Appearance
Spielberger was an adult German man with short light-brown hair. He wore a typical gray Schutzstaffel uniform with a Totenkopf symbol on his peaked hat and a Obersturmbannführer collar patch on his suit.
Personality
Spielberger was a cold and distant individual. He considered devotion to Nazi Germany more important than love for his own family.
History
Spielberger was a native of the German city of Stuttgart, and he had a wife and child.
Das Wieder Erstehen Des Adlers
Near the end of World War II, Spielberger was ordered by Lieutenant General Lackenbauer of the SD to leave Germany with the painting The Twelve Knights Led by Brunhilda so that it could be used as a symbol for when Nazi Germany supposedly arose again.[1] With authorizations issued by the SS, Spielberger managed to find passage onboard the U-boat U-234 as it left the pens at Kiel by using documents from the secret police. Additionally, the boat was already escorting Lieutenant Colonel Matsudo back to Japan-held Batavia in Indonesia. Unlike Matsudo, who openly socialized with the U-234 crew, Spielberger rarely left his quarters. On the only time that he did leave, it was to voice his objection over Captain Wentzel H. Ahbe's decision to torpedo a British freighter in the Indian Ocean, stating that doing so would not change the war's outcome. Ahbe was shocked to hear Spielberger's tone of defeat, but continued the attack, stating that unless he heard from his superiors otherwise, he and his crew would continue to fight to the very end.
The voyage was uneventful until the U-234 was miles from their objective. There on March 25, 1945, the sub found that a U.S. Navy patrol fleet was above the ocean surface, searching for Japanese submarines. Despite firing a torpedo to divert the patrol away, one destroyer remained above, forcing Ahbe to take the U-boat into silent running. The enemy destroyer then used its active sonar, after which it fired its depth charges, sending U-234 into a nose-first dive to the ocean floor—one that it would never surface from. After learning from his surviving crew members about the dire circumstances of their situation, Ahbe relieved them of their duties to face death in their own way (Matsudo had already committed seppuku by then).[2]
While still sitting alone in the barracks area, Spielberger was met by Ahbe, with the former demanding to know when they would be surfacing. After receiving the bad news, Spielberger then angrily insulted Ahbe and fanatically elaborated on his mission, which was to deliver the painting he was carrying and hide it until the Nazis were once again in power somehow. By then, Ahbe was disgusted by his defeatist attitude and openly told him that maybe his submarine's sinking may have been God's will for everything his crew sacrificed themselves for. The captain also expressed his disgust of having to share a coffin with the likes of the SS officer who was not thinking of his wife or child from Stuttgart in their final moments. Offended, Spielberger ordered Ahbe to retract everything he said since, according to him, love for one's family could not be compared to devotion to one's country. Ahbe continued to calmly rail against him, prompting the furious Spielberger to pull out his Luger pistol and shoot Ahbe in the head, killing him.[1]
He then stood up and was going to kill himself, but the U-234
References
- ↑ Chapter 05: Das Wieder Erstehen Des Adlers Part 1
- ↑ Episode 04: Die Rückkehr des Adlers
- ↑ Episode 05: Eagle Hunting and Hunting Eagles