This week in 1942

In a letter to his wife and daughter:
“These are the last lines I can write to you. I should like to tell you that I have always loved you and that I came here to make a better life for you, my dear ones. But unfortunately, God willed it otherwise. . . . Tell Kappe or one of his people that George Dasch and Peter Burger betrayed us. Begin a new life and think of me often.”

— Richard Quirin, convicted of espionage and conspiracy to commit sabotage, electric chair, Washington, D.C.
Executed August 8, 1942

Quirin, a machinist working for Volkswagen, was recruited to take part in Operation Pastorius, a Nazi plot to sabotage various economic targets in the United States. Quirin was a member of the first group of men involved in the plan, who were under the command of George Dasch. Their mission was foiled and all eight men were arrested when Dasch turned himself in and exposed the plot.