The Moslem (Black) Brotherhood
81
dark, mysterious figures were closing in on all sides. I called
out sharply in a loud voice: "Gamal houna? Where is Gamal?"
At the mention of Gamal's name, the crowd seemed to melt
away; two men came up to me, ceremoniously led me into
a courtyard, then up a flight of stairs to a room on the second
floor. There Gamal waited, with half a dozen other youths,
all bearded like himself.
He shook hands cordially.
"You have made us happy tonight by your visit," he said,
and introduced me to the others. They were all fellow students
at Fouad University. Then he ordered coffee.
"We know another American. He has written us," one of
the Arabs said.
"Maybe I know him," I remarked. "What's his name?"
The student produced a letter addressed to "Shawa Pasha"
of the Moslem Brotherhood, and signed by William T. Frary
of Boston. Beginning "In the name of Allah, the Merciful,"
Frary went on to offer his public-relations services to the
Ikhwan.2
2
William T. Frary, 42, was adopted by a woman twice his age, the
Baroness Adelheid Maria von Blomberg, "daughter of Baron Hugo von
Blomberg, poet and painter of renown," according to Frary. Frary-von Blomberg achieved some notoriety in 1942 while addressing the Hempstead, Long
Island, Rotary Club, when he asserted that "Nazi troops are well disciplined
and are incapable of committing atrocities." This and other remarks were
construed as pro-Nazi and aroused Rotary members to protest his talk as
"German propaganda."
In a publicity release prepared by himself, the former Boston press
agent touted himself as a "business executive" and "international relations
counsel." He claimed to have been public-relations counsel to the National
Restaurant Association, the National Fisheries Association, and the Armenian
National Committee, a defunct adjunct of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
He stated he had been "sent on a special mission to the Vatican, Germany, and London; accompanied Balkan Investigation Committee in Greece";
visited "Arabia as guest of the Saudi-Arabian Government and Aramco . . .
appointed spokesman for twelve million German expellees, honorary member
Polish Home Army, US delegate for Society for Defense of Christianity."
He claimed to have "conferred" with the Duke of Windsor, General Franco,
General de Gaulle, Chancellor Figl of Austria, and Marshal Mannerheim of
Finland.