Charles Higham Trading With The Enemy

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in yen to be transferred to him via the White Russian millionaire Serge Rubinstein to buy
foreign exchange and finance oil wells. He also became involved in business deals with Brazil
and Argentina.
Davis gave financial support to the No Foreign Wars Committee. This was financed also
directly from Berlin. Meanwhile, the von Clemm brothers financed the pro-Nazi America First
movement. With Verne Marshall, isolationist editor and supporter of Hitler, Davis and Werner
von Clemm became involved with Charles Lindbergh and his "pacifist" campaigns against
Roosevelt. On January 2, 1941, Senator Josh Lee, a Democrat from Oklahoma, charged that
the formation of the No Foreign Wars Committee with Davis's backing amounted to "the
diabolically cunning betrayal of the American people." He added:
The record of this man Davis shows conclusively the great financial stake
he has in a complete Nazi victory in the European war. Much of the
gasoline sending showers of fiery death into the defenseless heart of
London was sold to the German government by this man Davis. ... He is
still trying to promote a phony peace through the White House to pull Nazi
Germany's chestnuts out of the fire. ... The No Foreign Wars Committee is a
timely object lesson in the technique of Nazi infiltration.
The truth of Lee's words could be seen in the fact that the committee included Senator Rush D.
Holt of Virginia, who was alleged to be in the direct pay of the Nazi government.
On January 5, at a press conference in his offices on the fifty-fourth floor of the RCA Building
in Rockefeller Plaza, Davis denied he was financing the committee. He said he would like to
appear before the Senate committee that had been formed to investigate his activities. The
investigative committee was headed by Senator Burton K. Wheeler!
In an attempt to bolster his case, Davis said he had not shipped oil to Germany after war broke
out, knew nothing about what was happening at Eurotank (despite the fact that he had
received a letter from Karl von Clemm the day before), and stated he was a direct descendant
of the South African empire builder Cecil Rhodes and of Jefferson Davis. The problem was
that Cecil Rhodes had had no children and that Jefferson Davis's descendants had been
disowning the oilman for the past twenty years.
By May, Senator Wheeler had "cleared" Davis of all connections with the Nazi government.
But this help from a fellow Fraternity figure did not ease Davis's increasing sense of fear that
Roosevelt would bring America into the war. On July 26 he appeared briefly on radio to
support Wheeler's all-out attack on Lend-Lease. On August 1 he was in Houston when he was
stricken with a fatal heart attack in his hotel room.
In his authorized biography, A Man Called Intrepid, Sir William Stephenson claims that Davis
did not die from natural causes but was murdered by representatives of British Intelligence.
According to the FBI files his demise was simply brought on by the terrible strain of the
preceding months as his empire fell apart and his Nazi connections began to cause some of
his shareholders to run for the hills.
After his death his secretary, the glamorous Erna Wehrle, became chairman of the giant
corporation. Werner von Clemm became vice-president. The board was made up of Fraternity
aide U.S. Secretary of Commerce Jesse H. Jones, Harry D. Collier of California Standard, and
Hamilton Pell, partner of Leo T. Crowley in Standard Gas and Electric. The Fraternity had
come full circle once more.
Throughout the early months of 1942, Morgenthau's team built a damning case against the von
Clemm brothers. Meanwhile, they hastily sold the Davis Oil Company to Fraternity brothers
Serge Rubinstein and Axel Wenner-Gren to insure its continued existence.
Werner von Clemm went on living a life of luxury on his ill-gotten gains. He became a pillar of
society in the heart of the fox-hunting country at Syosset, Long Island. No one who enjoyed his
company suspected that this handsome member of the local social set was on the brink of
being arrested.
On September 26, 1942, a police car containing Treasury agents rolled up at the door of the
von Clemm house. The visitors rang the doorbell. A maid came to the door. The elegant von
Clemm was waiting in the living room to receive the visitors. The agents apologized for the
inconvenience and politely placed handcuffs on Werner's delicate wrists.
The trial caused a great stir in Syosset. Werner lied and lied, trying to hide the details of the
conspiracy. But it was useless. He was sentenced to five years in prison -- the only member of
The Fraternity to suffer such a sentence. There is a curious footnote to the story. On October
15, 1942, the German government sent an official message through the Swiss authorities to
American minister Leland Harrison in Beme. They asked for a full transcript of von Clemm's
trial to be sent from Washington to Berlin. It was, of course, supplied.
At war's end, O. John Rogge, Special Assistant to the Attorney General, collected a mass of
evidence in Germany to show the Davis-Lewis connection. At a speech at Swarthmore College
on October 26, 1946, he told the story of the association. He also showed other questionable
connections, including the activities of Burton K. Wheeler on behalf of the Nazi government.
The result was that Attorney General Tom Clark fired Rogge. When the author of this book
asked him in 1981 why he had been dismissed, the dying Rogge replied succinctly. "Wheeler,"
he said, "was closer to President Truman than I was. "
Chapter 5: Trickery in Texas
A partner of the Rockefeller associate, Standard Oil of California, the tall, fair-haired, and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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