Otto D. Tolischus

Otto David Tolischus (November 20, 1890 – February 24, 1967) was a Prussian-Lithuanian-born journalist for ''The New York Times'' and winner of the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence for his writing and reporting from Berlin before and during World War II. Tolischus started his journalistic career in the ''Cleveland Press'' and went on to work as a foreign correspondent in Berlin and London for Universal Service and International News Service.

Early life

Tolischus was born in Russ, East Prussia, German Empire (after 1919 Memel Territory, now - part of Lithuania). Tolischus’ parents, David and Maria (née Kubillus) were local farmers and belonged to an ethnic minority of Prussian Lithuanians, also known as Memelanders. His father was a village elder in Russ. Tolischus came from a big family of five brothers and one sister. Tolischus studied at the local state school in Russ and worked as a secretary in the lawyer’s office.

In 1907 Tolischus emigrated to the United States. Tolischus renounced his German citizenship and became a U. S. citizen when his father David Tolischus was naturalised in 1907. Three of his brothers, John (Johann), William and Edward C., moved to the USA around the same time.

After the arrival Tolischus worked in a printing house in Syracuse (N.Y.) and later in a factory plant in Trenton (N.J.).

Education

In 1912 Tolischus enrolled into a newly established School of Journalism in Columbia University for a 4 year course of journalism. He was one of the 79 students who joined the first class of the school. In 1917 Tolischus was awarded the first travelling scholarship from the Columbia School of Journalism along with other students, Geddes Smith and David S. Levy. The award was postponed because of the First World War and never collected by the recipients.

Work at the ''Cleveland Press'' (1916-1923)

Internship

In summer 1916, Tolischus participated in a journalism students' "try-out" organised by the ''Cleveland Press'' staff. Victor Morgan, the editor of the ''Cleveland Press'', spearheaded this initiative as a test to assess whether the new journalism discipline in American universities was producing the necessary expertise and skills for the business world. In late spring 1916, the ''Cleveland Press'' conceived the idea and approached several leading journalism schools to participate in the program and select a few of their best students to be sent for a summer internship in Cleveland. Tolischus was chosen by Columbia University and was the only student from the institution among twelve peers. The scheme was a success, and in September 1916, Victor Morgan announced that the ''Cleveland Press'' would likely recruit editorial workers from the ranks of journalism school graduates. Tolischus was eventually selected as one of four candidates to remain at work with the Cleveland Press. The other three were John M. Gleissner (University of Kansas), James W. Shoemaker (University of Illinois) and Richard Little (Ohio State University).

Initially Tolischus joined the ''Cleveland Press'' as a cub correspondent. Tolischus started this work on the same day as John M. Gleissner (later - managing editor of ''The Washington Daily News'').

Military service

In 1918 Tolischus was called to serve in the US military service. He joined the Training Corps of Camp Gordon, near Atlanta, Georgia. There Tolischus was promoted to a sergeant in September 1918. However, the Armistice came before Tolischus’ transfer into active service in France.

Newspaper career

In 1918 Tolischus returned to the ''Cleveland Press''. At some point after the return from military service he was promoted to managing editor of the newspaper. Tolischus resigned from his position at the ''Cleveland Press'' in January 1923 in order to embark on a journey across Europe. At the time of his resignation, Tolischus was city editor of ''Cleveland Press''.

Work at wireless news service (1923-1932)

News services

In 1923 Tolischus returned to Europe and joined wireless news service as a staff correspondent of Universal News Service (Universal Service) in Berlin, part of the W. R. Hearst's news and media empire. In June 1927 Tolischus moved to the International News Service (INS) as a chief correspondent in Berlin (eventually, both Hearst's outlets, Universal Service and INS, will merge into INS in 1937). Around this time Tolischus' assistant in Berlin was H. R. Knickerbocker. By 1928 Tolischus was promoted to the Central European Director of INS.

Reporting news from Europe

On his first overseas assignment, Tolischus covered Hitler's failed 1923 putsch in Munich. He reported from various locations in Munich and interviewed general Ludendorff and his confidants, doctor Rudolf Butmann and captain Wilhelm Weiss. During his time with the Universal Service and INS, Tolischus travelled extensively across different parts of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. He was in Stockholm in November 1926 to cover the wedding of Crown Prince Leopold of Belgium and Princess Astrid of Sweden. At a short notice, Tolischus travelled from Berlin to cover socialist revolt in Vienna in July 1927 and the death of King Ferdinand I of Romania in Bucharest. In the first half of 1930 Tolischus visited Russia and described conditions in USSR and Moscow news situation (in a letter to Barry Faris, June 17, 1930).

Head of International News Service in London

In 1931 Tolischus was transferred to London and promoted to the Bureau Chief of INS there; it meant that Tolischus was put in charge of all INS European news coverage. In London he was accompanied and installed by George H. Hargreaves, the vice president and general business manager of INS. In 1932 Tolischus left INS and returned to the USA. In London's INS bureau Tolischus was succeeded by Harry K. Reynolds (1933-34) and William Hillman (1934-38).

Foreign correspondent in Berlin (1933-1940)

After some time back in the US, Tolischus joined the Berlin bureau of the ''New York Times'' in spring 1933, where he chronicled the rise of Nazi Germany. At that time the ''New York Times'' team in Berlin was headed by Swiss-born bureau chief Guido Enderis, along with chief European correspondent Frederick T. Birchall (Birchall was recently installed by Arthur Hays Sulzberger to strengthen the newspaper's coverage of Nazi Germany). During the pre-war years, Birchall, Enderis and Tolischus provided the majority of the Times' coverage from Germany. Robert Crozier Long also wrote on financial matters until his death in 1938, after which a young reporter named C. Brooks Peters was hired as a new addition to the Berlin team. After Long’s death, Tolischus was expected to start providing financial coverage for which he requested additional compensation from Sulzberger.

In his first months as a foreign correspondent for ''The New York Times'', Tolischus reported from Silesia, a region with simmering German-Polish tensions in the wake of the Nazi rise to power. Between April and May 1933, he visited key Silesian cities like Breslau (Wrocław), Oppeln (Opole), and Hindenburg (Zabrze), filing dispatches that documented the rising nationalist sentiment and Nazi political initiatives in the area. In July-August 1933 Tolischus travelled to East Prussia to report on the Nazi economic initiatives in the region and filed reports from Koenigsberg and Danzig (Gdansk). Tolischus further ventured to his native Memeland (Klaipeda Region) in August, reporting on the complex political situation there.

Reichstag fire trial coverage

In 1933, Tolischus’ most extensive early reporting emerged from the Reichstag fire trial held at the Reich Supreme Court in Leipzig. From September to December 1933, Tolischus followed the proceedings and was present at the trial sessions in Leipzig and Berlin. During those months Tolischus filed at least nine front-page bylined reports, including a detailed account of the verdict on December 23, 1933. These dispatches offered American readers a close-up view of this pivotal event in Nazi Germany's consolidation of power.

Reporting consolidation of Nazi rule

In Germany Tolischus witnessed the expansion of the Nazi regime and reported on its economic, political and cultural aspects. Before the war, he made detailed studies of Poland and Czechoslovakia, traveling extensively in both countries. He predicted the Nazi-Soviet Pact three months before it was signed and covered the German perspective on the outbreak of World War II.

Within two days of the secret signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact he had managed to get news of it for a page-one story called "Nazi Talks Secret" whose subtitle included "Soviet and Reich Agree on East." On 26 August 1939, he filed a story that noted Nazi troops on the move near Gleiwitz (now Gliwice), which led to the Gleiwitz incident, a false flag operation, on 31 August 1939. (On 28 August 1939, the ''Times'' was still reporting on fears of a Gleiwitz raid.) In 1940, he was expelled from Germany.

Foreign correspondent in Tokyo (1941-1942)

On the 25th of January 1941 Edwin L. James, managing editor of the ''New York Times'', announced that Tolischus will sail for Japan to join the Tokyo bureau as a correspondent for the ''New York Times'' and ''The Times''. After his expulsion from Berlin by the Nazi government, Tolischus admitted to being delighted to take this opportunity. While he was well-aware that war clouds appeared to be gathering over the Pacific, he was eager to take a look at the other end of the Berlin-Tokyo axis. In particular, Tolischus noted, he was keen to learn 'how much truth there was in the story that the Nazis had taken over some of their mystic ideas from the Japanese'.

Tolischus left San Francisco on the SS ''President Coolidge'' and sailed into Tokyo on February 7th. Tolischus arrived to replace Hugh Byas, a long-serving the ''New York Times'' correspondent in Tokyo. On arrival Tolischus was met by a group of local Japanese newspaper reporters. Later Tolischus learned that he was not entirely unknown in Japan. According to Tolischus, the '' Japan Times Advertiser'' and other Japanese newspapers used many of his articles sent to the ''New York Times'' from Germany.

During his first week in Tokyo, Tolischus visited the American Embassy and paid his respects to ambassador Joseph C. Grew. He also paid visits at the offices of Japan's two biggest newspapers: ''Asahi'' and '' Nichi Nichi'' (Tolischus presented a letter of introduction from Roy Howard to Shingoro Takaishi, the chief of ''Nichi Nichi'').

Tolischus was surprised to discover that from the beginning of his stay Japan looked like a country already under a state of war. Tolischus drew comparisons with Germany at war and indicated the same symptoms: Tokyo had a city wide dim-out, there were shortages and queues for food shops and low number of taxis. It was clear that the Japanese people were already feeling the effects of the conflict in China.

Arrest and imprisonment after the attack on Pearl Harbor

A few hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the 8th of December, Tolischus was arrested and imprisoned for five months, where he was regularly beaten and tortured. During this period of imprisonment, the Japanese manager of the ''Times'' Tokyo Bureau, Junnosuke Ofusa, took food and clothes to Tolischus. The ongoing contact continued until Tolischus was sent to the United States as part of a prisoner exchange in 1942.

Internment and evacuation on the ''Asama Maru'' and ''Gripsholm''

After six months of imprisonment Tolischus was released by the Japanese authorities on May 20, 1942. Instead of the full release, Tolischus was escorted to the internment camp at Sumire, located between Tokyo and Yokohama (previously a Catholic girls' school). In his account Tolischus noted that the original group of internees at Sumire were thirteen Americans, also British, Dutch, Belgians and French Canadians. Most of the internees were Catholic priests. Among Americans there were Leo Chamberlain (National City Bank), journalists Robert Bellaire (United Press), Joseph E. Dynan (Associated Press) and Colvin (Tom) Crichton ( Universal News Features). On June 2 the camp received Wall Street Journal's team members: Max Hill, Richard Tenelly and Raymond Cromley. Just like Tolischus, all of them were given the same suspended sentence.

In the camp Tolischus was informed that some of the internees are going to be repatriated on the ship Asama Maru in the middle of June. This was confirmed by father Hilderbrand Yaiser, the Benedictine, who acted as an attache of Swiss embassy in Tokyo (he confirmed that the internees would depart on June 17; they were allowed any amount of baggage and 1000 yen). On the day of the departure, Tolischus and other internees were taken by a special train to Yokohama to board the ''Asama Maru''. Tolischus and other passengers boarded the ship which left the dock but stayed anchored in the Tokyo Bay for another week before departing on June 25.

The ''Asama Maru'' reached Hong Kong on June 29 and anchored opposite Stanley Fort. 377 evacuees, most of them Americans, boarded the ship (including A. E. Southward, the consul general and Alberto Perez-Saez, the consul general of Peru). On July 2 the ''Asama Maru'' anchored next to Saigon. On July 6 the ''Asama Maru'' was joined by another evacuation ship - the '' Conte Verde'' (travelling from Shanghai ).

The ''Asama Maru'' sailed into Maputo (Lourenco Marques) on July 22. The following day Tolischus with the rest of the evacuees was transferred to the ''Gripsholm'' while the Japanese passengers walked from it to the ''Asama Maru''. During his time in Maputo, Tolishus attempted to send his stories about torture and imprisonment from the local telegraph office. He filed two copies: one to New York and another to London (''The Times''); unfortunately, the stories did not reach New York.

The ''Gripsholm'' departed Maputo on July 28 and reached Rio de Janeiro on August 10. In Rio de Janeiro Tolischus telegraphed his stories to New York. In Rio de Janeiro he was met and assisted by Frank Garcia, the New York Times Rio correspondent. The last leg of the sailing took place from August 11 to 25. Tolischus sailed on the Gripsholm into New York at dawn. More details about this evacuation trip was recorded by Max Hill in his book ''Exchange Ship'', published immediately after the event in 1942.Max Hill (1942) ''Exchange Ship'', Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. New York, Toronto.

Career in the New York Times

Tolischus was a member of the ''Times'' editorial board until his retirement in 1964. Tolischus died of cancer in 1967.

Works

Based on his experience as a journalist, Tolischus wrote three books on World War II:
* 1940 -- ''They Wanted War''. New York: Reynal and Hitchcock.
* 1943 -- ''Tokyo Record''. New York: Reynald and Hitchcock.
* 1945 -- ''Through Japanese Eyes''. New York: Reynald and Hitchcock.

References

External sources

* Brown, John Mason. "Book Review: ''They Wanted War'' by Otto D. Tolischus," ''The American Political Science Review'', Vol. 35, No. 3 (Jun., 1941), pp. 573–574.
* Clyde, Paul H., "Book Review: ''Through Japanese Eyes'' by Otto D. Tolischus," ''The American Political Science Review'', Vol. 39, No. 4 (Aug., 1945), pp. 808–809.
* MacNair, Harley Farnsworth, "Book Review: ''Through Japanese Eyes'' by Otto D. Tolischus," ''The Pacific Historical Review'', Vol. 15, No. 4 (Dec., 1946), pp. 465–466.
* Soward, F.H. "Book Review: ''Tokyo Record'' by Otto D. Tolischus," ''The Far Eastern Quarterly'', Vol. 2, No. 4 (Aug., 1943), pp. 388–389.

Otto David Tolischus papers
at the University of Oregon

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolischus, Otto David
1890 births
1967 deaths
American journalists
American foreign correspondents
American war correspondents of World War II
Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence winners
The New York Times Pulitzer Prize winners
People from Šilutė District Municipality
People from East Prussia
German people of Lithuanian descent
Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni