WW1 Internee - Fette

It is a long established convention that in case of war Ambassadors (and by extension their embassy staff) should be allowed to return to their respective countries. However this did not it seems automatically extend to consular staff - both Germany and the UK had many consulates necessary in the day of slow communications to handle problems their citizens, especially businessmen and sailors, might encounter away from native shores.

There was an arranged exchange of several Consular staff in mid 1915, including three returned from India (Brill, Reinecke and Schuler), Cairo and others from as far away as Australia but Fette,along with three junior consular secretaries - Julius, Koehler (Secretary to Consulate at Glasgow & held at Knockaloe) & Bucholski were not included in the German offer of exchanges though the British Government was willing to exchange them.

[FO 383/170 contains several files]

The American Ambassador presents his compliments to His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and has the honour to transmit herewith enclosed copy of a communication addressed to him by J. H. Fette, a German subject and Consulate official now interned at Douglas, Isle of Man. London. 6th January 1916.

J.H. Fette, Pr. of War (No. 4026) Camp No, 1 Douglas I.M, 18/31/15

To the Embassy of the U,S. of America German Division London

Gentlemen

I beg to thank you for your kind letter of the 22nd inst., but have decided to drop the matter altogether.

Herwith I have the honor to draw your attention to the following matter. I am a German Government employee, vis: Imperial German Consular Secretary; but nevertheless I have been and am still interned in the U.K. since July 8th, 1915. I guess that you are already in receipt of an officiel letter from the Imperial German Foreign Office at Berlin regarding my exchange or repatriatriation respectively).

In the meantine, it has come to my knowledge that the Foreign Office at Berlin has tried twice to communicate with me officially, but of course the British censor never forwarded to me those official communications, though, I am sure, they must have been quite harmless.

Allow me to state that I entered the Imperial German Consular Service at Seattle (Wasah) on September 14, 1908, was transferred to Cincinnati (Ohio) on October 19, 1911, from there to Rio de Janeiro in March 1914 and finally from Rio to Asuncion (Paraguay) in May 1914. Unable to stand the Paraguatan climate, I was allowed to leave for home.

Leaving Ascuncion on March 16, 1915. I first went to New York City, where I left on May 27 on board the Norwegian Ship Akarca, bound for Gotenburg (Sweden). Six weeks later the Akarca was forced by a British auxiliary cruiser to call at Kirkwall, a British prize crew having been put on board ship, though her cargo (lubricating oil) had been loaded at Brooklyn under the constant supervision of British Con- sular officials, detached for that purpose from the British Consulate-general at New York City. The ship's hatches had then, of course, been officially sealed by said officials with the seals of the said British Consulate-General. Nevertheless, the Akarca was forcibly led to Kirkwall, where I was taken off immediately. This happened on July 8, 1915. The same day I gave the British Naval Authorities at Kirkwall reliable infomation about my real position. This I did also 2 days later in Edinburgh Castle, where I was shut up for three days. On July 18 last I was, together with a batch of aliens to be interned, sent to the Stobs P. of W. Camp. From there I was, on November 13th last, transferred upon my application to the Douglas (I.M.) Camp.

By the above description of this disagreeable affair it can clearly be seen that the British had no right whatsoever to take: first anybody off a neutral ship, bound from one neutral port (New York) to another neutral port (Gothenburg, Sweden) and second: especially me, since I was and am still a Consular Officer on active service.

Therefore, I herewith have the honor to protest energetically before you against this outrage which was committed by British Naval Officers, who were, of course, obeying strict orders.

I further have the honor to ask you in your capacity as Germany's representative in this country to kindly cause the necessary steps to be taken, in order that my speedy release and repatriation may follow.

I do hope you will cause this matter to be pursued in an energetic end efficient way. I assume that you have al~ ready received official communications from Berlin about me, which may enable you to try to gain my release as soon as possible. The sooner I am repatriated, the smaller my claim will be, My internment was and is unjust from beginning to end. I may add that I have no orders from my Government, the British censor has seen to that.

Thanking you in advance for your kindness, I have the honor tobe, Gentlemen Yours very respectfully,

J.H. Fette, Imperial German Consular Secretary.

A second letter, the original in German though only a translation is on file

Douglas Isle of Man March 9th, 1916.

I have the honour to request that, should it be feasible and admissible under the circumstances, the [German] Foreign Office will transmit to me regularly, say, one-third of my salary, which was last paid. to me at Asuncion. In the event that more than one-third should be due to me, may I be allowed to cede equal parts of the surplus to the Red Cross and the Hinterbliebenen-Fursorge until the end of the war ? If I am exchanged in a few weeks' time, remittance of my salary will not be necessary. Should it be out of the question to remit it under existing conditions, I shall ask, at the end of April or the beginning of May, to be transferred to the camp at Peel, where the accommodation, if not pleasant, is at any rate free of expense.

I have requested our representation at London to forward this petition.

Fette. Konsulatssekretar.

and some months later, a third (which gained the comment in the cover note "the tone of this man's letters is decidedly offensive")

The American Ambassador presents his compliments to His Majesty's principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and has the honour to transmit herewith, for such disposition as may be thought fit, and at the request of J. Fette, Prisoner of War at Douglas Aliens' Camp, Isle of Man, a copy of a letter received from him dated November 30, 1916.

Mr Page ventures to add that the accompanyng communication is in reference to Lord Grey's Note of January 14th last, No. 4812/P. London, 8th December, 1916.

Sir I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letters of the 6th and 21st instant.

Now, I think it imperative to refer once more to the compensation question. The last paragraph of a letter from your Embassy dated January 18th, 1916, and signed by Mr. Lowry, special Attaché, ran as follows-"I am further informed that the claim of an enemy subject to compensation for arrest cannot be entertained by Hie Majesty's Govern ment."

Now, this cannot in the least be considered as ruling in my case. I have not been arrested. Arrested can only be a person which committed or is suspected of having comitted a crime punishable under the laws, if he lives in that same country. The mere fact that I am a German subject cannot of course be considered as such, viz. as a crime. Even if one should be suspected of a crime, one can never be apprehended on neutral soi1 against one's will, without the proper and lawful formalities having been complied with and gone through. That is why there exist extradition treaties between the different nations. That is, of course well known to the British naval authorities which are in this case responsible, I guess. The British authorities are apparently labouring under a misconception, as regards my case. I have no claim to make against them to compensation for arrest.

What realty happened at Kirkwall on July 8, 1915 (as in many other like cases) is that I, a harmless civilian, was against my will, and therefore forcibly, taken off a neutral ship right under a neutral (the Norwegian) merchant flag and on neutral (norwegian) soil, so to speak, viz. on and from on board of the Norwegian ship "Akaroa" (port of register: Risoer) flying her country's flag, and forcibly detained and subsequently interned. There is where my claim comes in, not a claim to compensation for arrest, but a lawful claim against the British Government to compensation for indignities I suffered at the hands of the British authorities (they had no right to put me over night in a real jail, anyhow), for having been forced to interrupt at Kirkwall, and give up my continuous yoyage from New York to Gothenburg (Sweden), for having been jnterned in July 1915 and kept interned until who knows how long, for having subsequently lost a year and a half (and more) of my life through the unlawful and illegal action of the British naval authorities, backed by their Government, and finally, for having been forced on account of my internment to remain idle for already seventeen months continuously, whereas I might well have earned my former salary or even more, if I had, according to plan, reached Gothenburg in July 1915. last, but not least, my health has suffered considerably through the continued internment. Besides, the principle of "continuous voyage" is applicable to my case too; the "Akaroa" had no intention of calling at any English port, and I - well, I assure you upon my word - I had not the slightest intention nor earthly desire to see these Islands. I could very well get along without having seen them; that is a fact. Therefore no question of eventual spying can be involved in my harmless case, even if the British Admiralty, as they do, declare that they are forced on that account to take civilians off neutral ships. That is not the real reason, I guess.

It is quite clear to me that I have a right to the above mentioned claims; so I shall not - neither now nor later on - renounce them. If it is a matter of "principle" to the British Government not to release (repatriate) those thousands of Germans, hundreds of Austrians, Turks and Bulgarians they have unlawfully taken off neutral ships, and not to compensate them, then it is just as much a matter of principle to the Governments of the Central Powers to get those innocent victims of British injustice (even if justified - from their (the British) point of view) released (repatriated) and recompensated.

You would oblige me by communicating the contents of this letter to the competent British authorities, so that they may not, now or later on, misunderstand my actions. I have never renounced my claims as stated above.

Asking your pardon for having to trouble you again aond begging you to acknowledge the receipt of this letter, Ihave the honour to be, Sir,

Yours very respectfully, J. Fette.

Removal of enemy aliens from any vessel stopped by the Royal Navy blockading imports to Germany was the standard practice - at one time it was pointed out that as fast as the authorities could release and repatriate those deemed unfit for military service their places were taken up by those taken off vessels.

Fette was transferred to Knockaloe, but not until March 1918, and was finally repatriated via Ripon in February 1919

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Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2023