Hermann Otto Neubauer was born February 5, 1910 in Hamburg. After completing school he apprenticed as a cook. In 1931 he went to the United States and worked at various hotels as a cook. Later he worked on a shipping line and traveled to England, Australia and places in South America. In 1936 he returned to the USA and joined the German-American Bund and the National Socialist Party. In 1940 he married Alma Wolf. That year he also became friends with Edward Kerling and attempted to return to Germany on Kerling’s yacht until turned back by the Coast Guard. Eventually Neubauer and Kerling returned to Germany in 1940 aboard the S.S. Exochorda passenger ship. After visiting his parents, Neubauer was drafted into the German Army. In the summer of 1941 he was wounded in Russia and received injuries to his right eye and leg. In the Spring of 1942 he was recruited into Operation Pastorius, a sabotage plot against the United States. He landed in June, 1942, at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, with team leader Kerling from a U-Boat. There were two others on this team. Four more landed on Long Island. One of these went to the FBI and gave up the mission. Neubauer was arrested in Chicago and tried by a military commission. He was found guilty and along with five others, executed on August 8, 1942 in the Washington D.C. electric chair. He was buried with the other German agents in the Blue Plains Potters Field under a wooden board numbered 280. In 1982 a permanent marker was placed at the grave site.
Hermann Otto Neubauer was born February 5, 1910 in Hamburg. After completing school he apprenticed as a cook. In 1931 he went to the United States and worked at various hotels as a cook. Later he worked on a shipping line and traveled to England, Australia and places in South America. In 1936 he returned to the USA and joined the German-American Bund and the National Socialist Party. In 1940 he married Alma Wolf. That year he also became friends with Edward Kerling and attempted to return to Germany on Kerling’s yacht until turned back by the Coast Guard. Eventually Neubauer and Kerling returned to Germany in 1940 aboard the S.S. Exochorda passenger ship. After visiting his parents, Neubauer was drafted into the German Army. In the summer of 1941 he was wounded in Russia and received injuries to his right eye and leg. In the Spring of 1942 he was recruited into Operation Pastorius, a sabotage plot against the United States. He landed in June, 1942, at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, with team leader Kerling from a U-Boat. There were two others on this team. Four more landed on Long Island. One of these went to the FBI and gave up the mission. Neubauer was arrested in Chicago and tried by a military commission. He was found guilty and along with five others, executed on August 8, 1942 in the Washington D.C. electric chair. He was buried with the other German agents in the Blue Plains Potters Field under a wooden board numbered 280. In 1982 a permanent marker was placed at the grave site.
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