The Ordeal of Henry J
P., S.
On the morning of his scheduled hearing before the Security and Subversive Control Board of the government department in which he worked, Henry J. awoke with a start. His mouth felt dry. He...
...He questioned Henry J. at length about his association with A, stating that A. had been a candidate for a city school board in 1938 and had been backed by the Communist Party...
...It seems funny, I have a family and it is hard for me...
...I have responsibilities...
...The Board counsel seemed particularly interested in Henry J's opinions about sex...
...What do you consider a 'reactionary' to be...
...All testified that there was no scandal connected with the employee or with his family life, that he did not use drugs or liquor, that he was not a sex deviate, that he could not be the subject of blackmail and that he was not sympathetic to people who desired to subvert the government...
...I don't think I could ever have said that except in jest...
...The line of questioning finally told on Henry J. He ignored a cautionary glance from his lawyer and burst out: "I don't know...
...The Board counsel took over...
...Henry J., fortunately, held a high opinion of it...
...The hearing resumed, with the Board advisor pressing forward...
...APPROXIMATELY TWO MONTHS LATER, Henry J. received a letter advising him that the Board had "found that your continued employment would not be clearly consistent with the interests of national security under Executive Order No...
...Yes...
...You stated in 1950 while employed at...
...He went on to inquire in detail about Henry J's hobbies, outside activities, his parents and their activities, his religion and observance of it, his concept of his right to a government job and, suddenly, asked why his parents were not present at the hearing...
...Do you or your wife regularly attend any organized church services...
...THE HEARING TOOK PLACE in a small office adjoining the department from which Henry J. had been suspended...
...The officer was looking for a Communist Party membership card...
...You have expressed pro-Communist statements to at least two fellow employees...
...Had he ever got a letter from Russia, had his parents come from Russia, did his wife have any relatives living in a foreign country...
...How did that get there...
...Yes, I know Mr...
...You don't know...
...You had cohabited for some time with a woman who was not your wife...
...The counsel seemed pleased...
...His eye ran over the list of charges he must disprove.* The initial charge was concisely, if inelegantly, put: "Specifically, it is charged that you continued sympathetic association with a known Communist, read Communist literature and made proCommunist statements...
...He picked up the letter from the Chief of his Bureau...
...Together with his lawyer, he had spent long hours shaping his reply...
...No...
...One of many questions on the subject was: "What do you think of female chastity...
...Henry J's attorney objected that this question invaded his client's privacy, but he insisted on answering...
...It announced his suspension, without pay, and was accompanied by the "interrogatories...
...In your library at home, could you give me an idea of the type of literature or the books that you enjoy accumulating...
...the hearing was winding up...
...Do you by nature get sort of a secret, personal satisfaction out of acting as an individualist...
...If you had knowledge of your brother belonging to any of these organizations that are listed in the Attorney General's list, would you come forward and give that information or would you try to shield him...
...In fact, only the night before he had again gone over it with his counsel in preparation for today's hearing...
...But before Henry J. could reply to this, the Board advisor sug gested that: "The appearance of reform, of course, would be one of the most obvious courses of action for a man to take if he were still actively subversive...
...We don't ask him...
...20450...
...Henry J., while no moral coward, was anxious to retain his government post...
...When I see him—even my mother, he doesn't talk to us about what he has done while he was waiting or where he goes or who he was with...
...I think it still holds good in practical use...
...I don't recall being critical of the property owners...
...Z., a woman school teacher as being of the bourgeoisie because she had purchased a house...
...This was followed by what might be called personal charges: "In 1950, Communist literature (unspecified) was observed in the book shelves and Communist art (Picasso, Matisse, Renoir) was seen on the walls of your residence in...
...A statement from an investigating officer in Henry J's department brought out that in 1931 or 1932 he had searched the person of Henry J. on the job one day and then asked his permission to search his home...
...I bought some of it...
...I was interested to know what Communism was...
...But the Board adviser was not finished...
...J., your file indicates that you were critical at one time of the large property owners of the South...
...He hoped for the best...
...The Board counsel continued: "I'll mention a few words or terms and see if any definition comes to you which can pass on to us...
...The Chairman interrupted testily...
...What else was said...
...When they went to school they both attended church, on and off, in the one we did, which was the Unitarian Church...
...I remember specifically, I had two copies of The Communist...
...On the morning of his scheduled hearing before the Security and Subversive Control Board of the government department in which he worked, Henry J. awoke with a start...
...Henry J. was too surprised to answer...
...In the silence following this outburst it was impossible to tell its effect...
...who is stated to be engaged in activities of an organization which is Communist...
...At this point, Henry J's lawyer felt it advisable to introduce character affidavits from four people in behalf of his client...
...I had arguments with some men on the job...
...I thought they're phoney...
...No reasons were given for this decision...
...Henry J's counsel finally objected to the question, pointing to its hypothetical character and the difficult moral issue posed...
...One such person began his affidavit by referring to his own recent clearance by a governmen Board...
...In my home, yes...
...I don't know if you remember back during the depression...
...E., he's a great kidder...
...You were reported to have 'belittled the capitalistic system,' to have propounded anti-capitalistic theories and to have read literature of a subversive nature...
...If telling the men that I know five languages: Yiddish, Yaddish and Yoddish, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duckski, means bragging, then I was bragging...
...with funds received from The Fund for the Republic...
...I didn't read them...
...A reactionary is somebody who wants to go backwards—I think it's the original definition...
...No, just home training...
...But he had found other things, allegedly given to him by A. "Did they find some Communist literature in your locker at one time...
...But the Board counsel brushed him aside and continued...
...For instance,, the question of his wife and her associations...
...So I am Shadrakh...
...That is a magazine...
...He said, 'You are a Communist.' I replied, 'I am everything, Shadrakh, Communist, Rasputin, Mishakh, Abednego.'" Henry J's lawyer interposed: "Certainly this kind of raillery constitutes no admission by one who has always invariably been opposed to Communism that he was a communist...
...He once said to me, "You are Shadrakh.'" "What did you answer...
...They looked through all of the books and literature...
...His replies to specific accusations were unevasive, no matter how personal or intimate the ground trod upon...
...We do occasionally.' "Have you provided any sort of religious training for your children, sir...
...Abruptly, the Chairman of the Board turned to the matter of Henry J's reading habits...
...but I thought I was joking...
...At a nod from the Chairman of the Board, its legal advisor took over...
...And the Daily Worker you asked me if I bought was given to me as a free subscription for raising money to defend the Scottsboro boys...
...You don't know what you should do...
...Incidentally, I think it was brought out that the investigating officer stated he found other literature, very, very much more than Communist literature...
...Certainly you must agree that everybody who is supported by the Communists is a Communist...
...Would you come forth and tell your supervisor in this agency that your brother was connected in any of these organizations...
...I don't ask him and my mother doesn't...
...This same Board member then passed on to a series of questions about Henry J's brother...
...With Henry J., he had then gone to his home and looked in vain for the card...
...What do you think of those allegations...
...fortunately, the question became lost in his counsel's objections...
...The atmosphere was calm, only semi-judicial and might even be described as genial...
...In your home...
...I thought they're invented...
...After much prodding, Henry J's lawyer had obtained further specifications and charges...
...I was called Trotsky, Rasputin, Atheist, Russky, Mad Russian, Japanese Spy, Shadrakh, Communist, Mishakh, Abednego, Botts, Amazin, etc...
...This is the second time I have been interviewed and questioned about my brother...
...Henry J. read this letter many times...
...continued on page 97 • All charges, questions, answers, etc., as well as all materials quoted are taken directly from Case Studies in Personnel Security, collected under the direction of Adam Yarmolinsky, August 1955, and published by The Bureau of National Affairs, Washington, D.C...
...No, we don't regularly...
...Some things you don't know until they really happen...
...Do you think that a reformed Communist would be entitled to complete trust as much as any other person who never had Communist connections...
...All statements were accepted ino the record...
...is that your answer...
...Mr...
...I think they both have attended...
...Suppose you were reinstated and found out later that your brother was involved in any one of these organizations on the Attorney General's list...
...What was your purpose in buying these books...
...The preliminary round of questioning dealt with what manner of man was Henry J., in what did he believe and with whom did he associate...
...Such was the substance of the accusations...
...Then what...
...Henry J. was not sure whether their absence was a point in his favor or not...
...that your uncle was a Communist...
...In 1941, [A], allegedly a close friend of yours, was on the mailing list of the National Federation of Constitutional Liberties and the Contemporary Book Shop...
...A rather stern member of the Board, hitherto silent, then took over the questioning...
...I had a few Communist pamphlets back in 1932...
...He had minced no words in declaring that .. when her affiliations became known to me, I informed her that she would either disassociate herself with the Communist Party or I would divorce her...
...asked the Board member...
...You exhibited A hypercritical attitude towards society that appeared to reflect indoctrination...
...I used to read the Bible to them now and then...
...I was critical of the mill owners for taking cotton from the share croppers at any price...
...When the FBI, maybe or whoever they were, told me what they thought he was doing, I didn't believe it...
...I remember very well...
...There were the direct political charges: "That about 1937-38 in or around ........, you actively participated in collecting funds for the purchase of an ambulance for the Loyalist Army in the Spanish Civil War...
...Then, without warning, the preliminaries were over...
...Do you know E., who works in your office...
...Germ warfare.'" "It's the spreading of disease by distributing germs...
...continued from page 2 Finally, a series of charges reflecting on the wisdom and nature of Henry J's associations: "You are currently maintaining a close continuing association with your wife...
...Try to shield him from what...
...I don't know what I would do...
...I don't understand what you mean, try to shield him...
...You kidded, chided or ridiculed ` Mrs...
...He had affirmed his belief "in the United States Constitution and form of Government, his awareness of the Communist conspiracy and his opposition to 'Communism and radicalism.' He said that no one had ever called him a 'red' or 'pink' to his face...
...Have you heard the allegation, have you become aware of the allegations that the United Forces in Korea have used germ warfare...
...The questioning continued...
...The Chairman then asked some questions of his own...
...On numerous occasions you have made statements to the effect that people accuse other people of being Communists any time anything goes wrong...•, "You have consistently embarrassed the [Agency] by not paying your debts promptly...
...Henry J's counsel advised against answering that...
Vol. 3 • January 1956 • No. 1
