Talk:Oscar C. Pfaus

1932 Nobel Peace Prize Nomination?

I haven't been able to verify the offline sources for the statement for which an acolyte nominated him for the 1932 Nobel Peace Prize. However, Pfaus is not listed in the 1932 Nobel Peace Prize Nominations list. — MarkH₂₁^talk 21:53, 31 January 2020 (UTC)

Thanks, I changed the wording accordingly. Philafrenzy (talk) 22:48, 31 January 2020 (UTC)

1940 Attack on Hercules Powder Company

I'm not sure about the source on this claim about the 1940 attack on the Hercules Powder Company. I followed the link to the source, which is a book called Secret Intelligence in the Twentieth Century (link here: https://books.google.com/books?id=egDIVpxHt-0C&pg=PA47#v=onepage&q&f=false) and on page 48 the text does mirror the claim that Pfaus arranged for the attack. However, while I do see references to the explosion elsewhere, nowhere else can I substantiate that it was an IRA attack. And in the source on Google books I do see the claim, but I am not able to see the source they cite. Frankly, it's a bold claim that the IRA carried out an attack that killed over 50 people on US soil. Without more legitimate sources in place, I don't believe this information should be included in this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lastofthetribe (talk • contribs) 14:48, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

I haven't gone into the U.S. operations in great depth yet but the source is reliable and there is this too. I understand that J. Edgar Hoover wanted it all covered up and insisted there were no sabotage operations before the U.S. entered the war despite numerous unsolved explosions. By way of background, the Germans used the IRA and their sympathisers as cover because they wanted the U.S. to stay out of the war and so there were no official German operations against the U.S. Some of the attacks may have been unofficial American Nazi sympathisers but there seem too many for that as they weren't very competent and were discouraged by the Germans for the aforesaid reasons. It may be a story that has yet to be properly told but there is Germany's Spies and Saboteurs by David Allen Johnson:

After negotiating with the Irish leaders, and showing at least part of the $200,000, Rekowski was able to assure Col. von Lahousen that the IRA had agreed to undertake sabotage on a substantial scale in the United States. Among the targets on the IRA's list were: British ships in American harbors; warehouses stocked with supplies for the Allied war effort; lines of communication, including telephone exchanges; as well as any military or manufacturing centers deemed "essential." Rekowski also reported that the "Irish Nationalists," which they were usually called, had enough S-material on hand for the time being. Col. von Lahousen's expectations seemed to have been well founded. On September 12, 1940, the IRA/Abwehr blew up the Hercules Powder Plant in Kenvil, New Jersey; the blast killed 52 people, caused millions of dollars worth of damage, and rattled windows for miles around. Two months later, on November 12, three war production plants, one in New Jersey and two in Pennsylvania, were also destroyed by spectacular explosions. Karl Rekowski was highly amused to read in the newspapers that Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson thought that the sabotage had been carried out with "Teutonic efficiency." p. 18.

Philafrenzy (talk) 17:02, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Still living?

That this gentleman is still living is somewhat surprising. That would make him one of the supercentenarians, but he does not appear in lists of validated supercentenarians, such as that of the Gerontology Research Group or Wikipedia's List of the verified oldest people. If true, that would be a notable fact for the article, would it not? Geoff | ^{Who, me?} 18:11, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Yes, it is interesting that the "later life" section peters out mid-century and there's no mention of his death (despite his 1901 birth). One imagines that somebody with this level of notoriety would not die unnoticed, and that intelligence agencies, at least, would have kept an eye on him. If nothing is known about his death, or if he disappeared, the article should say so. --Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 19:15, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

He's not living. I am told he died in 1968 but I don't have a reliable source for it. In any case he is deemed dead by us. There is not much about his later life because there are no sources for it that I can find. He wasn't well known in his lifetime. The article originally had 1901-? but someone removed the ? Philafrenzy (talk) 19:29, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Deutsche National Bibliothek has his death year as 1868 1968, but I couldn't find their original source.[1]. Plus, he is older than the oldest living man, therefore not living. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 20:33, 26 February 2020 (UTC) typo fixed davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 21:17, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Source appeared to have been metapedia.org Philafrenzy (talk) 21:21, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

@Philafrenzy: Possible but doubtful. Archive.org had 2 snapshots of the metapedia.org page, neither one had the date of death. It is possible that Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek pulled it from a version that archive.org did not capture, but not very likely. By the way, here is a shorter url to Katalog: http://d-nb.info/gnd/1198805129 . davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 22:02, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

The State Archives of Baden-Württemberg surely have the answer. Philafrenzy (talk) 22:07, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

How's your German? It might be worth asking them. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 22:23, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

I will send them an email tomorrow. You can guarantee they have perfectly engineered English. Will probably turn out to be 1968. Philafrenzy (talk) 22:29, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Sources from metapedia

Metapedia.org deleted the article on this person in late 2019, but a version from Nov 8, 2017 is on archive.org at

https://web.archive.org/web/20171108022947/https://enDOTmetapediaDOTorg/wiki/Oscar_C._Pfaus

Replace DOT with a period. Metapedia is on Wikipedia's blacklist.

These may or may not meet Wikipedia's criteria as sources.

• The Spy who spent the war in bed: and Other Bizarre Tales from World War II, by William B. Breuer, page 12
• House Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States (1943) Page 30
• "Dies Body Told How Nazis Direct Anti-semitic Propaganda in U.S. from Hamburg" JTA October 23, 1939
• Armed Struggle: the History of the IRA, by Richard English, page 64
• Defending Ireland: the Irish State and its Enemies since 1922, by Eunan O'Halpin, page 147
• The Secret Army: the IRA, by J. Bowyer Bell, page 158
• Ireland Defined: Espionage through the Ages, page 218

It also lists this source, which is already being used:

• Secret Intelligence in the Twentieth Century, by Heike Bungert, Jan Heitmann, Michael Wala, page 46

davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 22:20, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

More to mine when I have read the ones I already have.... Philafrenzy (talk) 22:27, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Have pic on Oscar Carl Pfaus

Oscar are my grandad i have some pic on him in uniform from WWII if its in intress for Wikipedia? // Björn Oscar Pfaus 85.30.146.253 (talk) 09:17, 18 July 2023 (UTC)