Ignaz Trebitsch Lincoln

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[[File:Ignatius Timothy Trebitsch-Lincoln circa 1915.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Trebitsch, c. 1910-1915]]
{{politics}}
'''Ignaz Trebitsch Lincoln''' {{lived|1879|1943}} was born Ignácz Trebitsch (or Ignaz Thimoteus Trebitzsch in German) in [[Hungary]] to [[Jewish]] parents.<ref name=wasserstein>[https://archive.org/details/secretlivesoftre00wass ''The Secret Lives of Trebitsch Lincoln''] by Bernard Wasserstein (1988) Yale University Press. ISBN 0300040768.</ref>{{rp|10}} As a young adult he was a petty thief with a penchant for stealing gold watches.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|14,17}} In later life, he was a [[Personality disorder|narcissistic]] [[con artist]] who went by many aliases{{efn|Patrick Keelan,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|2,196}} Trautwein,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|2}} Heinrich Lamprecht,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|161}} Thomas Lamprecht,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|179}} Vilmos Ludwig,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|159,161}} Wilhlem Ludwig,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|164}} Dr. Dibor Lehotzky,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|165, 176}} Theodor Lakatos,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|170-171}} Dr. Johann Lange,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|171, 177}} Thomas Lorincz,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|171}} Thomas Longford,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|196}} Leo Tandler,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|216,223}} H. Ruh,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|228-229}} Anagarika Pukkusati,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|229}} Jack Fisher,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|235}}  and Chao Kung (照空),<ref>''Can War Be Abolished?'' by Chao Kung (1932) Kelly and Walsh.</ref><ref>''Dawn or Doom of Humanity'' by Ignatius Timothy Trebitsch Lincoln, afterword by Chao Kung (1937) Shanghai Times.</ref><ref>''La Tragédie Humaine'' by Ignatius Timothy Trebitsch Lincoln, afterword by Chao Kung (1935) Shanghai.</ref><ref>''1,000 Questions to You!'' by Ignatius Timothy Trebitsch Lincoln, afterword by Chao Kung (1935) Shanghai: League of Truth.</ref>}} (often bearing several passports at once) and some remarkably diverse occupations.{{efn|Protestant [[missionary]] in [[Canada]], [[Anglican]] priest, editor of an [[Western esotericism|esoteric]] newspaper, British parliamentarian, oil company CEO, British and German censor, spy (at least by his own proclamation), [[journalist]], press secretary, German right-wing politician, advisor to Chinese warlords, and Buddhist abbot in China}} He had an exceptional list of guises throughout his lifetime: 17 names, 5 religions (including as clergy in 2), 8 different occupations, and 7 countries of residence. On different occasions, he rose close to power (member of the British Parliament, participant in a failed coup, adviser to warlords) but never for long.

Many well-known con artists burn brightly before being caught and punished, e.g., Charles Ponzi, of [[Ponzi scheme]] fame (from roughly 1919 to the 1930s), [[Bernie Madoff]] (mid-1990s to 2008), {{wpl|Lou Pearlman}} (roughly 2002-2008), and {{wpl|Elizabeth Holmes}} (2003-2018). Trebitsch Lincoln is unusual for having both a long and a well-documented career in con artistry (from his first known watch theft before age 18 in 1897<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|14}} until shortly before his death at age 64 in 1943, a roughly 46-year span with only a brief period of incarceration). The Indian con artist Natwarlal rivaled Trebitsch Lincoln's career length, from roughly 1937 to 1996 (59 years), but Natwarlal's actions were poorly documented and were subject to mythologizing.<ref>{{wpa|Natwarlal}}</ref>

Trebitsch Lincoln is the subject of four biographies in English,{{efn|Trebitsch Lincoln was also the subject of biographies in Yiddish (fictionalized<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|297}}),<ref>[https://archive.org/details/nybc204623 טריביטש־לינקולן : פרשת חיים סוערים (Tribitsch Linkoln)] by Joseph Nedava (c. 1956) S. Zimzon.</ref> German<ref>''Trebitsch-Lincoln Das Leben des Grossen Spions und Abenteurers'' by Joseph Nedava (1957) Union Verlag.</ref><ref>''Ignatius Trebitsch-Lincoln oder vom Talmudschüler zum Buddha-Priester'' by Henryk Kesler (1989) VfA. ISBN 388611063X.</ref> French,<ref>''Bouddha contre l'Intelligence Service'' by Maurice Laporte (1934) Alexis Redier.</ref><ref>''Trebitsch Lincoln, le Plus grand Aventurier du Siècle'' by Imré Gyomaï (1939) Les Éditions de France.</ref> and Hungarian.<ref>''Szélhámosok: Kalandorok'' by László Frank (1966) Gondolat.</ref><ref>''Az Igazi Trebitsch'' by Endre Gömöri (1986). Kozmosz Könyvek.</ref>}} only one of which could be regarded as reliable. The first two were autobiographies<ref name=revelations>[https://archive.org/details/revelationsofin00treb/ ''Revelations of an International Spy''] by Ignatius Timothy Trebitsch-Lincoln (1916) R. M. McBride & Co.</ref><ref>''The Autobiography of an Adventurer'' by Ignatius Timothy Trebitsch-Lincoln (1932) H. Holt and Company.</ref> and were likely fabulistic and untrustworthy.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|6-7}} The third biography<ref>''The Self-Made Villain: A Biography of Trebitsch Lincoln'' by David Lampe & Laszlo Szenasi (1961) Cassell & Co.</ref> was based primarily on sensationalist newspaper reports and upon Trebitsch Lincoln's own writings.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|3}} The final, and reliable, biography was written by a historian (Bernard Wasserstein) and relies heavily on original documents.<ref name=wasserstein/> Trebitsch Lincoln showed an extreme talent in peripatetic con artistry, perhaps not to be surpassed. His well-documented {{sl|methods}} serve as a metric for comparison to other con artists. Despite his storied life and the substantial interest by biographers over the years, he remains relatively unknown.

==Christian life==
[[File:Trebitsch-curate.jpg|thumb|left|165px|Trebitsch as Anglican curate]]
After Trebitsch's wealthy family became impoverished following a stock market crash, he traveled to [[England]] in the late-1890s and began his conversion to [[Christianity]] under the tutelage of the Reverend Lypshytz of the London Society for the [[Anglican]] {{wpl|Church's Ministry Among Jewish People|Promotion of Christianity Amongst the Jews|.}}<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|14-16}} After stealing a gold watch and other property from Lypshytz's wife, Trebitsch returned to Hungary and then to Hamburg, [[Germany]] in 1897 where he studied under the [[Presbyterian]] Reverend Arnold Frank and met his future wife, a [[Lutheran]], Margarethe Kahlor (later known as Margaret Lincoln).<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|14,18}} Trebitsch completed his conversion to Christianity under Frank in 1899.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|19}} In 1900, Frank recommended Trebitsch to join a Lutheran seminary in Breklum, Germany.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|19}} Disappointed with the sleepy German town, Trebitsch quickly abandoned his studies and went to Canada on his own initiative, where he joined the Anglican mission to the Jews in Montreal.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|20}} Trebitsch honed his oratorical skills as a missionary in Canada, but there was no evidence that he ever converted any Jews, his main task.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|23-38}} Trebitsch resigned his position in Canada and returned to England in 1903. Upon arrival in England, he wrote a letter confessing to stealing Lypshytz's jewelry and promising to repay him as a means to get in the church's good graces.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|39}} While in England, Trebitsch continued to extract funds for debts that he had incurred in Canada,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|40-41}} and was appointed curate in the parish of Appledore-with-Ebony in Kent.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|41}} By 1904, evidence became apparent that Trebitsch was an exceptionally poor clerical student.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|41}} In 1904, Trebitsch's wife inherited money from his wife's deceased father, Trebitsch resigned his position in the church and the family moved to Hampton-on-Thames.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|43}} Trebitsch also adopted the name Lincoln at this time, being known at least briefly as Tribich Lincoln and for many years hence as I. T. T. Lincoln.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|43}}

==British politics==
[[File:Paks-voriscum.jpg|thumb|left|165px|Caricature of Trebitsch speaking in Parliament from ''Punch'' (March 9, 1910, page 175)]]
In Hampton-on-Thames, Trebitsch began accumulating and studying books on [[politics]] and [[economics]], as well as looking for employment in politics.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|43-44}} Trebitsch was turned down for a job by the {{wpl|British Liberal Party||}} but consequently met {{wpl|Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree||,}} a [[Quaker]] industrialist and social reformer.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|44}} Based on Trebitsch's affiliation with the Liberal Party, his professed knowledge of economics, and his facility with European languages,{{efn|He was fluent in Hungarian and German, but his English was strongly accented. Trebitsch was also miserably bad at [[Hebrew]], [[Latin]], and ancient Greek when he was a theology student.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|42}}}} Rowntree hired Trebitsch as his personal secretary from 1906-1909.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|45}} Trebitsch was assigned to Rowntree’s pet project, researching European economics and land ownership, and he was given an essentially unlimited budget.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|45}} Trebitsch lived lavishly in Europe this time and began what would become a multi-decade pestering of the British Foreign Office.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|47-53}} Trebitsch used his employer as leverage to wheedle letters of recommendation from the Foreign Office to foreign embassies and governments, from which he wished to obtain free copies of large amounts of government documents.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|47-53}} His efforts ultimately paid off with the publication of ''Land and Labour'' by Rowntree in 1910 and glowing praise for Trebitsch in the book's preface.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/cu31924013986595/ ''Land and Labour: Lessons from Belgium''] by B. Seebohm Rowntree (1910) Macmillan and Co.</ref>{{rp|xi}}

In 1909, Trebitsch was nominated by the Liberal Party and ran for Parliament.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|56}} Running in support of [[free trade]],<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1910/feb/23/debate-on-the-address#S5CV0014P0_19100223_HOC_155 Debate on the Address. HC Deb 23 February 1910 vol 14 cc214-326] ''Commons and Lords Hansard''</ref> his campaign was bolstered by the continued patronage of Rowntree, as well as substantial support from the ''Northern Echo'' newspaper.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|57}} He was elected to Parliament in 1910 with exactly 50% of the vote with his principle opponent garnering 49.7% of the vote.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|67}} Remarkable as it was that a foreigner with a pronounced accent would become an MP at this time in British history, it was even more remarkable that, unbeknownst to most, Trebitsch was not a British citizen at the time that he became a candidate for MP.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|57}} Trebitsch only became naturalized a month after he formally announced his candidacy but later falsified this fact.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|57-58}}

Unconventionally for an MP-elect, Trebitsch went to Eastern Europe in the interim between the election and his installation as an MP. He went to show off that he had become an MP to his family in Hungary, as well as to stir up interest in creating an Anglo-Hungarian bank. The bank concept was based upon the weight of a letter he had obtained from the Foreign Office and his false claims that he had financial backing for the bank. He also presented an unbelievable claim that he had the rights to an invention that could burn any type of [[coal]] without producing exhaust. In Hungary, Trebitsch also delivered an impolitic speech, without Foreign Office approval, in which he claimed that the British Liberals did not support Hungarian independence from Austro-Hungary.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|68-70}} Trebitsch's tenure in Parliament was lackluster and not particularly noteworthy.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|70-75}}

The 1910 Parliament was one of the shortest on record, and a new election was called in December 1910. Trebitsch decided not to run probably based on a combination of reasons: personal financial difficulty, there being no salary for MPs at that time, pressure from Rowntree over Trebitsch's unpaid debts to him, pressure from the Foreign Office regarding his impolitic speech in Hungary, and pressure from the [[Austria|Austrian]] ambassador using the leverage of the Austrian government's knowledge of Trebitsch's youthful career as a petty criminal<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|73-77}}

==Oil companies==
{{cquote|I knew we were living beyond our means, but it was no use arguing the point. My husband's opinion was: "The more you spend, the more you are obliged to earn. It is no use trying to scrape and save small amounts; nobody got rich that way. Never be satisfied with what you are earning — try and earn more."|||Margaret Lincoln<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|75}}}}

In 1911, Trebitsch was without a job, in debt, and with a large family. He had previously failed to get anywhere in his fraudulent Anglo-Hungarian bank scheme, so he decided to start his own companies. He had already begun in 1910 with two shell companies, and then in 1911 with the Amalgamated Oil Pipe-Lines of Galicia, which sold shares to investors and bought pipelines in Austrian Galicia.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|78-79}} The company was touted as being low risk because it didn't invest directly in oil production. Although the company initially looked promising, its success was premised upon increasing oil production from Galicia, but as it turned out peak oil production had already occurred in Galicia in 1909.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|80-81}} By 1912, the company was insolvent and had been merged into another company over which Trebitsch had no control.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|82-83}} Trebitsch most likely siphoned off substantial amounts of money from the company, while leaving little or no accounting behind.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|84}}

Before the final word on the impending failure of Amalgamated Oil Pipe-Lines of Galicia, Trebitsch was already seeking investors in 1912 for a new company to drill for oil in [[Romania]], Oil Drilling and Trust of Roumania. Finding investors was substantially more difficult than his first oil venture, but he managed to overstate potential return and understate the risk of drilling, going so far as to imply that owning pipelines was risky but owning oilwells was not, the opposite of what he had stated in his first venture.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|84-85}} The Romanian enterprise theoretically could have been successful since oil was being produced there, albeit minimally, but Trebitsch's shaky funding sources and profligate spending, as well as outright fraud and embezzlement, kept the company on the brink of disaster. The final blow was when Romania entered the {{wpl|Second Balkan War}} in 1913, the predecessor to [[World War I]].<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|89-91}} Trebitsch returned to England, attempted to obtain unsecured loans to stay afloat and used his membership in the National Liberal Club to commit fraud by forging a letter of guarantee from Rowntree.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|89-92}}

==Alleged espionage==
[[File:REV D008 Trebitsch Lincoln.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Trebitsch in 1916]]
As [[World War I]] began, having run out of creditors to borrow from, Trebitsch was in desperate financial straits, so much so that he and his family had to take up residence in a boarding house, and he was even able to convince the landlord to give him credit on the rent.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|93}} He was able to obtain a poorly-paid job as [[censor]] in the War Office, reading Hungarian and Romanian letters. The job did not suit Trebitsch's temperament or his massive ego. Probably bored on the job, he began writing notes on the letters and was subsequently fired.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|94}} Trebitsch continued his fraudulent borrowing schemes and finally confessed to Rowntree what he had done. Rather than receiving absolution from Rowntree as Trebitsch had hoped, Rowntree informed the duped financier who had loaned Trebitsch money and Trebitsch was subsequently reported to Scotland Yard. Coincidentally at the same time, and likely unbeknownst to Trebitsch, he was convicted ''in absentia'' in Romania for misappropriation of money and goods from the Oil and Drilling Trust of Roumania. He was sentenced to 7 months of prison time and 50,000 francs (the equivalent of about US$230,000 in 2018).<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|95-96}}<ref>[https://www.uwyo.edu/numimage/currency.htm Pounds Sterling to Dollars: Historical Conversion of Currency] by Eric W. Nye</ref>

Fearing imminent arrest for fraud and lacking any income, Trebitsch made the desperate move of trying to obtain money for spying on Germany, also hoping to obtain absolution for his crimes by service to his country.{{efn|This was the first documented case of Trebitsch's espionage attempts, though Trebitsch himself<ref name=revelations/> and others have claimed the he had been a spy long before this.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|97}}}} He managed to secure a meeting with a captain in MO5 (the predecessor of MI5), and presented an amateurish proposal of traveling to neutral [[Netherlands]] where he could spy on Germans and report their fleet movement.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|97}} Trebitsch was rejected flat-out by MO5, but he nonetheless traveled to Rotterdam on his own initiative, where he was able to meet with the German General Consul General.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|98}} Trebitsch apparently was allowed a freelance opportunity by the Consul to spy on British and [[French]] ships and harbors, though Trebitsch's proposal was no less amateurish.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|98-100}} Upon returning to England in January 1915, Trebitsch immediately attempted to sell the German secret codes that he was to use but was roundly rejected for their apparent lack of authenticity.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|101-104}} Trebitsch probably had not decided which country he owed allegiance to because none of the spy agencies had paid him. Having run out of employment options and still fearing imminent arrest, Trebitsch decided to abandon his family into [[poverty]] and flee for the [[United States]],<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|104-105}} which was still neutral.

Trebitsch had managed to board a ship for [[New York City]] shortly after it became known that criminal charges were pending against him and that he was not to be allowed to leave the country.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|106}} While aboard, he met a married German woman, Annie Jundt, and her sister; Trebitsch had sexual relations with both of the women and also convinced Jundt to loan him money.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|107}} While in the US, Trebitsch contacted three of his brothers who had emigrated there and only managed to extract money from the poorest of them, who was barely surviving.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|108}} In 1915, Trebitsch managed to sell two highly fictionalized and sensationalist articles that he wrote about himself, claiming to be one of the world's great spies, and that what he had done amounted to treason against the British.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|109}}<ref>"Revelations of I. T. T. Lincoln, Former Member of Parliament Who Became a German Spy by I. T. T. Lincoln (May 23, 1915) ''The World Magazine''.</ref> The charges of fraud against Trebitsch probably were insufficiently important for the British government to instigate an extradition request, but the admission by Trebitsch to being a German spy during wartime was enough to set the wheels rolling, and Trebitsch was tracked down, arrested and put into a Brooklyn jail.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|111}} At his arraignment hearing, Trebitsch admitted to being a German spy but denied committing fraud.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|111}} Trebitsch's lawyers managed to delay extradition for some time, enabling him to bribe wardens for privileges with money that Jundt supplied him. Trebitsch also wrote his first autobiography at this time, expanding on the articles that he had previously written.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|112-114}}<ref name=revelations/> By November 1915, the final possibility of preventing extradition had apparently ended with arrival of a writ of ''[[habeas corpus]]'' from Britain, but Trebitsch had one more gambit.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|114}} Trebitsch wrote to the Bureau of Investigation (predecessor to the [[FBI]]), claiming that he could decipher intercepted German cables.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|114-115}} The Bureau made the mistake of taking Trebitsch's bait and gave him three German cables to decipher.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|116}} Trebitsch dragged out the task and asked for more and more privileges and was even allowed to work each day at the Brooklyn Federal Building under escort of a federal marshal.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|116}} Trebitsch even went so far as to [[Dunning-Kruger effect|request and receive]], the assistance first of an [[Accounting|accountant]] and then a "code [[mathematician]]"<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|117}} (presumably an actual skilled [[Cryptography|cryptographer]]). Six days before his first book was published in 1917,<ref name=revelations/> Trebitsch easily escaped from custody.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|118}} The escape resulted in great embarrassment for the Bureau and resulted in a massive manhunt for someone who was not known to have committed any crime in the US other than the escape from custody.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|118-120}} During his time on the lam, he even gave an interview to ''The New York American'' newspaper, claiming that his enemies hated him because he was "one of the brainiest of men".<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|119-120}} After he was caught by the police, he congratulated them on capturing "the cleverest man in America".<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|120}} After almost escaping again, Trebitsch was finally deported to Britain.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|121}} In a British court, he used the opposite line of defense that he had used in the US court, this time admitting that he had committed forgery, but claiming  it was a "devilish lie" that he had committed treason.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|121}} He later nonetheless pleaded not guilty, but was convicted and sentenced to three years' prison time.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|121-122}} Trebitsch's certificate of naturalization was revoked in December 1918 for disloyalty to His Majesty, and he was released from prison in mid-1919.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|125}} Trebitsch was deported by ship to the Netherlands on the expectation that he would return to his native Hungary.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|125}} But since Hungary was occupied by Romanian forces at the time and since Trebitsch probably knew about the outstanding Romanian arrest warrant for him for his conviction ''in absentia'', he instead went to Germany.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|127}}

==German politics==
Having lost the war, Germany was forced into unfavorable terms by the [[Treaty of Versailles]] in 1919. Kaiser Wilhelm II also abdicated and went into exile in 1918. Trebitsch arrived in chaotic post-war Germany, impoverished and bearing a grudge against the British and those in Britain that he felt had betrayed him. Shortly after his arrival, he was able to sell two anti-British articles to ''Deutsche Zeitung'', which was published by {{wpl|Reinhold Wulle||.}}<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|128}} Wulle was "a violent [[nationalist]], a proponent of right-wing [[terrorism]], and advocate of a [[Völkisch movement|''völkisch'']] [[dictatorship]]".<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|129}} Wulle became Trebitsch's new patron, and Trebitsch continued to write for the newspaper. Trebitsch unsuccessfully sought to interview {{wpl|Kaiser Wilhelm II||,}} who had abdicated and lived in exile, but he successfully interviewed Crown Prince Wilhelm, as part of a scheme to agitate for the restoration of the German [[monarchy]].<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|129-141}} In 1919, Trebitsch also became a close associate of Colonel {{wpl|Max Bauer||,}} a rabid [[antisemite]] and monarchist.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|131-133}}

Trebitsch's close affiliations with Wulle and Bauer had enabled him to join at least two planning meetings for what was to become the Kapp Putsch,<ref name=kapp>{{wpa|Kapp Putsch}}</ref><ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|146-147}} Germany's second [[coup d'état]] following World War I. The meetings included Bauer, {{wpl|Walther von Lüttwitz||,}} {{wpl|Waldemar Pabst,}} {{wpl|Hermann Ehrhardt}} and {{wpl|Wolfgang Kapp||.}}<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|146-147}} The Kappists consisted of pro-[[monarchist]]s, [[right-wing]]ers, [[autocrat]]s, military officers, antisemites, and other conservative factions.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|157}}<ref name=kapp/>

On March 12, 1920, the German government became aware of the impending coup and fled from Berlin to Dresden.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|147}} On March 13, rebel troops occupied Berlin.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|147-148}} The Kappists in fact had little support: banks did not let them withdraw money,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|153-154}} the Weimar government continued to operate in Dresden and parts of the military were still loyal to Weimar. Because of the dubious legitimacy and power of the Kappists, few wanted to join the Kapp government. Into this power vacuum, Trebitsch stepped in and accepted an appointment of press secretary.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|148}} Trebitsch promptly seized the Berlin Telegraph Office and also became the ''de facto'' chief censor, editing all press telegraphic dispatches before they were sent abroad.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|148-149}} When asked by a correspondent for the British {{wpl|The Daily News (UK)|''Daily News''|,}} "Are you afraid of the truth about the movement reaching the British public?" Trebitsch replied foretelling the idea of [[fake news]], "It all depends on the conception one has of the [[truth]]. Correspondents of British Liberal newspapers always labour under the delusion that any movement which does not originate from the Extreme Left in Germany must necessarily be [[reactionary]]. The Government is neither reactionary nor monarchist; and I object to the British Government being told that it is."<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|152}} The short-lived Kapp Putsch ended on March 17 when Kapp resigned, and shortly thereafter fled to Sweden.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|156}} Others in the Putsch also began fleeing.

===Encounter with Hitler===
[[File:Hitler-Trebitsch.jpg|thumb|right|165px|The alleged photo of Hitler with Trebitsch, of unknown origin, that has appeared with antisemitic writings<ref name=OJ/><ref name=PP/><ref>''Adolf Hitler, Begründer Israels'' by Hennecke Kardel (1974) Verlag Marva. ISBN 3858000019. (In a badly translated English edition [https://web.archive.org/web/20060222045110/http://ellhn.e-e-e.gr/books/assets/founder_of_Israel.pdf ''Adolf Hitler — Founder of Israel: Israel in War With Jews''], the photo appears on page 52.)</ref>]]
Trebitsch was one of the last of the Kappists to leave the Reich Chancellery building on March 17, 1920. There are conflicting details, but it is likely that Trebitsch and [[Adolf Hitler]], along with {{wpl|Dietrich Eckart||,}}{{efn|Eckart was a cofounder of the ''Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'', which was the predecessor to the [[NSDAP]].}} were at least in proximity on this day.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|157}} One account of this event was likely fabricated by the author of ''[[Hitler Diaries|The Hitler Diaries]]''.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|157}} Wasserstein regarded the most reliable account as that of Hitler's press secretary, Otto Dietrich, whose account was included in his posthumously published memoirs:<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|157-158}}<ref>''The Hitler I Knew'' by Otto Dietrich (1957) Methuen, p. 163. Reprinted by Skyhorse Publishing, ISBN 162914388X, p. 135.</ref>
{{cquote|While waiting there [the Hotel Adlon in Berlin] Eckart and Hitler saw Kapp's newly-appointed press chief, Trebitsch-Lincoln, going up the stairs to Kapp's rooms. Trebitsch-Lincoln was reputed to be Jewish. Eckart promptly gripped Hitler's arm and threw him towards the door, saying, "Come on Adolf, we have no further business here." Where-upon they left Berlin. Hitler often described this incident in conversation.}}
This is the sole reliable encounter between Trebitsch and Hitler, as Trebitsch never mentioned any meeting with Hitler in his own writings, and Trebitsch was prone to remarking on his meetings with powerful people.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|158}}

[[Henry Makow]] and other [[conspiracy theorists]], including on [[Prison Planet]]'s website, have alleged that Trebitsch was a financial backer of [[Hitler]] in furtherance of various [[antisemitic]] conspiracy theories about Hitler's rise to power.<ref name=OJ>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161130063658/https://www.henrymakow.com/hitler_took_offer_ludendorff_r.html Hitler Took Offer Ludendorff Refused] by OJ (March 17, 2012) ''HenryMakow.com'' (archived from November 30, 2016).</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180914182338/https://www.henrymakow.com/002104.html Bankers Planned World Wars to Destroy Germany] by Henry Makow (August 3, 2007) ''HenryMakow.com (archived from September 14, 2018).</ref><ref name=PP>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180818174028/https://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=76411.0 Re: Hitler-was-a-British-Agent — Greg Hallett — Tavistock Connection] comment by TheCaliKid (December 22, 2008, 03:13:30 pm) ''Prison Planet'' (archived from August 18, 2018).</ref> The idea that Trebitsch would have financed anyone else's rise to power is preposterous based on Wasserstein's details of Trebitsch's lifelong lust for power and lifestyle of living beyond his means.<ref name=wasserstein/> The conspiracy theorists have also presented an alleged photo of Hitler with Trebitsch.<ref name=OJ/> The use of Trebitsch as an exemplar for antisemites to smear Jews for the rise of Hitler goes back at least as far as 1939 with {{wpl|Douglas Reed||'s}} book, ''Disgrace Abounding''.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.61660/page/n3 ''Disgrace Abounding''] by Douglas Reed (1939) Jonathan Cape.</ref>{{rp|249-251}}

==The White International==
After the shitstorm of the Kapp Putsch, some of the conspiracy members decided that Plan 1.0 was not crazy or grandiose enough. In exile, Trebitsch joined with Beier and Ludendorff to form Plan 2.0, The White International, joining with an international cast of rogues, monarchists, anti-communists and antisemites. The gist of The White International was to form a military and political counter-force to The Red International ({{wpl|Communist International}}) as well as to the Treaty of Versailles.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|159-163}} By 1920, the new conspirators included Major Franz von Stephani (who was under official investigation for seven charges of murder following WWI),<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|163}} {{wpl|Georg Escherich||,}} and Hungarians Tibor von Eckhardt, {{wpl|Gyula Gömbös||,}} {{wpl|Pál Prónay||.}}<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|166-167}} Gömbös later became Hungary's first [[fascist]] prime minister.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|167}} Prónay had a reputation for perpetrating [[pogroms]] against Jews and not unexpectedly took an immediate dislike and distrust of Trebitsch.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|167}} The conspirators were later joined by Russian General {{wpl|Vasily Biskupsky||,}} (or Biskupski) an ethnic Ukrainian with little allegiance to anyone but himself, and who later actually did help finance Hitler's rise to power.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|169-170}}<ref>''Who Financed Hitler: the secret funding of Hitler's rise to power 1919-1933'' by by James Pool (1997) Gallery Books 2<sup>nd</sup> ed. ISBN 9780671760830. p. 26.</ref> The plotters had disparate motives that mainly revolved around grievances over the terms of the Versailles Treaty but included monarchist, [[Irredentism|irredentist]] (Hungary), and anti-Communist motives. The lack of much substance and coherence behind the plotters combined with their refusal to keep their activities in Budapest secret led to the Hungarian government withdrawing its support in mid-1920.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|173}}

Following the squabbling and dissolution of The White International, Trebitsch and Bauer also broke apart, Trebitsch also recognized that his co-conspirators included gangsters and murderers, and did not want to become one of their victims in a Hungary which had recently been experience pogroms.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|175-176}} Trebitsch fled to Austria with all of Bauer's records of The White International, as well as other incriminating documents.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|176-177}}

===Documents for sale===
Trebitsch then began trying to shop Beier's papers around for a large cash reward, offering them to Britain, France, the US and Czechoslovakia.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|177-178}} Due to Trebitsch's reputation as a swindler, there was quite a bit of doubt among governments about the authenticity of any documents that he might provide. Newly created Czechoslovakia had been carved out of the Austro-Hungarian Empire based on the terms of the Versailles Treaty, and hence felt threatened by recent Hungarian [[revisionism]] that would attempt to reclaim parts of the new country.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|178}} The Czechoslovak government decided to take the bait and paid Trebitsch 200,000 Czech crowns for the cache of documents with an additional 300,000 to be paid after the documents were examined.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|179}} Czechoslovakia had hoped to use the documents for a public [[propaganda]] campaign as well as to influence diplomatic opinion against Hungary, but their campaign was initially a failure due to the unreliable nature of the source of the evidence, Trebitsch.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|180-184}} Based on the poor reception of their initial efforts, the government refused to pay Trebitsch the balance promised, claiming that the documents were forgeries. In December 1920, the government tried a different approach and managed to get an influential 3-part series published in ''The Times'' of London based on the contents of the documents but that also included disparaging remarks against Trebitsch.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|185}} The article was reprinted around the world and made Trebitsch notorious for his part in the conspiracy.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|185-186}} Trebitsch came under attack from the right wing writer {{wpl|Ernst Graf zu Reventlow}} (an antisemite and future Nazi who was associated with the Kapp Putsch) as well as from the communist paper ''Die Rote Fahne''.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|186}} Trebitsch unsuccessfully tried to shop some more documents to both the [[Japanese]] ambassador and to a [[Bolshevik]] agent.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|186}} Fearing for his safety, Trebitsch fled Prague for the apparent safety of Vienna.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|188}} In 1921, a lawyer for the Czechoslovak government lodged a formal complaint against Trebitsch with the Vienna police, and Trebitsch was quickly arrested.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|189}} Contradictorily, Trebitsch was charged with both fraud and high treason with regard to the documents that he had sold to the Czechoslovak government.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|189}} The lawyer for Czechoslovakia put up a rather weak prosecution as the government mostly resisted supplying him with documents in question, and the bulk of the 18-day trial consisted of Trebitsch's monologues about his favorite topic, himself.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|190-193}} Trebitsch was not convicted on either charge. Upon his release from jail he was immediately deported.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|195}} Possessing 6 passports, Trebitsch managed to flee to Italy.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|195-196}} Despite warnings issued to US embassies not to give Trebitsch a visa, he managed to travel to the US again.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|196}} While onboard a ship to the US, he convinced millionaire Albert Otto to "loan" him GBP15,000 for a business scheme.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|196,203}} Two months after his arrival, he was arrested in New York for surreptitiously entering the US; rather than being deported, Trebitsch was allowed to exit the US on his own via the west coast.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|196-197}}

==Horseshoe theory==
{{main|Horseshoe theory}}
Both the Kapp Putsch and The White International had superficial links with [[communists]], which were probably exploratory at best,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|160-161,170}} and so not really indicative of horseshoe theory. Biskupsky for example, though a former White Russian general, plotted (or fantasized) working with the Red Army to conquer Poland.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|170}} Ideologically, both internationals were opposed to post-WWI Anglo-French dominance in Europe, but that was about the extent of their common ground.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|163,170}}

==China==
Trebitsch kept his word and left the US, arriving in [[China]] in 1922.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|199}} Trebitsch became an advisor to Chinese warlord {{wpl|Yang Sen}} in Szechwan,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|202-204,214}} possibly warlord {{wpl|Wu Peifu}},<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|204-205}} and also warlords Wu Hung Chiang and his associate Ch'i Hsieh-yuan.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|205,214}} In 1923, with a delegation from General Ch'i, Trebitsch traveled to Europe to raise funds.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|208}} An apparently successful preliminary deal was concluded in Zurich, [[Switzerland]], which implausibly included Max Bauer whom Trebitsch had betrayed previously.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|208-209}} Trebitsch reunited with his wife and two youngest sons, bringing them to China with him in January 1924.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|209}} By mid-July of 1924, the preliminary deal had fallen apart.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|210-211}} Perhaps fearing retribution from the disappointed warlords for their expenditures for an expensive entourage in Europe that resulted in nothing, Trebitsch managed to flee with his family to Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (modern Jakarta, [[Indonesia]]).<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|211-216}} Trebitsch shortly thereafter took his wife with him back to Europe, abandoning his two sons of 13 and 19 years, leaving the elder son to earn a living on a plantation and to pay for the younger son's school fees.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|208}} Trebitsch told his wife that he had a fool-proof method of winning at [[Gambling|baccarat]], and [[Gambler's fallacy|quickly lost whatever funds he had in Monte Carlo]].<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|217}} In 1925, after failing to obtain a visa for Britain, Trebitsch left his wife in her native Germany and returned to the US.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|217-218}}

===Hey, Abbot!===
[[File:Chao Kung.jpg|Trebitsch as Chao Kung, c. 1943|thumb|right|165px]]
[[File:Abbot-chao-kung.jpg|Poster for Trebitsch's lectures in Shanghai in 1938|thumb|left|165px]]
Arriving in New York, Trebitsch again convinced one of his brothers to put him up.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|219}} Trebitsch was able to earn some money by selling highly exaggerated stories of his Chinese exploits to the New York ''World''.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|219-220}} Trebitsch managed to return to China in August 1925,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|220-221}} where he converted to [[Theosophy]] in October.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|221-222}} By November, he had already begun a pilgrimage to the Theosophist headquarters in Adyar in southern [[India]], but wound up instead in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) where he converted to [[Buddhism]].<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|222-224}} Upon learning that one of his sons was facing execution for murder in England, Trebitsch unsuccessfully attempted to return to England to see him one last time.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|226}} While speaking to reporters about his failure to reconnect with this condemned son, he remarked on his belief in [[telepathy]] as based upon Buddhism<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|226}} (presumably {{wpl|abhijñã}} in the Pali scripture). By 1926, Trebitsch again returned to the US, where he gave lectures on Buddhism in [[San Francisco]], [[California]] before leaving for China via [[Canada]].<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|228-229}} In China, he continued to give Buddhist lectures in Peking and attempted to meet with the Panchen Lama of  [[Tibet]] who was in exile there.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|230}} This however brought him into conflict with two other British Theosophists-turned-Buddhists who saw Trebitsch as unwanted competition for the Panchen Lama's attention.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|232-235}} In 1929, Trebitsch attempted to return to Germany but was refused a visa and he instead decamped to France.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|238}} Trebitsch returned to China in 1930, and was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1931, henceforth to be known as Chao Kung (照空).<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|239-241}}

Following his ordination, Trebitsch lived in Shanghai as a monk, writing pamphlets. In 1932 he again attempted to return to Germany, this time for the purpose of recruiting disciples and boarded a ship bound for Antwerp, [[Belgium]]. He disembarked in France when he met a group of French Buddhists<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|245-247}} and continued on from France to Germany, giving more lectures on Buddhism.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|247}} Trebitsch was arrested yet again, this time for an old debt owed to the wife of a Dutch consul. Released from jail after declaring insolvency, Trebitsch returned to France. By then, however, he was barred from returning to Germany, as Hitler had just taken power.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|248-249}} The 11-month journey through Europe resulted in 13 men and women following him back to Shanghai to become his disciples, after which Trebitsch declared himself abbot of the monastery of 14.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|249}} The disciples were required to hand over all of their worldly possessions to him, initiating them into what would become a [[cult]] that also required their asceticism and complete obedience to him.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|250-260}} In 1933, Trebitsch began planning a return to Europe in the hopes of creating a monastery there. The German consulate in Shanghai was no longer so amenable to granting a visa, so Trebitsch wrote directly to Hitler appealing for a visa, going so far as to praise Hitler's recent speeches.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|253}} It is unlikely that Hitler ever saw the Trebitsch letter, and Germany never granted him the visa.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|253}} Trebitsch however was able to obtain a Chinese passport under his name Chao Kung, and a Belgian visa despite Belgium having recently deported him under a different name and passport.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|254}} In 1934, Trebitsch and his remaining 10 disciples departed Shanghai for Belgium, were held temporarily at Canadian customs before appealing to the Prime Minister and being granted special permission to proceed across Canada, then departed on a ship to Britain where they were again detained at customs.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|254-255}} Trebitsch was detained in a prison cell for 5 days and given the choice of being deported back to Canada or being sent directly on the next ship to Belgium.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|257}} Trebitsch foolishly refused the latter option and the group was sent back to Canada minus one defector who returned to his native Germany, making Trebitsch’s expedition for naught.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|257-258}} At this point, Trebitsch had become increasingly delusional, e.g., by writing a letter to King George V complaining about his recent treatment in Britain and also claiming that he represented the millions of Buddhists of Asia.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|258}} Trebitsch's followers continued to dwindle through 1935, including from the suicide of a nun who had been disciplined by Trebitsch for a minor offense.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|258-261}} Despite this, Trebitsch continued to obtain financial support from wealthy backers in China.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|260}}

By 1937, Trebitsch had moved to Tientsin, China.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|264}} The following year Japan began all-out war against China, marking the beginning of [[World War II]] in Asia. This included a campaign of terror against civilians in northern China, and Tientsin was no exception. Following the Japanese occupation of Tientsin, Trebitsch wrote a pamphlet titled ''Anti-Japanese Propaganda'' that stated:<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|266-267}}
{{cquote|They molest nobody, interfere with no lawful occupation; they are kind and helpful to the people… As a buddhist Abbot I declare: Even if all the propaganda fabricated and disseminated against the Japanese were true (and they are not), [[Whataboutism|those who conquered India, Burmah, Ceylon, etc. … have no right to play the role of holy indignation]] against a chivalrous, well intentioned and spiritually superior race like the Japanese.}}
By 1938, Trebitsch had returned to Shanghai with his two remaining disciples.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|271}} In 1941, Trebitsch was approached by the chief of the German wireless station in Shanghai who sought to persuade Trebitsch to travel to Tibet, which was at the time leaderless due to the coincident deaths of the [[Dalai Lama]] and the Panchen Lama, and bring it under the control of the Germans.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|270-271,274-276}} In 1941, Joseph Meisinger, the police attaché to the German embassy in Tokyo, paid a visit to Shanghai, and Trebitsch managed to be interviewed by him. Meisinger by then had earned the nickname "The Butcher of Warsaw" for his overseeing the execution of 16,000 Jews in 1939-1940.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|277}}<ref>{{wpa|Joseph Meisinger}}</ref> Meisinger prided himself on not trusting anyone, yet he was still taken in by Trebitsch's proposed scheme of becoming the leader of Tibet.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|278}} The scheme nonetheless fell apart upon scrutiny by the German high command after a turf battle had been resolved against Meisinger.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|279-281}}

Trebitsch died in 1943 at the Shanghai General Hospital following an operation for an intestinal complaint.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|284-285}} Using a [[PIDOOMA|lack of any evidence]], the British TV game show {{wpl|QI|''QI''}} claimed that Trebitsch was poisoned by Nazis after writing a letter to Hitler denouncing the [[Holocaust]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2TQ3aUI69UUC&pg=PT363&lpg=PT363&dq=trebitsch+lincoln+%22poisoned%22&source=bl&ots=yL0Ln-mFLu&sig=mGMa6IqG5tASG5rS5sfKSq7R46M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjFnI2zoaDfAhVMC6wKHblNBI4Q6AEwDXoECAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=trebitsch%20lincoln%20%22poisoned%22&f=false ''Most Interesting: The Best of the QI App as Chosen by Users''] by John Lloyd & John Mitchinson (2011) Faber & Faber.</ref>

==Summary==
Wasserstein's analysis of Trebitsch considered him to be [[Solipsism|solipsistic]],<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|54,226}} "utterly self-oriented"<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|54}} (which could be considered narcissistic), and that especially towards the end of his life, he viewed himself as a messianic [[prophet]],<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|54,223,250-251,263,286}} Wasserstein also noted Trebitsch's increased manic-depressive psychosis as his life progressed.<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|54,216,243,288-289}} Themes throughout Trebitsch's life include his repeated abandonment of his wife and family to poverty,<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|122,212,216,257}} his repeated lust for power at all costs<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|286}} (which could be viewed as Machiavellianism) and being strongly motivated by revenge against perceived or real attacks.<ref name=wasserstein/>

==See also==
*[[Clean coal]]
*[[Reinhard Heydrich]] — the German Nazi with alleged Jewish ancestry

==External links==
*[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mr-ignatius-lincoln/index.html Mr Ignatius Lincoln] — contributions to Parliament
*{{wpl|Emil Maurice||,}} a Nazi who was Hitler's first chauffeur and who was confirmed to have both German and Jewish ancestry. Maurice also participated in the {{wpl|Beerhall Putsch||,}} was a founding member of the [[SS]] and was an officer in the Luftwaffe.
*{{wpl|Jacob Frank||,}} whose life strongly resembled that of Trebitsch's)<ref name=wasserstein/>{{rp|286}}
*{{wpl|Arthur Trebitsch||,}} an Austrian antisemitic Jew who knew Hitler and financially supported the Nazi party

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trebitsch Lincoln, Ignaz}}
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