports are not on the Web, and I don’t believe the Berg-Hindenburg story has ever been posted elsewhere on the Internet. So if nothing else, here’s a “You saw it here first” for our board:
CARGO LIFTER INC., which plans to transport three million tons a year by airship, floated seven million shares on the Frankfurt market on May 30 to revive the era when Zeppelins were in the sky. Germans have shaken off the fear of lighter-than-air craft which has dogged them since that May 6 in 1937 when the Hindenburg went down in flames in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The promises of the new company in Frankfurt make this a suitable occasion to tell the story no editor or government official would touch.
A young New York Irishman named Tim McAuliffe had two fixed positions in his life: love of sports and faith in the Catholic church. He wanted a job where he could meet famous baseball players, fighters and other sports idols . He pestered the Spalding sporting goods store until in 1934 a personnel manager took him on for a period of training in salesmanship and on February 10, 1935, sent him to their Boston store.
Becoming a friend of players with the Boston Red Sox and supplying equipment to the universities, colleges and high schools around Boston was an answer to his prayers. The famous Red Skin professional football team bought equipment from Tim. Bill Bingham, the athletic director at Harvard, turned to Tim when he wanted someone to tell his troubles to and Adam Walsh, the Bowdoin College coach, would not buy the new "Tu-way stretch" football pants unless Tim did the fitting
McAuliffe became the friend, adviser, and uncle to most of the athletes in the Boston area. The Red Sox made his apartment their hang-out and Jimmy Foxx fried steaks for them when they were not on tour. Moe Berg, the catcher, would be there, though some players regarded him as a loudmouthed braggart and did not like him. Tim thought he was a stupid know-it-all, but Tim's job was to sell sporting goods and he let Berg stay in his apartment during the team's off-season.
Years later a book was written about Moe Berg and a film was made on him. Herb Morrison of the National Broadcasting Company used him for a program. Whether in Boston or on tour, Berg would walk around town with Tim and on May 1, 1937, there was a conversation that troubled Tim for the rest of his life.
The Red Sox were playing at Yankee Stadium in New York and when McAuliffe entered the clubhouse the men around Berg quit talking. Moe turned to him and said "Tim, you are going to hear something awful in a few days."
To McAuliffe awful could mean only one thing. May 15 was the day when the big league sold and traded players. "Oh no," he said, "they are not going to trade Jimmy Foxx!" "No," Berg replied, "but you are going to hear about it." Less than a week later the Hindenburg, the pride of Germany's III Reich, burst into flames on May 6, 1937, as she was preparing to land at Lakehurst after her 63rd crossing of the Atlantic. Charles Dolfuss, the authority on lighter-than-air craft and Captain Pruss, the Hindenburg's commander, insisted the fire was caused by sabotage but an investigating committee reported that an accumulation of static electricity had ignited the inflammable hydrogen, used because America refused to sell non-inflammable helium to Hitler's Germany.
Tim thought no more about Berg's words at the time but less than a week later papers carried giant headlines . The famous airship had burst into flames on May 6 and began to crumble as passengers leaped to escape the flames
The Red Sox returned to Boston on May 14 for one of the ten games it played each year on the home field and Berg suggested that he and Tim go to the Lobster Pot for clam chowder. Berg seemed in a self-satisfied mood and suddenly asked: "Tim, what did you think of that thing last week?"
Unable to imagine what the player was talking about, McAuliffe asked "What thing?" "Lakehurst," Berg answered. "You know, in New Jersey." Tim answered "Yes, wasn't that awful." Suddenly a thought struck him. "Oh no, Moe! That's not what you were talking about when you told me something terrible was going to happen!"
"Yes, Tim. We had to. We had to do something that would make that maniac (Hitler) attack us." All McAuliffe could think of to say was "Moe, you didn't kill twenty-five people just for that!" He was too upset to say more and finished the meal in silence while Berg went on talking.
"I couldn't be there myself," he said, "I was scheduled for a game but I did the planning and four of my men carried it out." According to Berg, they used a rifle with a telescopic sight, though the sight was unnecessary with a target that big. When the ship came in the men were hiding in the bushes at Lakehurst and the first shot with an incendiary bullet set the after end on fire.
Tim lay awake that night, looking at the ceiling and thinking about Berg's words. He was too frightened to tell his story to the FBI. What if they charged him with being an accomplice for not going to the police when Berg told him something terrible was going to happen? The more he thought about it the more he realized it was not the work of a single man. There was team-work but McAuliffe had no way of knowing how deep it ran. It was at the height of the depression and he was afraid he might lose his job.
It was some years before he started besieging editors and government officials with his story and when he did no one would listen to him. Some editors were afraid of being called anti-Semite. When he offered to testify before a government committee, Secret Service men descended on his apartment. A man named Kent Tyler had seen the shots fired but Tyler was silenced by the government. Herb Morrison, who covered the disaster for NBC, never answered his letters. And that is how the mode of transport, which CARGO LIFTER is about to revive, was shunned for over half a century.
[SOURCE: H du B Reports, May 2000, pp. 1-2. Du Berrier stated in his May 1989 report that “both Washington and Germany wanted the affair dropped. Herman Goering ordered German intelligence to make a report and suppressed its findings ‘lest passions be aroused in Germany and around the world.’”]
A young New York Irishman named Tim McAuliffe had two fixed positions in his life: love of sports and faith in the Catholic church. He wanted a job where he could meet famous baseball players, fighters and other sports idols . He pestered the Spalding sporting goods store until in 1934 a personnel manager took him on for a period of training in salesmanship and on February 10, 1935, sent him to their Boston store.
Becoming a friend of players with the Boston Red Sox and supplying equipment to the universities, colleges and high schools around Boston was an answer to his prayers. The famous Red Skin professional football team bought equipment from Tim. Bill Bingham, the athletic director at Harvard, turned to Tim when he wanted someone to tell his troubles to and Adam Walsh, the Bowdoin College coach, would not buy the new "Tu-way stretch" football pants unless Tim did the fitting
McAuliffe became the friend, adviser, and uncle to most of the athletes in the Boston area. The Red Sox made his apartment their hang-out and Jimmy Foxx fried steaks for them when they were not on tour. Moe Berg, the catcher, would be there, though some players regarded him as a loudmouthed braggart and did not like him. Tim thought he was a stupid know-it-all, but Tim's job was to sell sporting goods and he let Berg stay in his apartment during the team's off-season.
Years later a book was written about Moe Berg and a film was made on him. Herb Morrison of the National Broadcasting Company used him for a program. Whether in Boston or on tour, Berg would walk around town with Tim and on May 1, 1937, there was a conversation that troubled Tim for the rest of his life.
The Red Sox were playing at Yankee Stadium in New York and when McAuliffe entered the clubhouse the men around Berg quit talking. Moe turned to him and said "Tim, you are going to hear something awful in a few days."
To McAuliffe awful could mean only one thing. May 15 was the day when the big league sold and traded players. "Oh no," he said, "they are not going to trade Jimmy Foxx!" "No," Berg replied, "but you are going to hear about it." Less than a week later the Hindenburg, the pride of Germany's III Reich, burst into flames on May 6, 1937, as she was preparing to land at Lakehurst after her 63rd crossing of the Atlantic. Charles Dolfuss, the authority on lighter-than-air craft and Captain Pruss, the Hindenburg's commander, insisted the fire was caused by sabotage but an investigating committee reported that an accumulation of static electricity had ignited the inflammable hydrogen, used because America refused to sell non-inflammable helium to Hitler's Germany.
Tim thought no more about Berg's words at the time but less than a week later papers carried giant headlines . The famous airship had burst into flames on May 6 and began to crumble as passengers leaped to escape the flames
The Red Sox returned to Boston on May 14 for one of the ten games it played each year on the home field and Berg suggested that he and Tim go to the Lobster Pot for clam chowder. Berg seemed in a self-satisfied mood and suddenly asked: "Tim, what did you think of that thing last week?"
Unable to imagine what the player was talking about, McAuliffe asked "What thing?" "Lakehurst," Berg answered. "You know, in New Jersey." Tim answered "Yes, wasn't that awful." Suddenly a thought struck him. "Oh no, Moe! That's not what you were talking about when you told me something terrible was going to happen!"
"Yes, Tim. We had to. We had to do something that would make that maniac (Hitler) attack us." All McAuliffe could think of to say was "Moe, you didn't kill twenty-five people just for that!" He was too upset to say more and finished the meal in silence while Berg went on talking.
"I couldn't be there myself," he said, "I was scheduled for a game but I did the planning and four of my men carried it out." According to Berg, they used a rifle with a telescopic sight, though the sight was unnecessary with a target that big. When the ship came in the men were hiding in the bushes at Lakehurst and the first shot with an incendiary bullet set the after end on fire.
Tim lay awake that night, looking at the ceiling and thinking about Berg's words. He was too frightened to tell his story to the FBI. What if they charged him with being an accomplice for not going to the police when Berg told him something terrible was going to happen? The more he thought about it the more he realized it was not the work of a single man. There was team-work but McAuliffe had no way of knowing how deep it ran. It was at the height of the depression and he was afraid he might lose his job.
It was some years before he started besieging editors and government officials with his story and when he did no one would listen to him. Some editors were afraid of being called anti-Semite. When he offered to testify before a government committee, Secret Service men descended on his apartment. A man named Kent Tyler had seen the shots fired but Tyler was silenced by the government. Herb Morrison, who covered the disaster for NBC, never answered his letters. And that is how the mode of transport, which CARGO LIFTER is about to revive, was shunned for over half a century.
[SOURCE: H du B Reports, May 2000, pp. 1-2. Du Berrier stated in his May 1989 report that “both Washington and Germany wanted the affair dropped. Herman Goering ordered German intelligence to make a report and suppressed its findings ‘lest passions be aroused in Germany and around the world.’”]
I realize some people may think “So what? Second-hand rubbish told by a washed-up OSS man. Big deal.”
I don’t assert that the above report is true—just as we don’t know the truth of many statements about the LKC. I post it for whatever it may be worth. I have been able to verify from old newspaper accounts on the Web that Tim McAuliffe was a major figure in Boston sporting goods. Moe Berg did play for the Red Sox in 1937; I checked the team’s schedule for that year, and they did indeed open a series at Yankee Stadium on May 1. On May 6, they played the Browns in St. Louis, though Berg (the back-up catcher) did not play. They returned to Boston on May 19 (not May 14)—du Berrier perhaps confused a “9” with a “4” in his old handwritten notes. So thanks to the Internet, I can at least say that underlying details of this story, though not 100 percent correct, are not “out to lunch.” And I will also say: if the Hindenburg disaster was simply an accident, it is one heck of a coincidence that it burst into flames just as it came in to land after crossing the Atlantic.
Relevance to the LKC? I don’t believe anyone has ever mentioned Moe Berg in connection with the LKC. He does bear some comparing, however, with LKC suspect Jacob Nosovitsky. Both men were spies who worked for government intelligence agencies; both were masters of many languages; both were Jewish. One might wonder if their work ever brought them into contact with each other. Both tragedies occurred in New Jersey, and as a graduate of Princeton, Berg probably knew the Hopewell region pretty well. Berg’s future boss at the OSS, Bill Donovan, was an early LKC figure. I have always felt that the impenetrability of the LKC may suggest that it was the work of an intelligence service, for whom deception is a modus operandi.
Any Berg connection to the LKC is PURE SPECULATION on my part. But if the du Berrier-McAuliffe report is true, and Berg really used a team of operatives to take down the Hindenburg, one wonders if any members of this group were also tied to the LKC.
OK, just to finish with a laugh. Wikipedia says that when one of Berg’s baseball teammates was told that Berg could speak seven languages, he said: “Yeah, I know, and he can’t hit in any of them.”