Herbert Hans Haupt

Herbert Hans Haupt (December 21, 1919 – August 8, 1942) was a spy for Nazi Germany during World War II.

Born in Stettin, Germany, Haupt was the son of Hans Max and Erna (Froehling) Haupt. Hans Haupt was a World War I Imperial German Army veteran who came to Chicago in 1923 to find work. His wife and son followed in 1925. Herbert Haupt became a United States citizen in 1930, at the age of 10, when his parents were naturalized. He attended Lane High School and later worked at the Simpson Optical Company as an apprentice optician.

In 1941, Herbert Haupt, with two friends, Wolfgang Wergin and Hugo Troesken, set off on a world trek. Troesken was turned back at the Mexican border for lack of proper identification, but Haupt and Wergin continued. Neither Haupt nor Wergin had been able to secure American passports before the trip. As they were German born (and thus still considered by Germany to be its citizens), they secured German passports from the Embassy in Mexico City. They sailed to Japan, where they found work on a German merchant ship bound for France. Haupt and Wergin arrived in France at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, following which Adolf Hitler had declared war against the United States. Now stranded in Europe, Haupt went to stay at his grandmother's home in Stettin. Wergin enlisted in the German Army (the Wehrmacht).

As a civilian coast watcher, Haupt was awarded an Iron Cross for having helped his passenger ship run the British blockade when he served as a lookout on the way to France. This drew the attention of the Abwehr (Secret Service), which recruited him to return to America as a saboteur. Haupt later insisted he accepted the job only as a way to return home.

...
Wikipedia