OSS Missions: Salzburg, Munich, Trieste

Car troubles and intelligence work

This weekend, we will be driving up to Salzburg to visit my dear friend Lizzie. So I thought it would be a good time to try to figure out one of the documents that Opapa had in his possession that relates to Salzburg — as well as Trieste (Italy) and Munich.

The document is dated from June 30-July 10, 1945. I think this was directly after Opapa arrested former Hungarian Prime Minister Béla Imrédy in Austria, though I’m not 100% sure. I haven’t been able to find an exact date for Imrédy’s arrest, though it was probably in mid-May to June, 1945.

In any case, Opapa had the following typewritten document saved in a folder called “OSS Files.” It seems to be a journal, documenting his activities from June 30-July 10, 1945.

It’s an odd document, and it’s unclear why he wrote it: was it part of a report for the OSS? Was it for his own files? The information he records is clearly intended either for himself (to remind himself of his activities) or for people who knew about his mission, and were acquainted with the people involved. As a result, the text is harder to decipher today, since many of the people and abbreviations are unclear. But I will try! Here is a transcription of the first few entries:

June 30, 1945: Start from Salzburg after lunch in two cars with Bob Perry. Drive thru Munich to Olching, find Frau Dubovic in farm, prosperous, etc. Sister, g[ir]l friend, Eberhardt (Banking in U.S., film, UFA, knew Laci. Deliver letter from Adelma Prossen. Info. wire from Capt. Ross. Stay overnight.

July 1.: Leave Olching 0900, lunch at Castle in Salzb., Bob’s car breakes down on mountain. Stay Maultendeorf overn[i]ght.

July 2.: Get Mercedes Benz, drive it to St. Michel, leave at garage. I drive on to Trieste, Bob goes back to Mault. to pick up car.

I arrive Trieste 1700, find Welles. On the way info. by Capt. 10th Mt. Inf. Div. abou[t] G-2 report on penetration of Russians in uniform in allied terr. (Mor info. at Div. Hq. Zorucca, near Udine.). Also info about 270 Pz. moved by US soldiers from Bretto de Sotto to Plezo. Bob arrives in Trieste, car smased by sliding into truck. My jeep has a flat. Rain all day. sirocco.

From these entries, it’s possible to create a map of Opapa’s movements from June 30-July 2, 1945:

Over the course of three days, Opapa and Bob Perry covered over 800 kms. They drove from Salzburg to Olching, where they visited someone named Mrs. Dubokovic and Eberhardt, and delivered a letter from Adelma Prossen. It seems that they had a personal connection: Opapa notes that Laci (Laslo Benedek, Opapa’s half brother), knew Eberhardt, and that he was involved in the film industry.

Aside from offering information about Opapa’s location and contacts, what I appreciate about this document is that it offers a window into the more mundane aspects of working “in the field” for the OSS, ie. dealing with cars that keep breaking down. In each entry, the cars are a central concern: on June 30, Opapa and Bob Perry have “two cars” that they use to drive to Olching and back. But on their way back, “Bob’s car breaks down on mountain.” Presumably as a result, they “stay [in] Maultendeorf overn[i]ght.”

The next day is again consumed with car troubles. Opapa “get[s] [the] Mercedes Benz” (likely this is Bob’s car that broke down) and leaves it at a garage in St. Michel (I think this is Sankt Michael, near Mautendorf). Opapa then “drive[s] on to Trieste,” while Bob “goes back to Mault. to pick up car.”

By 5pm, Opapa was back in Trieste, where he learns about Russians entering Allied territory and other important intelligence. And yet, the car troubles continue: Bob finally arrives in Trieste, where his car was promptly “smas[h]ed by sliding into [a] truck.”

Meanwhile, Opapa’s “jeep has a flat.” To end the entry, he notes: “Rain all day. sirocco.”¹

The car troubles would continue: on July 3, he “got Bob’s car to [a] mechanic,” on July 5, he had the “jeep battery, [&] generator fixed.” The car issues abated for a few days, but the document ends on July 10 with a fitting note: “Someone stole two spare tires from Bob’s car last night.”

One of my favorite photos of Opapa. He stands with his jeep — perhaps the same jeep that got a flat in Trieste on July 2, 1945.

1. I did not know the word “sirocco,” but apparently it is “a hot wind, often dusty or rainy, blowing from North Africa across the Mediterranean to southern Europe.”