"It's page one in the handbook," said Detective Mike Garvey, the first cop to speak with Carl Dorr. And the more they looked at Carl Dorr, the more he looked like their man. After all, hadn't he threatened his wife, saying he would abduct their daughter just three months before? Hadn't he and Dorothy been battling over the kid for years? Wasn't Carl the last to see her alive? They went right at him, asking him to take a polygraph the very next day. When the polygraph examiner, a local fire marshal, told them that Carl might know more about Michele's whereabouts than he was telling them, the cops thought they had their man.
"It was good cop, bad cop," Carl later said. "They were right in my face, telling me I had failed the polygraph exam and that it had been 24 hours and they knew she was dead. 'We're going to find her,' they said, 'When we do, we're coming to get you.'"
His estranged wife told the cops she thought he had done it too. She gave them an extra motive. Her estranged husband was trying to get out of paying her $400 a month in child support. Carl Dorr was caught inside a nightmare. When he told the police that he loved his daughter, they didn't believe him. He took a second lie detector test and passed easily. In an attempt to prove his innocence, he underwent hypnosis and took sodium pentothal, the so-called truth serum. None of this convinced the cops. But then Carl may have been his own worst enemy. He snapped, and in a psychotic episode told a psychiatrist that he had abducted and killed his daughter.
"I started hallucinating," he recalled. "I couldn't take the pressure. My brain was soup."
In his altered mental state he began to believe that people on television shows were talking about him. He looked behind the set and when he didn't see anything, he thought the police were altering his reception.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
center 44.cen.8321 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Today, it is unlikely Harold Shipman would be allowed to handle drugs unsupervised, given his previous track record. Nonetheless, within two years, he was back in business as a general practitioner.
He was accepted into the Donneybrook Medical Center in Hyde in the north of England. How readily he was accepted demonstrates his absolute self-confidence — and his ability to convince his peers of his sincerity.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire of the Center explained "His approach was that I have had this problem, this conviction for abuse of pethidine. I have undergone treatment. I am now clean. All I can ask you to do is to trust me on that issue and to watch me."
Perhaps he was not watched carefully enough.
Again, he played the role of a dedicated, hardworking and community-minded doctor. He gained his patients' absolute trust and earned his colleagues' respect.
Some of those who worked under him have told of his sarcastic and abusive nature, but he was skilled at masking his patronizing attitude in front of those he chose to impress. As for any signs of addiction, there were no blackouts as before, and no indication of drug abuse.
In Hyde, Harold Shipman was home free — and free to kill.
He was accepted into the Donneybrook Medical Center in Hyde in the north of England. How readily he was accepted demonstrates his absolute self-confidence — and his ability to convince his peers of his sincerity.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire of the Center explained "His approach was that I have had this problem, this conviction for abuse of pethidine. I have undergone treatment. I am now clean. All I can ask you to do is to trust me on that issue and to watch me."
Perhaps he was not watched carefully enough.
Again, he played the role of a dedicated, hardworking and community-minded doctor. He gained his patients' absolute trust and earned his colleagues' respect.
Some of those who worked under him have told of his sarcastic and abusive nature, but he was skilled at masking his patronizing attitude in front of those he chose to impress. As for any signs of addiction, there were no blackouts as before, and no indication of drug abuse.
In Hyde, Harold Shipman was home free — and free to kill.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
theories 33.the.0003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Although the two-year investigation ended without an arrest, the knowledge gained and some of the samples collected formed the of the basis for the work of the squad.
''We tried a hundred thousand theories," now retired Lt. Al Stewart said. "We checked house numbers, the victims' length of residency, the phases of the moon, we read books, looking for arcane connections to mythology, witchcraft and demonology."
On Oct. 31, 1987, the body of 15-year-old Shannon Olson was found dumped in a pond in an industrial area, partially disrobed and stabbed numerous times. Her hands and feet were bound. The murder sparked off an outbreak of letters to the police and media suggesting the BTK Strangler committed the crime.
On Dec. 31, 1987, Mary Fager, the married mother of two daughters, returned to her Wichita home after spending 2 1/2 days out of town. Upon entering her house, she discovered her husband, Phillip Fager, dead; he had been shot twice in the back. Her two daughters, 16-year-old Kelli and 10-year-old Sherri, were both found strangled in the hot tub situated in the basement of the home. Sherri's hands and feet were bound with black electrical tape, which later washed loose. Kelli Fager was nude.
''We tried a hundred thousand theories," now retired Lt. Al Stewart said. "We checked house numbers, the victims' length of residency, the phases of the moon, we read books, looking for arcane connections to mythology, witchcraft and demonology."
On Oct. 31, 1987, the body of 15-year-old Shannon Olson was found dumped in a pond in an industrial area, partially disrobed and stabbed numerous times. Her hands and feet were bound. The murder sparked off an outbreak of letters to the police and media suggesting the BTK Strangler committed the crime.
On Dec. 31, 1987, Mary Fager, the married mother of two daughters, returned to her Wichita home after spending 2 1/2 days out of town. Upon entering her house, she discovered her husband, Phillip Fager, dead; he had been shot twice in the back. Her two daughters, 16-year-old Kelli and 10-year-old Sherri, were both found strangled in the hot tub situated in the basement of the home. Sherri's hands and feet were bound with black electrical tape, which later washed loose. Kelli Fager was nude.
Monday, November 16, 2009
stories 0.sto.01 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Author Bram Stoker, while in the throes of outlining what would become his famous horror story about an insidious Transylvanian count, planned to call his villain (and the novel) Wampyr. It doesn't take too long to figure out that wampyr is a Balkanesque word for vampire. But, as mentioned earlier in this report, Stoker stumbled onto the legends of Prince Dracula, and a name Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire that has been unspoken in most parts of the world for centuries was resurrected to human consciousness - in a landmark way.
If anything about the true-life Dracula stirred Stoker's blood, and chilled it at the same time, it was no doubt the stories he read of the man's cruelty toward his fellow Romamians. Even if the Gothic writer had not been searching for a particular prototype, how could he resist fashioning his nosferatu after he whom history books called the Impaler? Stoker couldn't use a lightweight to serve as his model of evil, and Dracula, in no way a lightweight, must have stretched Stoker's already illimitable senses.
He changed the name of his character and his novel to...Dracula.
Klaus Kinski played Dracula in the film Nosferatu the Vampyre
Klaus Kinski played Dracula in the film
Nosferatu the Vampyre
*****
Prince Dracula's "reign of terror," as even contemporary texts called it, lasted from 1456 to 1462. No one was safe from the voivode's deadly decrees. By today's standards, he would be called a mass murderer. Most of his killings were politically targeted - against domestic and foreign enemies - but sometimes he killed merely because he was bored. He hanged his victims, stretched them on the rack, burned them at the stake, boiled them alive, but mostly impaled them.
Estimated numbers of victims vary between 30,000 and more than 100,000. These figures are largely based on translations of Romanian, Hungarian, German and Russian manuscripts written within a century after Dracula's death. Records from his native Romania, which has tended to overlook his atrocities and uplift his military victories, give the lowest figures. Because Dracula hated the Saxon-German entrepreneurs whom he considered interlopers in his country's business affairs, and therefore provided fresh meat for the impaling stick, German sums are the highest.
The total of 100,000 is probably the most accurate, however. The majority of transcripts agree that at one sitting Dracula was capable of impaling an entire village or eradicating an entire brigade of Turkish Muslims.
Impalement wasn't a Dracula creation; if you remember, he learned about it while a boy in Adrianople. The French employed it before the guillotine. Spaniards and Hungarians used it. But, according to Ray Porter's account, "The Historical Dracula," impalement became an art form in Dracula's hands. "Dracula usually had a horse attached to each of the victim's legs and a sharpened stake was gradually forced into the body," he explains. "The end of the stake was usually oiled and care was taken that the stake was not too sharp; else the victim might die too rapidly from shock."
Studying the chronology of Dracula's crimes makes it easy to understand why his reign, though horrific, managed to go unchallenged by his own people or by other governments for six long years. For one thing, because he slew so many Turks in recognized time of conflict he was able to sustain the crusader image; foreign dignitaries who heard of the vast impaling applauded him for saving Romania. The domestics, who knew better, who knew that they too were objects of his mania, remained silent by intimidation.
Following are a few examples, anecdote-style, of Dracula's barbarism:
St. Bartholomew's Day
During an outdoor festival of St. Bartholomew at Sibiu, Dracula had 20,000 citizens arrested and spiked in one afternoon. Claiming that they were either treacherous bourgeoisie, or supporters of that element, he had them - men, women and infants - impaled on the outskirts of a neighboring forest. As was his custom, he had his servants draw up a solitary dining table of fine food and wine so that he might enjoy his lunch by watching the tortures at close range. He occasionally had a servant dip his bread in the blood of the dying souls so that he could savor the taste of life. (Is it a wonder that Stoker was inspired?)
It was at this function that he espied one of his knights holding his nose at the repugnant smell of death permeating the air. When he asked the soldier if he was making fun of the situation, the fellow stammered, "No, my lord, my stomach churns, but -" and he quickly added, "I am not of the stout heart that my prince be."
"But, why would I want in my service a man who cannot look at death without regurgitating? Death is a soldier's livelihood!" And with that, he called to his bodyguards to impale the feeble fellow. "Let him join these others, but because he had been loyal until today, hoist him higher than the rest that he does not have to smell his company!"
A Night With The Paupers
A perfect example of the dichotomy that was Dracula is woven into an old Nuremburg legend. It tells us of his sympathy for the downtrodden of his land - the poor, the invalid, the cripple, the infirm. But, this "sympathy" extended to a morbid result. One evening, he invited hundreds of paupers to his dining hall at his castle, treating them to something they had not had in years: a filling meal. After the desserts were served, Dracula and his staff slowly meandered out, leaving only the ragged guests alone in the hall of stone. This is when Dracula's skilled archers shot arrows of fire through the hall's tall windows from outside, igniting the treated tapestries, curtains, carpets and dinner linens into a blaze that erupted into an inferno. While the peasants banged helplessly against the bolted doors for egress, Dracula in a room beyond replied, "The poor unloved creatures, it is best that they leave this world now, on a full stomach."
Is Honesty the Best Policy?
In an episode that reminds us of Pilate's utterance, "What is truth?" as he simultaneously ordered the crucifixion of Christ, Dracula asked two visiting monks what they thought of his hard discipline - then killed the one who answered honestly.
After leading them through the rows and rows of recently impaled citizens one morning, he demanded that, as holy men, they appraise his bloody justice. One monk, no doubt in fear, answered, "You are the prince of all Wallachia! Who am I to question your decisions?" The other, unable to control his feelings, blurted condemnation: "What have these unfortunates done to deserve such fate? There is no excuse for mortal man playing God!" One can guess what friar went home alive that morning.
Another report of Draculean justice, with a different twist, is the story of the traveling merchant whose moneybox had been broken into while passing through Tirgoviste. Dracula heard of the man's loss and summoned him to his palace. "My city is the most crime-free of any in Europe, and incidences such as the robbery on your wagon are not tolerated," said Dracula. "The perpetrator will be apprehended."
As proof of the capital city's forthrightness, its prince ordered the merchant to leave his cart outside his hotel that night, exposed and unlocked. "No more florins will be missing," he promised. "In fact, when you awake in the morning, the stolen money will have been restored to your trove."
As promised, when the journeyer checked into his chest at sunrise, all the florins were replaced. In fact, there was one coin extra. Rushing to the court, the jubilant fellow expressed his thanks to Dracula: "Not only was my account replenished," he rejoiced, "but your guards added an extra florin, which I now return to you."
Dracula smiled, told the man to keep the florin, and added, "You are an upright being. Had you not confessed to the surplus, you would now be joining the thief whose body dangles on a spike in my patio."
As a sidenote, Dracula was not incorrect in assuming that his capital, Tirgoviste, really was an honest city. His reign of terror had so frightened miscreants that it was virtually the safest metropolis on the continent. A website called Castle of Spirits explains, "(Dracula) was so confident that no thief would dare challenge him (that) he placed a golden cup on display in the central square...The cup was never stolen and remained where it was, untouched, throughout (his) reign."
The "Lazy" Wife
Dracula viewed women as, in a word, inferiors. They brought pleasure in the bedroom and they were good for the menial work in life that men shouldn't handle.
Once, when traveling with his entourage through the countryside, Dracula spotted a planter wearing a caftan (apron) shorter than the traditional one worn during harvest. When he asked why his garment seemed incomplete, the man told the prince that his wife couldn't finish making it as she was of ailing health and was forced from her spinning wheel to her bed.
"Excuses!" Dracula barked. "We shall have no sloven women in my kingdom; her duty to you comes before her health!" Despite the husband's protestations, Dracula's men pulled the wife from her sickbed and impaled her outside her cottage. Then, riding to a neighboring farm, Dracula selected a comely, unwed girl whom he ordered to marry the sudden widower. "You are hale and young and are capable of making this poor farmer happy," he expressed. "You will marry this very afternoon, and I will check back in a month to see that your husband is properly clothed and fed."
Whether he returned as promised is not known. But, chances are the new wife proved to be the model of domesticity.
Never Lie to Dracula
Among the brood of Dracula's mistresses there was fervent hope that he would eventually choose one of them as his princess. They competitively fawned over him. One zealous young damsel, finding no other course to nab her prince, told him that she was pregnant.
The voivode, whose complex psychoses cannot be fully explained, went into a dither, fretting that his reputation would be ruined among the devout of his kingdom if he sired an illegitimate child! He called for wedding plans to be effected immediately. In this instance, the woman seems to have known Dracula better than he knew himself.
Not.
While the banns were being prepared, the would- be groom called for his lady to be examined by the royal physicians. When they announced to him that she was without child, he flew to her in a rage. She admitted her lie, but told him it was the only way she knew how to win him. "I love you and I want to conceive on our wedding night to give you a splendid child. Forgive me!" she pleaded.
His answer to her: "A man who lies is one thing, but a woman who deceives is a devil. Well, you shall not use your wiles to trap another man!"
While guards held her down, Dracula stripped her naked. With a dirk, he slashed her body open in a T-shaped formation, from her vagina to her chest and across her breasts. All this while she was conscious. He then commanded that her ravaged form be exhibited for all to see "the evil that a woman can wrought".
One Russian narrative that has survived through time talks about Dracula's view of womanhood in general. They were meant to be without sin, but once they sinned, deserved no dignity.
"If any wife had an affair outside of marriage, Dracula had her sexual organs cut out," the account reads. "She was then skinned alive and exposed in a public square, her skin hanging separately from a pole...The same punishment was applied to maidens who did not keep their virginity, and also to unchaste widows."
Stories like these are but a handful passed down from Dracula's time. Eventually he was to overexert his influence, especially since he began to practice his horrors across the Wallachian Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire border in Transylvania. His justification for this imposition was that he needed to discourage his political rivals there who, he claimed, were planning his demise.
The worst Transylvanian atrocity was his taking of the city of Brasov in the Carpathian Mountains. He torched the city and rounded up its inhabitants on the crest of Timpa Hill. Those who weren't impaled, he had them chopped up like hides of beef before him, limb at a time. While the city burned below, and as the agonies of Hades were played out before him, he ate an extravagant dinner, fit for a prince.
Legend claims that in the background, far off, the wolves bayed at the moon. It was their symphony of terror that they could not help feeling this night. It was in the air.
"The children of the night," Count Dracula called them in the novel. "Oh, what music they make!"
Was he reminiscing?
If anything about the true-life Dracula stirred Stoker's blood, and chilled it at the same time, it was no doubt the stories he read of the man's cruelty toward his fellow Romamians. Even if the Gothic writer had not been searching for a particular prototype, how could he resist fashioning his nosferatu after he whom history books called the Impaler? Stoker couldn't use a lightweight to serve as his model of evil, and Dracula, in no way a lightweight, must have stretched Stoker's already illimitable senses.
He changed the name of his character and his novel to...Dracula.
Klaus Kinski played Dracula in the film Nosferatu the Vampyre
Klaus Kinski played Dracula in the film
Nosferatu the Vampyre
*****
Prince Dracula's "reign of terror," as even contemporary texts called it, lasted from 1456 to 1462. No one was safe from the voivode's deadly decrees. By today's standards, he would be called a mass murderer. Most of his killings were politically targeted - against domestic and foreign enemies - but sometimes he killed merely because he was bored. He hanged his victims, stretched them on the rack, burned them at the stake, boiled them alive, but mostly impaled them.
Estimated numbers of victims vary between 30,000 and more than 100,000. These figures are largely based on translations of Romanian, Hungarian, German and Russian manuscripts written within a century after Dracula's death. Records from his native Romania, which has tended to overlook his atrocities and uplift his military victories, give the lowest figures. Because Dracula hated the Saxon-German entrepreneurs whom he considered interlopers in his country's business affairs, and therefore provided fresh meat for the impaling stick, German sums are the highest.
The total of 100,000 is probably the most accurate, however. The majority of transcripts agree that at one sitting Dracula was capable of impaling an entire village or eradicating an entire brigade of Turkish Muslims.
Impalement wasn't a Dracula creation; if you remember, he learned about it while a boy in Adrianople. The French employed it before the guillotine. Spaniards and Hungarians used it. But, according to Ray Porter's account, "The Historical Dracula," impalement became an art form in Dracula's hands. "Dracula usually had a horse attached to each of the victim's legs and a sharpened stake was gradually forced into the body," he explains. "The end of the stake was usually oiled and care was taken that the stake was not too sharp; else the victim might die too rapidly from shock."
Studying the chronology of Dracula's crimes makes it easy to understand why his reign, though horrific, managed to go unchallenged by his own people or by other governments for six long years. For one thing, because he slew so many Turks in recognized time of conflict he was able to sustain the crusader image; foreign dignitaries who heard of the vast impaling applauded him for saving Romania. The domestics, who knew better, who knew that they too were objects of his mania, remained silent by intimidation.
Following are a few examples, anecdote-style, of Dracula's barbarism:
St. Bartholomew's Day
During an outdoor festival of St. Bartholomew at Sibiu, Dracula had 20,000 citizens arrested and spiked in one afternoon. Claiming that they were either treacherous bourgeoisie, or supporters of that element, he had them - men, women and infants - impaled on the outskirts of a neighboring forest. As was his custom, he had his servants draw up a solitary dining table of fine food and wine so that he might enjoy his lunch by watching the tortures at close range. He occasionally had a servant dip his bread in the blood of the dying souls so that he could savor the taste of life. (Is it a wonder that Stoker was inspired?)
It was at this function that he espied one of his knights holding his nose at the repugnant smell of death permeating the air. When he asked the soldier if he was making fun of the situation, the fellow stammered, "No, my lord, my stomach churns, but -" and he quickly added, "I am not of the stout heart that my prince be."
"But, why would I want in my service a man who cannot look at death without regurgitating? Death is a soldier's livelihood!" And with that, he called to his bodyguards to impale the feeble fellow. "Let him join these others, but because he had been loyal until today, hoist him higher than the rest that he does not have to smell his company!"
A Night With The Paupers
A perfect example of the dichotomy that was Dracula is woven into an old Nuremburg legend. It tells us of his sympathy for the downtrodden of his land - the poor, the invalid, the cripple, the infirm. But, this "sympathy" extended to a morbid result. One evening, he invited hundreds of paupers to his dining hall at his castle, treating them to something they had not had in years: a filling meal. After the desserts were served, Dracula and his staff slowly meandered out, leaving only the ragged guests alone in the hall of stone. This is when Dracula's skilled archers shot arrows of fire through the hall's tall windows from outside, igniting the treated tapestries, curtains, carpets and dinner linens into a blaze that erupted into an inferno. While the peasants banged helplessly against the bolted doors for egress, Dracula in a room beyond replied, "The poor unloved creatures, it is best that they leave this world now, on a full stomach."
Is Honesty the Best Policy?
In an episode that reminds us of Pilate's utterance, "What is truth?" as he simultaneously ordered the crucifixion of Christ, Dracula asked two visiting monks what they thought of his hard discipline - then killed the one who answered honestly.
After leading them through the rows and rows of recently impaled citizens one morning, he demanded that, as holy men, they appraise his bloody justice. One monk, no doubt in fear, answered, "You are the prince of all Wallachia! Who am I to question your decisions?" The other, unable to control his feelings, blurted condemnation: "What have these unfortunates done to deserve such fate? There is no excuse for mortal man playing God!" One can guess what friar went home alive that morning.
Another report of Draculean justice, with a different twist, is the story of the traveling merchant whose moneybox had been broken into while passing through Tirgoviste. Dracula heard of the man's loss and summoned him to his palace. "My city is the most crime-free of any in Europe, and incidences such as the robbery on your wagon are not tolerated," said Dracula. "The perpetrator will be apprehended."
As proof of the capital city's forthrightness, its prince ordered the merchant to leave his cart outside his hotel that night, exposed and unlocked. "No more florins will be missing," he promised. "In fact, when you awake in the morning, the stolen money will have been restored to your trove."
As promised, when the journeyer checked into his chest at sunrise, all the florins were replaced. In fact, there was one coin extra. Rushing to the court, the jubilant fellow expressed his thanks to Dracula: "Not only was my account replenished," he rejoiced, "but your guards added an extra florin, which I now return to you."
Dracula smiled, told the man to keep the florin, and added, "You are an upright being. Had you not confessed to the surplus, you would now be joining the thief whose body dangles on a spike in my patio."
As a sidenote, Dracula was not incorrect in assuming that his capital, Tirgoviste, really was an honest city. His reign of terror had so frightened miscreants that it was virtually the safest metropolis on the continent. A website called Castle of Spirits explains, "(Dracula) was so confident that no thief would dare challenge him (that) he placed a golden cup on display in the central square...The cup was never stolen and remained where it was, untouched, throughout (his) reign."
The "Lazy" Wife
Dracula viewed women as, in a word, inferiors. They brought pleasure in the bedroom and they were good for the menial work in life that men shouldn't handle.
Once, when traveling with his entourage through the countryside, Dracula spotted a planter wearing a caftan (apron) shorter than the traditional one worn during harvest. When he asked why his garment seemed incomplete, the man told the prince that his wife couldn't finish making it as she was of ailing health and was forced from her spinning wheel to her bed.
"Excuses!" Dracula barked. "We shall have no sloven women in my kingdom; her duty to you comes before her health!" Despite the husband's protestations, Dracula's men pulled the wife from her sickbed and impaled her outside her cottage. Then, riding to a neighboring farm, Dracula selected a comely, unwed girl whom he ordered to marry the sudden widower. "You are hale and young and are capable of making this poor farmer happy," he expressed. "You will marry this very afternoon, and I will check back in a month to see that your husband is properly clothed and fed."
Whether he returned as promised is not known. But, chances are the new wife proved to be the model of domesticity.
Never Lie to Dracula
Among the brood of Dracula's mistresses there was fervent hope that he would eventually choose one of them as his princess. They competitively fawned over him. One zealous young damsel, finding no other course to nab her prince, told him that she was pregnant.
The voivode, whose complex psychoses cannot be fully explained, went into a dither, fretting that his reputation would be ruined among the devout of his kingdom if he sired an illegitimate child! He called for wedding plans to be effected immediately. In this instance, the woman seems to have known Dracula better than he knew himself.
Not.
While the banns were being prepared, the would- be groom called for his lady to be examined by the royal physicians. When they announced to him that she was without child, he flew to her in a rage. She admitted her lie, but told him it was the only way she knew how to win him. "I love you and I want to conceive on our wedding night to give you a splendid child. Forgive me!" she pleaded.
His answer to her: "A man who lies is one thing, but a woman who deceives is a devil. Well, you shall not use your wiles to trap another man!"
While guards held her down, Dracula stripped her naked. With a dirk, he slashed her body open in a T-shaped formation, from her vagina to her chest and across her breasts. All this while she was conscious. He then commanded that her ravaged form be exhibited for all to see "the evil that a woman can wrought".
One Russian narrative that has survived through time talks about Dracula's view of womanhood in general. They were meant to be without sin, but once they sinned, deserved no dignity.
"If any wife had an affair outside of marriage, Dracula had her sexual organs cut out," the account reads. "She was then skinned alive and exposed in a public square, her skin hanging separately from a pole...The same punishment was applied to maidens who did not keep their virginity, and also to unchaste widows."
Stories like these are but a handful passed down from Dracula's time. Eventually he was to overexert his influence, especially since he began to practice his horrors across the Wallachian Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire border in Transylvania. His justification for this imposition was that he needed to discourage his political rivals there who, he claimed, were planning his demise.
The worst Transylvanian atrocity was his taking of the city of Brasov in the Carpathian Mountains. He torched the city and rounded up its inhabitants on the crest of Timpa Hill. Those who weren't impaled, he had them chopped up like hides of beef before him, limb at a time. While the city burned below, and as the agonies of Hades were played out before him, he ate an extravagant dinner, fit for a prince.
Legend claims that in the background, far off, the wolves bayed at the moon. It was their symphony of terror that they could not help feeling this night. It was in the air.
"The children of the night," Count Dracula called them in the novel. "Oh, what music they make!"
Was he reminiscing?
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Kalinin, north of Moscow 3.99 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
governments enter into agreements covering the general points and leaving the details up to the private broadcasting associations.[1141]
In rejoinder on September 12, the Foreign Minister pointed to the previously established exchange radio agreement between Japan and Italy, which had been based on a sincere understanding between the radio bureaus of both countries. However, if the German authorities, as a matter of government policy, pressed for an understanding regarding this agreement, the Japanese on their part would like to request that an exchange of notes confirm the agreement. The Foreign Minister urged that Ambassador Oshima keep this in mind while once more negotiating with the German authorities.[1142]
After meeting with German officials again according to his instructions, Ambassador Oshima explained to Foreign Minister Toyoda on September 20, 1941 that Germany had decided that an agreement between the two broadcasting associations would be concluded and that the governments of the two countries concerned should have recognition to the agreement by an exchange of memoranda. With regard to clause V, which Germany had previously desired to delete anyhow, they proposed that, "those engaged in the work of broadcasting should reserve to the Government the ultimate right of censorship in matters of political importance and a clause should be included to the effect that officials engaged in exchanging broadcasts should follow instructions given by the Ambassador."
Since a great deal of time had already been spent in discussing the matter, Ambassador Oshima urged that his government compromise on the point of government negotiations and put the plan into practice immediately.[1143]
Foreign Minister Toyoda then notified Ambassador Oshima that the authorities in Tokyo had decided to conclude the agreement between the broadcasting associations of the two countries based on the Japanese proposals regarding the exchange of broadcasts between Japan and Germany and to exchange a memorandum patterned after the official Japanese-German Medical Science agreement of 1939, between the governments of the two countries in order to validify the above. Japan would agree to eliminate Clause V of the proposals.
Expressing the desire of Tokyo broadcasting authorities to have the signing of the agreement take place in Tokyo, Foreign Minister Toyoda proposed that Mr. Shichiro Komori be made Japanese director of this broadcasting association and asked that the Germans select their representative and notify Tokyo.[1144] Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
468. Rumanian Losses Revealed
By October 6, 1941, reports from Bucharest transmitted salient points from a Rumanian official announcement which located the Rumanian alpine and cavalry forces with the Germans between the Dnieper River and the sea of Azov. Since the beginning of hostilities Rumanian forces reportedly had captured 60,000, killed 70,000, and wounded 100,000, while Rumanian loses were counted at 20,000 dead and 15,000 missing. This bulletin reported that the fire caused by the bombing of the Ploesti Petroleum Works had amounted to no more than 300,000,000 lei.[1145]
469. Ambassador Oshima Denies Rumors of Russo-German Pre-War Negotiations
Declaring that intelligence which had been sent to him by the Foreign Office to the effect that Germany was now reaping the mistake of turning against Russia in June, 1941 was a "ridiculous fabrication", Ambassador Oshima on October 2, 1941 gave what he believed to be
[1141] III, 864.
[1142] III, 865.
[1143] III, 866.
[1144] III, 867.
[1145] III, 868.
[235]
the true motives for Germany's entrance into the war against Russia. Since it was Germany's purpose to consolidate the eastern front for the war against England, it had been necessary to annihilate the Russian field troops and to overthrow the Communist regime. With these objectives, it was clear, according to Ambassador Oshima, that no demands had been filed with Russia nor had Germany's objectives been discussed over a conference table. It was true, the Japanese Ambassador conceded, that Russia was putting up a far more obstinate fight than Germany had imagined possible.
Furthermore, the rumors that Herr Von Ribbentrop was operating his own spy agency in Germany were false since the German Foreign Minister, helping and advising daily at Supreme Headquarter in Berlin, was in the closest confidence of Chancellor Hitler. Such rumors were branded as pure nonsense by Ambassador Oshima who stated that they had been circulated in the United States only to drive a wedge between Japan and Germany. Ambassador Oshima suggested that Foreign Minister Toyoda allow competent Japanese authorities to peruse the telegrams he had written before and during the outbreak of Russo-German hostilities.[1146]
470. Ambassador Oshima Counteracts British and American Propaganda
In order to counteract what Ambassador Oshima termed British and American propaganda relative to the strength of the Soviet Army in the Far East, he communicated on October 6, 1941 a list of the Russian Far Eastern divisions which had been destroyed since the middle of September. According to the German High Command, these divisions had already ceased to exist as organized divisions since the middle of August.[1147]
On October 8, Ambassador Oshima related pertinent points of a recent conversation with Germany army and naval attaches who had just returned from a tour of observation of the eastern front. From this meeting, he learned that should the German army continue at its current rate of advance disposing of the Russian troops in Moscow, and its surrounded neighborhood, it would not be long before the eastern front could be consolidated.
Commenting upon the British and United States "propaganda" regarding Germany's plan to offer peace to the Soviet immediately after the fall of Moscow, he stated that this would never happen. In explaining his opinion he remarked that although Germany would in the future direct her principal strength against England, she would not weaken her aggressive attack on the Soviet Union until the Communist regime had been overthrown.
He cautioned Tokyo against believing British and American reports that the war between Germany and the Soviet Union had been stalemated; for it was self-evident that the fall of Moscow would be a tremendous blow to the Stalin regime.[1148]
471. Ambassador Oshima Report on Russo-German Warfare, October 11, 1941
Despite Ambassador Oshima's warning to Tokyo against placing too much confidence in British-American propaganda, he could not deny that the German advance had slowed considerably. In order to explain this event, he announced on October 11, 1941 that the Soviet army had been found to possess a far greater supply of weapons than was expected and that the entire nation had been aroused to stubborn resistance. Therefore, the German army had not attempted the impossible by attacking them outright but had deliberately plotted for their annihilation by means of slow methodical warfare. He repeated that Soviet losses had been extremely heavy in comparison to German army casualties.
In this message the Ambassador also announced the beginning of the large-scale siege of Moscow and predicted that the remainder of Marshal Samyou Timoshenko's troops would suffer severe treatment at the hand of the invading German army. This devastating blow, in line
[1146] III, 869.
[1147] III, 870.
[1148] III, 871.
[236]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
with German strategy, had been dealt the Soviet forces before the severe winter had set in. Germany had seized the larger part of Soviet raw materials, so that soon the invaded country would be reduced to servitude.[1149]
Although Ambassador Oshima had from time to time expressed the belief that the extinction of Communism was the primary purpose of Germany's war aims, he now pointed out with assurance that Germany's principal objective in this war was the overthrow of Great Britain. This would have to be done by an increase of air attacks and submarine warfare followed by landing operations. Such operations, Ambassador Oshima believed, would not take place before spring. Although he acknowledged that Great Britain believed such landing operations would end in failure, he assured his Home Office that the preparations of Germany had assumed large proportions backed by the cooperation of all the war industries of Europe, and by the excellence of the German supreme command and the quality of its soldiers. He then pointed to the example set by the German army in the Norway operations and in breaking the Maginot line.
Ambassador Oshima continued stating that Germany itself was awaiting the invasion hour with the greatest of confidence. In the meantime, it planned to complete operations in the Caucasus, the Near East and Egypt. With regard to British strength in the Far East, Ambassador Oshima explained that Germany considered such claims of 750,000 British troops a great "bluff" and did not believe it necessary to move large opposing forces there. Thus, it would keep its main forces for a concentration of the landing operations in England.[1150]
He again repeated that Germany expected to bring Britain to its knees by force of arms if it did not surrender unconditionally. In this event, although the British royal family, the government and the navy would flee to overseas possessions and continue resistance with American cooperation, still the spiritual effect of successful landing operations on British soil would strike the world a resounding blow.
Should the government flee England, there would be no hope of British victory, since it was not believed that resistance could be continued without immediate leadership and 40,000,000 subjects would be left to die. The Ambassador then commented upon the fact that Germany had repeatedly made the statement that it assumed no responsibility for feeding peoples of occupied areas.
Personally, however, Ambassador Oshima did not believe in the possibility of British leaders' fleeing to overseas areas. He recognized that much would depend upon the United States' attitude in the near future, but he did not expect that America would be in a position to formally declare war on Germany early in 1942. Then, if after having subjugated Britain, Europe, Russia, North Africa and the Near East, Germany proceeded with her plans for a new order in Europe, even the United States would not be able to do anything about it.
Ambassador Oshima also considered the possibility of Germany's not being able to attack the United States even though at war with it, and submitted that he believed some way would be found for Germany and the United States to reach an agreement. In his opinion, even though the two countries should continue to oppose each other, a state of war between them would not last long.
Then Ambassador Oshima dealt briefly on the hope of Britain and United States that internal disturbances would interrupt German progress, stating that at present the occupied areas were of no concern and that Germany was not in the least worried about the situation following the conquest of England.[1151]
[1149] III, 872.
[1150] III, 873.
[1151] III, 874.
[237]
472. Ambassador Oshima Urges Support of Germany's War
Finally, Ambassador Oshima approached the point he had been attempting to emphasize. In his opinion should Germany be forced to accept merely the occupation of the British Isles, abandoning its plan for complete overthrow of the British Empire throughout the world, Japan in the future would still face the combined interests of the United States and Great Britain in the Far East. Therefore, Japan must assist in the complete conquest of the British Empire. Along this line the speedy settlement of the China incident was mandatory and Ambassador Oshima pointed to the need for the resources and markets of the south. The great objective in concluding the Tripartite Pact had been this very thing. Said Ambassador Oshima,
"The realization of our objectives, and destiny of the Empire for a thousand years now hangs upon the success of
Germany and Italy in Europe."
He again warned against being taken in by British propaganda and reiterated his belief that it would be more difficult for Japan in the future should Germany and Italy gain a victory only in Europe.[1152]
To insure the future of the East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, Ambassador Oshima urged that Japan reinstate the true aims of the Tripartite Pact by establishing a definite course with regard to the war in Europe. As one means to this end, he reaffirmed his desire that Tokyo make plans to eliminate the Soviet threat at this opportune time. Then simultaneously with Germany's invasion of England in the spring of 1942, the government should launch its southward penetration. He asked that the German high command be kept informed of Japan's efforts along these lines.[1153]
473. Promiscuous Dissemination of Restricted News is Condemned by Foreign Minister Toyoda
With the continuation of damaging British and Russian propaganda, it soon developed that Ambassador Oshima was not the only one concerned about general dissemination of restricted news in Japan; for on October 11, Foreign Minister Toyoda issued a reprimand to Berlin in which he suggested that since popular dissemination of short-wave wireless news of a certain classification was not permitted in Japan, any privilege accorded to foreign diplomatic establishments should not be abused by allowing promiscuous publication. Foreign Minister Toyoda explained that the policy in Japan had been to restrict all material which was used in publication "Bulletin" to the general public, but to allow it some distribution among foreign officials. In view of the current situation it would also be quite impossible to allow Germany or Italy popular use of the releases.
The Foreign Minister explained that the Vice Minister had already approached Ambassador Ott on the proposition of strengthening cooperation between Axis and Domei reporters, at the same time arranging for an interview between Ambassador Ott and Chief of the Intelligence Bureau Ito, on the 10th of October. At this meeting, it was decided that publication of all pamphlets other than the "Bulletin" would be suppressed. The exhibition of all British propaganda films were to be ruled out and the publication and exhibition of German and Italian films in Japan would be increased.[1154]
474. Government Control of Press Urged by Ambassador Oshima
On October 13, 1941 Ambassador Oshima took his turn in rebuking the home government for releasing an editorial by the Domei press to the effect that Germany should end Russo-German hostilities and concentrate on an invasion of England insomuch as a long war would be disadvantageous to the Axis countries. He also took this opportunity to rebuke the Foreign
[1152] III, 875.
[1153] III, 876.
[1154] III, 877.
[238]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
Office for the release of the Domei dispatch from Ankara revealing that Hungary had lost forty per cent of her total army in the current Soviet campaign. Then releases, Ambassador Oshima pointed out, had been used by Boston and other foreign broadcasting stations in propaganda activities, and, besides, they served to arouse the displeasure of the Axis powers. He demanded that strict representations to the proper authorities be made so that future reports and editorials of this type would be completely Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire eliminated.[1155]
475. Germany and Turkey Sign Commercial Pact
On October 9, 1941 Japanese-Ankara spokesmen revealed that the commercial treaty which had been under negotiation between Germany and Turkey had been signed, effective for one and one half years. The total amount of exports and imports were set at 200,000,000 marks each, with Germany trading manufactured goods for Turkey's raw materials. Although this figure was computed on a basis of 50 per cent of Turkey's output, Germany planned to take over the complete 1943 supply of chrome to bring the total Turkish exports to Germany up the scale.[1156]
476. Ambassador Oshima Confers with Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop
Foreign Minister Joachim Von Ribbentrop made the first anniversary of the Tripartite Pact[1157] on October 1, 1941 an occasion for expression Germany's dissatisfaction with the Japanese negotiations with the United States. During several visits with him Ambassador Oshima learned that Germany was thoroughly disgusted with Japan, having received proof that although Japan would not confide the secret Japanese-United States negotiations with its Tripartite partner, America was continually revealing Japanese-American secrets to the British. Ambassador Oshima explained that he was attempting to convince the press that German high officials were also informed of the negotiations, but the whole hoax was proving increasingly difficult.
Ambassador Oshima was ever conscious of third power impressions which seemed now to picture Japan as avoiding the conflict because of impoverishment resulting from the China incident, and because she lacked faith in the outcome of the European war.
Now, even though Germany might overlook inevitable attempts of third powers to divide the Axis partners and would keep up a pretense of smooth relations, still there was a general bad feeling among leaders which might precipitate malicious acts on the part of Germany.[1158]
477. Germany Disapproves of Japan's Attitude Toward Russian-American Trade
Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop the following day called to the attention of Ambassador Oshima the receipt of a report revealing that Japan had approved the sailing of American ships through to Vladivostok.[1159]
In answer to Ambassador Oshima's demand that he be told the true situation, Tokyo divulged that Japan had stood firmly against Russian-American trade on the basis of the current political situation. America, when questioned by Japan, had replied that it felt that such trade was a political matter between America and Russia and should cause Japan no uneasiness. To Japan's charge that this was an unfriendly act, America had invoked the freedom of the seas doctrine and had said that it could not tolerate interference with its foreign trade.
Tokyo then explained that five United States tankers carrying between 60,000 and 95,000 barrels of oil each, had entered Vladivostok from the middle of August until October 9th. In
[1155] III, 878.
[1156] III, 879.
[1157] III, 880.
[1158] III, 881.
[1159] III, 882.
[239]
addition, the number of Russian ships which had operated between American and the Soviet Union was nine, with an estimated total of 300,000 barrels of oil and aeroplane parts transported.[1160]
Conductor Hidemuro Konoye, younger brother of the Premier, who had been on tour in Europe at the outbreak of hostilities, joined Ambassador Oshima in an appeal to Prince Fuminaro Konoye for an elimination of existing Axis ill-will resulting from American shipping to Vladivostok and the American-Japanese negotiations.
Hidemaro Konoye explained that as long as the Tripartite Pact was still in active existence, Germany would be much perturbed at Japanese philandering with the Americans and would object strenuously to announcements by the Tokyo Information Bureau that intimate progress was being made in Russian-American negotiations. Mr. Konoye suggested that Tokyo explain to Germany that any negotiations with the United States that were not in harmony with the spirit of the Tripartite Treaty would be merely a political scheme and that actually there would be no change in Japan's policy.[1161]
478. Ambassador Oshima Objects to Pro-American Statements
Meanwhile Diet Member Juiji Kasai in the United States had been making anti-German, pro-American statements;[1162] but Ambassador Oshima was assured by Tokyo that Kasai had been warned vigorously and that close tab was being kept on him.[1163] However, by October 13 Ambassador Oshima, still convinced that Kasai would not reform, requested that Foreign Minister Toyoda return the offender to Japan.
The Ambassador also reported on American broadcasts which contended that Foreign Minister Matusoka had entered into the undesirable Tripartite Pact without the majority consent of the people; and that if the United States and Germany went to war, Germany would be to blame.[1164]
Foreign Minister Toyoda in a reply on October 14, 1941 admitted that he feared that British and United States attempts to separate Japan and Germany would precipitate a difficult situation where he himself was concerned, and he requested that Ambassador Oshima explain Japan's good intentions regarding the Tripartite Pact.[1165]
479. Japanese-German Trade Difficulties Recur
Recurrences of trade difficulties between Germany and Japan continued to cause Ambassador Oshima much concern in view of the insufficient funds available in the exchange allotment for Japanese government purchases. Up until October 13, 1941 there had been no difficulties making payment for government orders out of the fixed allotment; but since then civilian purchases had become so large that even the government was being forced to forego placing new orders. Ambassador Oshima suggested, in order to alleviate the situation, that Germany be requested to make credit available for Japan's use.[1166]
On October 16, 1941 Foreign Minister Toyoda revealed that Japan's payment to Germany which had to be made by March 1943, exceeded 80,000,000 yen or 14,810,000 marks, according to German authorities. Although it was expected that by cancellations of contracts due to the war this figure would be considerably lessened, still the problem of meeting the debt was imminent. The Foreign Minister was of the opinion, however, that the German government would
[1160] III, 883.
[1161] III, 884.
[1162] III, 885.
[1163] III, 886.
[1164] III, 887.
[1165] III, 888.
[1166] III, 889.
[240]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
agree to purchasing goods from Japan in that amount and negotiations for a provisional agreement to cover the purchases and payment of both sides were under way. The goods with which Japan bargained to supply Germany and which were to be applied on the deficit included whale oil, raw silk, and cotton thread.[1167]
480. German Manufacturers Aid Japan's War Industries
That Japan looked to Germany for assistance in developing manufacturing techniques was shown in a series of commercial messages sent through diplomatic channels from August 8 to October 10, 1941. The necessity of Japan's producing its own steel castings caused the navy to decide to have a civilian company in Japan study the matter or to send Japanese technicians to Germany for factory training, depending upon the relative costs.[1168]
An explanation by the Junkers Company of Germany enabled the Japanese by August 8 to complete their investigation of the SV-11 type propeller.[1169] However, as late as October 6 negotiations regarding the propeller-purchase by the Hamamatsu Musical Instrument Company remained unsettled. The transfer of the manufacturing rights had been forced upon the Junkers Company by the Japanese, and the Germans insisted upon a higher price.[1170]
Meanwhile the Tokyo Aircraft Gauge Company had purchased patent rights for the Askania-manufactured automatic pilot. Despite the recognized urgency in learning the techniques, the War Office of the Senior Adjutant in Tokyo wired Berlin on August 30 that it was impossible to send personnel from Japan at that time; however, at least one technician from the Tokyo Aircraft Gauge Company and Engineer Yoshinari would join the Askania laboratory.[1171] By October 6, 1941 discussions concerning the automatic pilot compasses and the Siemens electric gauges had not been completed because of exchange currency and transportation difficulties. In regard to the automatic pilot Berlin informed the Japanese government that this apparatus was not then being manufactured and thus purchases had become impossible.[1172]
The Japanese Vice Minister of War on August 29 requested that Dr. Helmut Wohlthat, German commercial attache in Tokyo, assist Japan in acquiring the "IG" patent rights from Germany. He wired the Japanese delegation in Berlin on September 5 Dr. Wohlthat's reply, that although Germany was in accord in regard to the "IG" transfer, there remained the fact that, just as Japan felt about America, Germany did not wish to goad that country at the moment.[1173]
Market disturbances were created in Bangkok during September because of German buying of rubber and tin. A German agent, Schmidt, had employed 100,000 bahts, sent from Shanghai via the Yokohama Specie Bank to camouflaged Chinese companies, to make these purchases.[1174]
Definite arrangements for paying for special universal drills from the Swiss Rumer Company through Germany were requested by Berlin authorities in a dispatch to the Japanese Vice Minister of War on September 13, 1941.[1175] Other Swiss manufacturing equipment was contracted by Japan through these channels.[1176]
[1167] III, 890.
[1168] III, 891.
[1169] III, 892.
[1170] III, 893.
[1171] III, 894.
[1172] III, 895.
[1173] III, 896-897.
[1174] III, 898.
[1175] III, 899.
[1176] III, 900-901.
[241]
481. Ambassador Oshima Reports on German War Plans, October 16, 1941
On October 16, 1941 Ambassador Oshima reported that German army plans called for leaving a small observation force at Leningrad while part of the Reebuk forces advanced toward the encirclement of Moscow. Ambassador Oshima stated that nothing but annihilation faced the Russian forces in Leningrad. Meanwhile the mechanized forces having already reached Kalinin, north of Moscow, had proceeded as far as Yaroslav, approximately 250 kilometers northwest of Moscow, where the ground was already frozen thereby facilitating troop movements.
Ambassador Oshima also pointed out how ignorant the Russian army was of the true war situation in that, unaware that Germans had taken Kalinin the week before, they proceeded to transport troops for 48 hours after the city had fallen. This blunder resulted in Germany's taking many prisoners.
To the south of Moscow, infantry regiments had already arrived in Tula and mechanized troops were extending in an encircling wing eastward of Moscow. However, thawing snow and complicated forests and swamps were naturally slowing the advance of the German forces. With regard to the Karkov area, Ambassador Oshima revealed that little resistance was being met from Russian forces.[1177]
[1177] III, 902.
governments enter into agreements covering the general points and leaving the details up to the private broadcasting associations.[1141]
In rejoinder on September 12, the Foreign Minister pointed to the previously established exchange radio agreement between Japan and Italy, which had been based on a sincere understanding between the radio bureaus of both countries. However, if the German authorities, as a matter of government policy, pressed for an understanding regarding this agreement, the Japanese on their part would like to request that an exchange of notes confirm the agreement. The Foreign Minister urged that Ambassador Oshima keep this in mind while once more negotiating with the German authorities.[1142]
After meeting with German officials again according to his instructions, Ambassador Oshima explained to Foreign Minister Toyoda on September 20, 1941 that Germany had decided that an agreement between the two broadcasting associations would be concluded and that the governments of the two countries concerned should have recognition to the agreement by an exchange of memoranda. With regard to clause V, which Germany had previously desired to delete anyhow, they proposed that, "those engaged in the work of broadcasting should reserve to the Government the ultimate right of censorship in matters of political importance and a clause should be included to the effect that officials engaged in exchanging broadcasts should follow instructions given by the Ambassador."
Since a great deal of time had already been spent in discussing the matter, Ambassador Oshima urged that his government compromise on the point of government negotiations and put the plan into practice immediately.[1143]
Foreign Minister Toyoda then notified Ambassador Oshima that the authorities in Tokyo had decided to conclude the agreement between the broadcasting associations of the two countries based on the Japanese proposals regarding the exchange of broadcasts between Japan and Germany and to exchange a memorandum patterned after the official Japanese-German Medical Science agreement of 1939, between the governments of the two countries in order to validify the above. Japan would agree to eliminate Clause V of the proposals.
Expressing the desire of Tokyo broadcasting authorities to have the signing of the agreement take place in Tokyo, Foreign Minister Toyoda proposed that Mr. Shichiro Komori be made Japanese director of this broadcasting association and asked that the Germans select their representative and notify Tokyo.[1144] Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
468. Rumanian Losses Revealed
By October 6, 1941, reports from Bucharest transmitted salient points from a Rumanian official announcement which located the Rumanian alpine and cavalry forces with the Germans between the Dnieper River and the sea of Azov. Since the beginning of hostilities Rumanian forces reportedly had captured 60,000, killed 70,000, and wounded 100,000, while Rumanian loses were counted at 20,000 dead and 15,000 missing. This bulletin reported that the fire caused by the bombing of the Ploesti Petroleum Works had amounted to no more than 300,000,000 lei.[1145]
469. Ambassador Oshima Denies Rumors of Russo-German Pre-War Negotiations
Declaring that intelligence which had been sent to him by the Foreign Office to the effect that Germany was now reaping the mistake of turning against Russia in June, 1941 was a "ridiculous fabrication", Ambassador Oshima on October 2, 1941 gave what he believed to be
[1141] III, 864.
[1142] III, 865.
[1143] III, 866.
[1144] III, 867.
[1145] III, 868.
[235]
the true motives for Germany's entrance into the war against Russia. Since it was Germany's purpose to consolidate the eastern front for the war against England, it had been necessary to annihilate the Russian field troops and to overthrow the Communist regime. With these objectives, it was clear, according to Ambassador Oshima, that no demands had been filed with Russia nor had Germany's objectives been discussed over a conference table. It was true, the Japanese Ambassador conceded, that Russia was putting up a far more obstinate fight than Germany had imagined possible.
Furthermore, the rumors that Herr Von Ribbentrop was operating his own spy agency in Germany were false since the German Foreign Minister, helping and advising daily at Supreme Headquarter in Berlin, was in the closest confidence of Chancellor Hitler. Such rumors were branded as pure nonsense by Ambassador Oshima who stated that they had been circulated in the United States only to drive a wedge between Japan and Germany. Ambassador Oshima suggested that Foreign Minister Toyoda allow competent Japanese authorities to peruse the telegrams he had written before and during the outbreak of Russo-German hostilities.[1146]
470. Ambassador Oshima Counteracts British and American Propaganda
In order to counteract what Ambassador Oshima termed British and American propaganda relative to the strength of the Soviet Army in the Far East, he communicated on October 6, 1941 a list of the Russian Far Eastern divisions which had been destroyed since the middle of September. According to the German High Command, these divisions had already ceased to exist as organized divisions since the middle of August.[1147]
On October 8, Ambassador Oshima related pertinent points of a recent conversation with Germany army and naval attaches who had just returned from a tour of observation of the eastern front. From this meeting, he learned that should the German army continue at its current rate of advance disposing of the Russian troops in Moscow, and its surrounded neighborhood, it would not be long before the eastern front could be consolidated.
Commenting upon the British and United States "propaganda" regarding Germany's plan to offer peace to the Soviet immediately after the fall of Moscow, he stated that this would never happen. In explaining his opinion he remarked that although Germany would in the future direct her principal strength against England, she would not weaken her aggressive attack on the Soviet Union until the Communist regime had been overthrown.
He cautioned Tokyo against believing British and American reports that the war between Germany and the Soviet Union had been stalemated; for it was self-evident that the fall of Moscow would be a tremendous blow to the Stalin regime.[1148]
471. Ambassador Oshima Report on Russo-German Warfare, October 11, 1941
Despite Ambassador Oshima's warning to Tokyo against placing too much confidence in British-American propaganda, he could not deny that the German advance had slowed considerably. In order to explain this event, he announced on October 11, 1941 that the Soviet army had been found to possess a far greater supply of weapons than was expected and that the entire nation had been aroused to stubborn resistance. Therefore, the German army had not attempted the impossible by attacking them outright but had deliberately plotted for their annihilation by means of slow methodical warfare. He repeated that Soviet losses had been extremely heavy in comparison to German army casualties.
In this message the Ambassador also announced the beginning of the large-scale siege of Moscow and predicted that the remainder of Marshal Samyou Timoshenko's troops would suffer severe treatment at the hand of the invading German army. This devastating blow, in line
[1146] III, 869.
[1147] III, 870.
[1148] III, 871.
[236]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
with German strategy, had been dealt the Soviet forces before the severe winter had set in. Germany had seized the larger part of Soviet raw materials, so that soon the invaded country would be reduced to servitude.[1149]
Although Ambassador Oshima had from time to time expressed the belief that the extinction of Communism was the primary purpose of Germany's war aims, he now pointed out with assurance that Germany's principal objective in this war was the overthrow of Great Britain. This would have to be done by an increase of air attacks and submarine warfare followed by landing operations. Such operations, Ambassador Oshima believed, would not take place before spring. Although he acknowledged that Great Britain believed such landing operations would end in failure, he assured his Home Office that the preparations of Germany had assumed large proportions backed by the cooperation of all the war industries of Europe, and by the excellence of the German supreme command and the quality of its soldiers. He then pointed to the example set by the German army in the Norway operations and in breaking the Maginot line.
Ambassador Oshima continued stating that Germany itself was awaiting the invasion hour with the greatest of confidence. In the meantime, it planned to complete operations in the Caucasus, the Near East and Egypt. With regard to British strength in the Far East, Ambassador Oshima explained that Germany considered such claims of 750,000 British troops a great "bluff" and did not believe it necessary to move large opposing forces there. Thus, it would keep its main forces for a concentration of the landing operations in England.[1150]
He again repeated that Germany expected to bring Britain to its knees by force of arms if it did not surrender unconditionally. In this event, although the British royal family, the government and the navy would flee to overseas possessions and continue resistance with American cooperation, still the spiritual effect of successful landing operations on British soil would strike the world a resounding blow.
Should the government flee England, there would be no hope of British victory, since it was not believed that resistance could be continued without immediate leadership and 40,000,000 subjects would be left to die. The Ambassador then commented upon the fact that Germany had repeatedly made the statement that it assumed no responsibility for feeding peoples of occupied areas.
Personally, however, Ambassador Oshima did not believe in the possibility of British leaders' fleeing to overseas areas. He recognized that much would depend upon the United States' attitude in the near future, but he did not expect that America would be in a position to formally declare war on Germany early in 1942. Then, if after having subjugated Britain, Europe, Russia, North Africa and the Near East, Germany proceeded with her plans for a new order in Europe, even the United States would not be able to do anything about it.
Ambassador Oshima also considered the possibility of Germany's not being able to attack the United States even though at war with it, and submitted that he believed some way would be found for Germany and the United States to reach an agreement. In his opinion, even though the two countries should continue to oppose each other, a state of war between them would not last long.
Then Ambassador Oshima dealt briefly on the hope of Britain and United States that internal disturbances would interrupt German progress, stating that at present the occupied areas were of no concern and that Germany was not in the least worried about the situation following the conquest of England.[1151]
[1149] III, 872.
[1150] III, 873.
[1151] III, 874.
[237]
472. Ambassador Oshima Urges Support of Germany's War
Finally, Ambassador Oshima approached the point he had been attempting to emphasize. In his opinion should Germany be forced to accept merely the occupation of the British Isles, abandoning its plan for complete overthrow of the British Empire throughout the world, Japan in the future would still face the combined interests of the United States and Great Britain in the Far East. Therefore, Japan must assist in the complete conquest of the British Empire. Along this line the speedy settlement of the China incident was mandatory and Ambassador Oshima pointed to the need for the resources and markets of the south. The great objective in concluding the Tripartite Pact had been this very thing. Said Ambassador Oshima,
"The realization of our objectives, and destiny of the Empire for a thousand years now hangs upon the success of
Germany and Italy in Europe."
He again warned against being taken in by British propaganda and reiterated his belief that it would be more difficult for Japan in the future should Germany and Italy gain a victory only in Europe.[1152]
To insure the future of the East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, Ambassador Oshima urged that Japan reinstate the true aims of the Tripartite Pact by establishing a definite course with regard to the war in Europe. As one means to this end, he reaffirmed his desire that Tokyo make plans to eliminate the Soviet threat at this opportune time. Then simultaneously with Germany's invasion of England in the spring of 1942, the government should launch its southward penetration. He asked that the German high command be kept informed of Japan's efforts along these lines.[1153]
473. Promiscuous Dissemination of Restricted News is Condemned by Foreign Minister Toyoda
With the continuation of damaging British and Russian propaganda, it soon developed that Ambassador Oshima was not the only one concerned about general dissemination of restricted news in Japan; for on October 11, Foreign Minister Toyoda issued a reprimand to Berlin in which he suggested that since popular dissemination of short-wave wireless news of a certain classification was not permitted in Japan, any privilege accorded to foreign diplomatic establishments should not be abused by allowing promiscuous publication. Foreign Minister Toyoda explained that the policy in Japan had been to restrict all material which was used in publication "Bulletin" to the general public, but to allow it some distribution among foreign officials. In view of the current situation it would also be quite impossible to allow Germany or Italy popular use of the releases.
The Foreign Minister explained that the Vice Minister had already approached Ambassador Ott on the proposition of strengthening cooperation between Axis and Domei reporters, at the same time arranging for an interview between Ambassador Ott and Chief of the Intelligence Bureau Ito, on the 10th of October. At this meeting, it was decided that publication of all pamphlets other than the "Bulletin" would be suppressed. The exhibition of all British propaganda films were to be ruled out and the publication and exhibition of German and Italian films in Japan would be increased.[1154]
474. Government Control of Press Urged by Ambassador Oshima
On October 13, 1941 Ambassador Oshima took his turn in rebuking the home government for releasing an editorial by the Domei press to the effect that Germany should end Russo-German hostilities and concentrate on an invasion of England insomuch as a long war would be disadvantageous to the Axis countries. He also took this opportunity to rebuke the Foreign
[1152] III, 875.
[1153] III, 876.
[1154] III, 877.
[238]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
Office for the release of the Domei dispatch from Ankara revealing that Hungary had lost forty per cent of her total army in the current Soviet campaign. Then releases, Ambassador Oshima pointed out, had been used by Boston and other foreign broadcasting stations in propaganda activities, and, besides, they served to arouse the displeasure of the Axis powers. He demanded that strict representations to the proper authorities be made so that future reports and editorials of this type would be completely Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire eliminated.[1155]
475. Germany and Turkey Sign Commercial Pact
On October 9, 1941 Japanese-Ankara spokesmen revealed that the commercial treaty which had been under negotiation between Germany and Turkey had been signed, effective for one and one half years. The total amount of exports and imports were set at 200,000,000 marks each, with Germany trading manufactured goods for Turkey's raw materials. Although this figure was computed on a basis of 50 per cent of Turkey's output, Germany planned to take over the complete 1943 supply of chrome to bring the total Turkish exports to Germany up the scale.[1156]
476. Ambassador Oshima Confers with Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop
Foreign Minister Joachim Von Ribbentrop made the first anniversary of the Tripartite Pact[1157] on October 1, 1941 an occasion for expression Germany's dissatisfaction with the Japanese negotiations with the United States. During several visits with him Ambassador Oshima learned that Germany was thoroughly disgusted with Japan, having received proof that although Japan would not confide the secret Japanese-United States negotiations with its Tripartite partner, America was continually revealing Japanese-American secrets to the British. Ambassador Oshima explained that he was attempting to convince the press that German high officials were also informed of the negotiations, but the whole hoax was proving increasingly difficult.
Ambassador Oshima was ever conscious of third power impressions which seemed now to picture Japan as avoiding the conflict because of impoverishment resulting from the China incident, and because she lacked faith in the outcome of the European war.
Now, even though Germany might overlook inevitable attempts of third powers to divide the Axis partners and would keep up a pretense of smooth relations, still there was a general bad feeling among leaders which might precipitate malicious acts on the part of Germany.[1158]
477. Germany Disapproves of Japan's Attitude Toward Russian-American Trade
Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop the following day called to the attention of Ambassador Oshima the receipt of a report revealing that Japan had approved the sailing of American ships through to Vladivostok.[1159]
In answer to Ambassador Oshima's demand that he be told the true situation, Tokyo divulged that Japan had stood firmly against Russian-American trade on the basis of the current political situation. America, when questioned by Japan, had replied that it felt that such trade was a political matter between America and Russia and should cause Japan no uneasiness. To Japan's charge that this was an unfriendly act, America had invoked the freedom of the seas doctrine and had said that it could not tolerate interference with its foreign trade.
Tokyo then explained that five United States tankers carrying between 60,000 and 95,000 barrels of oil each, had entered Vladivostok from the middle of August until October 9th. In
[1155] III, 878.
[1156] III, 879.
[1157] III, 880.
[1158] III, 881.
[1159] III, 882.
[239]
addition, the number of Russian ships which had operated between American and the Soviet Union was nine, with an estimated total of 300,000 barrels of oil and aeroplane parts transported.[1160]
Conductor Hidemuro Konoye, younger brother of the Premier, who had been on tour in Europe at the outbreak of hostilities, joined Ambassador Oshima in an appeal to Prince Fuminaro Konoye for an elimination of existing Axis ill-will resulting from American shipping to Vladivostok and the American-Japanese negotiations.
Hidemaro Konoye explained that as long as the Tripartite Pact was still in active existence, Germany would be much perturbed at Japanese philandering with the Americans and would object strenuously to announcements by the Tokyo Information Bureau that intimate progress was being made in Russian-American negotiations. Mr. Konoye suggested that Tokyo explain to Germany that any negotiations with the United States that were not in harmony with the spirit of the Tripartite Treaty would be merely a political scheme and that actually there would be no change in Japan's policy.[1161]
478. Ambassador Oshima Objects to Pro-American Statements
Meanwhile Diet Member Juiji Kasai in the United States had been making anti-German, pro-American statements;[1162] but Ambassador Oshima was assured by Tokyo that Kasai had been warned vigorously and that close tab was being kept on him.[1163] However, by October 13 Ambassador Oshima, still convinced that Kasai would not reform, requested that Foreign Minister Toyoda return the offender to Japan.
The Ambassador also reported on American broadcasts which contended that Foreign Minister Matusoka had entered into the undesirable Tripartite Pact without the majority consent of the people; and that if the United States and Germany went to war, Germany would be to blame.[1164]
Foreign Minister Toyoda in a reply on October 14, 1941 admitted that he feared that British and United States attempts to separate Japan and Germany would precipitate a difficult situation where he himself was concerned, and he requested that Ambassador Oshima explain Japan's good intentions regarding the Tripartite Pact.[1165]
479. Japanese-German Trade Difficulties Recur
Recurrences of trade difficulties between Germany and Japan continued to cause Ambassador Oshima much concern in view of the insufficient funds available in the exchange allotment for Japanese government purchases. Up until October 13, 1941 there had been no difficulties making payment for government orders out of the fixed allotment; but since then civilian purchases had become so large that even the government was being forced to forego placing new orders. Ambassador Oshima suggested, in order to alleviate the situation, that Germany be requested to make credit available for Japan's use.[1166]
On October 16, 1941 Foreign Minister Toyoda revealed that Japan's payment to Germany which had to be made by March 1943, exceeded 80,000,000 yen or 14,810,000 marks, according to German authorities. Although it was expected that by cancellations of contracts due to the war this figure would be considerably lessened, still the problem of meeting the debt was imminent. The Foreign Minister was of the opinion, however, that the German government would
[1160] III, 883.
[1161] III, 884.
[1162] III, 885.
[1163] III, 886.
[1164] III, 887.
[1165] III, 888.
[1166] III, 889.
[240]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
agree to purchasing goods from Japan in that amount and negotiations for a provisional agreement to cover the purchases and payment of both sides were under way. The goods with which Japan bargained to supply Germany and which were to be applied on the deficit included whale oil, raw silk, and cotton thread.[1167]
480. German Manufacturers Aid Japan's War Industries
That Japan looked to Germany for assistance in developing manufacturing techniques was shown in a series of commercial messages sent through diplomatic channels from August 8 to October 10, 1941. The necessity of Japan's producing its own steel castings caused the navy to decide to have a civilian company in Japan study the matter or to send Japanese technicians to Germany for factory training, depending upon the relative costs.[1168]
An explanation by the Junkers Company of Germany enabled the Japanese by August 8 to complete their investigation of the SV-11 type propeller.[1169] However, as late as October 6 negotiations regarding the propeller-purchase by the Hamamatsu Musical Instrument Company remained unsettled. The transfer of the manufacturing rights had been forced upon the Junkers Company by the Japanese, and the Germans insisted upon a higher price.[1170]
Meanwhile the Tokyo Aircraft Gauge Company had purchased patent rights for the Askania-manufactured automatic pilot. Despite the recognized urgency in learning the techniques, the War Office of the Senior Adjutant in Tokyo wired Berlin on August 30 that it was impossible to send personnel from Japan at that time; however, at least one technician from the Tokyo Aircraft Gauge Company and Engineer Yoshinari would join the Askania laboratory.[1171] By October 6, 1941 discussions concerning the automatic pilot compasses and the Siemens electric gauges had not been completed because of exchange currency and transportation difficulties. In regard to the automatic pilot Berlin informed the Japanese government that this apparatus was not then being manufactured and thus purchases had become impossible.[1172]
The Japanese Vice Minister of War on August 29 requested that Dr. Helmut Wohlthat, German commercial attache in Tokyo, assist Japan in acquiring the "IG" patent rights from Germany. He wired the Japanese delegation in Berlin on September 5 Dr. Wohlthat's reply, that although Germany was in accord in regard to the "IG" transfer, there remained the fact that, just as Japan felt about America, Germany did not wish to goad that country at the moment.[1173]
Market disturbances were created in Bangkok during September because of German buying of rubber and tin. A German agent, Schmidt, had employed 100,000 bahts, sent from Shanghai via the Yokohama Specie Bank to camouflaged Chinese companies, to make these purchases.[1174]
Definite arrangements for paying for special universal drills from the Swiss Rumer Company through Germany were requested by Berlin authorities in a dispatch to the Japanese Vice Minister of War on September 13, 1941.[1175] Other Swiss manufacturing equipment was contracted by Japan through these channels.[1176]
[1167] III, 890.
[1168] III, 891.
[1169] III, 892.
[1170] III, 893.
[1171] III, 894.
[1172] III, 895.
[1173] III, 896-897.
[1174] III, 898.
[1175] III, 899.
[1176] III, 900-901.
[241]
481. Ambassador Oshima Reports on German War Plans, October 16, 1941
On October 16, 1941 Ambassador Oshima reported that German army plans called for leaving a small observation force at Leningrad while part of the Reebuk forces advanced toward the encirclement of Moscow. Ambassador Oshima stated that nothing but annihilation faced the Russian forces in Leningrad. Meanwhile the mechanized forces having already reached Kalinin, north of Moscow, had proceeded as far as Yaroslav, approximately 250 kilometers northwest of Moscow, where the ground was already frozen thereby facilitating troop movements.
Ambassador Oshima also pointed out how ignorant the Russian army was of the true war situation in that, unaware that Germans had taken Kalinin the week before, they proceeded to transport troops for 48 hours after the city had fallen. This blunder resulted in Germany's taking many prisoners.
To the south of Moscow, infantry regiments had already arrived in Tula and mechanized troops were extending in an encircling wing eastward of Moscow. However, thawing snow and complicated forests and swamps were naturally slowing the advance of the German forces. With regard to the Karkov area, Ambassador Oshima revealed that little resistance was being met from Russian forces.[1177]
[1177] III, 902.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
widescreen 3.wid.002002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
A former maid, Sadako is treated with open contempt by her husband, a petty bureaucrat at the local library, and tolerated by her mother-in-law only because she has produced a male heir. Sadako’s sole opportunity for escape arrives in the dubious form of a housebreaker who forces himself on her and soon becomes another unwanted male dependent. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.
Filming in widescreen black-and-white, Imamura violates every rule of classical composition: his frames are crowded and off kilter, offering only partial views of the action where classical directors like Ozu or Mizoguchi would insist on balance and lucidity. Although Imamura would tame his anarchic style as he aged — his last feature film, the 2001 “Warm Water Under a Red Bridge,” is an amused, mellow treatment of his persistent theme of sexual energy — his work here is ferocious, implacable, bitter and brilliant. (Criterion Collection, $79.95, not rated).
Filming in widescreen black-and-white, Imamura violates every rule of classical composition: his frames are crowded and off kilter, offering only partial views of the action where classical directors like Ozu or Mizoguchi would insist on balance and lucidity. Although Imamura would tame his anarchic style as he aged — his last feature film, the 2001 “Warm Water Under a Red Bridge,” is an amused, mellow treatment of his persistent theme of sexual energy — his work here is ferocious, implacable, bitter and brilliant. (Criterion Collection, $79.95, not rated).
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
schizophrenic patient 8.sch.003004 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
opamine conducts a frenzied song of craving at one end of a tiny brain region and a panic-stricken hymn at the other. Depending on where along the length of the region the neurotransmitter is triggered, it elicits emotions ranging from desire to disgust, a new study shows.
“The roles [of dopamine] may be partitioned, and perhaps defined, by anatomy,” comments Emily Hueske, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
With the recent study, researchers have come one step closer to explaining how dopamine performs a spectrum of functions. Dopamine interacts with spatially coded signals so that its output varies from one end of a brain region to the other, the team reports in the July 9 Journal of Neuroscience.
In the long-term, drugs might be developed to locally treat various dopamine-mediated disorders such as drug addiction, obsession, obesity and anxiety.
Kent Berridge, a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and his colleagues set out to understand how dopamine could lead to desire for a reward, and then turn around and cause fear, pain and stress.
Berridge’s team focused on the area of the nucleus accumbens known as the pleasure center in all mammals. The researchers report the effects of tampering with dopamine and another chemical messenger, the glutamate neurotransmitter, along the length of the nucleus accumbens of rats.
A tiny, localized injection at the front end disrupted glutamate and turned normal rats into binge-eaters. But when researchers injected the same glutamate blocker at the back end of the nucleus accumbens, the rats stopped eating and became fearful — kicking up sand at the bottom of their cages, as wild rodents are wont to do when a snake or a scorpion is in their midst, Berridge says.
When both dopamine and glutamate were blocked, the rats did not display the extreme behaviors. In nature, the interaction between the two may guide how a rat responds to signals from the environment. Glutamate may bring in information from the outside world, and dopamine may act on that information, Berridge suggests.
Because the injections only blocked glutamate or dopamine in tiny bits of the nucleus accumbens, the researchers were able to map out a millimeter-by-millimeter gradient of reactions over the region. “The brain cares where you are exactly,” Berridge says.
“This is perhaps a surprise,” says behavioral neuroscientist Richard Palmiter of the University of Washington in Seattle. He’s not shocked about the gradient of dopamine-mediated reactions because desire and dread aren’t completely unrelated. Regardless of how the rat responds to a stimulus, “dopamine is basically saying: ‘Hey, pay attention to your environment’,” he says.
Still, this study shows how motivation for a reward can turn to fear within a single structure, Berridge says.
The researchers describe the gradient as a keyboard, with keys going from desire to fear. The minute keyboard gradient found in the rats may translate into a slightly larger, centimeter-by-centimeter keyboard in humans’ nucleus accumbens. Berridge speculates that the boundaries of “keys” are skewed in people with certain disorders, such that a sensation produces more pleasure than it should in an addict or too much fear in schizophrenic patients.
Once scientists know what underlies the front-to-back gradient, drugs could be refined to more accurately treat separate disorders, says Charlotte Boettiger, a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It may be years before those treatments are developed, however. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire “We don’t presently have a way to target drugs to one part or the other.”
“The roles [of dopamine] may be partitioned, and perhaps defined, by anatomy,” comments Emily Hueske, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
With the recent study, researchers have come one step closer to explaining how dopamine performs a spectrum of functions. Dopamine interacts with spatially coded signals so that its output varies from one end of a brain region to the other, the team reports in the July 9 Journal of Neuroscience.
In the long-term, drugs might be developed to locally treat various dopamine-mediated disorders such as drug addiction, obsession, obesity and anxiety.
Kent Berridge, a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and his colleagues set out to understand how dopamine could lead to desire for a reward, and then turn around and cause fear, pain and stress.
Berridge’s team focused on the area of the nucleus accumbens known as the pleasure center in all mammals. The researchers report the effects of tampering with dopamine and another chemical messenger, the glutamate neurotransmitter, along the length of the nucleus accumbens of rats.
A tiny, localized injection at the front end disrupted glutamate and turned normal rats into binge-eaters. But when researchers injected the same glutamate blocker at the back end of the nucleus accumbens, the rats stopped eating and became fearful — kicking up sand at the bottom of their cages, as wild rodents are wont to do when a snake or a scorpion is in their midst, Berridge says.
When both dopamine and glutamate were blocked, the rats did not display the extreme behaviors. In nature, the interaction between the two may guide how a rat responds to signals from the environment. Glutamate may bring in information from the outside world, and dopamine may act on that information, Berridge suggests.
Because the injections only blocked glutamate or dopamine in tiny bits of the nucleus accumbens, the researchers were able to map out a millimeter-by-millimeter gradient of reactions over the region. “The brain cares where you are exactly,” Berridge says.
“This is perhaps a surprise,” says behavioral neuroscientist Richard Palmiter of the University of Washington in Seattle. He’s not shocked about the gradient of dopamine-mediated reactions because desire and dread aren’t completely unrelated. Regardless of how the rat responds to a stimulus, “dopamine is basically saying: ‘Hey, pay attention to your environment’,” he says.
Still, this study shows how motivation for a reward can turn to fear within a single structure, Berridge says.
The researchers describe the gradient as a keyboard, with keys going from desire to fear. The minute keyboard gradient found in the rats may translate into a slightly larger, centimeter-by-centimeter keyboard in humans’ nucleus accumbens. Berridge speculates that the boundaries of “keys” are skewed in people with certain disorders, such that a sensation produces more pleasure than it should in an addict or too much fear in schizophrenic patients.
Once scientists know what underlies the front-to-back gradient, drugs could be refined to more accurately treat separate disorders, says Charlotte Boettiger, a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It may be years before those treatments are developed, however. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire “We don’t presently have a way to target drugs to one part or the other.”
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