Eleven Months to Freedom

Eleven Months to Freedom recounts the daring World War I escape of German midshipman Erich Killinger. Falsely accused of bombing a railway station after crashing his plane at sea, he was sentenced to life in the Sakhalin coal mines. Shipped by rail with several other POWs across Russia, Killinger was determined to return home. In order to do this, though, he needed to jump from the train, cross Siberia, and make it to a German-run escape pipeline in China—all while braving bandits, subzero temperatures, threats of starvation, the risk of capture by Japanese and Russian troops, and possible internment by the Chinese. Once he made it to China, Killinger used money and fake identity papers to survive along the 800 miles to Shanghai. Improbably playing the role of a dashing French blade, Killinger lived the high life on one ship, then later served as a humble deckhand on another. Risking discovery by the British, he made a bold and risky move as his final destination neared. After he entered the German-run escape pipeline in Mukden on 12 December 1915, Killinger passed through a series of German consulates and Etappendienst safe houses along the 800-mile route to Shanghai. German Consulates provided high quality identity papers, cover stories, and money. During his 16,000 plus miles trip from Shanghai to Skien, Norway, via the United States, Killinger spent his escape money lavishly, played the role of a French blade, enjoyed a shipboard romance, and traveled across the United States on the nation’s premier trains-the California Limited and the Twentieth Century Limited. He crossed the Atlantic as a deck hand on a three-island tramp that the British took into Stornoway for examination. There Killinger made a bold and risky move to avoid discovery and ultimately reached Skein, Norway safely. He arrived back in Germany on 6 March 1916-eleven months after being captured.