The Deadly Double

Cover of The New Yorker Magazine, November 22, 1941 issue

No sooner had the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, that the home front became obsessed that lurking in the shadows was a Japanese traitor or Nazi spy, saboteur, or subversive hiding behind every bush, gathering all of the United States’ valuable information.

As a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the nation was on high alert for spies, especially “suspicious looking Orientals.”  Many law enforcement officials took matters into their own hands.  At a major naval base in Norfolk, Virginia, the chief of police located all Japanese aliens living in his city and ordered them jailed – all fourteen of them.  In Newark, New Jersey, police officers’ were given the authority to board trains and arrest all suspicious looking Orientals and to use their own judgement when determining if an individual of Oriental origin “looked suspicious” or not.  Other state’s followed, singling out many individuals as “suspicious looking Orientals.”

Meanwhile, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation spread out across the nation and methodically picked up several thousand individuals listed on their subversives. ( by July 1942, a total of 9,405 loyalty suspects were taken into custody by the FBI.)  In addition to that overwhelming task, the FBI agents had to track down or follow up on the many rumors that flooded the agency’s field offices about people assisting in the attempted sabotage of the United States.

One of the FBI’s investigations focused on two suspicious ads that appeared in the November 22, 1941 issue of the New Yorker Magazine -  sixteen days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.   The strangely worded advertisement promoted “the Deadly Double.” a new dice game which prompted hundreds of calls from curious citizens into the FBI’s Manhattan offices.

The first small ad appeared near the front section of the New Yorker and contained the words:  “Achtung! Warning! Alerte!”  A pair of dice (one black and one white) was featured at the bottom of the one column ad. The numbers 12 and 24, and the XX symbol was shown on the faces of the white die.  On the black die, 0, 5, and 7 were shown on the faces.  The words “See advertisement Page 86” was printed above the images of the dice.

On page 86 the same words were blaring across the pages in bigger text: “Achtung! Warning! Alerte!”  Below the headline were the words ‘The Deadly Double.”  An image of a stylized drawing of an eagle appeared below the words.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, there was speculation that the ads were placed by Nazi and/or Japanese spies as a way of communicating to their agents in the United States that  war was imminent.

The numbers 12 and 7 could have represented the month (December) and the day (the 7th) and the numbers 5 and 0 the time of the planned attack.  The XX could have stood for the approximate latitude of the target.  The numbers 24 could have been a code to designate which enemy has actually placed the ad.

The layout and drawing of the larger ad on page 86 brought about more theories regarding the intended message.  A drawing of what appears to be the noses of three bomber planes flying over the ocean toward their target, which everyone assumed to be Pearl Harbor with what looks like a bomb exploding on the water, antiaircraft shells bursting in the skies, and searchlight beams crisscrossing the sky.

The words “The Deadly Double” has been interpreted to represent the war partners, Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan.  The image of the eagle seemed similar to the symbol of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.

The FBI discovered Monarch Trading Company as the party responsible for placing the ad.   However, it turned out to be a dummy corporation.  A white male was identified as the person who physically brought the plates down to the New Yorker and paid for the ad in cash.  Of course, he did not leave his name or his address.  The FBI was eventually able to identify the man but he mysteriously died a sudden, violent death a few weeks later.

To this day, the question remains:  Was the ads placed in the New Yorker a sophisticated means of communication for German and Japanese espionage operatives in the United States to warn their allies that the Japanese were about to launch a sneak attack somewhere in the Pacific?  Swamped by a deluge of other investigations in light of the Pearl Harbor attack, the understaffed FBI was unable to explore the possibility which is very unfortunate, because once again, on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, at 8:46 a.m., the United States was subjected to yet another sneak attack by al-Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden.

Sources:
Unexplained Mysteries of The World, by William B. Breuer
Wikipedia
PHOTO COURTESY: The New Yorker magazine

Madeleine Noa is a freelance writer from Honolulu, Hawaii who has published articles on a wide range of topics including spas, real estate development in Hawaii, entertainment, luxury yachts, and history. She is also a copywriter and creates sales collateral for small businesses and corporations. She has been an associate writer for "IN" Magazine and "Second City" Magazine, having been published 13 times between the two publications. She currently is involved in the alternative energy industry and in helping to sustain a symphonic orchestra in Hawaii.

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