During World War II, Moe was parachuted into Yugoslavia to assess the value to the war efforts of the two groups of partisans there. The parachute jump at age 41 undoubtedly was a challenge. But there was more to come: Berg penetrated German-held Norway, met with members of the underground and located a secret heavy-water plant, part of the Nazis’ effort to build an atomic bomb. His information guided the Royal Air Force in a bombing raid to destroy that plant.

But there still remained the question of how far the Nazis had progressed in the race to build the first Atomic bomb. If the Nazis were successful, they would win the war. Berg (under the code name “Remus”) was sent to Switzerland to hear a lecture by leading German physicist Werner Heisenberg, a Nobel Laureate, to determine if the Nazis were close to building an A-bomb. Moe managed to slip past the SS guards at the auditorium, posing as a Swiss graduate student. 

The spy carried in his pocket a pistol and a cyanide pill. If the German indicated the Nazis were close to building a weapon, Berg was to shoot him — and then swallow the cyanide pill. Moe, sitting in the front row, determined that the Germans were nowhere near their goal, so he complimented Heisenberg on his speech and walked him back to his hotel.

Moe Berg’s report was distributed to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Roosevelt and key figures in the team developing the Atomic Bomb. Roosevelt responded: “Give my regards to the catcher.”

Most of Germany’s leading physicists had been Jewish and had fled the Nazis mainly to Britain and the United States. 

After the war, Moe Berg was awarded the Medal of Freedom, America’s highest honor for a civilian in wartime. But Berg refused to accept it, because he couldn’t tell people about his exploits.

After his death, his sister accepted the medal, which now hangs in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Moe Berg’s baseball card is the only card on display at the CIA Headquarters in Washington.

This week we read the portion of Vayechi and conclude the first of the five books of the Torah.