1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy D. Wilson. Okay, this 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: is a part two of our two parter on Fritz Duchane, 5 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: and we are going to pick up right where we 6 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:25,760 Speaker 1: left off in the story of the life of Fritz Duchane, 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: adventurer and spy. So if you did not listen to 8 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: the first part, you really should, or this is probably 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: gonna make no sense whatsoever. So when we left off, 10 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: Fritz had made his way after an escape from Bermuda 11 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: to Paterson, New Jersey. He had done this through a 12 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: network of Boors sympathizers. After a few weeks in Patterson, 13 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: he got word that the American Transpall League in New 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: York would be able to help him. He got set 15 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: up in the city and worked first as a subway conductor, 16 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: which he really hated, and then as a subscription collector 17 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: for the New York Hair World. Fritz wasn't really content 18 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: in that role either, but he was able to parlay 19 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: it into work as a reporter, and that launched a 20 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: nice little career for him. He started writing about some 21 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 1: of his adventures back in Africa, and these articles in 22 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: the Herald were so popular that other papers started to 23 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: become interested in him. So for the five years from 24 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: nineteen o four to nineteen o nine, Duquesne was moving 25 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: from paper to paper as one after another made him 26 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: more lucrative offers, and this reputation and income also offered 27 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: Duchese the best payment of all, the opportunity to craft 28 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: an identity for himself entirely to his own liking. He 29 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: wrote several novels and plays and even started lecturing in 30 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: his own chameleon way. Ducaine had made himself into a 31 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: perfect New York gentleman with enough celebrity to stay employed. 32 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: Fritz wrote about all kinds of globe trotting travel and 33 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: embedded reporting that he was doing, but most of these 34 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: claims are unsubstantiated, although he did seem to do quite 35 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: a bit of traveling during this time. Still, at the time, 36 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:09,079 Speaker 1: readers believed that he was rubbing elbows with important people 37 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: and that he was an expert on big game hunting 38 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: in Africa. Both of those were pretty true because of 39 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: his upbringing, and it was that writing that piqued the 40 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: interest of President Theodore Roosevelt. Eventually, Fritz as well as 41 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: the number of other experts on the subject of safari hunting, 42 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: were invited to the White House, and this was precipitated 43 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: in part because of as Roosevelt's interest in big game 44 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: hunting and his plans for an African trip once he 45 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: left office were made public, Ducaine started writing a series 46 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: of articles titled Hunting ahead of Roosevelt in East Africa. 47 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: Ducaine's visit to Washington, d C. To visit the President 48 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: was sensational enough that a cartoon about it ran in 49 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,679 Speaker 1: the Washington Star. The art by Clifford K. Berryman, which 50 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: is titled Seeking Pointers, features an excited game caricature of 51 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 1: the President showing Ducane, who is clearly identified by his 52 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: name scrawled across the band of a cap that's on 53 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: the floor, all of the animals that he's interested in, 54 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: and he is using a pointer. Of course, there was 55 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: no boasting needed after this. Ducane was associated with the 56 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: President as someone who Roosevelt sought out for advice, and 57 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,639 Speaker 1: that made him sought out by more and more people. 58 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: And he saw how lucrative this position was, and he 59 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: started a lecture tour about Roosevelt's travels while the President 60 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: was in Africa, titled East Africa The Wonderland of Roosevelt's Hunt. 61 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: Fret's knew that tension sold papers. He started writing articles, 62 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: many of which were printed all over the country through syndication, 63 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: about how doubtful he was that Roosevelt could handle East 64 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: Africa's challenges. He would boast of his own level of 65 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: comfort with the various perils like animals and tropical diseases, 66 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: just shooting them off as so common to him that 67 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: they seemed mundy dane, But then he would mention that 68 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: they were potentially deadly to a tourist hunter like the President. 69 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: He also dropped in comments about just how poor Roosevelt's 70 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: health was to get readers wondering if the next article 71 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: would be reporting Teddy Roosevelt's death. And it was because 72 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: of all of these articles and his lectures that Louisiana 73 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: Representative Robert F. Broussard got in touch with Duquesne about 74 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: Hippo's just how I discovered Duquesne when I was working on, uh, 75 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: those two episodes. Obviously this is all covered in those episodes, 76 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: So we're gonna give you just the broad Strokes. Here, 77 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,039 Speaker 1: Brussard was trying to solve the problem of a US 78 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: meat shortage by introducing a bill that would fund the 79 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: import of hippos to the United States. Those hippos, in theory, 80 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: could live off of the hyacinth that was a problem 81 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: because it was overgrowing much of the South, and then 82 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: they could be slaughtered for their meat. This may seem 83 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:54,479 Speaker 1: like it solves two problems, but is in fact a 84 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: terrible idea that's did not work uh all the details 85 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,280 Speaker 1: in those other episodes, Decane testified before a Senate committee 86 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: that he was an African animal himself and that hippo's 87 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,919 Speaker 1: were easy to raise and delicious. He also had a 88 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: list of other species that they might want to think 89 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 1: about importing as livestock, and to support this plan to 90 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: Kane started writing articles explaining what a good idea it was. Again, 91 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: it was not a good idea, and thankfully, for a 92 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: variety of reasons, this whole hippo plan fell apart. Something 93 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: else had happened once Ducane got to the US. Aside 94 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:35,559 Speaker 1: from this launch of a strange career in journalism. During 95 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,279 Speaker 1: that brief day we mentioned when he was in New Jersey, 96 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: Alice Wortley, the young American woman that he had met 97 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: while he was a prisoner in Bermuda, found him, presumably 98 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 1: through the system of Boer sympathizers that he had been 99 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: in contact with and that she would have known about 100 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: because she was living on Bermuda at the time, and 101 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: the two of them started a courtship and then they 102 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: were married in the summer of nineteen Even after the 103 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: less than flattering articles he had written about Roosevelt, Ducaine 104 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: campaigned for him in nineteen twelve, doubts about his physical 105 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:10,040 Speaker 1: fitness aside, it seemed that Fritz Ducaine respected Roosevelt so 106 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: much that he wrote a lengthy brochure about why Roosevelt 107 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: should be elected president once again. The ending statement of 108 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 1: his brochure read quote, your vote will decide whether the 109 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: people shall rule or the corrupt corporations. The fight will 110 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: be between Woodrow Wilson, the writer of history, and Theodore Roosevelt, 111 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: who makes it. Undoubtedly, Ducaine was also hoping for a 112 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: little favor to fall his way if Roosevelt won the election, 113 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,920 Speaker 1: but he never found out because Roosevelt lost to Wilson, 114 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,040 Speaker 1: and while that defeat may have cast a shadow over 115 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve. Fritz was part of another project that year 116 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: that had greater success, and that was the founding of 117 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: the Adventurers Club of New York. Arthur Sullivan Hoffman was 118 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: the editor of Adventure Magazine and one of the club's 119 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,280 Speaker 1: co founders, and he was a fan of Duquesne, having 120 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: been publishing his writing for some time. There is a 121 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: great quote in a Fritz Duchane biography called Counterfeit Hero 122 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: that I read about Fritz's involvement in the club that reads, 123 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: whenever in New York or not in prison, he faithfully 124 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: showed up at the monthly meetings to report his latest adventure. 125 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: It was December nine thirteen that Decane became an American citizen. 126 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: Soon after that, he and his wife Alice left for 127 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: a tour of South America. Fritz allegedly was following an 128 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: expedition of Roosevelt's and making a film about it. Along 129 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: the way, they took a massive iron trunk with them 130 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: that took two men to move, which was ostensibly to 131 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: carry the movie reels and equipment. While the duchess were traveling, 132 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: World War One began with the assassination of Archduke Franz 133 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: Ferdinand because Britain was on the Allied side, Fritz automatically 134 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: wanted to align himself with the Central Powers. He and 135 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: Alice were in Brazil at this point, and Fritz promptly 136 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: sent her home to New York, claiming that he was 137 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: planning more rigorous trips into tamed wilderness that she would 138 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: not enjoy. But what he actually did was go straight 139 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: to the German consulate in Brazil and tell them that 140 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: he wanted to help fight Britain and the Allies. So 141 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: Fritz Ducane became a contractor saboteur for Germany. We're gonna 142 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: get to Fritz's new career in just a moment, but 143 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: first we will take a quick sponsor break. This new 144 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: job of Fritz's paid an annual salary of four thousand marks, 145 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: plus a daily expense allowance of ten marks. It wasn't 146 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: a ton of money, but for every completed mission there 147 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: was also a bonus. Fritz took to this system with enthusiasm, 148 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: and he adopted two regular aliases that he used during 149 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: this time, Frederick Frederick's and George Fordham. Frederick's was an actor, 150 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: he also was other things along the way. Fordham was 151 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: a botanist and Duquesne would use either of them, or 152 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,240 Speaker 1: even sometimes his own identity or others he and died 153 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: on the fly as suited his purposes. And his purposes 154 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: were simple, at least in their directive, sabotage boats that 155 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: were headed to enemy countries while they were still in port. 156 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:13,679 Speaker 1: He claimed that in this work he set more than 157 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: a hundred on fire and sunk more than twenty. He 158 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: would use disguises to kind of trawl around and port 159 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: eavesdropping on sailors to get information, and he would sometimes 160 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 1: use them more directly. For example, his botanist character often 161 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: shipped plants samples aboard boats that mysteriously had explosions aboard. 162 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: He was not entirely undetected in this Authorities started to 163 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: notice him, and he had to become more and more careful. 164 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: On February eleventh, nineteen sixteen, Fritz's alter ego, George Fordham, 165 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: signed a shipping document declaring that he was returning a 166 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: case filled with motion picture film and negatives to the 167 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: United States, and said that the case had left the 168 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: US in nineteen thirteen, which was the year that he 169 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: and Alice left for this trip. He shipped the case 170 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 1: aboard the steamer Tennyson, which was headed to Trinidad and 171 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: then New York and then Liverpool. On February twenty one, 172 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: the Tennyson had an explosion in the hold and three 173 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: of its crew were killed, although the captain was able 174 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,440 Speaker 1: to beach the damaged boat. An investigation ensued and an 175 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: arrest soon followed. The man taken into custody, who was 176 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,320 Speaker 1: named Bower, confessed to his part in the crime and 177 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: gave up Duchesne in the process, including naming several of 178 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 1: Duchesne's aliases. Things quickly heated up for Ducane. He was 179 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: charged by the British government with murder on the high seas, 180 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 1: sinking and burning British ships, conspiracy, falsification of documents, and 181 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 1: sabotaging military stores. When British authorities had realized that the 182 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,439 Speaker 1: man working for Germany to do so much damage was 183 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: the same one who had been a British military officer, 184 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:56,080 Speaker 1: it was both infuriating and embarrassing, so they intended to 185 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,680 Speaker 1: pursue him and bring him to justice. Duquesne on the 186 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: run and also hunting for new business ventures to keep 187 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: money flowing in the only thing he felt he could 188 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: in such circumstances, which was that he faked his own death. 189 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: On April nineteen sixteen, the announcement of Duchane's death hit 190 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: the US papers. The story was that he had been 191 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: killed in Bolivia by quote, hostile Indians. The account of 192 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: Duchesne's demise was cabled from South America, and the obituary 193 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:27,840 Speaker 1: write up that followed with information quote from a man 194 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:32,840 Speaker 1: who knew Duquesne intimately. Undoubtedly Duchesne himself is full of 195 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: the same sorts of over the top adventure stories that 196 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: have continually casually combined fiction and reality in Fritz's life story. 197 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 1: That initial story only offered some confused concern over the 198 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: fate of Alice Duquesne. Had she also perished? The New 199 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: York Times did not know, but they soon followed up 200 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: with a second story that yes, she was alive and 201 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 1: back in New York and had received a letter from 202 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,320 Speaker 1: Fritz several weeks before he was a currently killed for 203 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,720 Speaker 1: twelve days, Ducane's fate was believed to have been sealed 204 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,839 Speaker 1: in Bolivia. But then on May eighth, another story hit 205 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: the US papers, this one written by Frederick Fredericks Fritz Duquesne. 206 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: The report exclaimed was alive. He had been found in 207 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 1: rough shape, left for dead after the attack, but he 208 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: was receiving aid and was expected to recover. It seems 209 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 1: that while Duchane initially thought death would shake Britain's pursuit 210 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: of him, he soon realized that he didn't have anywhere 211 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: to go. He only had a US passport, So he 212 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: revived himself and he headed back to New York in 213 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: the hopes that the US government wouldn't extradite him if 214 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:42,439 Speaker 1: he was found out, or probably more in the hopes 215 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: that no one would realize he had gotten back. Ducaine 216 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 1: arrived in New York not long after this, but for 217 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: a man on the run, he was not idle at all. 218 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 1: While in South America, he had gotten involved in filmmaking 219 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 1: projects with a school system there to try to make money. 220 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,080 Speaker 1: But to make the films he needed to get it 221 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,560 Speaker 1: back to the US anyway to buy film stock, So 222 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: when he got to New York he did that, paying 223 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:09,839 Speaker 1: cash for the film twenty four thousand dollars worth. He 224 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: then put it in a box labeled statuary, stored it 225 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: at a warehouse in Brooklyn, and took out a thirty 226 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: three thousand dollar insurance policy on it with the Stuyvesant 227 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:26,079 Speaker 1: Insurance Company under the name Frederick Fredericks. He loved that name. Uh. Mysteriously, 228 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 1: the warehouse had a fire and the have box mark 229 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: statutory was destroyed. It's unclear exactly what Fritz was telling 230 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 1: Alice once they reunited about where he had been and 231 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:40,559 Speaker 1: what had been going on, but he did convince her 232 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:44,319 Speaker 1: to pursue the insurance policy for the warehouse box, as 233 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,440 Speaker 1: well as another policy that he had taken out on 234 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,560 Speaker 1: the alleged film in that mysterious iron case that he 235 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: had shipped aboard the tennis in and then after convincing 236 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: her to file these claims, Fritz vanished during the time 237 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,720 Speaker 1: that he was unaccounted for or the h MS Hampshire 238 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: was sunk by a German sub Fritz Duquese, who had 239 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,080 Speaker 1: sworn vengeance on the military commander Kitchener during the Second 240 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: Boer War, claimed that he had orchestrated this sub attack 241 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: and that he was responsible for the assassination of Kitchener, 242 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,160 Speaker 1: and he also claimed that this was an attack ordered 243 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: by an organization called the Bore Revolutionary Committee. That entity 244 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: did not exist. Duquesne next turned up in Washington, d C. 245 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: In July of nineteen sixteen, and started to reach out 246 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: to his old contacts, including his once collaborator in the 247 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: Hippo Plan, Robert Broussard, who at this point was a senator. 248 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 1: Broussard seemed oblivious to the fact that Fritz was on 249 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 1: the run, and at the Adventurer's request, tried to get 250 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: him a government job, but that was to no avail, 251 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: so it was back to New York for Duquesne. He 252 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: didn't let anybody know he was in town, though. He 253 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: lived in an apartment that he shared with another man, 254 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: rather than going back home to Alice, which was something 255 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: he had done just before disappearing a few months earlier. Yeah, 256 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: he had gotten a separate place from her. We did. 257 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 1: It's unclear why. If he was trying to protect her, 258 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 1: or if he just wanted out of the marriage and 259 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 1: didn't want to mess with it. We don't know. He 260 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: didn't need money, so he reinvented himself again, and this 261 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: time as an Australian war hero named Claude Stoughton of 262 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: the West Australian Light Horse Unit. This was all entirely fictitious. 263 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: There was no such unit or person. He even invented 264 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: a uniform for him. But in this guise he became 265 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: a salesman, a salesman of patriotism, of his fake backstory 266 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: which was kind of a pastiche of his own experiences 267 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: and some others he made up, and a lot of embellishment, 268 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: and mostly he became a salesman of library bonds for 269 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: the Allies. Claude Stoughton was well paid for speaking engagements 270 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 1: and he was put up in nice hotels, But soon 271 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: people started to notice that in social settings Claude, when 272 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: he spoke casually, seemed to have alliances toward the Germans 273 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: rather than the Allies. At the same time, the investigation 274 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: into the insurance claims that Alice Ducaine had filed had 275 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: given the insurance company and the police enough information that 276 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,720 Speaker 1: they realized to Ducane really was, and that he was 277 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: a wanted man, not just for his insurance crimes, but 278 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: for his crimes against Britain. Ducaine was arrested in late 279 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 1: nineteen seventeen when he was returning to his apartment from 280 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: a Claude stounton tour. His belongings had already been searched 281 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: and had turned up just a wealth of evidence. Yeah, 282 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 1: there was so much damning paperwork, including communications about Germany 283 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: and doing what was best for Germany and also things 284 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: around these um these various insurance issues. It was a 285 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: pretty uh exciting find for the authorities. But after his arrest, 286 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: Duchane was then held and charged for two different reasons. 287 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:00,720 Speaker 1: One the charges of British government particular really the murder 288 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: of those three men in the bombing attack on the 289 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:06,920 Speaker 1: steamer Tennyson murder at sea automatically carried a death sentence 290 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 1: if you were found guilty. In the US was launching 291 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: a federal inquiry into the matter to make sure that 292 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:14,919 Speaker 1: this was the right person and everything lined up, and 293 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,160 Speaker 1: to the New York District Attorney was examining the allegations 294 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: that he had committed insurance fraud. We will try to 295 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 1: untangle Ducane's legal situation after we take a quick break 296 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: for word from sponsors. A letter was sent to the 297 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: British government's legal representation in the US, that was the 298 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: Kudair Brothers, assuring them that the British charges against Ducane 299 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:47,000 Speaker 1: were being considered carefully as the investigation was conducted. That 300 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:49,720 Speaker 1: letter read, in part quote, in the event that the 301 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 1: United States Commissioner, after a hearing directs that the defendant 302 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:56,960 Speaker 1: beheld on the charges and be extradited. This Office, on 303 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: receipt of official notice from the proper Department, will waive 304 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,439 Speaker 1: all objections to the proposed extradition and exchange for this, 305 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,439 Speaker 1: the British government agreed to send Ducaine back to the 306 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,880 Speaker 1: US to face charges in the event he wasn't convicted 307 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: in Britain or if his sentence was less than life imprisonment. 308 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: As these investigations went on, it was eventually determined by 309 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: the US government that nothing they could find on Ducaene's 310 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 1: illegal activities in the US would be anywhere near as 311 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,479 Speaker 1: serious as the charges that Great Britain had made, so 312 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:30,440 Speaker 1: the decision was made that he would be moved out 313 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,359 Speaker 1: of US custody and given to British authorities to face 314 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: trial for the explosion of the steamship Tennis In After 315 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: Decaine learned that he was to be turned over to 316 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 1: the British government, he developed a medical condition. He was 317 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: suddenly paralyzed. This was a hundred percent fake, but initially 318 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 1: he was moved from his prison cell to Bellevue Hospital 319 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 1: for observation and treatment, and he was committed enough to 320 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 1: this whole ruge that he convinced medical staff that he 321 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 1: had indeed fallen into a state of paralysis. Anytime he 322 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: needed to be moved from his bed, he depended on 323 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:08,199 Speaker 1: the orderlies and the nurses to do it for him. Then, 324 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: on Ma Fritz Duchane escaped from Bellevue Hospital. The bars 325 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:18,440 Speaker 1: of his window in the hospital's prison ward had been 326 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 1: sawed through. Any saws used for that job had to 327 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 1: have come from an outside source, because Fritz had been 328 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,359 Speaker 1: searched thoroughly when he was transferred from his prison cell 329 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,399 Speaker 1: to his hospital bed. Even the coverage in the New 330 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: York Times sounds like the reporter who wrote it was 331 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 1: kind of impressed by this whole thing. Quote. While attendants 332 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,320 Speaker 1: and the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital were acting in 333 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: the belief that Captain Fritz Jobert Duquesne, the adventurer and romancer, 334 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,919 Speaker 1: was a hopeless paralytic patient, he saw it through the 335 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,880 Speaker 1: bars of his cell early yesterday morning and escaped by 336 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: scaling two fences about seven feet high. The article goes 337 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: on to mention him first dropping from the window to 338 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:01,399 Speaker 1: the ledge of an ice house and then to the 339 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: ground farther below, saying, quote, even this display of agility, 340 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: amazing for a paralytic, did not give him his liberty, 341 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: and he was forced to climb a brick wall about 342 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 1: six feet high and an iron fence with menacing spikes 343 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 1: about eight feet high. All this spectacular leaping and climbing 344 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 1: to escape prison did not attract the attention of any 345 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,359 Speaker 1: of the guards or attendance of the prison ward, and 346 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: the absence of the quote paralytic patient was not noticed 347 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: until the attendants made their usual rounds of the ward 348 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 1: at four thirty a m. To complete his ruse, Ducane 349 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: had arranged pillows and comforters roughly into the shape of 350 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,199 Speaker 1: a person curled into a ball in his bed, and 351 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: pulled his blanket over them. So again, it's so funny. 352 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:49,439 Speaker 1: I feel like he set so many of the tropes 353 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,639 Speaker 1: we see in film and television. The grounds of the 354 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 1: hospital were searched once it was realized that he was gone, 355 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: and they came up empty, and police developed a theory 356 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: that the escapee had a rain for an accomplice to 357 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 1: meet him with a car and a change of clothes 358 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: on nearby First Avenue, because it had been believed up 359 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:10,120 Speaker 1: to that point that Duchesne was truly paralyzed. He had 360 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: not been considered dangerous or a flight risk, so the 361 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,880 Speaker 1: few visitors that he had were not documented on any 362 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,679 Speaker 1: kind of list. Ducane wrote a letter to one of 363 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 1: his friends, allegedly from Mexico. The letter stated that Fritz 364 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:26,560 Speaker 1: had the help of friends in his escape and that 365 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,720 Speaker 1: they provided him with a car and had then gotten 366 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 1: him onto a plane with an expert pilot who took 367 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: him to Mexico. The friend Ducane wrote to brought this 368 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: letter to the police and it was dismissed as a hoax. 369 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,000 Speaker 1: They're thinking was that he sent the letter hoping that 370 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: his friend would take it to the authorities in the 371 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 1: hopes that the Mexico story would take them off of 372 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: his real trail. But by the end of the summer, 373 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 1: all of the other trails had gone cold, and police 374 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,879 Speaker 1: did start to believe that he had indeed left the 375 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: US and that he was, in all likelihood exactly where 376 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: he said he was, which was Mexico. You remember, he 377 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: traveled in South America and knew a lot of people 378 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 1: in Middle and South America that they thought he could 379 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 1: have gone to for safe harbor. There are also plenty 380 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 1: of people that believe that he was just kind of 381 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 1: laying low and kicking around the US. Uh. He definitely 382 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: was in Boston for a while, at least until he 383 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,159 Speaker 1: moved back to New York. They weren't sure of his whereabouts, 384 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: but this time he arrived in the city as a 385 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:31,479 Speaker 1: new man, Frank to Trafford Craven Alice. His wife had 386 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: left him when his ruse had caved in and he 387 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 1: had been arrested, So this start as Craven was kind 388 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:41,439 Speaker 1: of a fresh reinvention of himself with no ties. Before 389 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: this returned to New York, Fritz slash Frank had spent 390 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: some time, as Holly said, in Boston getting into the 391 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: movie industry by working with a financier named Joseph P. Kennedy, 392 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: who had purchased the film booking offices of America. Kennedy 393 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,360 Speaker 1: hired Fritz for pr work that required Ducane to move 394 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:05,399 Speaker 1: back to Manhattan. Marks a strangely conventional time in Ducane's life. 395 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: He seemed to actually just be working a job and 396 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: living a quiet life for a few years. He moved 397 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,840 Speaker 1: on to another job at Quickly Publishing, which had him 398 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:19,159 Speaker 1: working writing and editing advertising copy for vaudeville acts. Although 399 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,320 Speaker 1: Fritz was living well but under the radar. His past 400 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: caught up with him in nineteen thirty two and he 401 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,439 Speaker 1: was arrested again. This time, Fritz kept up his Frank 402 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: de Trafford Craven persona, insisting over and over that the 403 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,480 Speaker 1: police had the wrong man. And just in case you're curious, 404 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: that Joseph P. Kennedy is in fact the father of 405 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: John F. Kennedy. Uh defending Ducane once he was arrested 406 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty two, although he continued to go by 407 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: Craven through this whole legal morass was well known civil 408 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 1: liberties lawyer Arthur Garfield Hayes. Hayes would later write of 409 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,359 Speaker 1: Duquesne and maybe brace for this one, because some of 410 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: it's not the best attitude, uh quote. We all admired 411 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,280 Speaker 1: the man. Even the district attorney and judge were sympathetic. 412 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 1: It was before Hitler's time, and no one hated the Germans. 413 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:09,680 Speaker 1: After all, if there had been a murder, it was 414 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: homicide in a war of many years ago, and homicide 415 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 1: in war is heroic. Hastok. The approach that, first of all, 416 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,719 Speaker 1: if the British government wanted to have Ducane extradited, they 417 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,679 Speaker 1: would have to prove it was actually him and not 418 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 1: this Frank Craven. Secondly, he would have to have been 419 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: on British soil when he committed the crime for this 420 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 1: extradition to stand. The British government did not really have 421 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,159 Speaker 1: any interest in pursuing events from the war at this point. 422 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: The thinking was that it could just dredge up matters 423 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:42,199 Speaker 1: between countries that had since been settled, and that there 424 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: was just no need for that. So whether we were 425 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: talking about Frank de Trafford Craven or Fritz Ducane, Brittain 426 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 1: was just done with the matter, but New York still 427 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:56,640 Speaker 1: had some issues. However, it was determined that since Duchane 428 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 1: was being held as a British prisoner awaiting transfer from 429 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:02,479 Speaker 1: Belle View at the time of his escape, apparently at 430 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:06,919 Speaker 1: that point he had been transferred to uh Britain, at 431 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: least on paper. Since Britain had dropped the matter, there 432 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,720 Speaker 1: really was not any issue and so the whole thing 433 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,280 Speaker 1: was dismissed. This was very frustrating to some of the 434 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: police and detectives that had worked on this case, but 435 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: the judge was kind of like man if Fritz Ducane 436 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,160 Speaker 1: had just gone back to his life working in entertainment advertising. 437 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: He probably could have had a nice last stretch of years, 438 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: but Ducayne, at this point was in his mid fifties. 439 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,880 Speaker 1: He still had a burning hatred for Britain. He had 440 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: given interviews in the press where he had explicitly said so, 441 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 1: and in ninety four Fritz was recruited by Royal Scott Golden, 442 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: who was the head of the Order of seventy six 443 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: that was a New York organization that was sympathetic to 444 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:53,879 Speaker 1: the Third Reich and believed that Jews were the enemy 445 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: in America. Golden needed a spy and Deuquaete needed a job, 446 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: so they struck up a deal. But when a reporter 447 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 1: broke the story that Fritz Duchane was likely working for 448 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,160 Speaker 1: this pro Nazi group, it was actually Ducane's mistress, who 449 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: was Jewish and learned about all of this news through 450 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: the paper like everyone else, who reached out to that 451 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: reporter to help him get more info. She actually fed 452 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: him information for a couple of years, but Ducaine's association 453 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,680 Speaker 1: with this group became pretty unclear and fuzzy pretty rapidly. 454 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:27,919 Speaker 1: Within a few months, Duchane was working instead for the 455 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: Works Progress Administration, and then he opened his own business, 456 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:36,159 Speaker 1: air terminals company, which was allegedly dealing in r KAO stock. 457 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:38,440 Speaker 1: It may have been a front or just a way 458 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 1: for him to have meetings somewhere. But there's this messy, 459 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:45,920 Speaker 1: confusing assortment of details during these years that suggests whether 460 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:50,199 Speaker 1: he was working for the Nazi group or not, it 461 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: was kind of an unfocused time in his life, or 462 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:55,200 Speaker 1: he was just giving everyone the slip in every way possible. 463 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,639 Speaker 1: But then in December of seven, Fritz Ducane once again 464 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 1: became a spy for Germany, this time working for the 465 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:06,400 Speaker 1: Nazis on US soil. He had been recruited by Colonel 466 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,560 Speaker 1: Nicholas Adolphe Fritz Ritter, who was organizing a U. S 467 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: spy ring as part of Hitler's military intelligence group, the 468 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:16,960 Speaker 1: ab There Ritter put Fritz in the key position in 469 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,439 Speaker 1: this ring, and Fritz, seeing as one more way to 470 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:25,240 Speaker 1: continue his lifetime vow of revenge against Britain, took the job. 471 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 1: Ritter recruited almost three dozen other members to be part 472 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: of this ring, one of whom was named William Siebold. 473 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 1: You'll also see him listed as Wilhelm Siebold because he 474 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,399 Speaker 1: was a naturalized US citizen born in Germany, and he 475 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 1: had been recruited when he was back home visiting his 476 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: mother in nineteen thirty nine. When he returned to the 477 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: US in nineteen forty, it was under his new identity 478 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 1: Harry Sawyer. He had spycraft training under his belt at 479 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: this point, and he was instructed to make contact with 480 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: Fritz Dukane. Sebold did not want to be a spy, 481 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 1: though he had been told by his Nazi recruiters that 482 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,399 Speaker 1: his family would be hurt and that they would reveal 483 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: secrets about him to the U. S. Government if he 484 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: didn't cooperate. He was fearful of losing his US citizenship 485 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,680 Speaker 1: and his life in New York, so Sebold had agreed 486 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,639 Speaker 1: to this, But while he was still in Germany, he 487 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,280 Speaker 1: had made a surreptitious trip to the US Embassy in Cologne, 488 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,920 Speaker 1: disclosed what he was being forced to do, and told 489 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,720 Speaker 1: the Consul general that he was a loyal U. S. Citizen. 490 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,480 Speaker 1: So the FBI was waiting for Sebold when he arrived 491 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 1: back in New York kept an eye on his movements 492 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 1: as he went through the motions of fulfilling his mission 493 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 1: for Germany. It's basically being a double agent at this 494 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,320 Speaker 1: point yep, And it was through Sebold that the FBI 495 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 1: identified Fritz Duquesne. Duquesne was supplying Germany with information anything 496 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 1: to do with British ships that he could find, information 497 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: that he gathered while posing as a student, writing letters 498 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:56,240 Speaker 1: of curiosity to industrial companies that were working on war material, 499 00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: and even material that he said he got by breaking 500 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 1: into a du Pont plant regarding bomb designs. Duchese was 501 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: a wealth of information, not only on details about what 502 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: the US and Britain were doing, but also in detailing 503 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 1: methods of sabotage that could be employed by Germany to 504 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: weaken the military power of the Allies. President Franklin Delano 505 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,240 Speaker 1: Roosevelt was briefed on Ducane's involvement with the spy ring. 506 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,600 Speaker 1: Resources were allocated to have Ducane followed. Although he was 507 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: pretty excellent at shaking a tail, even though he wasn't 508 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,000 Speaker 1: the young man he once was, he was at his 509 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,080 Speaker 1: early sixties by this point. He often shaved a few 510 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: years off when people asked him his age, though. But 511 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: most damning was that while Duchese was feeding this information 512 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: to see Bold, he was being recorded and this was 513 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: all happening. Keep in mind before the US had officially 514 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 1: entered the war, so this was a very eye opening 515 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: look at Germany's spy efforts before becoming part of the conflict. 516 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: They were spying on the US way before they were 517 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 1: officially declared part of this conflict. For who was going 518 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: by the nickname the Duke at this point even unknowingly 519 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: befriended one of the FBI agents who was surveilling him 520 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: because he was very outgoing and friendly and the two 521 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,239 Speaker 1: had had this not exactly chance meeting that had been 522 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 1: orchestrated by the agent. But like everyone else, this FBI man, 523 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: special agent Raymond new Kirk, found Fritz incredibly charming, and 524 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 1: even though he was completely dedicated to his job, he 525 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: admitted that he couldn't help developing a fondness for him. Finally, 526 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: on June one, the FBI had enough information on the 527 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 1: spy ring to start making arrests. They had slow played 528 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,680 Speaker 1: their surveillance to make sure nobody got suspicious and to 529 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: make sure they could collect enough evidence to have an 530 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:45,800 Speaker 1: air tight case. When new Kirk arrived with friends and 531 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:48,640 Speaker 1: then told Kane he was under arrest. Once they were 532 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: all inside Fritz's apartment, the spy did not say a word. 533 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:56,360 Speaker 1: His living girlfriend, Evelyn Lewis, was also arrested, along with 534 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: thirty one other members of the ring. By the time 535 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: I'm the guilty Please and the trials for those who 536 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 1: pleaded innocent were over, Duquesne Inspiring had wrapped up a 537 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: combined total of more than three hundred years in prison sentences. 538 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: Duquesne was sentenced to eighteen years with a two thousand 539 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 1: dollar fine for violating the Registration Act of Night. His 540 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: testimony during the trial, in which he told his entire 541 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 1: life story, at least his version of it, completely enthralled 542 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 1: the courtroom. He said that he would never do anything 543 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:31,720 Speaker 1: to hurt the United States, but that he would do 544 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 1: anything to hurt Britain. But Fritz had finally landed himself 545 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: in a spot that he could not escape from, as 546 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,800 Speaker 1: the evidence was simply too clear in proving his treachery. 547 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,480 Speaker 1: Despite his advancing years and some health issues, Fritz was 548 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:50,040 Speaker 1: classified as a maximum custody prisoner at Leavenworth. Early into 549 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:54,600 Speaker 1: his incarceration, Fritz started exhibiting a number of ailments, including 550 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: rapidly advancing senility, But due to this history of faking 551 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 1: illness while in custody, there was some doubt about how 552 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 1: serious these ailments were. Additionally, contraband items, including razor blades, 553 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: were found in his possession pretty often. In Nive he 554 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 1: was moved to a medical facility for federal prisoners in 555 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 1: Missouri as the forties drew to a close. It seemed 556 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:20,840 Speaker 1: as though his doctors were willing to work on his 557 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 1: behalf for an early release due to his deteriorating mental health, 558 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 1: although his daily report write ups by staff no kind 559 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:31,080 Speaker 1: of an uptick in his mental and physical health. Once 560 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 1: things started to go his way in this regard, yeah, 561 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 1: once he knew that doctors were like, we're working to 562 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 1: get you a shorter sentence, which ultimately did happen, he 563 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:45,520 Speaker 1: was like, oh great, uh, suddenly a little more tuned 564 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: in to his mental acuity and a little bit better 565 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:52,120 Speaker 1: physical energy. So, while he was still incarcerated, Fritz actually 566 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,160 Speaker 1: tried to sue twentieth century Fox. This was over the 567 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: movie The House on Fort Street featured a character inspired 568 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 1: by it's Ducane. Fritz claimed that his spy ring had 569 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:07,000 Speaker 1: made this movie successful and that the studio was using 570 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,480 Speaker 1: their wealth to keep him incarcerated. This was like his 571 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: other hobby letters, writing about how poorly He was treated 572 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 1: right in line with all of that, but it did 573 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,560 Speaker 1: not end in Duquesne's favor. Ducaine was released from prison 574 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 1: in the autumn of nineteen fifty nine, long after most 575 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:25,640 Speaker 1: of his other co conspirators in the spy ring had 576 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 1: been paroled. He was destitute. He tried to sue the 577 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:33,000 Speaker 1: FBI for loss of valuable property, including diamonds that he 578 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: claimed or taken when he was arrested. He was awarded 579 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: the four hundred dollars they had taken from his wallet, 580 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,520 Speaker 1: but his more exorbitant claims were dismissed. The Department of 581 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:46,480 Speaker 1: Welfare arranged for him to move into the London Arms 582 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,960 Speaker 1: and Nursing Home. On December twenty one, nineteen fifty five, 583 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:53,480 Speaker 1: which was Fritz Duchane's seventy eighth birthday, he gave one 584 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:57,240 Speaker 1: last talk at the Adventurers Club. Having him there at 585 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 1: all after his spy conviction caused some free among the members, 586 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,840 Speaker 1: but ultimately the evening went without incident, and after that 587 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: Fritz decided that he could not live in the nursing 588 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 1: Home anymore, and he got his own apartment. That was 589 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:12,879 Speaker 1: short lived. However, he fell and he broke his hip 590 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,120 Speaker 1: and he was admitted to the city hospital on what 591 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:18,480 Speaker 1: was then called Welfare Island that is now Roosevelt Island. 592 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,120 Speaker 1: His recovery was going well, but then he had a 593 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:26,840 Speaker 1: fatal stroke. On He wanted to close out with a 594 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 1: comment about Fritz Duquesne, written by Frederick Burnham, who had 595 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:34,160 Speaker 1: orders to kill Duquesne during the Anglo Boer War and 596 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:37,719 Speaker 1: who worked with him on that Hippo plan quote. Much 597 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: has been written about Duquesne, most of it rubbish, Yet 598 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:45,160 Speaker 1: his real accomplishments were so terrible and amazing that they 599 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,320 Speaker 1: make the Yellow Journal thrillers about him seem as mild 600 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:57,000 Speaker 1: as bedtime stories. Oh Fritz, Uh, he's an interesting character 601 00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:59,959 Speaker 1: because he did some really reprehensible things, But you see 602 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 1: why people found him so likable. It's an interesting duality. 603 00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:05,640 Speaker 1: Those are the people that I always wonder what's actually 604 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:10,279 Speaker 1: going on in their heads. Yeah. Yeah, we've had some fraudsters, 605 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,359 Speaker 1: Like if you have a spectrum of fraudsters, from the 606 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,279 Speaker 1: ones who were mostly harmless and kind of uh fascinating 607 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,200 Speaker 1: to watch too, like the ones that were really harmful 608 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,800 Speaker 1: but also kind of entertaining. Like he's much on the 609 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:29,000 Speaker 1: more of the harmful end of the spectrum. I think yes, yes, 610 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,319 Speaker 1: Fritz du Kane. UM, I have another listener mail. This 611 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:34,799 Speaker 1: one is also about emergency medicine, which part one was 612 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: as well. This is from our listener Regina, who writes, Hello, First, 613 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:39,880 Speaker 1: let me tell you how much I enjoy your podcast. 614 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:41,720 Speaker 1: I have been a fan for years and look forward 615 00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:45,000 Speaker 1: to every new episode eagerly. I have one small extra 616 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:47,920 Speaker 1: information about the podcast. In emergency Medicine that I think 617 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:52,080 Speaker 1: you might find interesting. You talked about resuscitation. The mannequin 618 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 1: used for training mouth to mouth here in Germany and 619 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:57,120 Speaker 1: I think also in other countries, has a washable mask. 620 00:35:57,680 --> 00:35:59,960 Speaker 1: This mask is modeled from the death mask of an 621 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,800 Speaker 1: unknown young woman found in Paris in the eighteen eighties. 622 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,080 Speaker 1: This mask was a very popular decoration because she looks 623 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: so peaceful, and for this reason it was also chosen 624 00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:11,480 Speaker 1: for the training mannequin. I thought you might enjoy this detail. 625 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:15,160 Speaker 1: Keep up the good work. UM, thank you, Regina. I 626 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:17,640 Speaker 1: have read that. I'm sure a number of people have 627 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 1: before as well. UM. I didn't include it because it 628 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 1: was kind of one of those things that is often reported. 629 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:26,680 Speaker 1: I don't know about the veracity of it one way 630 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:31,320 Speaker 1: or another, so it's an interesting tale. Allegedly, the designer 631 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:33,840 Speaker 1: saw it in a shop window while he was walking 632 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:35,840 Speaker 1: around in Paris at one point and just thought she 633 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:39,239 Speaker 1: was incredibly pretty and very soothing to look at. So 634 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:43,680 Speaker 1: that's the scoop on Ricessa Annie or uh Recessa, and 635 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,919 Speaker 1: I think is what she's called in other countries. I'm 636 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:50,360 Speaker 1: grateful she exists because lots of us have learned to 637 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:53,440 Speaker 1: do CPR thanks to that. Whether she had a beautiful 638 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,719 Speaker 1: mask on or not. Um If you would like to 639 00:36:55,719 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 1: write to us, you can do so at History podcast 640 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:00,359 Speaker 1: at iHeart radio dot com. You can also find us 641 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,520 Speaker 1: everywhere on social media as Missed in History, and we 642 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:05,880 Speaker 1: encourage you to subscribe to the show. You can do 643 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:08,440 Speaker 1: that on the I heart Radio app, at Apple podcasts, 644 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:15,320 Speaker 1: or wherever it is you listen. Stuff you Missed in 645 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,160 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of I heart Radio. For 646 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,919 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I heart 647 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:24,080 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 648 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:24,800 Speaker 1: favorite shows