Rolf Weinberg

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Rolf Weinberg (born David Silverbaum on 1919) is a Second World War Veteran who fought with the Free French Forces.

Rolf was born in the small Westphalian town of Herford in Germany from a Jewish family. His father was an Iron Cross decorated veteran of the Great War, and the director of the family's local chocolate factory.

In 1936, Rolf's mother secured him the position of an apprentice in a knitting machine factory of a Jewish family in Stuttgart, where he gained experience in office administration. Rolf enrolled in a course in textile engineering at a technical college in Reutlingen, to receive his engineering diploma in 1938.

In September of that year, Rolf received a tip-off that he was about to be arrested by the Gestapo. Rolf managed to escape the Gestapo quickly moving to Hamburg before leaving to Montevideo, Uruguay at the age of 19.

1 In Montevideo
2 With the Free French Forces
3 See also
4 External links
5 Further reading

[edit] In Montevideo

On December 1939, Rolf got personally involved in the Battle of the River Plate. Omitting his Jewish background and passing as a regular German immigrant, Rolf was approached by the British Embassy and trusted with the mission to approach the German crew of the Admiral Graf Spee and feed false intelligence to the Germans that an overwhelming British force was being assembled, and that it was futile to attempt to leave the Montevideo bay.

Being deceived by the false intelligence, captain Hans Langsdorff of the Graff Spee decided to scuttle the ship.

[edit] With the Free French Forces

After the Battle of the River Plate, Rolf joined the Free French Forces, where he was known by the name of Henri Rovey. With the Free French Forces, Rolf fought on several fronts, including the North African Campaign under the command of Marie Pierre Koenig, and on the Gustav Line. Rolf also participated in several top secret missions for the Allies. The nature of several of these missions such as their locations, objectives and the name of others involved are still considered to be top secret.

Rolf is considered by the Allies as a War hero, having received several decorations from both British and French governments. He currently lives in the United Kingdom.