They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany

This is an example that even after 88 years that there are stories of heroism that need to be told. To give credit to those fighters that history has forgotten. That's unfortunate.A informative book. I not sure that the reader need to purchase..

Excellent book!

This is an account of several covert operations in Austria in the waning days of World War II carried out by German-American Jews who volunteered for these operations with the U.S. Army. Having immigrated to the U.S. and knowing what was happening to their fellow Jews left behind, they were especially eager to fight and uniquely suited to infiltrate behind enemy lines. The missions were not significant to the course of the war but a few of them were amazing enough to rival any movie plot. The writing, unfortunately, is dull and repetitive. However, the excitement of the missions is enough to compensate.

We know so little about the brave Jewish men and women who fought the Nazis. This is the story of Jewish immigrants to the United States volunteering to go back into Nazi Germany as spies - thus risking a horrific death. It's inspiring.

What do you get when you take two recent Jewish émigrés to Brooklyn: the first, a lanky, blond haired Dutchman, the second, a stocky, dark haired German and throw them out of a perfectly airworthy B-24 over the frozen confines of German occupied Austrian Alpine territory? Oh, and mix in a couple of Wehrmacht deserters: the first, a German swindler of ill repute, the second, an Austrian Heer officer with an anti-Nazi predisposition? And for good measure, add a couple of Gestapo sadists, a few opportunistic Nazi Party officials, and a modest helping of courageous anti-Nazi Austrian townsfolk? No, you do not have the making of another Quentin Tarantino action-drama. You have, arguably, the most successful OSS mission of the Second World War--Operation Greenup. That is the tale that Mr. O'Donnell tells in "They Dared Return." Page for page, a most satisfying read!

After reading the author's latest book: Dog Company, I decided to pick up one of his earlier works. As a historian and a combat veteran myself, I found it expertly written and extremely well-researched using thousands of declassified documents. They Dared Return is a magnificent story, brilliantly illuminated by the author, a tour de force.I'm really looking forward to seeing the documentary "The True Inglorious Bastards" which is based on this book. Does anyone know why its being shown around the globe but not here in the US?

Yet another amazing book by O'Donnell. His brilliant prose puts me right there behind the enemy lines with "Hans" and "Fred" as part of Operation Greenup. These true stories of real life heroes are cinema-worthy, especially enjoyable is the part where Fred dresses up as a German Officer. These men risked everything to parachute back into enemy territory to gain invaluable intel on the Nazi war machine. Hans and Fred can teach all of us a lot about life. Reading this book made me reflect on my life and the paths it choose. Would I be willing to risk everything for what I believe? Hans and Fred did. After reading this book, so would I.

This is a terrific, can't put down, book. What these people did is utterly fantastic. Those of us who enjoy Innsbrück, Austria and the surrounding area and villages, can thank these people that it is still there. This book and the work done by Mr. O'Donnell will either open your perspective or deepen it in a significant manner, looking at both friends and enemies. Thanks Mr. O'Donnell for insuring that these experiences will not be lost.

The subject matter should have made an exciting readWhilst the acts the men an women performed were exceptionally brave, the style of writing was largely mundane and often reduced to simply reporting facts, quite unimaginative!The heroes deserve better