This week in 1942

Written, to his wife:
“Marie, my wife—I am with you to the last minute! This will help me to take it as a German! Even the heaven out there is dark. It’s raining. Our graves are far from home, but not forgotten. Marie, until we meet in a better world! May God be with you. My love to you, my heart to my country. Heil Hitler! Your Ed, always.”

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

Kerling was among the eight men who were part of Operation Pastorius, a Nazi sabotage mission. The plan: a series of attacks on American economic targets, such as the hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls.