Horst von der Goltz

Horst von der Goltz

Horst von der Goltz , actually Franz Wachendorf , alias Bridgeman W. Taylor , (* 1884 in Koblenz ; † possibly in the USA ) was a German spy at the beginning of the First World War and actor in a US propaganda film.

Early life

At the age of 16, Wachendorf was deported from Brussels to the German Empire as a forger . In February 1911, on the instructions of the German intelligence service, he is said to have stolen the draft of a secret treaty between Mexico and Japan , which was leaked to the USA and caused the latter to concentrate two thirds of their troops on the southern border. Presumably, however, he did not move to the USA until 1912.

He joined the Pancho Villas revolutionary army in Mexico and made it major . In order to impress the Mexicans, he took on the name Horst von der Goltz , under whom he was imprisoned for a time in Chihuahua with other German mercenaries from Villa's opponents until they were relieved. After the start of the war in Europe on August 3, 1914, his commanding general, Raul Madero, released him for six months. Goltz met the German consul Kueck in El Paso and was informed about the new office of the military attaché Franz von Papen (for sabotage and subversion ) in the Wall Street district of New York , which he soon visited.

Attack on the Welland Canal

Papen and Goltz agreed that he should blow up the channel between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario , over which armaments for the Entente were transported. He gave Goltz US $ 500 and a recommendation for Consul Carl A. Lüderitz in Baltimore , who issued him a passport to Bridgeman W. Taylor . The Krupp representative in New York, Hans Tauscher , ordered dynamite from the DuPont Powder Company for the attack, on the pretext of wanting to blow up tree stumps on a farm . Goltz was already in Buffalo on the Canadian border with some of the conspirators he had hired when Papen stopped the action. According to an official US account, the strong security of the canal forced the saboteurs to give up; According to reports at the time, however, Goltz was recalled to the German Reich for another use , because he had applied for a US passport under his code name Taylor on August 29, 1914, which he received on October 2 and used immediately. With an Italian visa he traveled to Europe on the Duca d'Aosta via Genoa and arrived in Berlin three weeks later. Lüderitz was later charged with forging passports for his help.

Great Britain

On November 4, 1914, Goltz registered himself on behalf of the German Abwehr in a London hotel as Bridgeman Taylor from El Paso . Since he did not register as a foreigner, he was arrested 10 days later. His passport showed German border stamps, which is why he was imprisoned for six months and then deported. In January 1915 he offered the head of the British Naval Intelligence Department , Reginald "Blinker" Hall , inside information for early release; however, with the result that his detention was extended until the end of the war. Apparently Hall, who met Goltz in person, thought Goltz was unbelievable.

When the US government in December 1915 identified the German military and naval attaché Karl Boy-Ed in the USA as Personae non gratae , Papen had to leave the country too. In his luggage, which the British searched at sea, the latter carried a check for B. Taylor with him under several secret documents , which referred to Goltz as his real name and contained the note that he was, with the order to enter British service, stayed in England. Goltz was brought before Scotland Yard as a German agent and cooperated in view of the expected death penalty . To his advantage, the British collected evidence of German conspiracy in the United States in order to drag the then still neutral Americans to war. Goltz's affidavit incriminating Papen and others was withheld for the time being after consulting the US State Department . With his own consent, he was brought to the USA via Finland in March 1916 as a court witness.

United States

Goltz, whose journey was to remain a secret and who was to be transferred back afterwards, was traveling in the company of Scotland Yard Commissioner Harold Brust and was questioned extensively by the chief reporter of the New York Times , so that his story was known via cable even before his arrival in New York . The British Admiralty was forced to make it public and now published Goltz's declaration.

As a key witness in the following process, Goltz contributed significantly to the idea of ​​Germans as "dynamiters" in the USA and massively damaged the people involved. Hans Tauscher and Papen's representative Wolf von Igel were arrested, diplomats such as Karl Boy-Ed and Consul Carl Lüderitz were accused of espionage, sabotage and passport violations. For his services Goltz was then interned in Ellis Island instead of facing an English firing squad.

Goltz published a book and played himself in the lead role in the 1918 propaganda film Der Prussische Hundesohn ('The Prussian Cur', meant was Kaiser Wilhelm II ) of the Committee on Public Information .

media

• Horst von der Goltz: Sworn statement by Horst von der Goltz, alias Bridgeman Taylor. HM Stationery Office . London 1916, OCLC 221427492 .
• Horst von der Goltz: My Adventures as a German Secret Agent. Kessinger Pub., Whitefish, Montana 2005, ISBN 1-4179-2081-5 (first edition: RM McBride & Co., New York, 1917) (online)
• Horst von der Goltz: True Stories Of The Great War: My Ten Years Of Intrigue In The Kaiser's Secret Service . Grace E. Evir in Romanian. History of the World, 1992.
• CPI - Propaganda Film: The Prussian Cur. (The Prussian son of a dog). Fox Film Company. USA 1918.Written / directed by Raoul Walsh , Goltz plays himself

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jefferson Adams: Historical Dictionary of German Intelligence ( English ). Scarecrow Press Inc., Lanham, MD 2009, ISBN 978-0-8108-5543-4 , pp. 144-145.
2. ^ ^{A b} My Adventures as a German Secret Service Agent . Archive.org. Retrieved April 28, 2012. ( Text version )
3. ↑ Barbara W. Tuchman: The Zimmermann Telegram , 1985. Edition, Ballantine Books, New York 1958, ISBN 0-345-32425-0 , pp. 34-38.
4. ^ ^{A b} Horst von der Goltz: True Stories Of The Great War: My Ten Years Of Intrigue In The Kaiser's Secret Service , Translated by Grace E. Bevir, History of the World, 1992.
5. ^ Imperial Germany's Sabotage Operations In The US . National Counterintelligence Center, United States Government Printing Office . Retrieved April 29, 2012.
6. ↑ Consul is Indicted in Passport Fraud ( English , PDF) New York Times. May 9, 1916. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
7. ↑ ^{a b} From Papen's Aid Here To Confess ( English , PDF) New York Times. March 29, 1916. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
8. ^ Thomas Boghardt: Spies of the Kaiser . Palgrave Macmillan, Oxford 2004, ISBN 1-4039-3248-4 .