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Herbert Reiner Jr., also Herbert "Tom" Reiner Jr. or Tom Reiner (September 21, 1916 – December 28, 1999) was an American diplomat who took the lead in apprehending Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, Nathuram Godse, at a prayer meeting in Birla House, New Delhi, on January 30, 1948. In the brief moments after the assassination, as the attending crowd stood stunned, Reiner rushed forward, grasping Godse by the shoulders, and controlling him until he was captured, an action that was reported in newspapers around the world.

Biography

Reiner was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, and raised in Lancaster, Massachusetts, attending Leominster High School in Leominster, Massachusetts, and graduating in the class of 1933. He received his bachelor's degree from Bates College, and a master's from Clark University. He served in the US Navy in World War II as a Sino-American Cooperative Organization (SACO) economic intelligence assistant, and was discharged in 1946 as a Lieutenant Commander.. He arrived in newly independent India in 1947 as a disbursing and financial officer for the US State Department, in the US Embassy in New Delhi, with rank of vice-consul. During the Korean War, Reiner served as a consul general during the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter, and in later years as consul general in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Johannesburg, South Africa. He ended his diplomatic career in Canberra, Australia, and moved to Cape Cod in 1976. Herbert Reiner Jr. died on Dec. 28, 1999, at his home in Cotuit, Massachusetts.

Capture of Gandhi's assassin

After arrival in New Delhi, Reiner had written to his parents, expressing a wish to see Gandhi at one of his evening prayer meetings. In October 1947, Gandhi had moved to New Delhi in order to stem the violent riots that had torn the province of Punjab after the partition of India. He had been living in two unpretentious rooms at Birla House, a large mansion in central New Delhi, and conducting evening prayer meetings in the raised garden behind the mansion. On January 30, 1948, Reiner found himself standing in the garden among a few hundred curious others waiting for Gandhi's arrival. Gandhi, running a little late, was quickly walking up the steps leading to the lawn. What transpired next, and Reiner's role in it, was memorably captured by the BBC's correspondent, Robert Stimson, who witnessed the event, and filed a radio report that night:

"As he got to the top of the steps ... (a) thick-set man. in his 30's, I should say, and dressed in khaki, was in the forefront of the crowd. He moved a step toward Mr. Gandhi, took out a revolver and fired several shots at almost point-blank range. It did not sound like a revolver but like a Chinese cracker a child might have let off. Mr. Gandhi fell. For a few seconds no one could believe what had happened; every one seemed dazed and numb. And then a young American who had come for prayers rushed forward and seized the shoulders of the man in the khaki coat. That broke the spell. There was a terrible cry of anguish—a wailing lament—from the crowd. Half a dozen people stooped to lift Gandhi. Others hurled themselves upon the attacker. I saw flailing arms beating his head and shoulders, and soon there was blood on his face. He was overpowered and taken away."

Robert Trumbull, of The New York Times, who was also an eyewitness, filed the following version of events on January 31, 1948:

"One bullet struck Mr. Gandhi in the chest and two in the abdomen on the right side. He seemed to lean forward and then crumpled to the ground. His two granddaughters fell beside him in tears. A crowd of about 500, according to witnesses, was stunned. There was no outcry or excitement for a second or two. Then the onlookers began to push the assassin more as if in bewilderment than in anger. The assassin was seized by Tom Reiner of Lancaster, Mass., a vice consul attached to the American Embassy and a recent arrival in India. He was attending Mr. Gandhi's prayer meeting out of curiosity, as most visitors to New Delhi do at least once. Mr. Reiner grasped the assailant by the shoulders and shoved him toward several police guards. Only then did the crowd begin to grasp what had happened and a forest of fists belabored the assassin as he was dragged toward the pergola where Mr. Gandhi was to have prayed. he left a trail of blood."

See also

• Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

References

Notes

1. "A crowd of about 500, according to witnesses, was stunned. There was no outcry or excitement for a second or two. Then the onlookers began to push the assassin more as if in bewilderment than in anger. The assassin was seized by Tom Reiner of Lancaster, Mass., a vice consul attached to the American Embassy and a recent arrival in India. He was attending Mr. Gandhi's prayer meeting out of curiosity, as most visitors to New Delhi do at least once. Mr. Reiner grasped the assailant by the shoulders and shoved him toward several police guards. Only then did the crowd begin to grasp what had happened and a forest of fists belabored the assassin as he was dragged toward the pergola where Mr. Gandhi was to have prayed. he left a trail of blood."
2. "The crowd was paralyzed as the two grandchildren lifted the frail Gandhi and carried him into his room in Birla House. Tom Reiner, the United States vice-consul, a newcomer to India, who had attended the prayer meeting, seized the assassin ..."
3. "LCDR Herbert (Tom) Reiner, a former SACO economic intelligence assistant, reported for duty at the U.S. embassy, New Delhi, India, in January 1948."
4. Mr Reiner, who is 32, went to India in 1947 as a disbursing and financial officer for the American State Department. He served in the navy during the war, and was discharged as a Lieutenant Commander."
5. "STAMFORD, Conn, Jan. 31- Herbert Reiner Jr., the American who seized the assassin of Mohandas K. Gandhi, had recently expressed the hope in a letter that he might some day see the Indian leader and attend one of his prayer meetings. His mother, Mrs. Herbert Reiner Sr.. said at her home here today that it was apparently to fulfill that hope that her son was present when Mr. Gandhi was slain."
6. "After arriving in India, Reiner wrote to his mother of his hope to meet Gandhi and attend one of his prayer meetings. On Jan. 30, 1948, he went to a prayer meeting to catch a glimpse of Gandhi. It was to be Gandhi's last meeting."

Citations

1. ^ Obituary, May 26 2000.
2. ^ Obituary, May 21 2000.
3. ^ Trumbull 1948.
4. ^ The Associated Press 1948.
5. ^ Staff Writer; no by-line 1948.
6. Stimpson 1948.
7. Pronko & Bowles 2013, p. 343.
8. ^ Singer 1953, p. 194.
9. ^ Allston 1995, p. 341.
10. Pronko & Bowles 2013, pp. 342–343.

Works cited

• Allston, Frank J. (1995), Ready for Sea: The Bicentennial History of the U.S. Navy Supply Corps, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 978-1-55750-033-5
• Obituary, May 21 (May 21, 2000), "Herbert Reiner Jr., Diplomat, 83; Captured Gandhi's killer in 1948", The Boston Globe {{citation}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Obituary, May 26 (May 26, 2000), "Herbert Reiner Jr.; Captured Gandhi's killer", Los Angeles Times, retrieved January 27, 2017{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Office of the Historian, US State Department, Herbert Reiner Jr (1916–1999)
• Pronko, N. H.; Bowles, J. W. (2013), Empirical Foundations Of Psychology, Taylor & Francis, p. 343, ISBN 978-1-136-32708-7
• Singer, Kurt D. (1953), The Men in the Trojan Horse, Beacon Press
• Staff Writer; no by-line (February 2, 1948), "Report H. S. Graduate as first to reach and hold Gandhi assailant", Leominister Daily Tribune, Leominster, Mass, retrieved January 27, 2017{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Stimpson, Robert, BBC (January 30, 1948), "India: The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi", Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News Roundup, retrieved January 27, 2017{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• The Associated Press (February 1, 1948), "American who held killer 'Wanted to see Gandhi'", The New York Times
• Trumbull, Robert (January 31, 1948), "Gandhi is killed by a Hindu; India shaken; World mourns; 15 die in rioting in Bombay", The New York Times

• Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi
• Bates College alumni
• Clark University alumni
• American diplomats
• 1916 births
• 1999 deaths