Evening star., 1942-08-06

citizen, be hanged November 13,
1912, within the walls Of the Federal
detention prison at Milan, Mich.
Stephan was found guilty in
Federal Court here of aiding the
flight Of Nazi flyer escaped from =
Canadian concentration camp.
THE life of this traitor, Max
Stephan, is less valuable than the
lives Of our loyal sons which are
being given in the cause Of the
United States" said Judge Tuttle
in pronouncing sentence.
1--WE have been too soft, to the ex-
tent of being mushy. There are
too many in the sob squad and too
few in the fighting squad. This
is no ordinary war. We talk Of
soldiers and we think of death not
in figures Of thousands but in figures
of millions. If the lives of many of
our boys are to be taken to help
such a cause, this court should not
hesitate to take the life of one
traitor If it, In turn will help that
same cause"
He said that before he pronounced
the sentence he asked himself, will
the sentence of death be a greater
deterrent than any other to fifth
columnists who also want to adhere
to Germany?"
"The court sees only one answer"
the Judge said. 1T Is the Affirmative.
Disloyal citizens know even better
than the court does that prisoner
sentenced to life is eligible to pardon
after Is years and also that after
the war such prisoners usually are
paroled or their sentences COM
muted. It is now impossible to
impose a sentence that would teach
Max Stephan q lesson so he won't
do it again."
Stephan Did All He Could.
The court said toward the con-
clusion: There was nothing more
that Stephan could have done in the
way of helping Hans Peter Krug
the escaped piloD get back to Ger
many"
The courtroom was packed as the
first man convicted Of treason since
the whisky rebellion" was brought
in for sentence.
When he was summoned before
the bench, he rose quickly and came
forward. Asked whether he had
anything to say, the convicted
traitor, in gutteral tones, asserted:
"All I have to say Is that I am
not guilty Of treason. That is ALL"
Hush Falls Over Room.
When the Judge read of the SEN
tence that gives Stephan only a
little more than three months to
live, a hush descended on the court
room. There was no demonstration.
Stephen, wearing the wrinkled
gray suit in which he had sat
through his trial four weeks ago,
gave no evidence of emotion.
At Lansing, Gov. Murray D. van
Wagner of Michigan said that he
would make no move to intervene.
Michigan law does not provide for
capital punishment, and in 1898,
when Anthony Chebatoris was
hanged by the Federal Government
for violation of the National Bank
Robbery Act, Frank Murphy, then
Governor of Michigan, contended
that the hanging should take place
in some other State.
IF Stephan has got to die, Michi-
gan soil is no different from any
other" Gov. Van Wagner said
today.
Stephan was taken into custody
April 2l by Federal Bureau of In
vestigation agents after 2l-year-old
Oberleutnant Krug, fleeing q Cana
dian concentration camp, passed
through Detroit In an attempt to
reach Mexico and thence Germany
after his escape.
Krug, who was recaptured in San
Antonio. Tex, by FBI agents, was
the Governments most important
witness. He told of his escape April
is from the concentration camp at
Bowmanville, Ontario, of reaching
Windsor and crossing the Detroit
River in stolen rowboat Arriving
here April 18, he sought out Ger
man alien, Mrs. Margareta Bertel-
mann, whose address he obtained
from packages she had sent to the
Camp. Mrs. Bertelmann, in turn,
approached Stephan, who feted
Krug and took him on q sightseeing
trip of the city before placing him
aboard 4 Chicago-bound bus to
start him on his journey to New
(see TREASON, Page A-2O.)