WWII Relics Found in Alps | Archaeological Discovery

It’s not just in Greece and Italy that things are always impressive archaeological finds make. Such a discovery has now also been made in Austria; it dates back to the Second World War and was previously hidden in the ice for eighty years.

Archaeological find was trapped in ice for decades

A team from the Ötztal Museums was able to recover an archaeological find in the Stubai Alps that provides important information about the work of the secret services during the Second World War. This involves ropes, textiles, chest straps and carabiners. These were discovered there in August. Because the summer had released what had been locked in the ice for decades: the parachute remains of US secret agents.

As Edith Hessenberger, director of the Ötztal Museums, reported to ORF, this was “a special find”. It is very likely that this is material from three secret agents of the US “Operation Greenup”. Some may know this better as “Codename Brooklyn.”

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Tarantino is also thrilled

During “Operation Greenup” in 1945, three agents from the US military intelligence agency OSS jumped from the air over the Alps to collect information about German troop movements and arms deliveries over the Brenner Pass. The two Jewish agents Fred Mayer and Hans Wijnberg as well as the Austrian Wehrmacht deserter Franz Weber landed with their parachutes on the glacier in the Sulztal on February 26, 1945.

The archaeological find is therefore of enormous historical value, because the mission and especially Fred Mayer made a decisive contribution to ensuring that Innsbruck was not destroyed towards the end of the Second World War. This was probably also Quentin Tarantino’s inspiration for his blockbuster Inglorious Bastards.

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“A lucky find”

“This is once again a lucky find for us, especially this year, when we have a focus on National Socialism in the Ötztal,” said Hessenberger to ORF Tirol. To make sure the items were Greenup agents’ material, they compared the items with historical sources.

It is said that the agents buried the parachutes in the snow after landing and then sought shelter in the abandoned Amberg hut. “That’s pretty consistent with what we found,” Hessenberger said. Important evidence here is the ropes, military tarpaulins printed in English, carabiners, textile parts and chest straps.

However, the material is in pretty poor condition after all these years in the ice. You first have to reconstruct it in detail. The probability that these are traces of “Operation Greenup” is extremely high. Once everything has been secured, the archaeological find will then be made available to the public in museums.

Sources: ORF, Innsbruck