The Hanging of Robert Prager

this year 2018 is of course the centenary of the armistice that ended the Great War and event so horrible and it changed the world's understanding of war that the first world wars come surprisingly forgotten in the United States perhaps because the war to end all wars was followed so quickly by another great war but as we use this anniversary to remember the sacrifices of the boys that we sent over there we could take some time to think about what the war meant over here because war changes a nation the us on the homefront during the First World War says much about our people our people who earnestly and deeply sacrifice for a cause that we almost universally agreed was just but patriotism can be a double-edged sword and war tugs at the very soul of a people the lynching of Robert John Prager in the early morning hours of April 5th 1918 represents exactly that conflict it is history that deserves to be remembered the u.s. home front during World War one was a quickly shifting sea of productivity and patriotic nationalism President Woodrow Wilson had spent years telling Americans that the country should stay out of the war but after German torpedo the American merchant ship Housatonic in international waters on January 31st 1917 President Wilson called a joint session of Congress and the decision was made to enter the conflict during Wilson's War message delivered to Congress on February 3rd 1917 he said property can be paid for the lives of peaceful and innocent people cannot be the present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind it took a federal committee to convince the American population to get behind World War one part of the country's hesitancy was because so much of the country's immigrant population consisted of Germans the United States had the second-highest German immigrant population in the world during this time period about a third of the US population as a whole was either an immigrant or had a parent who had been an immigrant nearly 5 million German immigrants became naturalized American citizens between 1850 and 1910 in addition to their high numbers Germans had the reputations of being hardworking and industrious it took a federal committee to galvanize the country into action to both support the war effort and turn against the people President Wilson formed the committee on public information on April 14th and appointed journalist George creel as its head he called it a public relations committee but Wilson's opponents believe it was more appropriately called a propaganda machine the agency role was to release government news to sustain morale in the u.s. to administer voluntary press censorship and to develop propaganda abroad one of its first acts was to created an informational brochure called what the government asks of the press and distributed to every publication in the nation creel wanted the press to cultivate a nation of patriots and patriotism and so the distribution essentially asked publications to censor themselves he also crafted press releases and required newspapers and magazines to print them with some derisive Lee called creeling 'he's the Committee on Public Information also created war posters to demonize Germany and warn the public about keeping an eye out for German spies Germans were drawn as animalistic creatures who would stomp on babies and steal women while waiting through spilt American blood it was a smear campaign to make Americans fear the ravening hund other posters encourage young men to enlist for the population at home to purchase Liberty Bonds or other patriotic knickknacks to fuel the war effort Liberty Bond drives became a huge national push movie stars such as Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks stumped for the bonds presenting their purchases as a patriotic thing to do the country as a whole raised over 17 billion dollars through benefits parades and multiple Bond drives but an attitude of suspicion was building as the country began to police itself through its publications and purchases how much would the true patriot spend on Liberty Bonds groups that didn't sell enough were investigated as potential hot spots for German spies the pressure to not only do but say the right things became heated what would a true patriot be heard to say about the country and war effort in the Illinois as well as in other states self policing efforts started to be used against anybody who didn't fit the mold of what appeared to be a perfect patriot in the small town of wills ville illinois community members hung a sign that said if you must speak the German lingo go to Germany we do not allow it spoken here we are for Uncle Sam and we insist that you speak the English language now and forever stores by immigrants whose patriotism was questioned were painted yellow to represent what community members thought of the courage of those who wouldn't stand behind the US war effort but more than simple vandalism those suspected of being German spies or sympathizers were tarred and feathered had their heads shaved were made to sing patriotic songs or kissed a flag to prove their loyalty all of these different methods were used to try to shame people into compliance or silence and into this volatile mix walked a headstrong and proud German immigrant Robert Paul Prager was born in Germany in 1888 and immigrated to the United States at the age of 17 Prager was a small man only around five foot three inches tall and weighing less than 170 pounds at some point during his time in the US he was accused of stealing a suit and had to spend 14 months in a reformatory in Indiana during his incarceration Prager got into a few fights and lost his left eye which he replaced with the glass eyeball after Wilson's war declaration speech in 1917 Prager patriotically applied for naturalization papers the very next day he tried to enlist to fight for his new country but his missing eye prevented him from serving despite his past brush with the law Prager seemed to be a kind but lonely man he allowed neighborhood children to listen to music on his record player and gave them cookies and candy he sent pictures of himself to mail-order brides in an effort to find a wife and strive to improve his income by changing his job Prager worked as a baker for a time in Nebraska and then in Collegeville Illinois at the Lorenzo Bruno bakery Brewer later said Prager had strong opinions and that they had a few disagreements which probably made his decision to try a different job easier a Baker's wage was good but in southern Illinois a miner's wage was better with coal production not because the war effort and the Union fighting for wages it was a good time to be in the coal mining industry to become part of the coal miners Union an applicant had to prove he had worked for four years as a miner and get signatures of other Union members to support his claim Prager applied though there is little evidence to prove that he ever worked as a coal miner the Union rejected his application because of his lack of experience and when he also was accused of being a German spy craigers temper ignited he penned a notice which he posted on the area of mines and saloons which read I ask in the name of humanity to examine me to find out what is the reason I am out-of-work preggers appealed to the men's union sensibilities I've been a union man at all times and never wants a scab finally he appealed to the miners as Patriots I am heart and soul for the good old USA I am of German birth of which accident I cannot help the miners when they got off work I went for their daily drink read the notices and rejected preggers arguments a drunken mob formed I went to Prager Shack apparently they decided to drive the feisty German out of town at around 10:00 p.m. on April 4th they knocked in prickers door and told him to leave the area all right brothers I'll go prego reportedly replied and began to gather his few belongings he apparently didn't pack fast enough however because the crowd yelled for him to come out and kiss the flag again Prager was game he agreed to come out if you don't hurt me the mob ripped Frager from his home and wrapped him in a large American flag he was beaten and made this thing will fight for the red white and blue the crowd removed his shoes and made him walk over broken glass and tacks in a torturous patriotic parade with small boys gathered the sharp items and casting them in front of Prager again forcing him to walk over them once more the Colville Mayor John Segal saw Prager in the parade but was physically threatened by some of the mobs leaders mr. mayor we dare you to defy the flag they said and Seagal back down he went instead to enlist the police's help enough sir named Fred frost took the mayor's report and dashed into the unruly mob he wrestled pregger from the grass yelling that he would lock the man up the mob issued its protestations but frost didn't back down frost ran Prager into the jail and hit him while mayor Siegel tried to talk the mob into going home Segal also ordered the local saloons to close in an effort to remove the crowds fuel but as the bar shot the drunken occupants joined those already in the street and rushed the jail they found Prager cowering in the basement hiding in a sewer pipe where the police had tried to conceal him by all accounts the mayor on the police made a sincere effort to protect Prager but he Siegel himself was of German ancestry and the crowd started shouting that he was Pro German the threat was clear again they marched Prager down the town's Main Street but this time their destination was a large tree something from the group was looking for tar and feathers but instead found a rope when Prager saw what they intended he fell to his knees and began to pray then his tormentors allowed him right a final note to his family back in Germany the note which was given to local newspaper editor by a mob leader was published and said dear parents I must this day for for 18 died please pray for us my dear parents this is my last letter or sign of life of mine your dear son and brother Robert Paul more than a dozen men pulled on the rope and Prager suffocated to death at about 12:30 a.m. on the morning of April 5th eleven men were indicted by a grand jury and tried in Edwardsville Illinois in may in its concluding statements the defense argued that preggers lynching was justified by unwritten law which does not allow unpatriotic talk all eleven were found not guilty after mere minutes of deliberation one of the members of the jury who acquitted the man was heard to say I guess nobody can say we aren't loyal now the men posed in front of the courthouse with flags in their hands while a band played patriotic music in the foyer author Peter stamen who wrote a comprehensive work on the lynching said that despite many other examples of anti German hysteria in the United States this was the only example of Americans lynching a German immigrant during the first world war and that's perhaps the biggest surprise that there was only this one casualty given that newspapers were stoking an atmosphere of suspicion and of unquestioned loyalty the local collinsville newspaper said of the lynching the entire community was convinced he was disloyal the city does not miss him the story of his death has had a wholesome effect upon the German Escala nil and the rest of the country but their attitude was far from universal in fact the now famous photograph of the minim from the courthouse waving American flags was altered in many American newspapers to blot out the flags altered by editors who did not believe that these men should be able to hide their crimes behind America's flag the st. Louis star perhaps summed it up best they said we must save our own soul as a nation they editorialized we cannot hope to defeat the Hun if we become the Hun ourselves I hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guys short snippets have forgotten history between 10 and 15 minutes long and if you did enjoy please go ahead and that thumbs up button you have any questions or comments or suggestions for future episodes please write those in the comment section I will be happy to personally respond be sure to follow the history guy on Facebook Instagram Twitter and check out our merchandise on teespring com and if you'd like more episodes on forgotten history all you need to do is subscribe

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Views: 344,897

Rating: 4.9532261 out of 5

Keywords: History, the history guy, great war, illinois, prager, world war i, us history, collinsville, wwi

Id: v89K4-HGaww

Length: 11min 25sec (685 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 07 2018