1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: Stuffworks dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 3 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: Holly Fry and I'm Tracy B. Wilson. Uh So, Tracy, 4 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: you may remember that when we did the Devil's Footprints 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,319 Speaker 1: in the intro, I said, Hey, this sounds creepy, but 6 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: it's really funny. Yes, don't say that. Don't be scared. 7 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: This is opposite, kind of the opposite. It's really gross 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: and pretty horrifying. Uh to some people. It may even 9 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: sound a little bit romantic. In my opinion, it is not. 10 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: We'll get into why. But it involves a man who 11 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 1: loved a woman and his love for her continued long 12 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: after her death. But whether she loved him back as 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: a matter of some dispute. And according to the subject 14 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: of this episode, Carl Tandler, she did, but according to 15 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: her family she did not. And we don't actually have 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: to guess at Tandler thought during all of this. We 17 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: have his account, which he published some years after all 18 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: of these events happened, uh, as a paid writing gig 19 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: for the pulp comic Fantastic Adventures in heads Up. This 20 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,680 Speaker 1: is very dark stuff. We're talking about things like decomposition 21 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: and people handling corpses, and it might not be suitable 22 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: for younger history buffs or just people that are a 23 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: little bit um queasy of tummy yeah, or in general, 24 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: or just cumans who are pretty dark by horrifying things. Yeah. Tandler, 25 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: whose name sometimes appears with a K instead of a 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,679 Speaker 1: sea in Carl was born in Dresden, Germany, on February 27 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy seven, and he claimed that he grew up 28 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: in a country castle that was haunted by a figure 29 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: known as the White Woman, who he also called Countess 30 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: Anna Costell. He believed this ghost was an ancestor who 31 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: died in the eighteenth century. The Countess, her Carl's account, 32 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: had been a beauty and was interested in alchemy, and 33 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: at the age of twelve, Carl, who had a hearty 34 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: interest in science himself, had a dream about the Countess, 35 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: the first of many visions of her that he had 36 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: throughout his life. As he matured, Tamsla remained obsessed only 37 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,239 Speaker 1: with science and invention. He wasn't a smoker or a drinker, 38 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: and he also wasn't particularly interested in romance. That comes 39 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: up over and over where in his defense of his character. 40 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: He always comments that he neither smoked nor drink um, 41 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: but that focus on science enabled him, again, according to 42 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: his own account, to earn master's degrees in medicine, philosophy, mathematics, physics, 43 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: and chemistry. He claimed by the time he was twenty four, 44 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: Carl believed the ghost of the Countess visited him, sometimes 45 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,079 Speaker 1: making a ruckus breaking scientific instruments, and eventually, he said 46 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: he she showed him the woman he was destined to 47 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: be with. This is a beautiful, a young woman with long, 48 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: dark hair. He would use this vision as sort of 49 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:09,959 Speaker 1: a guiding element of his life. After he finished his schooling, 50 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 1: Carl traveled a great deal, and Tandler even admits in 51 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: his own writings his account of his travels as a 52 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,519 Speaker 1: young man are lacking in details, writing quote, I can 53 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: refer to these years only in the sketchiest manner in 54 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: this magazine account, because all which matters is what leads 55 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: up to my final meeting with the apparition of the castle. 56 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: At one point he traveled to Genoa, he encountered a 57 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: marble statue that looked like this, promised Beloved that his 58 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: ancestor had shown him. The statue sat atop a grave 59 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: of a woman named Elena, who had died at the 60 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: age of twenty two. Tandler was so moved by the 61 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: appearance of the statue that he began to weep, and 62 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: he kept saying the name Elena over and over. He 63 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: wrote that he next saw a spirit seemed to emerge 64 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: from the statue and walk past him, as it may 65 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: direct eye contact with him. He pursued this spirit into 66 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 1: the streets of Genoa, but he lost her in a crowd. 67 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: After this incident, Tandler kept traveling, and his journeys eventually 68 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: ended in Sydney, Australia, where he settled down for a while. 69 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: He got a job as an electrical engineer and an 70 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: X ray expert. He also built rebuilt a torpedo boat 71 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: that he used to go fishing and to explore. In 72 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,280 Speaker 1: May of nineteen ten, still living in Sydney, Tandler was 73 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: visited by what he believed was a ghost, a spirit 74 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 1: that entered his home, blew out his lamps, and then left. 75 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: The ghosts stayed away until March seventh of nineteen twelve 76 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 1: at seven pm, and then as he was eating dinner, 77 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: it appeared to him fully visible. The same beautiful young 78 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: woman that his ancestor had promised would be his bride. 79 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: He approached the apparition, they embraced one another, and his 80 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: writing about this moment describes a divine bliss before the 81 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: spirit melt it away. But the spirit was gone but 82 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: a moment before regaining its form in another room of 83 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: the bachelor's home. She remained for a week, following him 84 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: around the house, smiling as she observed him. She was 85 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: silent and he didn't know her name, so he began 86 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: calling her Aisha. He would later write quote, there was 87 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: an incorporeal love between us which approached the divine. When 88 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: the spirit left, Tandler reported feeling very depressed, although he 89 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,839 Speaker 1: was also confident that they would meet again and that 90 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: she was his promised bride that the spirit of Countess 91 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: Anna had told him about. But his anguish over it 92 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: all manifested in physical illness, and he wound up being 93 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: admitted to the hospital. As he began to recover, he 94 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,719 Speaker 1: discovered that his father had fallen into a coma and 95 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,720 Speaker 1: then died a week later, And that week coincided, according 96 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: to Tandler's writings, exactly with his spirit visitors time with 97 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: him right to the hour. Tandler had actually become a 98 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: British subject while living in Australia, and he spent World 99 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: War One in an internment camp due to his German heritage. 100 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: Tandler wrote a lengthy account of his time in the 101 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: camp for Rosicrucian Digest in nine. In this tale, he 102 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: claims to have built an organ from debris with the 103 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,839 Speaker 1: assistance of fellow prisoners, who Tandler said, we're all Buddhist 104 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: priests while imprisoned in the camp. The sounds kind of 105 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: far fetched to me, as much of his writing does. 106 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,679 Speaker 1: After the armistice, the organ traveled with Tandler by boat 107 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: back to Europe, and it was a harrowing journey, during 108 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: which the ship he was on passed through a number 109 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: of storms. When he finally arrived back home, only his 110 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: mother and one sister remained there. His other sister had 111 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:47,720 Speaker 1: gotten married and moved to the United States, and his father, 112 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:52,720 Speaker 1: of course, was deceased. Carl felt completely unmoored back in Germany, 113 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: and he was unable to resume any sort of life 114 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 1: that resembled his previous one before the war, and so 115 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 1: tam Ler, who at this point was in his late forties, 116 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: left Europe. First, he traveled to Havannah, Cuba, arriving in 117 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: late February. He stayed there for a few days i'm 118 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: the carnival crowd to see if any of the women 119 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: might reveal themselves to be his promised love. But on 120 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: March one he headed to Florida, where his married sister 121 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: was living. And while Tandler did not exactly love Florida, 122 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: he thought that Cuba was a far more beautiful place. 123 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: He purchased land and began working on a home there, 124 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: but he soon needed to seek out work to keep 125 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: money coming in. At that point, he had been basically 126 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: living off a family money, and he soon began working 127 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: at the Marine Hospital at Key West as an X 128 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: ray specialist and pathologist. Coming up, we will talk about 129 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: the moment that Tandler felt all of those visions had 130 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: manifested in a faded meeting. But first we were going 131 00:07:53,280 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: to stop for a quick sponsor break. It was in 132 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: his position at the Marine Hospital that Tindler was called 133 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: to draw blood from a patient on April twenty, and 134 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: that patient was Maria Elena Milagrod Hoyos, and when Carl 135 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: Tandler met her, he loved her instantly he believed that 136 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: she was the woman that his distant relative had shown 137 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: him finally in the flesh, their lives having followed the 138 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,679 Speaker 1: paths that would lead them to one another. There's also 139 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: the sobering fact that this young woman whose blood he 140 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,559 Speaker 1: had drawn was listed as married on her records. Carl 141 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 1: questioned briefly whether he was somehow cursed and had finally 142 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: found his dream bride, only to immediately discover that she 143 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: was in fact someone else's actual bride. In spite of 144 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:49,959 Speaker 1: this fact, though he he called his mood indescribably happy. 145 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,959 Speaker 1: Tandler identified the cause of Elena's illness soon after they 146 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: met tuberculosis. In the nineteen thirties, tuberculosis was often still 147 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: a death sentence. Carl knew that there were places abroad 148 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: that could probably successfully treat Elena, and he even offered 149 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: to send her for treatment elsewhere, but Elena and her 150 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: family refused. Tandler had learned that Elena's husband had left 151 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 1: her and was not in the picture anymore, so he 152 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: dedicated his every energy and resource to trying to cure 153 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: her himself. He treated her with radiation at the hospital, 154 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:28,679 Speaker 1: but also planned additional treatments and then he rededicated himself 155 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: to the restoration of an airplane that he had been 156 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: tinkering with. His intention was that he would cure Elena 157 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: and they would fly away together to an island in 158 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: the South Seas that he claimed to have discovered and 159 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: thus owned. That is not how it works. There are, 160 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: as we said, a lot of far fetched things in 161 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 1: his accounts of his life. Uh, this is also a 162 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: really good time to mention. In addition to the fact 163 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: that you may have noticed, we have not mentioned Elena 164 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 1: falling in love with Carl Tandler, but she was also 165 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: much younger than Carl, who also, by the way, was 166 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 1: calling himself Count von Kozel. She was only twenty when 167 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: they met, and he at this point was fifty three 168 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: years old. Per Tandler's account, Elena's treatment was hindered by 169 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: her family. He was willing to do almost anything for her, 170 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: and he characterized them and his writing as being distrustful 171 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: of the medical knowledge and advice that he offered. Carl 172 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: also had dreams about Elena, and at one point he 173 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:33,359 Speaker 1: wrote her a letter detailing one of them. In response, 174 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 1: her sister visited Tandler at work at the hospital and 175 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: told him to dream no more. He felt that his 176 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,559 Speaker 1: dreams included premonitions of what was to come. Regarding Elena's health, 177 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: Carl continued to write letters to Elena, writing in one quote, 178 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: so often you have said that I am too old 179 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:53,319 Speaker 1: for you. But listen, Darling, I never count my years, 180 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: neither do I count yours. If you were a mummy 181 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 1: five thousand years old, I would marry you just the same. 182 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: I swear it's not for selfish reasons that I want 183 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: this marriage, but because I can do so much more 184 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,439 Speaker 1: than a boy your age. I can offer you my science, 185 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 1: my experience, my capacity to save your life and this 186 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 1: apart and on top of my undying love. You want 187 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: to get well, don't you? And you want to see 188 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: the world. Don't you remember that time we did the 189 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: episode about Thomas Day and his and you were really 190 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: angry the whole time. Yeah, that's how I feel about 191 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 1: this episode. Oh me too. Um, Yeah, there's so much. 192 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: He kept proposing to her. She kept saying no, and 193 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,200 Speaker 1: she would often say no, you're too old for me. 194 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: But he just kept going after her and just relentlessly 195 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: pursued her. All of his letters to her kind of 196 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 1: treat her like a child, and like she should just 197 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: inherently trust him. It's very weird and troubling. Um. But 198 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: Elena did visit the hospital again, although because there was 199 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: no privacy, she and Carl didn't speak much um. That 200 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:04,319 Speaker 1: same day, though, Tandler received word that his mother had died, 201 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,080 Speaker 1: and he actually believed, similar to how he thought that 202 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: a ghost had visited him when his father was in 203 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: a coma, that a higher power had made Elena visit 204 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: that day to offer him comfort. Elena's family moved, Neither 205 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:21,239 Speaker 1: they nor their neighbors would disclose their new address to Tandler. 206 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 1: He did not give up, though, and eventually a friend 207 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 1: of the family he was worried about Elena's failing health, 208 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: pointed him to their house. Yeah, Elena was very, very 209 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: sick in this time, and this woman, presumably out of 210 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: a good intention, thought like, here's a medical professional and 211 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: this girl needs help. Um, So she gave up their location, 212 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: but he pushed his way into their home. Any more 213 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:48,600 Speaker 1: or less took over whether the family had distanced themselves 214 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: from Tandler because they were fearful of science, as his 215 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,880 Speaker 1: account indicates, or they were weirded out by this elderly 216 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: man's obsessive behavior with Elena. We do not know for certain, 217 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: we only have his side of this story, but they 218 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,559 Speaker 1: acquiesced to his presence at this point, likely because Elena 219 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: was in a really, really bad state in terms of 220 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 1: her health and they were just desperate for any sort 221 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 1: of help. He started electric current treatment with Elena. You 222 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:17,560 Speaker 1: let other members of the family experience it as well 223 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 1: so they would know it wasn't harmful. He also gave 224 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:24,600 Speaker 1: Elena throat sprays to try to address her cough, including 225 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: one that had gold dissolved into it, but she didn't 226 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: like any of these. Yeah, he kind of was off 227 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: doing his own sorts of medication, concoctions, and treatments. Carl's 228 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: diary tells the story that he claims was Elena asking 229 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:44,720 Speaker 1: him to take care of her body after her death, 230 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:47,439 Speaker 1: which she felt was imminent in the fall of nine. 231 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: He quoted her as saying, if I must die, all 232 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:53,559 Speaker 1: I can leave you is my body, for I am 233 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 1: only a sickly girl, so I can't marry you while 234 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:58,800 Speaker 1: I am sick. But you will take care of my 235 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:02,560 Speaker 1: body after I'm dead, won't you. According to Carl, he 236 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:06,119 Speaker 1: promised that he would, and in his mind, he considered 237 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,080 Speaker 1: this to be their marriage. Bow He also wrote a 238 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: note for Elena to keep in case of emergency, claiming 239 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: that he was her husband and that she was of 240 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: sound mind. And he did this after rumors began to 241 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: circulate that her family was considering having her move to 242 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: an asylum. So by the time Elena died on October, 243 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: Carl Tandler considered himself to be her husband, and he 244 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: had established an adversarial relationship with her family. Even so, 245 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: when Elena died, the family, which had a little money, 246 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: let Tandler handle all the funeral arrangements. Yeah, he basically 247 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: swooped in and said he would pay for everything, and they, grieving, 248 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 1: agreed to it. Carl describes in his writing feeling as 249 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 1: though Elena's eyes were looking into him at the visitation 250 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: before the funeral, even though her eyes were closed. While 251 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: intellectual he knew she was dead. He wrote, quote, my 252 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: heart with far greater force told me she is not dead. 253 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: And he wrote this of the funeral's conclusion, quote, A 254 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: strange kind of new life now began for me. It 255 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: was something like a rebirth after these last two oppressing 256 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: and depressing years. Now at last, nobody could take my 257 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: Elena away from me. Although I could not see her 258 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 1: any longer, I felt her presence all the time. Carl 259 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 1: then moved into Elena's room at her family's home. The 260 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: Hoyos family had told Tandler that they didn't want to 261 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,120 Speaker 1: live there anymore because of their grief. That house only 262 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 1: held memories of their ailing Elena, and he said that 263 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: if they moved, he was just going to rent the 264 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: house himself or buy it outright, and they ended up staying, 265 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: and so did he. He also decided that Elena's grave 266 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: wasn't safe or watertight, so he built her a tomb, 267 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: to which he had the only key, and he disinterred 268 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: her body to have it placed inside this tomb. Handler 269 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: spares no details in discussing Elena's body as they found 270 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: it when they disinterred it. In his diary, he noted 271 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: that she had been decaying and that the lining of 272 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: her coffin had fallen down and stuck to her face 273 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: and body, and he spent hours carefully removing it. He 274 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:19,560 Speaker 1: then cleaned and treated the body with preservative, and he 275 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: sprayed it with Eau de cologne. When Elena's body was 276 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: placed into the tomb, Tandler made sure it was under 277 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 1: the best possible conditions to prevent further decay. He visited 278 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: this tomb, which he compared to a small house, every evening. 279 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 1: He claimed he felt a piece when he was there 280 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: that he had nowhere else. After eighteen months of visits, Elena, 281 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: he said, began talking to him. She would ask if 282 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 1: she was truly dead, and told Carl she wanted to 283 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 1: go live in his home. He promised that she could, 284 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 1: and he brought her a gift every evening, things like 285 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,200 Speaker 1: handkerchiefs and pieces of jewelry, and he planned for the 286 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: time that he would bring her home and dress her 287 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: in a wedding gown and live with her as his bride. 288 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:08,120 Speaker 1: He believed that he could hear her singing to him 289 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: when he visited, and he also felt that at times 290 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:14,760 Speaker 1: Elena was controlling his body, sending him signals to show 291 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,640 Speaker 1: him things to do, including how to get her out 292 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: of the cemetery without being observed. Tandler rented a house 293 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 1: adjacent to the cemetery so that he could first move 294 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 1: Elena's body into it and then move it via car 295 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: from that spot. Under a new moon, he took the 296 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: casket from the tomb and put it on a child's wagon, 297 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: then covered it with a blanket and set out across 298 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,919 Speaker 1: the cemetery. Sometimes you'll read accounts of this that are 299 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: kind of abbreviated, and they say he took the body 300 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,119 Speaker 1: in a wagon, and it kind of sounds like he 301 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:46,800 Speaker 1: folded up the body into the wagon, but now he 302 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:49,240 Speaker 1: there was a coffin on top of it. Uh and 303 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 1: Tandler wrote of this walk quote, all of the cemetery 304 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: was alive with souls which came out of the graves 305 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: from all sides, moving and thronging around us. It was 306 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,160 Speaker 1: indeed like a stable among the departed. As they moved 307 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 1: up on all sides. It was like a great divine 308 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: wedding march for me taking place. He moved the body 309 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: into the rented house near the cemetery, but it took 310 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:16,199 Speaker 1: some trouble. When Tandler put Elena's body in the tomb, 311 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: he had placed it in a double casket with an 312 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: interior chamber that was filled with a preservative fluid. There 313 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: was a leak during the move, but Tandler managed to 314 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,040 Speaker 1: minimize how much liquid was lost, and then he moved 315 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: Elena's body to his plane two days later. This is 316 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 1: the same plane that we mentioned earlier that he was 317 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,680 Speaker 1: restoring with the intention of flying Elena wherever she wished. 318 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:41,880 Speaker 1: Yeah became their home for a while. Carl called Elena's 319 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: cabin on the plane the ship's hospital, and he carefully 320 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:50,360 Speaker 1: unpacked her from her coffin. This segment of Tandler's recollections 321 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 1: is a fascinating combination of scientific description and really twisted 322 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: and weird romantic interlude. He writes of the mold and 323 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: slime which were consuming her body and how carefully he 324 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: had to remove those, trying as best he could to 325 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 1: preserve her skin, and then within just a few paragraphs, 326 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 1: he also talks about how beautiful she looked once he 327 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 1: had draped her with a silk veil, and how she 328 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: was worried that he wouldn't love her anymore, and he 329 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,679 Speaker 1: quote sank gently into the coffin to her and kissed 330 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:23,200 Speaker 1: her as if she were alive. He took samples from 331 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: the body and examined them in the hospital lab and 332 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: was very happy that there were no dangerous bacteria in 333 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: the mix. He felt that dying had in a way 334 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:37,679 Speaker 1: cured Elena of her tuberculosis. He washed her hair, cleaned 335 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:42,199 Speaker 1: maggots from the body, cleaned her skin, alluding in his 336 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,720 Speaker 1: writing to special ingredients that he used on her skin 337 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 1: that he wished to quote to keep secret. In a moment, 338 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:54,440 Speaker 1: we'll talk about just what Tinseler's intentions were for Elena's body. 339 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: But first we're going to take a break, so we 340 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,080 Speaker 1: could all use a little uh so sure in a 341 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: from all of the dead body talk, and we're going 342 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: to hear from one of our sponsors. So Carl Tandler's 343 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: intent was to resurrect Elena. He wrote over and over 344 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: that all of his restoration efforts were aimed at perfecting 345 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: her so that when she awoke, she would be her 346 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: beautiful self. He was adamant that even after eighteen months 347 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: in the grave, she was in better shape than some 348 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 1: of the living patients that he had treated. He fed 349 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: the body, dispensing quote nourishing fluids to her orally. He 350 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:39,960 Speaker 1: claimed that Elena gained twenty pounds this way, and that 351 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: her various lacerations and wounds were healing. He wrote, quote, 352 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: even the expression of her face changed to divine happiness. 353 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: She did not require words to express herself. Her face 354 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:56,119 Speaker 1: was so much more eloquent than words could be. He 355 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: also made plaster casts of the body to have a 356 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,679 Speaker 1: permanent record of Elena's beauty, and when he discovered that 357 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: the silk that he had covered her face with had 358 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 1: bonded to the skin, he left it in place and 359 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:12,199 Speaker 1: he painted over it with beeswax and balsam. Tandler was 360 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: still working at the Marine Hospital during this time, and 361 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:18,440 Speaker 1: when the hospital administration had a leadership change, it meant 362 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,720 Speaker 1: that Carl's airplane was no longer welcome and its parking 363 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: space on hospital grounds, so he moved it to the beach, 364 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:27,679 Speaker 1: taking the plane through town as though it was on 365 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:32,040 Speaker 1: a parade, enjoying his secret knowledge that Elena's body was 366 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 1: in it in a flower laden cabin. Yeah, he even 367 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:38,919 Speaker 1: talks in his writing about how they went by her 368 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: family and they were all waving at him in the plane, 369 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: not knowing that he had their relative inside, which is 370 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: makes me growling. On his beach parcel of land that 371 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 1: he had arranged, he built a structure that was to 372 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 1: be his laboratory at home, as well as a hangar 373 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 1: for the plane. This was all one big structure, and 374 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: once they were moved in there, he continued his work 375 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,400 Speaker 1: always with the goal that he was going to bring 376 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: Elena back to life. He played music for her because quote, 377 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: it was a means to apply the cosmic laws of 378 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:15,199 Speaker 1: vibration through harmonic sound waves. He also applied electricity and 379 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: was adamant that all of his work was part of 380 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:23,359 Speaker 1: an exact science. By soaking Elena in his liquid plasma quote, 381 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:28,919 Speaker 1: incubator Tandler said he had reversed the embalming process to 382 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:33,560 Speaker 1: prevent insect problems and desiccation. Tandler treated the entire body 383 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: as he had the face, with a layer of silk 384 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,359 Speaker 1: coated with wax and balsam. He also kept the body 385 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: dressed and lying in bed, and remarked repeatedly on its 386 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:46,719 Speaker 1: beauty in his writing about this whole process. As Carl 387 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,920 Speaker 1: tended to Elena and his work to bring her back 388 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: to life, years passed. He celebrated holidays with Elena's body 389 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: and then moved again just before the summer of nine. 390 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:02,439 Speaker 1: Tandler claimed it not long after the move, Elena began 391 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:05,400 Speaker 1: to wake up and moved one of her fingers ever 392 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: so slightly and turned slightly to gaze at him. But 393 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: this was, in his account, a fleeting improvement. For the 394 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 1: next several years, he continued trying to maintain the body, 395 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:18,959 Speaker 1: but he had started to realize that he was losing 396 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 1: ground just the same it was. This was roughly seven 397 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: years since Tandler had taken Elena's body from her tomb, 398 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 1: and it was then that things began to unravel. While 399 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,480 Speaker 1: Carl Tandler had been careful to take Elena's body out 400 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: of the cemetery without anyone seeing him, and while he 401 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: had moved his corpse bride to his airplane under a 402 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: similar cloak of darkness, he was that very careful about otherwise, 403 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 1: not drawing attention to himself. For one thing, after he 404 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,720 Speaker 1: had visited Elena's tomb every single night for a year 405 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: and a half, which everyone knew he did, he had 406 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 1: abruptly stopped. He occasionally went back to check him on 407 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,240 Speaker 1: the actual structure over the years, but it was a 408 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: rarity and people noticed this change in behavior. And for another, 409 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 1: he continued to buy gifts for Elena and the sixties 410 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: something bachelor buying dresses, perfume, jewelry, and flowers also raised 411 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:17,400 Speaker 1: some eyebrows. People started to wonder where all of those 412 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,959 Speaker 1: things were going. Elena's sister eventually confronted him. She wanted 413 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:25,400 Speaker 1: Tandler to open up the coffin in Elena's tomb. He 414 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: refused to do so. She became angry, but then she 415 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:32,480 Speaker 1: said she just wanted to see her sister, and he 416 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:35,400 Speaker 1: said that he would let her do that. He revealed 417 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,880 Speaker 1: that Elena was in his home in her state of preservation. 418 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 1: Tandler seems to have thought that Elena's family was going 419 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,480 Speaker 1: to be really pleased to see how well he had 420 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,680 Speaker 1: cared for her, but the initial reaction on her sister's 421 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,280 Speaker 1: part was disbelief. She didn't think this was really her 422 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:57,360 Speaker 1: sister's body. But then Elena's sister, who was named Florinda 423 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:01,119 Speaker 1: and went by Nana, asked Handler to just please return 424 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 1: the body to its casket. She kind of was coming 425 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 1: out of this weird state of disbelief and just wanted 426 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:11,360 Speaker 1: her sister to be buried properly, but Tandler refused. Four 427 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,640 Speaker 1: days later, two sheriffs arrived at Tandler's home. They took 428 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,320 Speaker 1: Elena's body to a funeral home. Carl Tandler was taken 429 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:24,400 Speaker 1: into custody. Quote accused of wantonly and maliciously demolishing disfiguring 430 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 1: and destroying a grave. The story of Carl Tandler von 431 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: Kosl and his corpse bride got picked up by gossip 432 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:36,200 Speaker 1: circles and the press immediately. He basically became instantly famous, 433 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: and there were photographers on hand for every step of 434 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 1: the legal proceedings. He was held on a thousand dollars bail, 435 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: and he was put in the county jail, where he 436 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: prayed to die so that he could be with Elena forever. 437 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,919 Speaker 1: But during his time in jail, sympathizers to Carl Tandler's 438 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: situation brought him food, they offered him consolation. Key West's 439 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: most experienced lawyer offered to take up tam Lur's case 440 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,399 Speaker 1: free of charge. Carl was pretty open with the authorities 441 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,879 Speaker 1: about his situation. He explained to them and to the 442 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: press that he could not bear to think of Elena's 443 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: body rotting away in the grave, and that he really 444 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,880 Speaker 1: believed that he could restore her and bring her back 445 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: to life. His hearing was on October eighth, nin and 446 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: the time between the arrest and the hearing, Elena's body 447 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: was on public display at the funeral home that it 448 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 1: had been moved to thousands of people went to look 449 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: at her, and the overall public opinion was favorable to Tandler. 450 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:35,919 Speaker 1: This never stops wearing me out. But we'll get to 451 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: that somewhere at the end. Florinda's testimony and the hearing 452 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,320 Speaker 1: conveyed her horror at what she had discovered when Tandler 453 00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: showed her Elena's body. The judge also asked Handler if 454 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,280 Speaker 1: he had had a sexual relationship with the corpse, to 455 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 1: which the count replied that he had not. Carl went 456 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:55,119 Speaker 1: on to say that he was a scientist and that 457 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 1: he was working on bringing Elena's body back to life 458 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,359 Speaker 1: to rejoin her spirit, which continue you, but the judge 459 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 1: was quick to point out that in seven years he 460 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,479 Speaker 1: had made no progress in that regard. Then Tandler, in 461 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,680 Speaker 1: a really brazen move, asked to have Elena's body back, 462 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 1: and he was, of course denied. A court appointed physician 463 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:19,720 Speaker 1: determined that Tandler was mentally in quote a borderline state 464 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 1: characterized by certain obsessions with other actions. Normal assessments of 465 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,639 Speaker 1: his mental state by additional specialists contradicted one another, but 466 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,400 Speaker 1: the final assessment was that he was saying, I don't 467 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 1: want to excuse anything he's doing here, but it seems 468 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: clear to me that he had a problem. Yes, I'm 469 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:43,400 Speaker 1: of the exact same mind. The determination was that Elena 470 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: was to be reburied in a place that Carl Tandler 471 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,760 Speaker 1: would not know about. He later wrote of this decision, quote, 472 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 1: I was thunderstruck. This was not fair, this was monstrous. 473 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: She to be buried again after all my work. To 474 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,439 Speaker 1: the judge who gave him this news, he said, quote, 475 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,720 Speaker 1: it is the end of everything for me. I protest 476 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: against this inhumane decision. Things became even more complicated when 477 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:10,920 Speaker 1: the deputy sheriff received a letter from a woman named 478 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,239 Speaker 1: Doris Tandler, who said she was Karl's wife, that they 479 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:18,119 Speaker 1: had been separated for eleven years. She offered any and 480 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,600 Speaker 1: all help that she could in the form of information 481 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: about Carl's mental health. Carl Tandler did not deny that 482 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: Doris was his wife, though he said that they had 483 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: separated sixteen years earlier after she tried to shoot him. Uh. 484 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: He also had a daughter with Doris, and per her account, 485 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,880 Speaker 1: he had abandoned the family. There's also another daughter that's 486 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:40,680 Speaker 1: in the mix that seems to have passed away at 487 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: some point on October eleventh, it was announced that Carl's 488 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: case would go to trial in November. His bail was 489 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: posted by two friends from his hospital days, Benjamin Fernandez 490 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 1: and Joseph Zorsky, who recalled his care of Elena which 491 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,240 Speaker 1: she was in the hospital. They believed that his intent 492 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,760 Speaker 1: was pure. On October were twenty two, it was announced 493 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 1: in the Miami Herald that Carl Tandler von Kostl would 494 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: not be tried as the statute of limitations had run 495 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 1: out on any crime that he could be charged with. 496 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 1: Tandler began giving tours of his lab for a quarter 497 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 1: of person. He also wrote his account of his time 498 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: in Australian prison for the Rosicrucian Digest and eventually Fantastic Adventures. 499 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: To make money, he moved to Zephyr Hills, Florida, to 500 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,120 Speaker 1: get away from the notoriety that he had in Key West, 501 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: and this is where his remaining sister lived, as well 502 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: as his estranged wife and daughter. The same night that 503 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: Carl Tandler left Key West, Elena's tomb was blown up 504 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,400 Speaker 1: with dynamite, and while the sheriff said that Tainsler didn't 505 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,840 Speaker 1: set the blast, rumors of course swirled that he had. 506 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 1: He had trouble settling in at his sister's home, and 507 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 1: his wife Doris eventually stepped in to help him out 508 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: with the transition. Eventually, in four Carl moved out of 509 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: his sisters to a place of his own, where he 510 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:02,480 Speaker 1: built a shrine to Elena and lived with an effigy 511 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:04,400 Speaker 1: of her that he made from the casts he had 512 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,960 Speaker 1: taken of her body. Early on, tuberculosis claimed the lives 513 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,440 Speaker 1: of Elena's family one by one. They were all deceased 514 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: by the mid nineteen forties, which is why we do 515 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: not have an account of this whole thing from their perspective. 516 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,640 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty, Carl Tandler became a US citizen. He 517 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 1: died in his home two years later at the age 518 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: of seventy six, alone except for his Elena effigy. Perhaps 519 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 1: the most troubling aspect of Carl Tandler's story is the 520 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 1: fact that it is often framed as being incredibly romantic, 521 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: couched in phrases like he couldn't bear to be without her. 522 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: But it's important to remember that, based on everything we know, 523 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,680 Speaker 1: Maria did not have romantic feelings for Carl. She turned 524 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,400 Speaker 1: down his proposals politely, citing their age difference as the reason. 525 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 1: But it seemed as though she truly had no such 526 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: feelings for him. Even if she had had such feelings 527 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: for him, she didn't consent for him to do this 528 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:01,560 Speaker 1: with her body. Right. Uh. He makes that statement that 529 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 1: she asked him to somehow take care of her body 530 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: after death, but that is strictly his assertion. We have 531 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: nothing to back that up. So in exhuming her body 532 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: and making it part of this odd marriage, he was 533 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,280 Speaker 1: acting entirely counter to her own wishes, and at the 534 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:22,480 Speaker 1: same time, according to Tandler's account, it was Maria's dying wish. 535 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: He said that she and I should live together. But 536 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:28,160 Speaker 1: whether or not that's false, he really did seem to 537 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:32,960 Speaker 1: believe it. Tandler biographer Ben Harrison noted in his book 538 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 1: Undying Love that it was entirely possible that Carl's time 539 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,480 Speaker 1: in the internment camp had left him with some serious 540 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: problems that could explain some of his bizarre and difficult 541 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:48,760 Speaker 1: to parse behaviors. He wrote, quote, Indeed, if these traumatic 542 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: memories are at all accurate, one may theorize that this 543 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: interval of imprisonment may have been the triggering mechanism for 544 00:31:56,280 --> 00:32:00,080 Speaker 1: post traumatic stress syndrome, causing von Kozel's later agitated at 545 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,960 Speaker 1: mental states and altering his sense of reality, but also 546 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: his theories of life, death, and spirit. He definitely seems 547 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: to have had delusions for sure. To this day. The 548 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: exact location of Elena's final resting place is not known. 549 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: It was chosen by the Key West Chief Chief of 550 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 1: Police at the time, who was bien Venito Perez, as 551 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:28,800 Speaker 1: well as Benjamin Sawyer of the Lopez Funeral Home and 552 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,840 Speaker 1: Otto Bethel who was the cemetery sexton. Yep, and none 553 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,240 Speaker 1: of them ever divulged where that location was in There 554 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: was an attempt made to raise funds for a feature 555 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:42,080 Speaker 1: length film telling Tandler's story, and that project, which was 556 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:45,240 Speaker 1: to include puppetry to recreate the events of the maccab Tail, 557 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 1: was from a fairly sympathetic point of view, but it 558 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:54,840 Speaker 1: failed to get its funding through Kickstarter. Uh. I continue 559 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 1: to be befuddled by people who romanticize this story. I 560 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:05,640 Speaker 1: will confess me to you. I don't understand it. I 561 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 1: just don't understand. I don't understand how you land there. Well, 562 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 1: and even if we just erased the entire everything that 563 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:17,160 Speaker 1: happened after her death. Just the part where he was 564 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: badgering her while she was hospitalized, Like that is already 565 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: not romantic. Yeah, I mean her entire family moved to 566 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 1: get away from him, which to me is a pretty 567 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 1: keen indicator that they didn't want anything to do with him. 568 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,080 Speaker 1: And even if they made that decision because they were 569 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,880 Speaker 1: scared by science, as he alleges, which I think seems 570 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:42,320 Speaker 1: not to be the case if they were going to 571 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: a hospital for treatment. Even if that were the case, 572 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,320 Speaker 1: they have still sent the clear message that, like, you're 573 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,400 Speaker 1: not welcome in our lives. So it becomes very weird 574 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:54,000 Speaker 1: to me that people are then like, but he still persisted. 575 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 1: He just he loved her so much, and it's like, no, 576 00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:00,960 Speaker 1: I mean he may have, but that doesn't make it. Hey, 577 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:05,280 Speaker 1: this is like the very very far extreme of the 578 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:11,480 Speaker 1: romantic comedy behavior that is really stalking. Yeah, anyway, do 579 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: you have listener mail? That's less I do it in 580 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:17,160 Speaker 1: short because this episode is a little long, and it's 581 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:20,879 Speaker 1: actually a thank you. Um. It is a cute little note, 582 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:23,080 Speaker 1: but it came with gifts that we have already received. 583 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,640 Speaker 1: It says Holly and Tracy. You ladies always do such 584 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 1: a great job. At first, I may not have ever 585 00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:29,880 Speaker 1: heard of the topic of each podcast, but by the end, 586 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,200 Speaker 1: I have learned so much, whether it is happy or sad. 587 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,480 Speaker 1: These Starbucks reusable cups are to be filled with whatever 588 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:38,200 Speaker 1: keeps you ladies going. I made the cozies myself. The 589 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:41,080 Speaker 1: purple one is for Holly, the candy corners for Tracy Um. 590 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:44,120 Speaker 1: Thank you ladies for listening Colleen. Colleen actually brought those 591 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:46,479 Speaker 1: to us at our live show at New York Comic 592 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:49,120 Speaker 1: Con presents UM and they are awesome and I have 593 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:52,760 Speaker 1: been using mine a lot UM and it's so sweet. 594 00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:55,680 Speaker 1: Colleen also made us cute little um pumpkins last year 595 00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,319 Speaker 1: and yeah show, so we have been very spoiled by 596 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:01,759 Speaker 1: Colleen and her her skills. So thank you, thank you. 597 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,560 Speaker 1: I love it. I drink a lot of coffee, so 598 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:08,319 Speaker 1: it's always good to have more travel cups because I'm 599 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:10,440 Speaker 1: not always good at washing them in a timely manner. 600 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:13,920 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, you may 601 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,120 Speaker 1: do so at History Podcast at house to works dot com. 602 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,960 Speaker 1: You can also reach us across the spectrum of social media, 603 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:26,880 Speaker 1: including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, uh Pinterest, and tumbler. As missed 604 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 1: in History. We are also at missed in history dot com, 605 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:32,200 Speaker 1: where you can check out every episode of the show 606 00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:34,319 Speaker 1: that has ever existed, going all the way back to 607 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,000 Speaker 1: the beginning, long before Tracy and I were involved. There 608 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:38,920 Speaker 1: are also show notes for any of the episodes that 609 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:41,279 Speaker 1: Tracy and I have worked on together. So come and 610 00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:43,319 Speaker 1: visit us at missed in history dot com and we 611 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:52,759 Speaker 1: will travel the past, creepy and otherwise together. For more 612 00:35:52,800 --> 00:36:04,480 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics, works dot com