THE INSIDE STORY OF THE CAPTAIN OF THE “EITEL FRIEDRICH”
Out of the black picture of the German depravity in fighting this
war have emerged four or five dramatic episodes that have stirred
the imagination of the world and appealed to the romantic and
chivalric instincts even of Germany’s enemies. The cruise of the
_Emden_ will always remain one of the glorious traditions of the
sea. The knightly spirit of those German aviators who flew low
over the bier of their fallen foe of the French cavalry of the
clouds, and strewed flowers upon it, was in the spirit of the best
that war produces. America was the scene of two such episodes. The
first unexpected appearance of the _U-53_ upon our shores, rising
unheralded from the unsuspected waters, thrilled the sporting
instinct of our people. But perhaps the most dramatic incident was
the arrival of the _Prinz Eitel Friedrich_.
During the night of March 9-10, 1915, this gallant cruiser of the
Kaiserliche Marine, slipped into the harbour at Norfolk, having
run the British blockade of cruisers outside the three-mile limit,
ending a career of six months as a commerce raider, recalling the
feats of the _Alabama_ in the Civil War. The _Eitel Friedrich_ was
soon interned for the period of the war and her officers and crew
put under formal arrest. Even the British, whose fleet had been
outwitted, gave their tribute of praise to the men who had taken
their fair chance and had got away. Captain Max Thierichens and his
crew became objects of admiration to the world. They were showered
with felicitations, most of all, as was natural enough, from
Germans and German-Americans.
That is the bright side of the picture--and no one, even now, would
care to dim its lustre.
But even at his best the German of the ruling class seems tainted
with the ineradicable nature of the beast. The world has long
accepted the Latin affinity of Mars and Venus--perhaps too
complacently, though not without reason--so it would not have been
surprised if the gallant Thierichens had not measured up to the
standards of a Galahad. Nevertheless, it had a right to expect that
he would not descend to the level of a Caliban; and Thierichens
fell below even that low standard.
Among the great quantities of letters of congratulation which
Captain Thierichens received were many from German-American women.
They were stirred by the brilliancy of his exploit: it was a
ray of light in the gloom that had fallen on the Teuton peoples
after the Battle of the Marne, when the rosy vision of quick
victory had turned to the gray fog of a long, defensive war. These
letters breathed the passionate loyalty of the German spirit to
the Fatherland. To these women, Thierichens was the embodiment of
the martial spirit of their race--the spirit of the sons they saw
themselves in imagination sending forth to war. Some phrases from
their letters strike the key:
It is a pleasure for us to help our German brothers, but I also
understand that you, my dear brother, are waiting to come out
from your predicament. How grand it is that you are receiving
letters from the Fatherland. We don’t hear anything. Can’t write
anything, as the letters are not being delivered. So far good
news. It is wonderful. My heart is jumping with joy. I look with
confidence in the future. I have to please so many; have so many
times to defend my Germany, but I have an unlimited confidence in
God and in the truth.
Again: Hold your head high and do not forget: “starlight itself
is in the night and God does not forsake his own.”
Their attitude was one of high patriotism and maternal solicitude.
They sent him books and delicacies, scraps of news from Germany,
and in every way sought to comfort and inspirit their hero.
Thierichens was indifferent to the lofty purpose of these letters.
His mind was depraved by the social custom of military Germany by
which men of the officer class are in youth taught to consider
themselves above the moral law. He was quite aware of the kinship
of all emotions, and he promptly undertook to change the direction
of these currents of passion into a channel more pleasing to his
tastes. It was not long until he had narrowed his correspondence
chiefly to three women and of these more particularly to two. Of
these latter one was a German servant girl of rather better than
average understanding, and the other a kindergarten teacher in the
Middle West, one twenty-five and the other forty-five years of age.
Their correspondence in both cases started on an exalted plane.
It ended in depravity unprintable. Only a reading of the complete
series of Thierichens’s letters to these women could give a full
understanding of the heartlessness, the baseness, and the ingenuity
with which this man, always playing upon their patriotic fervour,
transmuted their finer feelings into the most degrading travesty
of romantic love. He and the kindergarten teacher never met. But by
the time their correspondence came under Government censorship it
had become a blend of exalted patriotism and of passion perverted
to the obscenities pictured on the walls of ruined Pompeii.
Terrible as was the plight to which the teacher had descended,
the case in which the German servant found herself was infinitely
worse. Thierichens and she had met after their first interchange
of letters and they had entered on a liaison of a character that
became so base it cannot even be suggested.
All this while Thierichens was in correspondence with at least
eight other misguided women. Fortunately for them the strong hand
of the law intervened and Thierichens to-day is safely behind
prison bars for his crimes. In the midst of this promiscuous
correspondence he was receiving letters of affection and devotion
from his wife and children, two of which may well be reproduced to
make clearer the depth to which he fell. One is from his little
daughter Christel, the other from his wife. They are as follows:
Kiel, November 26, 1916.
MY DEAR FATHER:
My darling, to-day the day of my 6th birthday, I will thank you
all alone for the pretty things, lovely kisses for same. I hope
my next birthday you will be with us again. I am praying every
evening and morning to the dear God that he will protect my dear
father, and that the war will soon be ended, and you come again
to the dear Fatherland.
Many hundred thousand kisses sent you,
Your thankful daughter,
CHRISTEL.
Kiel, Germany, 23rd March, 1917.
MY ONLY MUCKICKEN:
I want to chat with you again a little to-day; had very little
time yesterday; did some shopping morning, and some stocking
mending in the afternoon; some linen work in the evening; went
early to bed; had love pains; had a little cold. This morning I
went with Christel to Karestadt, bought some stockings, a school
hat and gloves for her; also a leather hat for Elly; very neat.
I am dressing Elly still like a child; she also is still wearing
her hair down her back; she is any way a child yet. To-morrow I
will get some bones from the war kitchen for Fritz, and then I
shall ride together with the children to Aunt Niemann. To-day
is a sunny day, but still a little cold. And now I shall answer
No. 50. From Christmas Eve, 24-12-16. No, darling, we want to
hope that we shall enjoy the 6th Christmas evening together;
a description of our Christmas evening you probably received.
You darling, you’re writing so as if we were hungry, no, my
darling, we have not had any hunger here in Germany yet. We are
having our butter, eggs, meat, bread, and potatoes every day;
only not so much of it as in times of peace. Well, of course,
then everything was extravagantly used. So now everybody has to
learn to be economical which is a good lesson for days to
come, so please don’t listen to the talk of our enemies,--we
are all right; nobody will conquer us; God, the Lord, won’t
leave us alone,--we are all brave. What did Russia gain by the
revolution? Something of that kind is impossible in Germany. The
responsibility for same rests with England again. We shall wait
to see how everything turns out. England will be punished surely.
Now, my darling, enough for to-day. Please remain healthy, and
retain your humor. Be thankful and bravely greeted from your
three sprouts and THIERE.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN THIERICHENS (top)
And scenes on the _Eitel Friedrich_, which escaped from Tsing-tau
and interned at Norfolk]
To make complete the picture of this hero of the Prussian officer
class, it may be well to quote also the round robin of the crew of
the _Prinz Eitel Friedrich_. To them even the air of an American
internment camp was the breath of freedom compared to their service
on a ship of his Imperial Majesty’s Marine. Here is their opinion
of life in it and of their gallant captain:
Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.,
July 8.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT ATTORNEY,
Philadelphia, Pa.
DEAR SIR:
We of the crew of the _Prince Eitel Friedrich_, beg to inform
you about the conditions as there had been existing on board
said vessel, and of the character of Captain Max Thierichens.
He is one of the most cruel and dishonest men who ever had
been in charge of a vessel. He is a disgrace to any military
organization, and we feel ashamed that he brought disgrace
to our vessel. He is one of the worst egoists in existence,
without any feeling for his fellowmen. He is guilty of using the
United States mails for fraudulent purposes, advertising in the
papers that he would receive _liebesgaben_ (love packages) for
the soldiers in order to benefit himself, and later selling the
same in the cantine after an inspection and rifling; he kept
everything of value. He has received 1,000 of packages and money
from very near every German society and countless private people,
but his men never saw a penny of the same. The money he has spent
for himself and some of his officers in his orgies.
As we had been out on the high seas, he only had an eye for
his personal welfare. If we met a vessel, after stopping the
same, the first thing he always did was to secure as much wine
and other good things for himself, and officers, so that they
always had plenty. He would not allow his sailors to bring enough
potatoes and common food on board to satisfy their hunger.
There had been cases where men had been severe punished just
for taking a piece of meat from the table of one of the sunken
vessels. The men did not even have drinking water but he and his
officers used the same for bathing. He had been afraid that the
U. S. Government would find out about his various misdeeds, so
in order to make the Government think that he was all he should
have represented he pulled off the biggest bluff ever thought of.
He told ten men that they could run off, supplied the same with
money, and after a few moments sent some other boys over the side
to make as much noise as possible to call the attention of the
guards. He had his men maltreated wherever there was a chance
to do so. He even did this after we had been brought to Fort
Oglethorpe. We have to thank the U. S. Officers for putting a
stop to it. The captain had been mad that he lost the power over
the men. He swore he would bring the men to a military prison
for years to come, simply because they refused to be treated like
dogs after being informed by the U. S. Officers that they don’t
have to stand for anything like that. If it was not for the iron
discipline maintained by the Germans, there would have been a
mutiny on board the ship. Even a common man hates to see good
supplies going to waste just because the captain could not get
quick enough to his wine, and the men feed on hardtack that was
full of worms. Some of the men are willing to appear in court
against the captain to bear out because they are not protected
by the U. S. Government, and may have to face a court martial
law if they are returned to Germany. We do hope that there will
be an investigation of the evil doings of said Captain. If found
guilty, we do hope that he may find out what it does mean to do
wrong to his fellowmen.