Books: My Life and My Efforts

K >> Karl May >> My Life and My Efforts

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"What you have told me yesterday, I have considered one more
today. It would seem to me that in spite of the colossal sales of
your works, the profit could still be increased extensively. My
experiences as a bookseller and publisher have taught me that the
value of properly managed propaganda and direct advertisement
cannot be overestimated at all.

"My wife and I send our regards to your wife and you with
_admiration_ and _gratitude,_ yours truly
"Rudolf Lebius."

Let me point out that he addressed me as "doctor", though, during
his visit, I had, and not just once, made clear to him that he
should refrain from doing so. But he did not do so, for, after
all, this title was serve him as a weapon against me!

At about this time, Max Dittrich wrote a booklet about me and my
work. He was so imprudent to show the manuscript to Lebius. The
latter came rushing to Radebeul right away, to ask me to use my
influence on Dittrich that he should let him, Mr. Lebius, publish
this work. It goes entirely without saying that he and his
request were rejected, and I wrote to Mr. Max Dittrich that I
would never want to see him again, if he would consider letting
this man have the booklet.

This second visit of Mr. Lebius took at most ten minutes. After
he was gone, I was missing a photograph, he had stolen from me.
He was never allowed to return again. Nevertheless, he had
repeatedly pretended to have been a guest at my house at numerous
occasions and to have studied me very carefully.

The next day he wrote to me:

"Dresden-A., 7/12/04
34 Fuerstenstrasse.

"Dear doctor!

_"I_would_very_much_like_to_publish_Dittrich's_booklet_and_would_
_also_make_the_greatest_efforts_to_put_it_in_wide_circulation._
But on account of my resignation from the `Sachsenstimme' of Saxony> - officially I will not be leaving my job until the
first of October of this year - I have become a bit short on
capital.

_"Would_you_perhaps_grant_me_a_loan_for_three_years_at_5_percent?_
Perhaps, I will pay the debt back to you as early as one year from
now.

| "To show my gratitude for this, I would promote the booklet |
| in such a way that the whole world would talk about it. |
| After all, I am particularly experienced in this area. |

"Things will work out with my newspaper, and even on a very solid
basis. Now it is up to me to work and to show _that_I_have_the_
_stuff_it_takes_to_be_a_real_man_ etc. etc. Best regards to your
wife

"Yours truly
Rudolf Lebius."

I did not answer. I was of the opinion that a man with honour
could not proceed after such a silence, especially since I had
_totally_rejected_Lebius_concerning_the_booklet._ But on August
the 8th, he nevertheless wrote again:

"On the 4th of this month, I have become the sole proprietor of
the "Sachsenstimme" at favourable conditions. I can now act as I
please. To gain some independence from the printer, _I_would_
_like_to_take_a_loan_of_a_few_thousand_marks_(3_to_6)_for_half_a_
_year._ There is no risk involved. The Jewish interested
businesses are behind me, who have, as the past season has shown,
supported me to a large extent. The Christmas sales will give me
the money to pay you back. _Would_you_grant_me_this_loan?__I_am_
_very_willing_do_something_for_you_in_return._ The large number of
academic employees allows my paper to rise above the majority the
of Saxonian newspapers. We are furthermore able to send those
articles, you might have an interest in, to 300 or more German and
Austrian newspapers and highlight the article concerned in blue.
Something like this will infallibly have its effect. In Dresden,
I am sending my paper to all public bars (1760). Most sincerely
Rudolf Lebius."

At the same time, I found out that Lebius owned nothing at all,
but had taken the oath of manifestation [a], that he had not payed
the printer of his paper, that he quite generally had nothing but
debts, and that he even owed royalties. That his newspaper had a
solid basis, was untrue, the same thing goes for the "large number
of academic employees" and other things. Intentional deceptions
like this ought to brought before the public prosecutor. Let me
draw your attention to how he starts and ends his letters: "Dear
Sir ... With outstanding admiration!" "With great respect and
admiration!" "Dear doctor ... With admiration and gratitude."
When he saw that this flattery failed to do its effect, he did not
write to me any more, but to Dittrich. He did so on August the
15th, 1904:

[a] This oath forces a debtor to disclose all of his possessions.
A debtor who refuses to take this oath can be sent to prison.

"Dear Mr. Dittrich!

"I will give you one percent for negotiating the loan. _I_do_not_
_need_more_than_10.000_marks._ But I would also make do with less.
I will sent you your fee on the 20th of this month as agreed.

"Couldn't you _USE_YOUR_PERSUASION_ on doctor May to pay me an
advance?

"Friendly greetings R. Lebius."

Then, on August the 27th:

"Dear Mr. Dittrich!

"My wife is going to see Dr. Klenke on September the 1st, to get a
small amount he owes us. She will use this opportunity to pay you
your royalties. You have my written promise that I will give you
1 percent of the money which I will obtain from H.V. or Dr. M.
(May) on account of your intervention. You will receive the money
right away . . . .

"Friendly greetings Lebius."

This refers to the fact that he owed Max Dittrich royalties in the
amount of 37 marks and 45 pfennigs, which he, though this amount
was very small, was unable to pay. As a consequence of this, a
mirror has been seized from his house by the court. When he
received an order to pay the 37 marks and 45 from Dittrich instead
of my 10.000 marks, he wrote to him on September the 3rd:

"Dear Mr. Dittrich!

"I have urged Mr. Klenke M.D. to pass the amount of 40 marks from
my account to you. Your behaviour towards me strikes me as most
peculiar, perhaps even insulting.

"Sincerely
R. Lebius."

But this Dr. Klenke also never considered paying the debts of Mr.
Lebius, and thus it was only logical and consequential that on
September the 7th, the following threat reached me in the form of
a postcard:

"Dear Sir!

"A certain Mr. Lebius, editor of the `Sachsenstimme', has told
another gentleman that he was writing an article against you. I
have just overheard it in a restaurant. A friend is warning you
of this man.

"B."

Of course, I was instantly fully aware of the author and the
purpose of this card. The report of the court's _sworn_experts_
also states _that_nobody_but_Lebius,_in_his_own_hand,_could_have_
_written_it._ Obviously, he quite definitely expected me to pay
the 10.000 marks in response to this extortion. If I would not
pay up, I could not just be sure of the vengeful article he
threatened to write now, but even of more of the kind and other
things as well; this had to worry me. But even now, I did not
respond and was facing the unavoidable article with a clear
conscience, which appeared on September the 11th, 1904, in number
33 of Lebius's paper, the "Sachsenstimme", and bore the triple
headline:

| "More light on Karl May |
| 160.000 marks income for a novelist |
| A famous author of colportage from Dresden." |

This man had given his word to my wife and me, not to publish
anything. He had even only been admitted to our house after
having made this promise, and now he nevertheless published
something, and in what manner and for what reasons! He turned
everything upside down; he twisted everything! He put all the
words he pleased into our mouths and kept to himself what we had
actually said, to avoid exposing himself to ridicule. This text
contains more than 70 immoralities, twists of the facts, and
direct lies. But this was only the beginning; the continuations
followed soon enough. This article in number 33 of the
"Sachsenstimme" had been written in such a manner that Lebius was
still able to turn around, if I should now finally give him the
money. And already in number 34 there came a very clear hint,
telling me what would happen, if I could not be moved to pay.
This hint consisted of an advertisement by Muenchmeyer, which
spoke volumes to me. You ought to know that the proprietor of
Muenchmeyer's business had told me: "The publication of the other
novels doesn't hurt you too much yet; but as soon as I'm done
with the `Lost Son' and start placing advertisement for it, you'll
be lost! This one will be such a blow that you'll be unable to
continue existing as an author after this!" And this "Lost Son"
had now been advertised for in number 34 of the "Sachsenstimme".
This was just as if they had written to me in gigantic letters:
"But now, finally, surrender the money, or it will go on in this
style!" The most dangerous extortionist is he who goes about his
business in this cunning manner, which is even more clear than a
spoken word, but is beyond the reach of any public prosecutor.
But I nevertheless did not pay anything. Then, in number 44,
there came a second elaboration, in number 46 a third, and in
number 47 a fourth. In number 46 the connection of Mr. Lebius
with Muenchmeyer's business was demonstrated more clearly to me
than before, for it said that the owner of this business had a
large stack of old letters, written by me, in his possession and
could therefore give very detailed information on me, if he only
wanted. But the truth was that he did not possess a single old
letter from me; I, on the other hand, knew now precisely that
Lebius had taken on the job of executing the Muenchmeyers' plan
"to destroy me in the eyes of all of Germany by publishing my
prior convictions in all the newspapers". I was convinced that
the payment of those 10.000 marks would silence him right away,
but I would have been ashamed to look into the mirror, if I had
given him even a single pfennig.

As I had thought, so it happened: Already in number 48, there
came without any provocation, out of the blue, the announcement:
"The four years which Mr. Karl May had been sentenced to spend in
Waldheim were, according to our information, the consequence of
the burglary of a watchmaker's shop." But I have never committed
any burglary. You see, that they did not care about the truth,
but only about "destroying". This number 48 was published on
Christmas Eve. At this time, posters were displayed in the
windows of book-stores of Dresden, announcing the "Sachsenstimme"
with these large, red letters: _"The_prior_convictions_of_Karl_
_May"._ There could not be a more striking evidence that this was
not about literature, but rather the execution of perfectly
despicable intentions! Therefore, let me put an end to this cruel
show here. I cannot bring myself to listing all these so very
great deeds of Mr. Lebius in detail. I only want to say in
summary that he proceeded in this manner, until, after some time,
he had to flee from Dresden. I have compiled the lies, he has
spread about me in his articles from his time in Dresden, to prove
them in court. In spite of the brief time, there are not less
than 142 of them. There probably never was another human being
who has surpassed this! But I am explicitly emphasising that this
list, by no means, contains everything, but rather only a
selection. I could more than double this number, though it is
already very high. I have remained silent on this issue for a
long time, until I could not bear it any longer. Once this time
had come, I finally had to defend myself. I filed a complaint
with the public prosecutor's office for extortion. I submitted
his letters, and the threatening postcard from September the 7th,
1904, as well. The experts declared that it necessarily must have
been Lebius who had written it. But the above mentioned office
was of the opinion that this was insufficient to start an
investigation. And Lebius did his best in all of his statements
to portray me as a person who deserved no credibility. The
definite proof of his skillfulness in this he had given by
reporting to the royal prosecutor's office in Dresden that the
owner of the hotel on the Mount Sinai had been in Dresden and had
been talking very badly about me. And yet, everyone knows that up
to this day there has never been a hotel on the Mount Sinai! I
guess, this sufficiently proves that the creativity of this Mr.
Lebius stops at nothing. Twice, I filed a private lawsuit against
him. One of them was retracted by me during the proceedings,
merely because I was so disgusted with all the filth I had to deal
with there. The other one got him a fine of 30 marks at the first
instance; but he was acquitted in the appeal, because my lawyer
had become ill and sent a replacement, who argued the case without
being fully informed.

This is all I have done against the attacks of Mr. Lebius, which
were just as numerous as they were incessant. This was surely
little enough! That I answered to reporters whenever they came to
ask me, goes without saying. It would be asking too much from me
to demand that I should lie to these gentlemen out of fear of Mr.
Lebius. Nevertheless, he still pretends up to this day that it
was not me who is pursued and assaulted by him, but rather him by
me.

Even after he had fled from Dresden, leaving behind a rather
sizeable amount of debts, his attacks against me did not stop.
Let me just mention the article in the Austrian teachers'
magazine, by which he stirred up about 40.000 teachers to join in
the campaign against me. I kept silent. I even kept silent, when
in Wilhelm Bruhn's magazine "Wahrheit" in Berlin, he
published a perfectly outrageous assault against me, in which he
branded me as an "atavistic criminal", who had been, for almost
one decade, in prisons and penitentiaries on account of "continued
burglaries"! There, he asserted that I had suffered through a
serious, chronical disease, which had "obviously an antisocial"
effect. With this, he had started to continue his machinations
against me in Berlin, which had been interrupted in Dresden.
Unfortunately, I had been compelled to meet with him there in
person, because there was an unavoidable question, which I had to
pose to him in connection with the extensive lawsuit against the
Muenchmeyers. For this purpose, I went to Berlin with my wife.
We discovered his apartment. He were told that he was publishing
a new paper, called "Bund" . We telephoned him.
He told us to meet him at the Cafe Bauer. We followed his
instruction. He came with his wife and her sister. He did not
answer my question. He denied everything. I told him that I
would like to see his new paper. I meant this in a perfectly
honest and good way, without any evil intentions. But he
instantly got into a fit of rage and asked threateningly: "Are
you up to something? If so, I'll proceed against you once again
without delay! Here in Berlin, there are more than twenty papers
like the `Dresdener Rundschau'. They are all at my command, if I
should decide to destroy you! Here, this won't take long at all!"

I answered that I would not think of descending back into the old
filth. My wife said to his wife in a calm and friendly manner
that it was the most beautiful duty of married women to work
towards reconciliation and to soften the harshness of life; then
we left.

This was on September the 2nd or 3rd. _One_month_later,_ on
October the 1st, the following letter arrived from Berlin; I was
away travelling:

"Dear Sir!

"Though you would not know me, I would like to take the liberty of
asking you, whether you could give me any more detailed
information on a certain Mr. Lebius, formerly a resident of
Dresden. The above mentioned gentleman, a former social democrat,
has filed a private suit for gross insult against me, in my
capacity as the former editor in charge of the `Vorwaerts' [a].
In court, I will have to demonstrate what a `honourable gentleman'
Mr. Lebius is. On account of an advice by an colleague from
Dresden, I am now turning to you with every confidence, that you
might perhaps be able to give me any kind of information about
this gentleman. If this should be the case, I am looking forward
to your kind response, which would very much oblige me.

"Most sincerely
Carl Wermuth,
Editor of the `Vorwaerts'."

[a] "Vorwaerts" : The newspaper of the social
democratic party.

I repeat that I was travelling and was therefore unable to grant
this wish, even if I had wanted to. On April the 5th, 1908, this
was
_a_full_half_year_later,_
I received another letter from the editor's office of the
"Vorwaerts":

_"We_regret_that_you_have_not_spoken_out_yet_ regarding the
accusations against you by Lebius, or respectively that you have
_not_supplied_us_with_the_necessary_evidence_ on the slanderous
acts of Lebius in respect to you. As I have been told by my
colleague Wermuth, your wife has informed us that you were
currently travelling and that you were _unable_to_supply_us_with_
_the_desired_material_against_Lebius._ I am hoping that you have
returned from your journey in the meantime und that you will now
. . . ."

I guess, this sufficiently proves _that_it_is_not_me_who_is_
_pursuing_Mr._Lebius,_but_that_he_is_pursuing_me._ Mr. Lebius
pretends that I had approached him at that time on the anniversary
of the battle of Sedan [a] to be able to assist the "Vorwaerts".
Hereby, I am proving that I did not know anything about this
complaint for gross insult at this time yet, but rather that the
"Vorwaerts" only informed me about it one month later and _did_
_not_even_receive_an_answer_ to this after another six months had
passed! Thus, I had spared Mr. Lebius for a full six month,
though it had been made so convenient and easy for me by the
social democratic party to get my revenge against him. _That_I_do_
_not_pursue_him,_but_am,_again_and_again,_being_forced_by_him_to_
_act_in_self_defence,_ is, by the way, also proven by the fact
that I have avoided up to this day to testify as a witness against
him. The situation concerning this testimony in favour of the
editor of the "Vorwaerts" had been like this:

[a] September the 2nd.

Lebius had sued the "Vorwaerts" for gross insult, and the
"Vorwaerts" had named me as a witness, of course without bothering
to ask me first. Lebius was told by his conscience that he could
probably not expect many kind words from this witness. Yes, the
thought even occurred to him that I had already known about my
role as a witness when we met at the Cafe Bauer. This enraged
him. He sent his wife to my wife to Radebeul, to make threats
against me. My wife wished this meeting to take place in my
house; but Mrs. Lebius refused. The two women met at the
restaurant of our railroad-station. There, Mrs. Lebius wanted to
dictate to us, instructed by her husband, what and how I had to
testify as a witness. In particular, I was supposed to declare in
court that he had not written that threatening postcard of
September the 7th in Dresden. If I did not do this, he would have
to start the old fight against me anew. My wife rejected all of
this most decisively, for were were now more convinced than ever
that he was its author. Thus, his wife returned to Berlin,
without having accomplished her mission.

Once Lebius had realized that this attempt had failed, he decided
to render me unfit to testify under oath, and he planned to do so
by means of a pamphlet, which had to be published soon enough
before the appointed time when I was supposed to appear as a
witness. But since this pamphlet, in order to be able to have its
effect, had to be written in such a manner which absolutely
inevitably had to be followed by a criminal prosecution of the
author, which Lebius did not want to bring on himself, he looked
around for a man to act as a front, who did not know him and Karl
May yet and was sufficiently inexperienced, gullible, and in need
of cash to get involved in this, for a few hundred marks, which
would quite certainly _lead_to_a_prison_sentence_ for him,
_without_even_suspecting_a_thing._ He found him in the shape of
certain Mr. F.W. Kahl from Basel, pulled him into his web, and
spun such a network of self-praise and lies around him, that this
young, perfectly honest man almost considered it to be an honour
to be allowed to put himself into the service of such an
important, mentally, socially,and also in legal matters so very
outstanding man.

Lebius, as he generally and always did, approached this matter,
too, in an extraordinarily clever and cunning manner. In the
beginning, he did not mention that it was _solely_ a pamphlet
against _me._ He let the young man believe that he was supposed to
write a SCIENTIFIC work on famous, or rather infamous, men. He
gave him their names; my name was also among them. But when Kahl
went to his work and received his instructions on a daily basis,
these were to the effect that, one after another, all of these
"famous and infamous" men disappeared, until Karl May was the only
one left. And the "scientific" work was to turn into a pamphlet
of the very lowest and most dangerous kind. Kahl realised this
with every day more and more clearly. He started to suspect that,
under the cover of perfect kindness, he was to be led to his doom.
When he told Mr. Lebius straight out what he suspected, Lebius
thought the best thing would be to confess the entire purpose of
the pamphlet to him. He admitted to the following:

| Lebius has sued the editor of the "Vorwaerts" for gross |
| insult. |

| The "Vorwaerts" has named Karl May as a witness against |
| Lebius. |

| Therefore, it is necessary for Lebius to destroy Karl May. |

| In order to achieve this, he will publish this pamphlet, he |
| currently working on. |

| The appointed time for Karl May's testimony is in the |
| beginning of April. |

| Therefore, it is absolutely imperative that the pamphlet will |
| be ready for distribution by April the 1st. |

| If the pamphlet should only be ready by a later date, it |
| would be useless; in this case, he would not have to bother |
| writing it at all. |

| It will be sent to the newspapers, which will report about |
| it. This shall influence the judges. |

| It will also be presented to the judges directly. As soon as |
| this will happen, May will be ruined as a witness. |

When the honest, young man heard this, his scruples became even
greater than they had been before. When he said so and expressed
his worries of being punished in court, Lebius suggested the
following to him:

| As authors, we are anyhow and always with one foot in prison. |

| To have been sentenced in court, is good advertising for us. |
| I also have already been convicted many times. |

| You have no reason at all to be afraid of the courts. You |
| have no prior convictions, you may testify under oath. But |
| May may not testify under oath. |

| May is under police supervision. He has been forbidden to |
| live in a city. Therefore, he lives in Radebeul. |

| I HAVE A GREAT TALENT FOR DEALING WITH THE COURTS. ONCE I |
| START TALKING, THE JUDGES ARE ALL ON MY SIDE! |

| WHEN A PERSON IN A TRIAL WRITES SUCH A PAMPHLET, THIS MAKES |
| AN ENORMOUS IMPRESSION ON THE JUDGES! |

| Mrs. May has begged me with tears in her eyes to have mercy |
| on her husband. |

| May has to be destroyed by this pamphlet. All the rest is |
| unessential, ONLY THERE TO CONCEAL THE TRUE PURPOSE! |

The consequence of these and similarly peculiar verbal
expectorations was that Kahl decided, to distance himself from
this matter. He prohibited Lebius to print anything he had
written or even to abuse his name for this pamphlet. He directed
the very same ban also against the publisher. He thought that by
such means he had ascended quite definitely back out of this
morass. But he did not know Lebius and his audacity yet. The
pamphlet was published, and even precisely on April the 1st. Its
title was:

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