The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931)(about) |
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Wednesday 2 November 1904
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2 corrections, most recently by allanraymond - Show corrections
THE KAISER'S KINSMAM
A LADY KIDNAPPED BERLIN COURTS REFUSE JUSTICE.
Duke Ernest Gunther of Schleswig-Hol- stein (says the Berlin correspondent oí the London Daily Express, under date of September 26) appears as the prosecutor in a remarkable case which will shortly occupy the attention of the Criminal Court. As the duke is the Kaiser's brother-in-law, one of his sisters being the German Empress, and as his other sister is married to Prince Frederic Leopold of Hohenzollern, a kins- man of the Kaiser's, the affair ia attracting the widest attention.
Seven years ago Duke Ernest Gunther engaged a young German lady of noble birth. --Fraulein Milevsky-to be companion to his aunt, Duchess Amalie, who was then 70 years of age. Notwithstanding her age the Duchess Amalie found that the allowance of £600 per annum made to her by her nephew did not enable her to live in a style befitting her rank. Her own property; consisted solely of jewellery worth about £40,000, which she was unwilling to part with so long as she could enjoy its posses- sion. Unable to persuade her nephew, Duke Ernest Gunther, to supply her with adequate financial means, the Duchess Amalie repeatedly borrowed money from Fraulein Milevsky. In order to secure Fraulein Milevsky from the total loss of her money Duchess Amahe altered her will, dis- inheriting Duke Ernest Gunther, and be- queathing her jewellery to Fraulein Milevsky. Duchess Amalie incautiously informed Duke Ernest Gunther of the al- teration in her will, whereupon, it is said, he decided to kipnap Fraulein Milevsky and remove her from his aunt's household, presumably as a preliminary to endeavoring to induce Duchess Amalie to reconsider the matter of the will.
Seized by Arabs.
Duchess Amalie and Fraulein Milevsky were touring in Egypt, when, it is alleged, Duke Ernest Gunther engaged a certain Blumenthal to shadow Fraulein Milevsky. One morning at Cairo, while she was walk- ing through one of the bazaars, Fraulein Milevsky was suddenly seized by two stal- wart Arabs, who forced her into a closed carriage and conveyed her to a house in a remote suburb. Here she was locked in a dirty, evil-smelling room, and left for hours in complete ignorance of her fate. At the time she believed she had fallen into the. bands of native brigands. Towards even- ing, however, Blumentlial appeared, and informed Fräulein Milevsky that she had been forcibly removed from Duchess Amalie's vicinity by Duke Ernest Gunther's orders. Blumenthal demanded her signa- ture to a prepared statement, by which she was to undertake never again to see or communicate with the Duchess Amalie.
Fraulein Milevsky refused, and claimed, her right as a German subject to communi- cate with the German consul. Blumenthal brought that official to her, but the consul refused to intervene. On the contrary, he informed Fräulein Milevski that he had
been present while Blumenthal searched her trunks and took £800 in bank-notes from her handbag, The consul, however assured her that she would receive the money on, her arrival in Germany With the consul's consent Fraulein Mil- eysky was kept imprisoned for some
time, and then taken like a criminal, under escort, to Port Said, where she was placed, on board a steamer bound for Naples,
Dangerously Ill Robbed of her luggage, and wearing the thin summer clothing in which she had started for the bazaar on the fateful,morn- ing of her seisure.Fraulein Mileysky suf- fered intensely from the bitter cold ex- perienced during the voyage. At Naples she was dangerously ill with inflammation
of the lungs, and her relatives, who were summoned by telegraph from Germany found her at death's door.
Meanwhile Duchess Amalie "died"at Cairo-, but Fraulein Milevsky did not receive' a farthing of the money which she had lent to her Royal mistress, nor did she receive the jewellery bequeathed to her. She therefore brought an action against Duke Ernest Gunther, claiming the repayment of the money lent to Duchess Amalie,
whose property he took possession of after her death, and the return of the £80O which the duke's agent, Blumenthal, took
out of her handbag at Cairo. She also made a formal request to the German Gov-
ernment for the punishment of the consul
at Cairo for participating in her illegal capture, detention, and deportation.
Chargea of Fraud. The duke thereupon brought a charge of theft, alleging that Fraulein Milevsky stole a diamond brooch from the Duchess Amalie at Cairo in 1901. The trial of Fraulein
Milevsky on this charge of theft was origi- nally fixed for October 3, 1903, but it was postponed. It was then fixed for January, 2, 1904, but again it was postponed. The
trial was next fixed for September 30, and the proceedings are awaited with keen in- terest. Meanwhile the civil courts refuse to deal with Fraulein Mileveky's action against Duke Ernest Gunther until the criminal court has decided whether or not she com-
mitted a theft. The repeated postpone- ment of the trial on the charge of theft
thus prevents Fraulein Milevsky from re- gaining her money. The treatment meted out to Fraulein Milevsky is regarded by,
the public as an intolerable outrage.