Throttled! The Detection of the German and Anarchist Bomb PlottersTunney, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
History
Throttled! The Detection of the German and Anarchist Bomb Plotters
Tunney, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Secret service -- Germany
“Because I wanted to know,” I answered. I had good reason to believe
that he had been there because among his effects we found several
exhibits which pointed toward such a trip. A letter from a woman in
Florida dated December 13, 1915, said:
“I would never for one moment try to deter you from the effort or
achievement of your lofty ideals and noble aims, for in this as in many
other things my spirit accords with yours. Brother dear, _do_ nothing,
_say_ nothing, _trust_ nobody, without extreme caution. God speed you.
God hasten your return to those who are interested in you, and in all
in which you are interested. Bless you, precious brother.”
This indicated a journey, clearly. A cablegram dated Bergen, Norway,
Dec. 23, 1915, addressed to Sekunna, read, “Safe arrival here,” and
took him as far as the Continent, at least. Three postcards supplied
the rest of the information; they were addressed by Sekunna to
himself at a Berlin address, and bore the instructions, “Return to
Sender, E. A. Sekunna, Omin Company, 417 E. 142nd Street, New York
City”; postmarked Berlin in December and January, they suggested
that Chakravarty had used them as part of a pre-arranged system of
communication with America in which he did not wish his own name used.
I found among the papers a photographic print of Chakravarty wearing
a fez, which I knew was not an orthodox head-dress for a Bengalese.
Furthermore, it struck me that the print was of the size and finish
usually used on passports for identification of the bearer. I showed it
to him, with the remark:
“Why do you tell me you haven’t been in Berlin, when you used this
photograph so you could get a passport as a Persian?”
He bit. “I see you got me,” he replied. “I lied to you. I want to tell
you a different story--the real one. I did go to Germany.”
“Why?”
“To see Wesendonck. He is a secretary for India of the German foreign
office. He wanted to make plans for propaganda for the liberation of
India from British rule.”
Chakravarty sat there and unfolded an amazing story. He touched
gingerly upon his own part in it at first, then evidently sensed the
fact that there were others in the plot guilty of perhaps no less
reprehensible but more violent crimes, and the little doctor’s capture
and confession not only gave clues to the authorities which enabled
them to follow up the outstanding German-Hindu plots in America, but
developed prosecutions of the first magnitude and the keenest general
interest.
[Illustration: 1. Franz Schulenberg
2. Ram Chandra
3. Ram Singh (on the left)
4. Dr. Chandra Chakravarty and Dr. Ernest Sekunna
5. Dr. Chandra Chakravarty in his Persian Dress]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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