MT: kleine Welt

I'd been following the story of the Montana Sedition Project long before I discovered that I knew someone with a personal, family connection.

From the University of Montana:

J-School, Law School join forces for justice

The best success story thus far has been finding Billings attorney Steve Milch, the great-grandson of Joe Milch, one of the convicted. Coincidentally, Milch works at a different branch of the same law firm that employs Jason Loble in Helena. Loble is the great-grandson of the Lewis and Clark county attorney who prosecuted Milch’s great-grandfather and great-great uncle, John Milch. The Billings Gazette ran an article about this twist of fate...

From the NY Times:

Pardons Granted 88 Years After Crimes of Sedition

When Steve Milch found out recently that his great-grandfather, an immigrant from Bavaria, had been convicted of sedition in Montana during World War I, he was taken aback. It was something no one in the family had ever talked about...

But the silence — and for some families, the shame — has ended... Gov. Brian Schweitzer... posthumously pardon(ed) 75 men and three women...

Mr. Milch said the official acknowledgment, even after so many years, offered comfort and closure to the families.

"The whole Milch clan is appreciative of making things right," he said...

Mr. Milch's great-grandfather, John Milch, was turned in by an undercover agent named Eberhard Von Waldru... Mr. Von Waldru went into a German beer hall and drew out people's feelings on the war. His testimony was used against Mr. Milch; his brother, Joseph; and six other men. All were convicted, and four went to prison.

John Milch was sentenced to three to six years, but the law had expired by the time he was to begin serving his term. Joseph was fined $1,800.

Steve Milch said that although his family was not aware of the arrest, they did know about the anti-German sentiment of the time.

"There was a story that a mob of people was going around asking Germans to kiss the flag," Mr. Milch said. "My great-grandfather told them he didn't kiss anybody's flag, whether it was American or German."

Mr. Milch also had another surprise in store. He discovered that the great-grandfather of another lawyer in his firm was the Helena prosecutor who hired Mr. Von Waldru. "His great-grandfather prosecuted my great-grandfather," Mr. Milch said...

Steve Milch was in my law school class at U of I. The past isn't dead, it isn't even past.