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Post by hurtelable on Aug 25, 2015 17:19:53 GMT -5
To amy35:
Thanks for that tiny Reading Eagle story on Philadelphia gangster John Goodman, whose body was found in 1941 with $600+ dollars in Lindbergh ransom money in his possession. One point of interest here is that the geographical location where the body was found: near Cape May, NJ. Recall that Cal Sr. had been drawn to Cape May and vicinity in search of his son by Gaston Means' hoaxes. In fact, Lindbergh was in that Cape May area when notified that his son's body had been purportedly found not far from the Lindbergh Hopewell estate.
Just wondering whether the Philadelphia newspapers around that same time when Goodman's body was found might have some more details about Goodman and how he might have come to possess the ransom bills.
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Post by feathers on Aug 25, 2015 21:23:17 GMT -5
Hi amy35 and hurtelable,
My info on Goodman is not particularly helpful, but here goes:
Harry Goodman aka Julius Brant aka Jack Goodman aka Chink Goodman was born approximately 1889.
He was known to be involved in numbers, bootlegging, grand larceny, passing counterfeit bills, strike breaking and murder, among other things.
His known areas of operation were New York City, Philadelphia, Camden NJ, and Atlantic City.
His first conviction was in 1903 at age 14 - I can't read my notes as to the charge.
On July 25, 1908, he killed Abraham Melnicoff, brother of "Reddy Jake" Melnicoff at Ninth and Wood Street in Philadelphia. Both Abraham and Harry (as he was going by then) were 'known to police" as they say. The shooting was purportedly the result of a quarrel over a woman. Goodman claimed self-defense. He was convicted of first degree murder, but successfully appealed. In his second trial he was convicted of second degree murder on December 1, 1910. He served 10 years.
In 1920 he was hired as a strike breaker along with Kid Dropper in NYC to deal with a strike by projectionists.
in 1922 he was charged with assault and robbery of a load of silk from the Brod Brothers Trading Factory in Philadelphia.
In 1925 he was picked up in the company of a cracksman (David Reiner) and burglar (Frank O'Krongley) but released.
He was said to be associated with the Mickey Duffy bootlegging operation in Philadelphia, Camden and South Jersey. Duffy was killed on August 31, 1931 in Atlantic City. Duffy's rivals were Max Hassel, Waxey Gordon and Boo Boo Hoff.
In December 1932, he was said to be the backer of a disorderly house in Philadelphia.
He appears to have spent the 1930s involved in numbers racketeering.
With respect to his death, he was last seen on Friday, July 18, 1941. He was in the company of two men who looked "unfriendly". They appear to have taken him to Cape May. The police questioned the two men but later released them without publicly identifying them.
With respect to the bills, I should note that some newspaper articles contain denials that the money was part of the Lindbergh ransom. It was said the bills were old large sized, yellow-back gold certificates for series 1907, whereas the Lindbergh notes were the new small size notes, not yellow-backs and issued in 1928. I am not up on the ransom money details like everyone else, but I am sure that means something to you guys more than it does to me!
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Post by hurtelable on Aug 26, 2015 5:31:19 GMT -5
It was my understanding from my reading that the Treasury agents, who assisted Lindbergh in preparing the ransom bill package, insisted on yellow-back gold notes for the $20 and $10 bills, for the obvious reason that they would be much easier for a recipient to spot, especially if and when they would no longer be legal tender. Of course, back in 1932, "Cemetery John" wouldn't complain about getting the yellow-backs, because they were still very much legal currency and could be readily used. Then, with the advent of the Roosevelt administration in 1933, the country came off the gold standard, and gold notes of any kind had to be exchanged for fiat paper currency by May 1, 1933, and from then on, all gold notes and certificates were no longer legal tender - technically that is - although many merchants still accepted them. Thus there was a black market in gold notes, with many speculators buying them for a fraction of their face value in paper currency.
It's my understanding as well that Hauptmann was captured when he passed a yellow-back to buy gasoline in September 1934. The gas-station attendant simply saw the color of the bill and commented, "You don't see too many of these anymore." It was the color of the bill that alarmed him and led him to write Hauptmann's plate number on the bill. The rest is history.
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Post by hurtelable on Aug 26, 2015 5:50:27 GMT -5
To feathers:
Thanks for the info on "Chink" Goodman, who was apparently Jewish. Back then, in the early decades of the 20th century, organized crime in big cities consisted primarily of three ethnic groups, unlike today. There were plenty of Jewish and Irish gangsters, as well as Italians (mostly Sicilians).
I don't know where you got your info from, but it sounds like you have access to an encyclopedia of organized crime. I've never seen such a work before. Can you please post the name of that encyclopedia, plus the editor and publisher (and/or web site, if it's on the Internet)?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2015 9:43:15 GMT -5
Thank you feathers for the information on Goodman. I am trying to keep a list on underworld figures that were found to have (or thought to have) Lindbergh ransom money on them. I don't think that Charlie's kidnapping was done by any underworld figures, however. It does not appear, from what you have shared, that it was ransom money. The ransom bills were all from the 1928 currency series. I appreciate you sharing your research.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2015 9:53:26 GMT -5
It was my understanding from my reading that the Treasury agents, who assisted Lindbergh in preparing the ransom bill package, insisted on yellow-back gold notes for the $20 and $10 bills, for the obvious reason that they would be much easier for a recipient to spot, especially if and when they would no longer be legal tender. Of course, back in 1932, "Cemetery John" wouldn't complain about getting the yellow-backs, because they were still very much legal currency and could be readily used. Then, with the advent of the Roosevelt administration in 1933, the country came off the gold standard, and gold notes of any kind had to be exchanged for fiat paper currency by May 1, 1933, and from then on, all gold notes and certificates were no longer legal tender - technically that is - although many merchants still accepted them. Thus there was a black market in gold notes, with many speculators buying them for a fraction of their face value in paper currency. It's my understanding as well that Hauptmann was captured when he passed a yellow-back to buy gasoline in September 1934. The gas-station attendant simply saw the color of the bill and commented, "You don't see too many of these anymore." It was the color of the bill that alarmed him and led him to write Hauptmann's plate number on the bill. The rest is history. Treasury Agent Irey was insistent that Gold Certificate currency bills be used for the ransom payment. Nothing about yellow-backed bills. The 1928 series was selected and my understanding is that this series (1928) was printed with green backs, not yellow. Please check out the reference below. This link provides very good information on the history of American currency. The source for this file is the U.S. mint. www.moneyfactory.gov/images/Currency_notes_508.pdf
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Post by feathers on Aug 27, 2015 20:05:41 GMT -5
Hi hurtelable,
I have a few encyclopedias, but I find these generally inaccurate and only useful for a general starting point - Sifakis, Mafia Encyclopedia (Checkmark Books) and Nash, World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime (De Capo Press).
I prefer using primary sources wherever possible, so two of my favourite sources are Carr, New York Police Files on the Mafia (Hosehead Productions) and Treasury Department, Bureau of Narcotics, Mafia (aka the "Black Book"). These gave me the information I posted on the Falcone brothers.
Goodman was not mentioned in any of these works, so I used the information in the article about his death, to check other books dealing with Philadelphia organized crime, Mickey Duffy and Reddy Jake Melnicoff. I then tried to confirm these sources with newspaper articles.
I also have my own notes that I have accumulated over years. I am dating myself when I say that only recently I got around to purchasing a USB floppy drive for 3.5" disks so I could transfer my old notes to my laptop.
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Post by hurtelable on Aug 28, 2015 5:10:05 GMT -5
I admit I could be mistaken about the yellow backs on the gold certificates in the ransom package. Perhaps they contained some gold lettering or numerals or insignia? Perhaps they were larger in size than the newer currency? At any rate, it seems as if they had to have some feature or features that easily distinguished them from the later fiat money that was printed c. 1933 to exchange for the older gold certificates when the US went off the gold standard at the very beginning of the Franklin Roosevelt administration.
The government pamphlet you posted does not specifically address this, unless I'm missing something.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 7:59:57 GMT -5
I admit I could be mistaken about the yellow backs on the gold certificates in the ransom package. Perhaps they contained some gold lettering or numerals or insignia? Perhaps they were larger in size than the newer currency? At any rate, it seems as if they had to have some feature or features that easily distinguished them from the later fiat money that was printed c. 1933 to exchange for the older gold certificates when the US went off the gold standard at the very beginning of the Franklin Roosevelt administration. The government pamphlet you posted does not specifically address this, unless I'm missing something. I am attaching a link to a photo (front and back) of a 1928 series $20 gold certificate. What probably caught Lyle's eye when Hauptmann gave him the bill was the prominent gold seal on the left hand side of the note. Although Hauptmann gave Lyle a $10 gold cert, the same type of gold seal would have been on it as is on the $20 note. When Hauptmann was pulled over by the authorities Sept. 18th he had a $20 gold certificate in his wallet. ragemanchoo.tripod.com/20dollar_1928_GoldCert.jpgSomething I think is peculiar about Hauptmann's purchase of gas at the Warner-Quinlan Station. When Hauptmann paid Lyle with the $10 gold cert, he took the note from a white envelope he removed from inside his jacket and not from his wallet. Lyle said he did not see anything else in the envelope when Hauptmann took the bill out of it. Why would Hauptmann have had this cert in an envelope instead of in his wallet?? What is so special about this $10 note??
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 8:54:14 GMT -5
Hurtelable, I believe you mentioned the physical size of the 1928 series of the currency notes also. Here is a link about the size of the bills and it also shows a $10 gold certificate at the top of the page. Hauptmann used such a bill at the Warner-Quinlan Station which led to his apprehension. Hope this helps! www.uspapermoney.info/history/
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Post by hurtelable on Aug 29, 2015 6:09:52 GMT -5
To amy35 and All:
Thanks for the link to the site about US paper currency design. I was speculating as to what feature of the gold certificates in the ransom money made them stand out from other paper currency, especially by 1934, when the gold certificates were technically illegal and were rapidly disappearing from circulation, as intended by the new laws and policies put into place by the Roosevelt administration. From the material to which you linked me, the answer seems clear. The gold certificates in the ransom loot package from 1928 or 1929 had serial numbers and seal printed in gold color, whereas other notes in circulation then did NOT have any gold color on them. That and that alone easily distinguished the gold certificates, making them a "red flag" which attracted attention to the passer and eventually led to Hauptmann's arrest. Hauptmann further attracted attention on himself by using the gold certificates in the ransom loot to pay for very cheap items, rather than using $1 bills or coins.
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Post by stella7 on Aug 29, 2015 19:05:33 GMT -5
Thanks, Amy, I've always assumed that they were obviously different but I had never seen one. Hurtle able, I've also wondered why Hauptman used this bill and then bragged that he had a lot more at home. Were there a lot of gold certs still being circulated that had never been turned in, in general?
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Post by hurtelable on Aug 31, 2015 6:27:13 GMT -5
I really don't have the numbers of circulating gold certificates remaining in circulation by the time Hauptmann passed the fateful $10 certificate in September 1934 to purchase less than one dollar worth of gasoline. According to what he later told police, he was aware that his collection of gold certificates at home far exceeded the maximum amount of gold currency any individual could possess lawfully. So his remark to the gas station attendant that he had many more at home was just a case of foolish arrogance that helped to nail him. Had Hauptmann not been arrogant and foolish in his spending habits, he might very well have lived out a his life as a complete unknown, and the Lindbergh case might have taken a totally different direction.
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Post by feathers on Sept 22, 2015 16:42:22 GMT -5
I just received a copy of the Nosovitsky v. Condon file. Has everyone already seen it? If so, I apologize. If anyone is interested, I will make note of any interesting details.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2015 19:17:29 GMT -5
Hi feathers,
I have not seen the file on that case. I would love it if you could share details from it. Thanks!
By the way, I like what you chose for an avatar. Its really cool!
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Post by hurtelable on Sept 22, 2015 19:37:01 GMT -5
Great find!!! Have never seen it at all anywhere. Please, if you are technically savvy enough and if the file isn't too large, scan it and post it somewhere on the net. Very anxious to see it.
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Post by feathers on Sept 22, 2015 20:39:23 GMT -5
Great find!!! Have never seen it at all anywhere. Please, if you are technically savvy enough and if the file isn't too large, scan it and post it somewhere on the net. Very anxious to see it. I'll give it a shot. I should be able to scan it tomorrow and post what I can.
The gist of it is that Nosovitsky (represented by Sherwood and Cohen) sued Condon (represented by his brother - I didn't know his brother was a lawyer - I knew his sons were) in New York County on April 6, 1938, for defamation. He claimed that in April 1937 Condon told McNally, Stroh and Doyle that Nosovitsky was Faulkner and that he was the main instigator behind the kidnapping. Various other allegations were made that you can see when I post the pleadings.
There is very little from Condon's side at all in the material. He gave a blanket denial of the allegations, which presumably meant that he claimed he never said such a thing to McNally, Stroh and Doyle.
Condon brought a motion for a change of venue that appears to have been successful. The reason was that Condon lived in the Bronx, Nosovitsky's address was in Brooklyn, so there was no connection to Manhattan. Nosovitsky claimed he was living in a hotel in Manhattan. Nosovitsky provides some material about his movements over the last decade.
The trial was to take place in the Bronx in October 1938, but Nosovitsky's lawyers did not show up. Condon brought a motion to dismiss the action which was granted and got $87 in costs.
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Post by feathers on Sept 23, 2015 21:11:49 GMT -5
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Post by feathers on Sept 23, 2015 21:13:12 GMT -5
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Post by Michael on Sept 24, 2015 5:24:51 GMT -5
I have never seen any of it before - thanks for sharing this!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2015 7:27:07 GMT -5
Thanks feathers for posting all this material. There is much to review here. One quick thing I did note on the pleading document. On page 7 where the signatures appear, Nosovitsky signs his name, John J. Nosovitsky. However, he spells John as Jhon. I remember this spelling of John from a note sent to Dr. Hudson about the Lindbergh baby's whereabouts. The writer of that note spelled John the same way "Jhon". Interesting!!
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Post by hurtelable on Sept 24, 2015 17:16:40 GMT -5
The strangest part of these legal papers in Nosovitsky v. Condon is that Noso gives his name as "John J. Nosovitsky." Noso was a person with many aliases, but to use "John" here in writing is something I have never heard of him doing. He might be playing a sinister joke of some kind on Condon, suggesting that Noso himself might be "Cemetery John," although Noso does not accuse Condon in his complaint of specifically claiming that about him. But if he accuses Condon of saying that he, Noso, was "J. J. Faulkner," it isn't much of a stretch for a guy carrying and depositing all that ransom money to have also been the recipient of the payoff in St. Raymond's Cemetery.
Also, from reading the legal papers, it seems that plaintiff Noso was reluctant to give his address to the Court, and Condon's attorney tried to compel him to do so, The only two addresses we have for Noso in the Court papers are the Ocean Parkway and Kenilworth Pl. addresses in Brooklyn, in care of Edward Chaims. (Chaims was likely a good partner with Noso sleazy activities. Chaims is mentioned on p. 389 of the paperback edition of Noel Behn's book in connection with an attempt in the 1920s with Noso and another man to get compensation for intelligence on Hungary from the U. S. government.) Not exactly surprising that Noso was averse to giving out his own address in a public forum, considering his considerable list of powerful people whom he had rubbed the wrong way. In fact, Noso probably effectively dropped his suit against Condon in order to avoid being deposed in court, especially with regard to the "scientific investigations" he had claimed as his career, from which he was allegedly blackballed because of Condon's defamatory statements about him. Obviously, Noso painted a phony picture of himself in his complaint as someone a lot more professional and prestigious than he was in reality, which was an all too common theme in his entire career as a con man. The high class presentation of Noso in the complaint would be effective, so he and his lawyers initially thought, in increasing the value of the case.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2015 18:27:42 GMT -5
In fact, Noso probably effectively dropped his suit against Condon in order to avoid being deposed in court, especially with regard to the "scientific investigations" he had claimed as his career, from which he was allegedly blackballed because of Condon's defamatory statements about him. Obviously, Noso painted a phony picture of himself in his complaint as someone a lot more professional and prestigious than he was in reality, which was an all too common theme in his entire career as a con man. The high class presentation of Noso in the complaint would be effective, so he and his lawyers initially thought, in increasing the value of the case. Had this case actually made it to court it would have put the Lindbergh Kidnapping Case back on the front pages of the newspaper. Something that no one would have wanted. Could Noso have been hoping for an offer to settle out of court? No testifying, no publicity, no questions for anyone. Just money for Noso? Somewhere on this thread I posted a newspaper article of Nosovitsky being assaulted in August of 1938. This is during the time this case was being litigated. Noso ended up in the hospital under police guard. When Noso's lawsuit against Condon was to be heard in October 1938 Noso and his attorneys never appeared in court and Condon won the case. Can't help but wonder if that beating Noso received, which resulted in him ending up in the hands of the authorities, had something to do with him never making it to court!
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Post by hurtelable on Sept 27, 2015 7:28:07 GMT -5
I was wondering about the chronology of the assault on Noso in relation to the Noso suit against Condon, so thanks for clearing that up, amy35. What can't be ruled out here is that Noso was assaulted in direct retaliation for filing his suit against Condon. Could the old man have arranged it or even paid goons to beat up Noso? We do know that Condon and Nosovitsky were acquainted with some of the same people, men with criminal backgrounds, like Dinny Doyle (Condon's cousin) and Wally Stroh. And the assault on Noso seems to have begun in the Bronx, which was the home turf of Condon, Stroh, and Doyle. I don't think that the NYPD was particularly interested in investigating the assault on Noso, since it could possibly open up a whole new can of worms with regard to the supposedly "solved" Lindbergh kidnap case.
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Post by jack7 on Apr 29, 2016 17:30:32 GMT -5
I was trying to find a place to put this and since Behn's theories involve Noso and Elisabeth, just stuck it here.
Was Elisabeth Morrow ever questioned by authorities? There isn't much on Elisabeth in books, and even on here though it may be on very old posts.
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Post by Michael on Apr 30, 2016 8:48:31 GMT -5
Was Elisabeth Morrow ever questioned by authorities? There isn't much on Elisabeth in books, and even on here though it may be on very old posts. Jack - there's no record of any interview at the NJSP Archives. Of course that doesn't mean she wasn't, but it's my opinion that she was not.
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Post by jack7 on Apr 30, 2016 13:58:56 GMT -5
A mystery woman - Elisabeth. Her school for little darlin's is still in business evidently (2012 or so) but she doesn't even rate a couple lines on Wik. Mystery because it doesn't seem there's any way of finding out anything about her. She's written about some in Behn, but even much of that is conjecture. Seems she sure went downhill after not scoring with Lindy. Behn's last lines about her are she was maybe suicide. That would be right after Hauptmann's demise, and he says she had a nonfatal heart attack at the time Charlie's body was found. Mystery, mystery. After DMJr. had a "breakdown" she hung with him all winter? Drinkin' buddies? My thought - Behn never says that. Suspicion of drugs too w/Elisabeth but Behn doesn't say (as far as I looked at it) who suspected. He used newspaper stories sometimes so Sounds like she might have turned into a not-so-old souse. Did Rick ever do one of his posts with all the questions on her? Last time I talked with him he said he looks on here once in a while - maybe he'll pop up with some juicy Elisabeth notions.
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Post by hurtelable on Apr 30, 2016 16:41:07 GMT -5
A mystery woman - Elisabeth. Her school for little darlin's is still in business evidently (2012 or so) but she doesn't even rate a couple lines on Wik. Mystery because it doesn't seem there's any way of finding out anything about her. She's written about some in Behn, but even much of that is conjecture. Seems she sure went downhill after not scoring with Lindy. Behn's last lines about her are she was maybe suicide. That would be right after Hauptmann's demise, and he says she had a nonfatal heart attack at the time Charlie's body was found. Mystery, mystery. After DMJr. had a "breakdown" she hung with him all winter? Drinkin' buddies? My thought - Behn never says that. Suspicion of drugs too w/Elisabeth but Behn doesn't say (as far as I looked at it) who suspected. He used newspaper stories sometimes so Sounds like she might have turned into a not-so-old souse. Did Rick ever do one of his posts with all the questions on her? Last time I talked with him he said he looks on here once in a while - maybe he'll pop up with some juicy Elisabeth notions. From what I've read, Elisabeth had a serious heart problem which was congenital in her case: aortic stenosis, or narrowing of the aortic valve. Now it would be treated quite routinely, perhaps even without open heart surgery. But in the 1930s, those treatments were still decades away. It would not be uncommon for a patient with this problem to die young, because the condition impedes the heart from pumping out blood to the entire body. Elisabeth, according to Behn, died after undergoing an appendectomy in Dec. 1934. This would not be unusual, because a heart so compromised might not be able to withstand the stress placed on it by the abdominal surgery. As to Elisabeth's psychiatric condition, we know that she had a brother (schizophrenia) and a father (precise diagnosis unknown) with serious psychiatric problems. Since these conditions tend to have a strong genetic component, it would not be surprising that Elisabeth as well suffered from some kind of psychosis, perhaps popping up intermittently. So the Behn account of Elisabeth's involvement in Charlie's death would seem plausible if indeed she did suffer from such mental illness. BTW, Elisabeth died well before Hauptmann did, and it probably was NOT a suicide. The "official" story of the appendectomy rings true, knowing that she had the heart valve problem.
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Post by jack7 on Apr 30, 2016 17:50:24 GMT -5
ISC:
It was about a month after Hauptmann's ARREST that Elizabeth became "acutely ill" and died within two more months.
Governor Hoffman's attorney, Harry Green, stated regarding Elisabeth's death, "We heard rumors that it may have been a suicide."
Governor Hoffman seemed inclined towards Elisabeth's involvement in TLC and there may be something about her in The Hoffman Papers - results of his latter investigation into the crime.
Noel Behn, by the way, was a very good writer.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2016 8:41:20 GMT -5
]From what I've read, Elisabeth had a serious heart problem which was congenital in her case: aortic stenosis, or narrowing of the aortic valve. Now it would be treated quite routinely, perhaps even without open heart surgery. But in the 1930s, those treatments were still decades away. It would not be uncommon for a patient with this problem to die young, because the condition impedes the heart from pumping out blood to the entire body. Elisabeth, according to Behn, died after undergoing an appendectomy in Dec. 1934. This would not be unusual, because a heart so compromised might not be able to withstand the stress placed on it by the abdominal surgery. BTW, Elisabeth died well before Hauptmann did, and it probably was NOT a suicide. The "official" story of the appendectomy rings true, knowing that she had the heart valve problem. Can you share what your source is for Elisabeth having a congenital heart condition? I have never heard that before. My understanding is that Elisabeth's heart was damaged from Rheumatic Fever which resulted after a bout with Scarlet Fever when she was younger. Elisabeth suffered an attack of appendicitis in early November, 1934. She underwent an appendectomy in November as a result of that attack. She seemed to be recovering from that but ended up developing pneumonia which worsened. According to Harold Nicolson's Diary, Betty flew out November 23, 1934 to be at Elisabeth's beside. Elisabeth lost her battle with pneumonia and died Dec. 3, 1934.
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