(QGVj

mmnmm •eMBaoSMtojweaaefiMSMMaosa

of v i s i t to S t e r n a *

Prepared &y xato^" ^ Consul tayaoad 8 . Ooist* ^ t

OB August 21, 19a: a t 10:SO A.M. I t r r l v e d l a S t e t t i n »» t had goae t«". inves t iga te the « « M »f t o r s t s a John­

son, s« Aaerieaa seaman, wiio had been a r res ted ©a July 11, 193S, and condetsnod to a ix south© i«.pri season t on. August 10, 193&, i p the Special Sanaa*y t s a r t a t S t e t t i n for speaking disparagingly of IBs© Go rasa Caaacsilo*, Adolf EitlOJfc

Immediately upon sey a r r i v a l a t S t e t t i a I went to the office of the Polios p re s iden t , sad was cord ia l ly received by the noting President* £r* Malsan* So waited no t ine la auesajonlng to the Police yraesidisai a secre t service «tan fro® the office of the s t e t t i a . Secret Po l ice , who wee to- acoocpamy ©o to the prison whers -Johnson was kept. Dr* Kolsen els© telephoned to find out 1 B which prison Johnson ens lodged* shiXa X was awaiting the a r r i v a l of the secre t service aan, t engaged 3-r* Motes a In conversation a ad explained the purpose of ®y v i s i t aad a lso gave hi® o br ie f h i s t o id of what had b e f a l l s * aaortoaas in thlo country since the ad­vent of the tevolat loa* 1 did thlo in ordo* to paste the way for the proposal, I wished to tmk% to the Police President regarding any fur ths* t rouble which nigbt develop with .^aerican **ea»sa In the future* 1 to ld hla that the Judg­ment which had been passed upo» Johnson had saad© a very unfavorable iapreeslon In America, sad that we were very such concerned l a Ber l in shout th i s*ease , sad f e l t that saute thing had to he done about I t* X explained the a t t i t u d e we had toward the pranks of seamen, which l a every par t of she world were about the aa^e; and tha t wo would expect now tha t kaovlann vessels are a r r iv ing every week In the naj •># of 5 t o t t i n t ha t the polled would exert * watchful eye over the individual© wb# might coses ashore , and eo long ee no ser ious a r i a e was eoaa i t t ed help to get the ships cleared without any undue trouble a r i s i ng fr©» sailor©* brawls* 1 gave ft b r i e f h i s to ry &i the a t t acks made oa Americans by'S*4* nea; the l igh t sentence whion woo recent ly passed on ft c i v i l i a n for aaklog a ser ious and baneful bodily a t t a s k ©a an America** and contrasted t h i s with the judgment «feich had been passed i s ' J t e t t ln . I saids tha t we had bees very pat ient with a l l this*, but tha t the •>• t i a e had ooas to take a ser ious view of the German method© of administering Jus t ice* ?his brought no to the point which I wao't%d to make* X said tha t the police could aavft prevented t h i s t r i a l by ge t t ing Johusaa back oa h i s boat, and by not. allowing the matter to assuae such ser ious a sport ts* o*» Unison sa id t h a t be was d i r e c t l y l a agree­ment with the points I bad ra ised; and fu l ly understood and sympathised with our a t t i t ude* He explained, however, tha t during the l a s t four aoaths the police department

a t

- g

a£ S t e t t i n had been so occupied with l©«*ai p o l i t i c a l n a t t e r s , the rounding up sf eomtualsta and «« for th , tha i thegh&d sot had time to devote the necessary a t t en t ion to es>6«s infolding forelgnsiB in the por t ; but that we could depend upon t h e i r 4©lag s© ta the f u t u r e , ffe said that in th« fu ture , i f &n American Is a r re t t ed* he wi l l a d t i s * us by telephone s i ©nee so tha t our ad'srlce and co­operation in adjust ing the matter «*&y bis had.- I said that we #ere p a r t i c u l a r l y in t e res t ed l a oases which Slight be teamed p o l i t i c a l , or which had & p e l i t l o a l *«*p#«t. I went fur ther in to t h i s question; and we esse to a complete agree®©*** a s the B*eessity of g e t t i a g r i d of p o l i t i c a l cases with the l eas t aftteunt of trouble* 1 want awa/ with the ispressioB tha t *?e could depeaA upoa the police ©f S t e t t i n to loo* spec ia l ly a f t e r such cases , i f they occurred, ia the future .

?he secret s s rv lcs »aa arr ived *ind escorted «s to the prisoa where Johnson was kept, fas Taratehar was a very

<pl«a*«iit » a , greeted «s cord ia l ly and had Johnson brought a t oa©e to h i s o f f i ce , I was allowed to ta lk to Johnson freely ia English, which language «as not understood by the Vorsteher and the secret service AISJU who were pre seat daring th s conversa-tlea* ?he ?oratsher attended t© business a t Mb desk while I talked with Johnson,aad the secret eer t ice isae ess i a the roost aitapiy waiting for so to gat through.

fo r s tos Johnson i s a well appearing young smn, with «a i n t e l l i g e n t honest face, of & generous nature , aad a person who S bell&vs would not voluntar i ly ©oajsit any' kind of crisse. He professed h i s Innocence aad X he l i e r e hi©. There w«a aot ths s l i g h t e s t h int of dupl ic i ty I s h i s nature . He gare thw- i sp reaa i se ©f be lag an honest country lad , who innoceatly got tat© t r o a h l s , aad s t i l l yet does not know what I t l a a l l about aad thinks sosie ser ious tiis— take has been nada.

I "asked hilt a t ©ace to t e l l «e the s tory of what happened ©a ths night he was a r r e s t ed , t h i s he did. i t appease tha t ha wan hat lag a f r iendly ta lk with a person a t the bar , who had asksd him where he oano fro*, what ship ho was ©a, e t c . , aad then got ©a to p o l i t i e s ! quest ions. Bis in te r roga tor asked h i s what ho thought sf the "i«w Germany* aad what Americans think Sf what has happened ia Gert&ftay; aad Jehnaoa* i t seems, began to t e l l t h i s *an some ©f the things which appeared, in the foreign press , aassely t h a t the Jews vers against H i t l e r and tha i he wag a ' 'sechoslsvsfclsa, e t o . I t anjr be «ei» to remark h*re that Jonnoon h*® ®e« poso l l a r i ty which was te ry aot icoabls t ho opoko several t i a e s Sf hie knowledge of foreign languages. He said he hopes to got oa th s J*@liftt force ia Bow York because he can apeak CJer»a% Sasalan aad Pol ish. Of these languages he has ©alf a a m t t e r l a g Judging froa the atto&pU he ®ade to speak' OerMan while he was osavoralng with as* Obviously during th s l a s t three years he has been s t &ea

he

he tots picked ap © ©aiIor t© knowledge of these languages. l a the pa r t s ae ha© f l a t t e d , ©ad tninks he i s ft l i n g u i s t . He probably has considerable t a l en t In t h i s d i r ec t ion , but I t I s © talent that he has had a© opportunity to develop. But he loves to sham ©If hid " U a j w u B " ! ©nd again and again repeated lis g©rm«n what he sa id . I t Id ©leer to ©• that h i s atttt&pt to converse in Soman ga t h i s Into t rouble on th« night of July l a t a . Hi© conversation was gterheard by d party who was standing sear him, who suddenly without any s i r o o t provocation lauded Johnson m ©low on th« back of th© head, l*fa© e*aa wore a r ing and t h i s cut open John-soats head. H« wheeled around to defend hi©self and reeetved another bio*. Other* standing near joined the fray which aev«lcp**d «uch confusion* ©at an effor t was mad© a t on©© to p©rt the ©onhstants and Johnson we© shoved out ©f doors. The person, however, who attacked d in , was obviously © B#»tia>aal s o c i a l i s t party saan, and I Idaraed of good ©on.. f l a o n t l a i au thor i ty • *fanat ical adn©r»nt* of the p&rty* This ssaa kept up hi© teciferou© accusations against Johnson to the offset that Johnson hid insu l ted the ffdaneellor, and on the way to the police s ta t ion Johnson wa© followed by the "fanatic** who would not cease ra i s ing fas© about Johnson*s statement©* At the polio© s t a t i on they bandaged Johnson*8 head* and he would probably head allowed to proceed to h i s ©hip; hat the fana t ica l accuser i&ade vigorous flharg.es against Johnson, and the o f f i c i a l s *?«r© bound to take eognisane© of tit© ©ettoid ?he faot i s tha t Johnson was the person who was assaul ted ; accor&iag't© his statements he did not strife©, back; *md 1 helieve that the court proceedings bear t h i s oat as no petition was -«ade Id »« of th© faot tha t Johnson had heen a©case© of &ny other offense than insu l t ing th© Chancellor* I belief© that Johnson!© ststeiw&nt* ar© ©orreot* He was conversing wltd © parsed who de f in i t e ly disappeared during the fray, and who ha© not b&en ca l led in to elve hi© testimony. Johnson we» having a **F*©ndiy conversation and not an a l t e r -ea t ian ; therefore i t 1© a*f» to a suua© that Johnson wa» not naad or arguing unpleasantly with soft© ono« The daughter of the saloon propr ie tor had asked air* to bay her © drink which Johnson refused, and her t©stl«*ony was l a t e r .given in the courts as © witness against Johnson.

I t i s c lea r to ®« that Johnson's asaaf iant had ©is-aaderstood Johnson and that h is sas© 1 len t «©© • fansti© and prob&bly harbored gmdgdd again©! foreigner© in general . The a s s a i l a n t was a bully who «n©w tha t he had plenty of " p o l i t i c a l friends** a t hand, ©therein© he would not have

I'lMftA mJ^UV^MaOF£A. -iSSWS.* J2S& WVfWw the f loor up with d i d a s s a i l a n t , If he had had an opportunity. l?her© were plenty of Satis©© 1 ioo ia l l s t© about who immediately ©»*»© to the dei'aned of t h e i r perty maii.

fad

- 4 -

The fas t tha t Johnson was held osar and not allowed to i s t s r a so hl& ship m s due to the ©hargea swids ay the Sat ion»l Soa l s l l s t* t h i s la another ease of where the Polls© were uoabla to s e t #s they &aw f i t , solag iaUti ldated by the as t ion of the p&rty-iaan. the ant ion of the party ®aa la the "key* to the en t i r e proceedings, f l th a l l proper re apart for the i a t e l l i g e n s s of Geraaa j u r i s t s and t h e i r des i re to administer j u s t i s * an4 uphold the laws thers l a no queatton but that frs« th* hag liming to the end the fa ta of Johnson was determined by the Uaasi i ss l ac t ion of the party aaa who saw the matter throa ts to a f inish* -fhls *farty «aa* ax-plains the &©tion of the eoor t , of tha lawyer fa r the defease sad of the proae«uting a t torney . Sersaa | a a t i « e dote hot as yet faas t ioa free fro© the int imidat ion whlah p o l i t i c s ha t s injeotsd l a to the i s n r t s .

I qaast lotted Johnson regarding the e t aa ta suhee^uaat to the night of duly 13th* Ha s ta ted thai he had remained la s o l i t a r y flssfiaeasst f ro* July ISth to July 29 th , tha t i s s ixteen f a l l days. Paring t h i s ti%e he was given ao ad»l©e| but only re©eive4 the noti©e& from the ©©art r s -gardlag h i s t r i a l end the a©©uaatlsns lodged %gaiast him. He aeeer had a vi&it froe the at torney who was assigned to him by the ©©art to 4efend h i» . Ha aaly read that he had en at torney bat he aaear has* the opportunity of ©safer Lag with hist* He *as neter questioned regarding the witneeses he do-sired on l ied ' i a h i s defease; in foot, nothing was s t a r »*14 to h i s about defease^ nor was the s l i g h t e s t ef for t ansae to seoure witaeaaea in his defease. I t ia obvious that sjsoag Germane, there «?aa nobody who would have the weurage to appear for Johnson, If those ©ould be found who aysspa thisse4 with h i s a i a fo r tuaa . Johnson ©a re fu l ly dessribou the prsneedings ia tha ©oart.

l e said the ««*ae was ©rigiaai ly t a i l e d oa iugast 1 s t , sad the only witness against hits was h i s *©©uaer, Otto l inles, who t e s t i f i e d I s ©aurt under oath that Johnson had ©ailed H i t i e * ft C*s©hoslsva*lan Jaw. tha t r i a l was postponed to August 10th to get so r t witnesses, the wi tnes­ses that were sus«onad on August 10th were three sore wi t ­aeaaea against Johnson. Between August 1st and August 10th ha reoeived net t i a l t from Ala lawyer; nor was any a t t snp t i&ade to get witnesses to defend Johnson. 411 th i s was ob-t lous ly dona to maha a s tronger ©ass for tha Sta te and for the "p&r%-ft«n"« The evidence use4 aga ins t Johnson were the police statements te*de oa tha night of July 13th.

during fche t r i a l oa august 10th the four witaeaaea against Johnson w*;rs f i r s t heard* o t to Ilafc was the f i r s t to tales the utaad* Ke to ld of the osnversa t i s* whloh he overheard on the night of Jmly l£ th . Be swore under oath that he haar4 J^hnaon say that H i t l e r was a ~ae*hesl©va*laa Jew.

the da ugh t a r of the aalosa-iceepss next gate her testimony* She sa i4 tha t aha heard sa th lag of the ©oa-

veraat ioa

. i -

versa t ios # but tha t John MA m© aruak and tha t she had slapped Johnson In. the feoe because he l»po l i t e ly refused to buy her a drink*

the wife sf ih« salo©n~k««per next t e s t i f i e d ana eorrobor&ted th* •vidensA of Link, and sdded that Johasc had s*«id that "Gearing had spent soma t i s e ia aa asylum for drug addiota^* Johnson denies ever having said thlA.

the f i n a l witness was the as loon-keeper nlA&slf, who t e s t i f i e d tha t Johnson i # I awoken against H i t l e r aa slaiAsd by LiaJt, «>ad had sato. other d is respec t fu l thicks about Hitler*

Johnson s ta ted tha t the Proaeoating at torney had asked for * sen teas* s f OB© year an one ohsrge and s i s isoaths on another* Ha said that ha was ami lad on the stand and i n t e r ­rogated through as I n t e r p r e t e r who m s somewhat timid sod net Altogether enthusias t i s about ge t t ing Johnson's s tory vigorously eefeiA the court* I t i a Blear to «e that the In t e rp r e t e r d l4 not a t r a i n h i s se l f ia order to sake a vigorous defense for Johnson befor* tnft court* Fe was aot asked any questions by lieferendar Harder who w%»a hi» a t torney . Ha seeded to have no impression a t ail . shout the plea wade by h i s lawyer*

Johnson aaid he bad baas wall t r ea ted »t All tiaies; bat in true sea&an fashion complained about the food* Be said I t was Sloan, feat he d i d n ' t l i ke I t* I to ld hist that we #ere inves t igat ing hie ease and would do oar beat to get alia out of t h i s throuble a t ©acs* aad tha t 1 cer ta in ly hoped be would oooa be free to re turn to Ataerioa* t a sited him a few Ausstlons about hie family* Hie boas ia 10 Saely Street* Brooklyn, Saw York* Bis fa ther i a oae ^harlea Ishn&oa, A farmer, l iv ing at SouthsId, long Inland* Johnson was oa the farm with h i s f a the r u n t i l three years ago «bea he s t a r t e d to go to sea* Me i s uamarried.

1 l e f t Johnson a ad went aext to v i a i t asferen&ar Bard**, loo® So* I f ,a very day u a t l l 3. »*K* tAAtsgerioss" i i t s t t i s } A At a t a r i ob t t t e t t i a * Harder i s a young Aaa about S? years oid{ who | A doing h i s apprAfitiseshis in the courts* Ke ia an i n t e l l i g e n t young ®a»» ^ho la say opinion i s ge t t ing very bed experience l a the work of aiding the proteases of l a s t i e s At the present t l ^e he ia the a t torney for persons c e a s e d of p o l i t i c a l Ariffioa* He has A large nuAOer of cases and works mostly froa* the doss iers which a r t went to his* Hs to ld «a tha t I t I s v**x*y r a re that he has the time to consult h i s c l i e n t before the t r i a l ! I had A long ta lk with him and pointed out the ^hole aspec ts sf the oaae as I foaad them. I® aeeaed mrj mvueh eabarrassed ebout the wholft ihlitg; and i had to be gentleman eaough to spare hia feelings* I did t e l l h ia , howsvsib thAs we would never be ebis to uadAr^tand why ae did aot take a mom ac t ive fj i terest III h i s s l i e a t s * welfare* I went into s somewhat de ta i l ed h i s to ry of how aersjaii j u s t i ee had been fuaetionlng fo» sad egaiaat AAsrlsADs alaifA the Se^aiutioA* and that t h i s was s s i tua t ion whieh ooald a s t keep up sua* longer » i thuut hat ing ser ious oonsequen«ies*

f ha

- § -

?bs chief tlitag i s tha t I saw a t once that s woula have • staunch supporter I s Hfejpj? Ha«#f to get Johnson pardoned a t ones, and tha t t t was b e t t e r t s work eiong t h i s l i ne , i s off* red to go with, iae to See abers'tastsenwalfcsciiaftarat Lssgehsins, who had besn ths frosecutln^ Attorney ks the cans, and so *s went together to lan^ehslas** of f ice . "*his gsnt lsasn rsc«l red SJ« courteously but seemed sostswhat uneasy to isarn that X was the American "onsul ,iioa Berlin s&d that I had come to invest igate the ci*a« of Johnson. I wus *»«ased to se« LaajF.eheins, who spps&red to me to ho a very juvenile person, hardly .store than tvsnty-fsuv fears# Me «&s undigni­f ied in appearanss and gs&»s one the Impression of being a young unite &pt drygooas elerJu Ths trnjustiee sfcicb had "bean sated out to Johnson, tha ssbarrasse&ent of Harder, and the In fe r io r i ty of i^sngeheins &ede a strong lepra«>aion on »e and I wsnt Into tha cess vigorously, and to ld Lam^eheitia tha t the outcome of this* c&se had loads & very unfavorable Impression in Berl in, and that unless sowsthing ware done, the ease would c e r t a i n l y gain sauch mors notor ie ty than would be good e i t h e r for Caress ny or" her Judic ia l system* I r e ­ported »y findings to Langshelns and s s s s r t a d toy bel ief In ths Innocence of Johnson. 1 repproa*hed Langeheln* f s* allowing us to got the i&pr* salon at Berlin that the case was not considered ser iously he r s , only t s f t a4 t ha t ths accused had been as n tended to s ix son tha Imprisonment for easing as se r t ions which in most countr ies In tha world would not be punishable e i t h e r s i s i l l y or cr iminal ly . I said that ft* handling these ASKSS of foreigners^ pa r t i cu l a r ly .•>»ericansf In t h i s way they ware surele^ raying the found­a t ions for long and b i t t e r Bissndsrstandlngs between the two countr ies ; and tha t they sou!4 not expost :*®erlc^n pubil<s opinion to be snosrst ending of such, procedure, 1 could not be so rude a s to t e l l hit: to b is face tha t tha pol ice, the judgs, the »asaasors , ths lawyer for the defense, and ths prosecuting Attorney had a l l sc tsd un&sv the fe&r of the vocifera t ions of s f ana t i ca l party saans but I think they well understood froe* ©y statements tha i 1 thought ao and tha t 1 would not heal t a t s t s report. &y conviction to my &otern«snt« They both t r i e d hard to jus t i fy ths sentence agains t Johnson by explaining ths r igors sf ths law and ths necessi ty of imposing sentences on foreigners* as wvll as upon (*enaanfcIsngsftslne asser ted that under s imilar charges a Oeraan would have got a t l eas t s year *n4 s half imprisonment* X tolA Langehfeiae that I sonaldsrsd the matter s ver>* ser ious ons, and t h s t ce r ta in ly ths American Gotemmast would be s s l iged to t*»k« $o»e s teps through Slplottst lf ehsnnsls in t h i s case If a «ay vs rs n*t found a t ' o n s t to se t the s t l l r i g h t . Both ha and Harder were eager to s t a r t the proceedings to ofetsia Johnson*s pax«don a t once, . %sn 1 saw the c i t a d e l s f opposition f a l l i ng in t h i s d i rec t ion X sads sy e t t ack a l l the harder . I said t h i s was the only th ing than t s do. *S had. besn already sub. jsot t s savers s r i t i c i s K because we had not attended tha t r i a l and tha t h i s office h«*4 siisleai ,s Into s s i i ev in f that t h i s was not necessary. I colA hl» I had ca l led hln up s ix or seven tl&as before ths tr ial ; and h»d explained ca r s* fu l ly ths Importancs s f t h i s eass on the foreign r e l a t i ons

of

- 7 «

s i tne two soan t r i ea , wfatsb appeared to hare reat ieed no aonai&er&tion In S t e t t i n . I said that an less Johnson were released. frosi prison within tha next few days that 1 was sure the ;*3»bassaador would be advised by aur Gotreraweni te bring the matter to the Qhanaeilor*a a t t en t ion through the Foreign Offiee, and tha t ntafth repreasat&tioas would briu$ out the fit<$t& wki»h X had Just j&entioned* Lstngehoine appeared deeply disturbed snd worried aver t h i s suggestion, and offered immediately to s t a r t the proceedings to obtain Johnson's pardon, and Harder. »n© was also ge t t ing l a -«re&aii«ily worried about h i s part In the »« t te r»sa ld t ha t he would iaaaedletely draw i t up and hate Johnson sign i t t h i s afternoon, so tha t the whale daas ler would bs f o r . warded at oaee to Ber l in , with t h e i r reaosi&ea&atioiia in the premises. I t the eaae time they thought i t would be well to taiJc with stadtaekret&r F r e i a l a r ar b is „>tellve?treter, ao that the pardon would be done without* • • lay*

I agreed with both gentleaefl that t h i s would ha the best way to bandit the aa t t e r f but tha t 1 «ouid m&kM no decision before aonsult tag witll the bonsai A n t r a l in h e r i i a and the Aabaasader as the ease presented €tei"tain feature© whiffh they would hate f i r s t to aon&l&er* This aaused fur ther perturbat ion In the ainds of l a t h gentlemen; bat I agreed to uee ay influence to h&*e the matter s e t t l e d in t h i s way, isngeheine promised ©e h ie tmll support in the matter and I departed with Harder. Border aaaoiap&aied sae to the Freuoaanhof, end I l a t i t e d hiss to laneh with »e.