Melting glacier reveals buried WWII artifacts from US-led spy mission in Austria
In 1945, three men — two Jewish refugees living in Brooklyn and one Nazi deserter — enlisted in the Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States.
Their mission, known as Operation Greenup, was to ”parachute deep behind German lines” into Tyrol, Austria, and gather intelligence for Allied forces on German movements over the Brenner Pass between Italy and Austria and investigate the myth of a Nazi “Alpine” fortress, according to historians at The National WWII Museum.
The men dropped onto Sulztalferner glacier in Tyrol’s Ötztal Valley and were said to have buried their parachutes in the snow before pressing on.
Recently, mountaineers near the Amberger Hütte, where the men sought shelter after landing, discovered parachute material exposed by the melting snow and ice believed to be from Operation Greenup, according to a Sept. 29 news release from the Austria Press Agency.
Edith Hessenberger, director of the Ötztal Museums, told Austrian news outlets that evidence from the materials, locked away under the ice for 80 years, matches almost exactly with historical records from the mission.
Ropes, military tarpaulins printed in English, carabiners, textile parts, and chest straps were also found, but are in fairly poor condition, experts said.
The artifacts will be analyzed then made available for public viewing, according to the release.
Operation Greenup
A core component of Operation Greenup was to investigate myths of an “Alpine redoubt” in the south, according to experts.
Fred Mayer and Hans Wijnberg, the Jewish refugees from Brooklyn, along with Wehrmacht officer-turned-deserter Franz Weber, succeeded in their perilous mission, changing the course of history, “despite being captured by the Gestapo and nearly tortured to death,” experts said.
Their spy work helped US intelligence officers expose the Apline fortress myth and negotiate the “peaceful surrender of Innsbruck,” Tyrol’s capitol, to the US 7th Army on May 3, 1945, according to historians.
“Compared to dozens of other cities and towns, defended till the last shell and cartridge by German forces, then pulverized by US air power and artillery, Innsbruck survived the war nearly unscathed,” according to The National WWII Museum.
“There’s no doubt that Operation Greenup saved many thousands of lives, Austrian and American, civilian and military,” experts said.
Google Translate was used to translate the release from the Austria Press Agency.
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Melting glacier reveals buried WWII artifacts from US-led spy mission in Austria."
