This is a wartime memoire of Franklin Lindsay’s time in
Yugoslavia. It begins with him parachuting into German-occupied Yugoslavia to a
group of partisans. He heads north in Stajerska, a part of Slovenia today but
part of the Greater Reich at that time. This means that he was likely one of
the first, if not the very first, American intelligence officer to enter Hitler’s
Reich. His initial mission was to provide aid to the partisans who would then
use the weapons and explosives received to attack German supply lines running
through the province. They experienced some success with this until the
partisans began to horde the weapons and ammunition in anticipation of the end
of the war, when they hoped to make a move to capture and then claim for
Yugoslavia parts of Austria and Italy.
Lindsay was often placed in unique situations to know and
evaluate important people in Yugoslavia, including Tito. This made his opinion
of the situation there highly valuable to the Allies both during and after the
war, though his superiors often failed to listen.
One aspect of the book that stuck out to me was the
methodical way the communists in Yugoslavia (and this happened all over Eastern
Europe after the war) excluded all enemies, real and potential, and created an
entirely new government and way of life for the people there. It is
frightening, really, how powerless the Western Powers were to prevent decades
of abuse and political slavery from descending on the people of Yugoslavia.
I was also amazed at the rigors of life on the
run, which Lindsay and his counterparts in the OSS, SOE, and partisans in the
mountains of Stajerska often were. The Germans hounded their steps, and many
did not make it out alive.
