Major Rathbone's accomodation in Hannover

[Laurie Verge]

In the process of trying to find something in my computer files, I ran across the following tidbit on Henry Rathbone's medical care. I have no idea where it came from, but I certainly copied it from somewhere:

On December 23, 1893, the tenth anniversary of the murder of Rathbone's wife, Dr. Rosenbach [the Royal Prussian Court Physician], who had previously been unable to get Rathbone to talk about either his wfe's death or Lincoln's assassination, asked him if he would agree to be hypnotized in an attempt to alleviate his distress. Rathbone reluctantly agreed, but he had one condition that he and Rosenbach switch clothing, so that if "they" came while he was in a trance "they" would not be confused as to whom was the real Rathbone. Doctor Rosenbach apparently agreed and wearing Rathbone's smoking jacket proceeded to put his patient under.

Among the things Rosenbach noted was Rathbone's reliving the night with "a stranger" who had shot his wife and at the same time inflicted new knife wounds on him. However, it was when Rosenbach questioned Rathbone about Lincoln's assassination that Rathbone, in what Rosenbach termed a "dramatic reenactment," described the suddeness of Booth's appearance in the box at Ford's Theatre saying that as Booth strode up behind Lincoln: "Herr Booth exclaimed ich bringen auf lhre Union" ["I bring blessings to your Union]. Dr. Rosenbach supposedly stopped the session shortly afterwards when Rathbone fell to the floor in fetal position and proceeded to scream uncontrollably. Rosenbach claimed Rathbone never agreed to hypnosis again, stating that "them" and "they" forbid him for ever from doing so.