Isidor Fisch
Encyclopedia
Isidor Srul Fisch was a German friend and business associate of Bruno Hauptmann
, from whom Hauptmann claimed to have received a box containing gold certificate
s which had earlier been used to pay a ransom in the kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.
, Germany
, and emigrated to America
in 1925. Upon his arrival, he went to live with the family of Herman Kirsten, his former boss back in Germany, and continued to work in the fur trade as a cutter. He lived in rented rooms together with fellow German immigrants, Karl Henkel, Gerta Henkel and Henry Uhlig. Sometimes, he earned as much as sixty to eighty dollars a week.
community of the Bronx as a very strange character. He had approached many of the community to invest in a variety of business schemes, most of which were bogus. He was also involved in some small fencing operations which included the purchasing of "hot" money cheaply to store and re-use later. Fisch and Hauptmann met in 1932, became friends, and agreed to pool the risks and profits of Fisch's trade in furs and Hauptmann's stock investments.
Fisch had applied for a passport on 12 May 1932, which was the same day that the Lindbergh baby was found dead. On 9 December 1933, Fisch set sail on the ocean liner Manhattan for a visit to Germany, shortly after the ransom money was paid by the Lindbergh family. He paid for his ticket with $420 worth of gold certificates purportedly lent by Hauptmann. He had also purchased, with the Hauptmann money, $600 worth of Reichsmarks.
According to Hauptmann, on 5 December 1933, Fisch left various items, including a shoe box in which Hauptmann claimed to have later found $14,000 in gold certificates. One of the certificates was identified in circulation on 18 September 1935, although others reportedly appeared in circulation years after Hauptmann's execution. During this period, gold certificates were rapidly being withdrawn from circulation and it was unusual to see one. One gold certificate used at a Bronx gas station was traced to Hauptmann, and he was subsequently arrested.
During his trial, Hauptmann claimed he had discovered the money while cleaning a closet with a leaky roof and that the leak had made the shoe box fall apart. He took his findings to his garage and began to dry the wet bills. He then hid them behind some wooden boards in the garage. He figured that since he was owed $7,000, it was okay for him to keep the money for his family. This sequence of events, told by Hauptmann throughout the trial, was dubbed by police and reporters as "The Fisch Story."
Throughout his trial, Hauptmann insisted that Fisch had owed him money and he was only spending what he was owed. The defense never convincingly tied Fisch to the crime, and the jury disregarded Hauptmann's claims. However, to this date, a few investigators still believe that Fisch was in fact, responsible for the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.
in Leipzig
, Germany on 29 March 1934. A multinational police investigation of Fisch conducted by the U.S and German police, in the aftermath of Hauptmann's arrest, discovered that he was so poor that his parents had to regularly send him money from his native Germany. He was constantly sick and always virtually starving to death. An interrogation of Fisch's brother, Pinkus Fisch, by the German police, revealed that Fisch had never made any mention of Hauptmann prior to his death. Moreover, Fisch's German acquaintances characterized him as a "harmless fur trader".
Mrs. Laura Urant, the daughter of Hauptmann's landlady, told American investigators that she had once met Fisch at a party in Hauptmann's apartment, after which she regularly saw him in Hauptmann's company. Speaking of Fisch, she said, "Fisch knew that he was plagued by an illness that would take many years to cure. Knowing that, I do not believe that if he had a great sum of money, he would have delayed getting the medical attention that he so badly needed."
A police investigation into Fisch's financial records also revealed that, in 1931, Fisch had borrowed several thousand dollars to embark in a pie-baking business that later went bankrupt. In April 1934, a few weeks after Fisch's death, Hauptmann wrote to his family advising them that Fisch had left certain articles in his care. In the letter, Hauptmann made no mention of a shoe box that Fisch had left behind.
Bruno Hauptmann
Bruno Richard Hauptmann was a German ex-convict sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnapping became known as "The Crime of the Century".-Background:Hauptmann was born in Kamenz in the German Empire,...
, from whom Hauptmann claimed to have received a box containing gold certificate
Gold certificate
A gold certificate in general is a certificate of ownership that gold owners hold instead of storing the actual gold. It has both a historic meaning as a US paper currency and a current meaning as a way to invest in gold....
s which had earlier been used to pay a ransom in the kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.
Lindbergh kidnapping
The kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler, 18 months old at the time, was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey, on the evening of...
Life
Fisch was born into a Jewish family in LeipzigLeipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and emigrated to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1925. Upon his arrival, he went to live with the family of Herman Kirsten, his former boss back in Germany, and continued to work in the fur trade as a cutter. He lived in rented rooms together with fellow German immigrants, Karl Henkel, Gerta Henkel and Henry Uhlig. Sometimes, he earned as much as sixty to eighty dollars a week.
Involvement with Bruno Hauptmann
Fisch was well known in the German AmericanGerman American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
community of the Bronx as a very strange character. He had approached many of the community to invest in a variety of business schemes, most of which were bogus. He was also involved in some small fencing operations which included the purchasing of "hot" money cheaply to store and re-use later. Fisch and Hauptmann met in 1932, became friends, and agreed to pool the risks and profits of Fisch's trade in furs and Hauptmann's stock investments.
Fisch had applied for a passport on 12 May 1932, which was the same day that the Lindbergh baby was found dead. On 9 December 1933, Fisch set sail on the ocean liner Manhattan for a visit to Germany, shortly after the ransom money was paid by the Lindbergh family. He paid for his ticket with $420 worth of gold certificates purportedly lent by Hauptmann. He had also purchased, with the Hauptmann money, $600 worth of Reichsmarks.
According to Hauptmann, on 5 December 1933, Fisch left various items, including a shoe box in which Hauptmann claimed to have later found $14,000 in gold certificates. One of the certificates was identified in circulation on 18 September 1935, although others reportedly appeared in circulation years after Hauptmann's execution. During this period, gold certificates were rapidly being withdrawn from circulation and it was unusual to see one. One gold certificate used at a Bronx gas station was traced to Hauptmann, and he was subsequently arrested.
Throughout his trial, Hauptmann insisted that Fisch had owed him money and he was only spending what he was owed. The defense never convincingly tied Fisch to the crime, and the jury disregarded Hauptmann's claims. However, to this date, a few investigators still believe that Fisch was in fact, responsible for the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.
Death
Fisch died of tuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Germany on 29 March 1934. A multinational police investigation of Fisch conducted by the U.S and German police, in the aftermath of Hauptmann's arrest, discovered that he was so poor that his parents had to regularly send him money from his native Germany. He was constantly sick and always virtually starving to death. An interrogation of Fisch's brother, Pinkus Fisch, by the German police, revealed that Fisch had never made any mention of Hauptmann prior to his death. Moreover, Fisch's German acquaintances characterized him as a "harmless fur trader".
Mrs. Laura Urant, the daughter of Hauptmann's landlady, told American investigators that she had once met Fisch at a party in Hauptmann's apartment, after which she regularly saw him in Hauptmann's company. Speaking of Fisch, she said, "Fisch knew that he was plagued by an illness that would take many years to cure. Knowing that, I do not believe that if he had a great sum of money, he would have delayed getting the medical attention that he so badly needed."
A police investigation into Fisch's financial records also revealed that, in 1931, Fisch had borrowed several thousand dollars to embark in a pie-baking business that later went bankrupt. In April 1934, a few weeks after Fisch's death, Hauptmann wrote to his family advising them that Fisch had left certain articles in his care. In the letter, Hauptmann made no mention of a shoe box that Fisch had left behind.