Your black and white photo is hand-signed by Erich Gimpel.
Erich Gimpel was Abwehr Agent #146.....out of more than 20,000 Abwehr agents. He had many covert operations in South America, later was entrusted with Operation 'PELIKAN', the plan to bring two disassembled JU 87 STUKA dive bombers by U-Boat to a small island off the coast of Panama. There the planes would be offloaded to the island, reassembled and used to bomb the Panama Canal. This plan was abandoned, but Operation ELSTER was then put forth full speed. In ELSTER, Gimpel and his associate, US Navy deserter William (Billy) Colepaugh, were put ashore on the Maine coast in November of 1944 to sabotage the Manhattan Project, the American atomic bomb project.
When he and Colepaugh had a parting of the ways, Colepaugh went to the F.B.I. and reported the whole scheme, resulting in the arrest of both men. Both were convicted of spying for Germany and were sentenced to hang. Three days before Gimpel's date with the hangman, President Roosevelt died and Truman put a moratorium on these death sentences and Erich's sentence was later commuted to life in prison, and after a few years, he was released.
His book "Spion für Deutschland" (Spy for Germany) was released and then made into a movie with Kurt Jürgens slated to play the title role. This is a photo of the movie handbill for that film, hand-signed by a 93 year old Erich Gimpel, more than happy that his meeting with the hangman never took place. He has been a Member of Sharkhunters for more than a decade.
This hand-signed photo may be purchased for only $50.
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