Spielberger was a Stuttgart native and Waffen SS officer who served in World War II. He was married with a daughter. His superior, Alfred, ordered him to guard a painting called "The Twelve Knights Led by Brunhilda" and secure passage out of Germany. With SS authorization, Spielberger boarded the U-1324 as it departed from Kiel, heading toward Japan-occupied Batavia in Indonesia. Lt. Col. Matsuda was also aboard, returning to Java.
While Matsuda mingled freely with the crew, Spielberger kept to himself. The one exception came when he emerged to protest Captain Wentzel Ahbe's decision to torpedo a British carrier in the Indian Ocean—a move Spielberger saw as pointless, insisting it wouldn't change the war's outcome. Ahbe dismissed his defeatist tone and pressed ahead with the attack.
The voyage stayed quiet until U-1324 neared its destination. A U.S. Navy patrol appeared on the surface hunting Japanese subs. After a failed torpedo diversion, one destroyer stayed put and forced the U-boat into silent running. When active sonar locked on, depth charges sent U-1324 into a fatal nosedive toward the ocean floor.
Ahbe released the surviving crew to face death as they saw fit. Matsuda had already chosen seppuku. When Ahbe encountered Spielberger later, the SS officer demanded to know when they'd surface. Learning the truth, Spielberger revealed his real mission: deliver the painting and keep it hidden until Nazi power returned. Ahbe, already disgusted, responded coldly that perhaps God had willed the submarine's sinking as judgment for everything his crew had sacrificed—and that he despised dying alongside an SS fanatic.
Spielberger, enraged at what he took as anti-Nazi remarks, ordered Ahbe to recant. When Ahbe refused, calmly continuing his criticism, Spielberger drew his Luger and shot him twice in the head. He then attempted suicide, but the crew, hearing shots, rushed in seeking vengeance for their captain. Spielberger killed three men before being shot down himself.
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