Being German, Being American
In World War I, They Faced Suspicion, Discrimination Here at Home
Summer 2014, Vol. 46, No. 2
By Mary J. Manning
漏 2014 by Mary J. Manning
Otto Edwin Radke was like any other young American boy growing up in a small midwestern town in the early 1900s.
He attended the local schools and went to the Methodist Church in Barrington, Illinois, 30 miles north west of Chicago. He probably skated on the Russell Street Pond and sledded down the schoolhouse hill on Hough Street or on Castle鈥檚 Hill, where they iced the slide to make it more slippery.
Born in 1900, Otto grew up in modest surroundings. His family lived in a white frame house on the edge of town. Like much of Barrington, the sidewalks were wooden planks, and plumbing was a pump and an outhouse.
He was the oldest son in the family of Gustav Radke, a local carpenter, and Auguste Friederike Ernestine Radke, n茅e Buhrmann, who in her photographs is a plump smiling woman, a portrait of a kind and caring mother. He had six older sisters and three younger siblings, including one brother. One of his older sisters, Emma, served as schoolmistress at a local school.
It was a close-knit family whose members looked out for each other. Otto helped his family with chores and maintaining their kitchen garden and feeding the rabbits the family raised for food.
The town鈥檚 German community celebrated its heritage. Its German band had musicians with names such as Meiners, Wendt, Gieske, Landwer, and Plagge. Local businesses displayed signs for Miss Hattie Jukkes Millinery, A. W. Meyer General Merchandise, Arnold Schauble Gasoline Engine, and H.D.S. Grege Hardware & Harness. And Gussie Blume, for a penny, would sing German songs at school.
Young Otto was exposed to all this. But since he was a second-generation German American, he may not have spoken German or identified much with his German heritage.
A century ago, however, the Germans were at war with the rest of Europe, and anti-German feeling was high in the United States. Young Otto鈥檚 peaceful, storybook boyhood was about to be interrupted.
War in Europe Breeds Suspicion in America
World War I, the 鈥渨ar to end all wars,鈥� had begun in 1914, and anti-German sentiment reached into all parts of the United States.
Theodore Roosevelt, still very influential after leaving the presidency six years before and being defeated in a comeback attempt in 1912, added to the fervor.
鈥淭here is not room in this country for hyphenated Americanism,鈥� he bellowed in a speech October 12, 1915, in New York City. 鈥淥ur allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance.鈥�
It was a short speech, as political speeches go, only several hundred words, but his message still resonates. In 1915 it gave full sanction to the events to come鈥攅vents that were to have repercussions in communities like the one in which young Otto lived.
Conflict was simmering in Europe, and it only took an assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, as the initial excuse for nations to go to war. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in July; in August, Russia declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary; and Germany declared war on France, with France reciprocating. The British empire, including Australia, next signed up for the world鈥檚 first global war, while the United States claimed neutrality in 1914 and waited to see what would happen. Ultimately, more than 27 countries became actively involved in the conflict.
In cities and small towns across the American countryside, neighbors debated the pros and cons of the United States entering a European war. War talk was fervent at town watering holes and local gatherings. Citizens fearing what they did not understand began to look askance at neighbors or passers-by who spoke with an accent.
Although the United States hung back from involvement, several events forced its participation. The German U-boat torpedo sinking of the British ship RMS Lusitania in 1915 with massive loss of life, including 124 Americans, purported acts of German espionage in the United States, and the infamous Zimmerman Telegram in 1917, in which the Germans invited the Mexicans to make war on the United States, all contributed to war fever.
The United States finally declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, and seized German ships berthed in American ports.
The year 1918 saw the codification of the Alien Enemy Act of 1798. The government was now able to apprehend and intern aliens of enemy ancestry, upon declaration of war or threat of invasion, and the President had blanket authority to prosecute.
German-language newspapers were subsequently shut down or lost so many advertisers that they were forced out of business. Schools of higher education that consistently taught German as the de rigeur foreign language were compelled to remove those courses from the curriculum.
Churches that had been founded as German speaking or bilingual were 鈥渆ncouraged,鈥� by the Methodist Synod for one, to discontinue their German services. In a resolution at the 1915 General Meeting of the German Branch of the Methodist Church in St. Louis, delegates responded to the term 鈥渉yphenated Americans鈥� by saying that 鈥淲hoever has sworn to the Stars and Stripes is an American.鈥�
German American Men Enlist to Prove Loyalty
Ultimately, the controversy and rancor led to the dissolution of German society in the United States.
German American immigrants, much like other ethnic groups who came to the United States, had settled in enclaves where they could enjoy their own language and culture. They joined others at the popular gymnasium clubs, called Turnverein, and in Gersangs, chorus groups.
After 1914, that all changed, as volunteer watchdog societies reported on such German American gatherings and activities to federal authorities. German Americans became the 鈥渇ace of the enemy鈥� as their businesses were boycotted and many people of German heritage were physically and verbally attacked. Any phrases that sounded German were changed.
The popular hamburger became a 鈥渓iberty burger,鈥� dachshunds became 鈥渓iberty hounds,鈥� and sauerkraut was called 鈥渓iberty cabbage.鈥� City and street names were changed from German-sounding designations to more Americanized ones. For example, East Germantown, Indiana, was renamed Pershing, Indiana. Ironically, Gen. John J. Pershing, supreme commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in France, came from a family that had changed its name from the German Pfoerschin.
As a result of this wholesale persecution, German American men, no matter how long they had lived in the country, rushed to prove their loyalty to the United States by enlisting in the military.
Even though most Germans who emigrated were required to sign a document renouncing their German citizenship, many people doubted that the document represented the hearts and minds of Germans who came to the United States. President Wilson, in a 1917 Flag Day speech, fueled the fire of prejudice with the words: 鈥淭he military masters of Germany . . . have filled our unsuspecting communities with vicious spies and conspirators.鈥� German Americans who were considered enemy aliens were detained in government-operated and -funded internment facilities across the United States.
Anti-German Sentiment Fuels Acts of Violence
Federal authorities directed state governments to create state councils of defense, ostensibly to prepare the United States against foreign aggressors as the war escalated in Europe.
It did not take long for people to realize that the primary task of the councils would involve investigations of loyalty and patriotism. The super-patriotic American Protection League boasted more than 200,000 untrained volunteers who were authorized to investigate individual loyalty. They judged loyalty through the purchase of war bonds, singing the National Anthem, and declarations of allegiance to the American flag. Woe to a German American citizen who voiced doubts about the necessity of America going to war.
Although the American ambassador to Germany, James W. Gerard, said, 鈥渢he great majority of American citizens of German descent have shown themselves splendidly loyal to our flag,鈥� he also declared, 鈥渋f there are any German-Americans here who are so ungrateful for all the benefits they have received that they are still for the Kaiser, there is only one thing to do with them. And that is to hog-tie them, give them back the wooden shoes and the rags they landed in, and ship them back to the Fatherland.鈥�
A one-sheet guide issued by the National Americanization Committee entitled 鈥淭he Etiquette of the Stars and Stripes鈥� specifically stated: 鈥淭hese and similar lines [of the Pledge of Allegiance] should be learned by every American child, and those of FOREIGN-BORN PARENTS, TOO.鈥�
The similarly private group, the American Defense Society, encouraged the burning of German books. It took a strong-willed person to persist in pride of German descent when faced with these odds stacked against him.
A farmer living in Wisconsin in 1917 said: 鈥渕any German Americans began to conceal their ethnic identity . . . stopped speaking German [and] quit German American organizations.鈥�
In Collinsville, Illinois, in April 1918, a German-born unemployed coalminer, Robert Paul Prager, made a speech containing pro-German comments and references to socialism. Town citizens, over the mayor鈥檚 protestations, were so incensed that a mob of 300 men and boys lynched Prager. The incident became notorious in the nation鈥檚 newspapers, which for the most part defended the lynching. None of the 300 participants was ever found guilty.
Germans had come to the United States in droves in the mid- to late 1800s to escape religious conflicts, military conscription, and the lingering poor agricultural conditions that beset northern Germany. German immigrants brought to their new country expertise in farming, education, science, and the arts. They enriched their adopted homeland immensely as they assimilated, serving in government and military institutions. German-origin trade names such as Bausch and Lomb, Steinway, Pabst, and Heinz were commonly used every day in America.
Relatively few Germans returned to their European homeland because their home now was America. Nevertheless, as a vision of war encroached on the American psyche, German Americans were suspected of foreign allegiances and worse, espionage.
This atmosphere of distrust pressured young men of German descent to enlist and fight in the war against the country of their ethnic origin. Other Germans who were not yet U.S. citizens joined the military as a means to citizenship.
The Radke and Buhrmann families had emigrated from northern Germany in the 1880s. Gustav Radke was naturalized as an American citizen in 1887, five years after his arrival at the port of Baltimore, Maryland, and raised a family in Barrington, Illinois.
In his Declaration of Intention, Gustav renounced forever all allegiance to every foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to the emperor of Germany. Despite being long-time U.S. citizens, the Radke family suffered taunts and criticism about their patriotism in their community.
The family did not talk much about it, but they worried about this backlash. They had heard the stories of extreme prejudice and had read newspaper articles about violence against German Americans.
Otto Radke, 16, Enlists aAnd Heads for France
The oldest son, Otto Radke, was 16 years, 5 months, and 28 days old when he and his cousin, Harry A. Radke, enlisted in the 132nd Infantry, Illinois National Guard. Otto鈥檚 mustering-in document bears the date May 31, 1917. He had blue eyes, a fair complexion, brown hair, and he was 5 feet, 9 inches tall. He weighed 157 pounds, was considered muscular, had perfect vision and hearing, and he was overall in good health鈥攁nd had evidently lied about his age to join up.
Otto鈥檚 enlistment papers stated in boilerplate: 鈥淲hen an organization is called or drafted into the service of the United States the enlistment paper of every member thereof . . . will be delivered to the . . . Adjutant General of the Army.鈥� Which meant that the National Guard units would be converted to Regular Army. The 132nd would be assigned to and serve with the 33rd Infantry Division in France. The nickname of the 33rd was 鈥淧rairie Division,鈥� and it was made up of several Illinois National Guard units. In July 1917, the 33rd was federalized.
Otto Radke鈥檚 military service began in earnest when all Illinois units were mobilized in July 1917 and sent to Camp Logan, Texas, where the 33rd Infantry Division was based.
Initially the 132nd Infantry Regiment had 1,100 voluntary enlistments on its rolls. During the training period, from October 1917 to April 1918, these numbers swelled to 3,500; most of the men were draftees. The nickname of the 132nd was 鈥淨ueen of Battle.鈥�
In Texas, Otto was seeing the vast American West for the first time. A photograph of him in his Army uniform shows a shyly confident young man, standing with his legs crossed nonchalantly, without a care except to portray himself as a cocky, confident teenager. He shared his reaction in a postcard to his sister Alma dated 鈥淪ep 20 1917, 5:30am, Houston, Texas鈥�: 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 much to say but it is sure some climate but oh the wilderness. Hope you are all as well as I am.鈥�
The 33rd Division was made up of two infantry brigades and one field artillery brigade, with attached machine gun, infantry, engineer, supply and sanitary trains, and headquarters and signal units. Later, in France, other units would be attached as the need arose, including an ambulance train. Otto was part of the Second Battalion, Company D, of the 132nd Regiment. The 132nd trained at Camp Logan until May 1, 1918, when it went to Camp Upton, New York, then on to Hoboken, New Jersey, where they boarded a ship and sailed for France. This was a time of camaraderie and forming friendships that would become invaluable once the boys were in the midst of the war.
The ship arrived at Brest, France, on May 30. The 33rd Division fell under American II Corps control. The infantry units moved to Martainville and Huppy Training Areas in Picardy to continue training, under the Fourth British Army, in trench fighting, bayonet use, and artillery practice.
U.S. Troops See Early Action In Battle of Hamel in France
Shortly thereafter, American troops were assigned to the Fourth Australian Infantry Brigade to attack a section of the German line near the village of Le Hamel. The Battle of Hamel was fought on July 4, 1918, clearly a gesture to the Americans. The 132nd companies A and G, which took part in the battle, numbered about 250 men each. It was an 鈥渁ll-arms鈥� action, the first of its type, engaging artillery, tanks, and a wide array of arms in support of the infantry. Although tanks were new to war, the modern, agile Mark V was put to use at Hamel.
The Australian 鈥淒iggers鈥� were impressed with the Americans鈥� modesty and willingness to learn the operation of tanks and Lewis light machine guns. By 3 a.m. on the morning of July 4, the Illinois troops were issued rum and were in battle position. Hamel was a turning point for Allied victory in the war.
By the end of July 1918, the 33rd infantry troops were engaged in the occupation of the Amiens Sector in France and proceeded thereafter to the Somme Offensive Operation.
The 132nd Regiment rejoined the Australians at Harbonni猫res in mid-August. They remained in the British sector until they returned to the American front after four days, traveling by train, truck, and then on foot. The troops were happy about the change because it meant American food would replace the 鈥渃heese, hard bread, jam and tea of the British commissary.鈥�
In the following weeks, the 132nd had a variety of assignments, and its members learned more about warfare.
Trench life in the front lines was dangerous, dirty, and squalid. So many men living in one place led to vermin infestation and disease caused by poor sanitary facilities and nearby decomposing bodies of men and animals.
Most often trenches were dug and held for only a short time before troops moved on to the next trench. There were in all some 12,000 miles of Allied trenches dug in France during World War I. Some secondline trenches were set up for the longer term and were five or six feet deep, but these were not the ones facing No Man鈥檚 Land. On the front lines, the distance to the enemy front trenches could be as little as 30 yards, and German artillery continually shelled the Allied trenches with mustard gas.
Otto鈥檚 Unit Hit Hard By German Artillery
On October 8, 1918, the First and the Second Battalions of the 132nd Regiment crossed the Meuse River at Brabant-sur-Meuse, moving to the north to connect with the 17th French Corps. By 11 a.m. the units were ranged in battle formation on the east bank opposing the German troops. The French and American troops formed a right angle, with the American lines paralleling the river.
Although French troops were to have cleared the area, it became immediately apparent that they had not carried through the assignment. Fire from Consenvoye Woods was intense, and the heroism of individual soldiers of the Second Battalion came into play in pursuing the attack.
Enemy troops were strongly entrenched in the woods when the Second Battalion attacked the next morning at 6 a.m. Advancing against the heavy German artillery and machine-gun fire, Company D was hit hard. Its leader was killed, and his men suffered many casualties.
Throughout the morning advance, enemy fire fiercely harassed Company D, partly due to the 29th Division not protecting its right flank. In spite of the constant rolling barrage from enemy lines, not to mention inaccurate friendly fire and persistent rain, the troops had by nightfall dug in along the southern edge of the Bois de Chaume.
On October 8 and 9, the American forces reported being 鈥渇looded with gas.鈥� Although the 132nd reached its objective, the troops were driven back again when the Germans retook Bois de Chaume and Bois Plat-Ch锚ne. That night the 132nd soldiers were in 鈥渧ery poor shape鈥� in the trenches below Bois de Chaume. Even so, they were ordered to retake their previously held position. A history of gas warfare published 50 years later described the scene: 鈥淭hroughout the night of 10鈥�11 October and the following day incessant high explosive, machine gun, and gas fire hampered the [33rd] division as it sought to round up its stragglers, reorganize its units, and set up the defensive line on the edge of the Bois de Chaume.鈥�
Unit commanders reported to Col. Joseph Sanborn, the commanding officer of the 131st Infantry, that the situation was untenable. The colonel wrote back to (and then removed) one concerned major: 鈥淪tay where you are and hold the line until you hear further from me. You are no worse off than the rest of the troops who are holding on and making no complaints.鈥�
From early morning until nightfall, the troops endured incessant shelling, machinegun fire, gas and airplane attacks, and sniper fire. There was no rest or sleep for the soldiers, and the rainstorm raged unabated, spoiling what food the boys could obtain. They continued to wear their gas masks at all times.
A New 鈥淕old Star Mother鈥� In Barrington, Illinois
Otto Radke, along with his cousin, Harry, died during this action, on October 11, 1918.
While Otto was in the service, his family displayed a blue star in the window of their home. After his death the star was changed to gold, and his mother became a 鈥淕old Star Mother.鈥�
(Gold Star Mothers wore an armband displaying a gold star instead of wearing black mourning clothing. President Wilson concurred that a sea of black-clad relatives would demoralize the public.)
Otto had served overseas from May 16, 1918, until his death鈥�148 days later. His family was completely devastated at losing their son and brother.
The family received a standard-issue memorial citation, signed by General Pershing, by then the supreme allied commander in Europe, which read: 鈥淗e bravely laid down his life for the cause of his country. His name will ever remain fresh in the hearts of his friends and comrades. The record of his honorable service will be preserved in the archives of the American Expeditionary Forces.鈥� His mother and father undoubtedly lamented the prejudice that held sway in the hometown that pushed their boy into the war.
Animosity to German Americans Remained Despite Sacrifices
What Otto Radke might have made of his life will never be known. Being a teenager when he died, he was still deciding the paths he would follow. He might even have stayed in the military, training and advancing to higher rank.
In an ironic twist, considering the taunting the family had endured for their German heritage, the town of Barrington honored Otto as a hero.
His name appears in honor rolls in memorial books such as Soldiers of the Great War, Echoes of a Century 1847鈥�1947, and the 1929 Illinois Roll of Honor. A Radke neighbor even painted a large oval portrait of Otto in his infantry uniform, and more than one neighbor told the family that the boy had been a young man of promise.
Otto鈥檚 body was returned to the United States for burial in Barrington鈥檚 Evergreen Cemetery in the Radke plot. His war risk insurance policy, mandated by the War Risk Insurance Act of 1914, amounted to $2,582.00 when it was disbursed to family members. The money remained in his mother鈥檚 bank account until her death in 1936.
By the end of the war, the 33rd Infantry Division had fought at the Battle of Hamel, St. Mihiel, Chipilly, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, and at the Somme. The division suffered a total of 993 casualties and 5,871 wounded. Their total advances on the front line from July to October 1918 were 36 kilometers, or about 23 miles.
The 132rd Infantry Regiment returned to Camp Grant, Illinois, on May 31, 1919, for demobilization. The unit was reactivated in 1941, again as part of the 33rd Infantry Division, to serve in World War II.
Twenty-three years passed between World War I鈥攖he 鈥淲ar to End All Wars鈥濃�攁nd America鈥檚 entry into World War II. Germany was again the enemy, and German Americans faced distrust and discrimination resurfaced.
And once more, young German Americans like Otto Radke fought and died for their country鈥攖he United States of America.
Mary J. Manning serves as reference librarian for the Col. Robert R. McCormick Research Center of the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois. She has been active as a volunteer at the Naperville Family History Center and has served on the Board of Directors for the Illinois State Genealogical Society. She has published numerous articles on librarianship, genealogy, and military history.
Note on Sources
The Story of the 132nd Infantry A.E.F., a small booklet written in 1919, provides an honor roll of men killed in action. The entry for Harry A. Radke, Otto Radke鈥檚 cousin, amalgamates and confuses information on both Radke boys (Otto is not mentioned in the honor roll). The entry reads: 鈥淩adke, Harry A., 2058712, Corp. (Corporal), Co. D. Killed in action at Verdun, October 11, 1918, by shell fire, buried鈥� Grave location at Graves Registration Bureau, General Headquarters, American E.F. Next of kin, Mrs. Auguste Radke, mother, Barrington, Illinois鈥� (Cpl. Harry Radke came from Nunda, a village near Barrington, and his mother was not Auguste Radke).
The reference to discontinuing church services in German comes from Joshua Hollingsead, 鈥淲orld War I and the Demise of the German Methodist Church in America鈥� (thesis, McKendree University, Lebanon, IL, 2006). President Wilson鈥檚 1917 Flag Day speech, given in Washington, D.C., can be found online at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library (http://wwl2.dataformat.com/HTML/30696.htm). The quotation from James Gerard, U.S. ambassador to Germany, is online at the Library of Congress鈥檚 web page on U.S. Participation in the Great War (www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/ presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/progress/wwone/loyalty.html).
The quotation from a farmer (鈥淲e had to be so careful鈥�) comes from 鈥淎 German Farmer鈥檚 Recollections of Anti-German Sentiment in World War I鈥� (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/3/). The Prager lynching is described in 鈥淓xtra鈥擨llinoisian Lynched for Disloyalty,鈥� Chicago Daily Tribune, April 5, 1918.
Accounts of the battle actions of the 132nd Infantry Regiment during July 4鈥揙ctober 11, 1918, were taken from American, British, and Australian primary sources. Although there were some variations in accounts, the salient details were the same. Quotations describing the night of October 10鈥�11 are in Office of the Chief Chemical Officer, U.S. Army Chemical Corps Historical Studies: Gas Warfare in World War I; the 33rd Division along the Meuse, October 1918 (Washington, DC: U.S. Army Chemical Corps Historical Office, 1958). The quotation about American food replacing British commissary comes from Illinois in the World War: An Illustrated History of the Thirty-Third Division (Chicago: States Publication Society, 1921).
The Stars and Stripes issues for 1918 and 1919 are available through the Library of Congress (http:// memory.loc.gov/ammem/sgphtml/sashtml/aef.html).
Many of the materials used in the author鈥檚 research came from the Col. Robert R. McCormick Research Center, of the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois. In addition to the sources noted above, the following works are noteworthy: William M., Haulsee, et al., Soldiers of the Great War (Washington, D.C.: Soldiers Record Publishing Association, 1920); Gregory S. Jacobs, Camp Grant (Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2003); Frank M. McMurry, The Geography of the Great War (New York: MacMillan, 1919); Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War: American Expeditionary Forces; Divisions, vol. 2 (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, [1920] 1988); 71st Congress. 2nd Session. House Document No.140. Pilgrimage for the Mothers and Widows of Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines of the American Forces Now Interred in the Cemeteries of Europe as Provided by the Act of Congress of March 2, 1929 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1930); Thomas Ricento, and Barbara Barnaby, Language and Politics in the United States and Canada: Myths and Realities (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Association, 1998); Joseph B. Sanborn, The 131st U.S. Infantry in the World War (Chicago: J.B. Sanborn, 1919); Society of the First Division, History of the First Division During the World War, 1917鈥�1919 (Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., 1931); and U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library (Detroit: UXL, 2004).