U.S. v. Hajda, 94 C 5174.
| Decision Date | 11 April 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 94 C 5174.,94 C 5174. |
| Citation | 963 F.Supp. 1452 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Bronislaw HAJDA, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Linda Wawzenski, U.S. Attorney's Office, Chicago, IL, Edward A. Stutman, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Special Investigation, Criminal Div., Washington, DC, for U.S.
George B. Collins, Gregory Abbott Bedell, Collins & Bargione, Chicago, IL, Paula M. Uscian, Uscian & Eccleston, Chicago, IL, for Bronislaw Hajda.
This matter is before the court pursuant to a complaint filed under Section 340(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended (hereinafter, the "INA"), 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a), to revoke the citizenship of defendant Bronislaw Hajda (hereinafter "Defendant" or "Hajda"), set aside the November 29, 1955 order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan admitting Defendant to citizenship, and cancel Certificate of Naturalization No. 7537428 issued pursuant to that order. The government seeks this relief on the ground that Defendant was ineligible to receive a visa to the United States for the following reasons: During the period of the German occupation of Poland during World War II,
1. Defendant served as an SS auxiliary in the guard units at SS Training Camp Trawniki;
2. Defendant served as an armed guard at the Treblinka Labor Camp;
3. Defendant served in the SS Battalion Streibel; and
4. Defendant misrepresented his activities during the war in an effort to gain entry into the United States.
The parties have submitted an extensive "Statement of Uncontested Facts and Law" in the Pretrial Order. Subsequently, the parties filed "Additional Agreed Findings of Fact." For purposes of continuity, the statement and the additional agreed findings will be attached to this memorandum opinion and are incorporated by reference into this court's findings. See Attachments "A" and "B," respectively.
The Government's Case Against Bronislaw Hajda
There can be no serious dispute that on or about January 9, 1943, one Bronislaw Hajda arrived at the Training Camp at Trawniki, Poland, was processed as a guard, and assigned identification number 3069. For present purposes, that person will be referred to as "Wachmann (guard private) Hajda."
As part of his training, Wachmann Hajda guarded prisoners at the Trawniki Labor Camp and was armed with a rifle. On or about March 22, 1943, Wachmann Hajda was transferred as part of a group of 55 Trawniki men1 to SS Labor Camp at Treblinka ("Treblinka Labor Camp") to serve as reinforcements for the guard detachment. At the Treblinka Labor Camp, his unit guarded the perimeter of the camp to prevent prisoners from escaping and also guarded prisoners en route to and from the slave labor sites and the sites themselves. In addition to the guard rosters and transfer lists identifying Wachmann Hajda as a guard at Trawniki and Treblinka, several persons who admitted to being guards at Treblinka identified Wachmann Hajda as also being a guard. In testimony at proceedings following World War II, several of these former guards identified Wachmann Hajda as having participated in atrocities, including the mass killing and beating of Jewish and Polish prisoners at the Treblinka Labor Camp. (See, e.g., Government Exhibits (Govt. Exs.) Nos. 8, 87, and 196). It is undisputed that unspeakable horrors were routinely visited upon the Jewish and Polish prisoners at the camp. (See Statement of Agreed Facts attached hereto.)
On or about July 22, 1944, as the Russian army advanced, all but a few Jewish prisoners at the Treblinka Labor Camp were massacred by camp guards as part of the evacuation of the facility. All of the guard units serving at the camp participated in this horrible activity. The camp was completely evacuated a day or two later.
Following the evacuation, members of the guard detachment from Treblinka regrouped in the City of Kielu and later rejoined the remaining members of the SS Training Camp Trawniki, forming SS Battalion Streibel (hereinafter the "Streibel Battalion"). The name Bronislaw Hajda and identification number 3069 appear on a list of 20 guards assigned to a unit of the Streibel Battalion located on the Vistula River. At some time during this period, Wachmann Hajda was promoted to the rank of SS Oberwachmann (private first-class). As of December 14, 1944, Oberwachmann Hajda was listed on a roster of the "Detachment Platoon Pinczow." On December 19, 1944, he was detailed to the "Detachment Belh." On January 5, 1945, he was transferred to the 1st Company of the Streibel Battalion at Motkovice, Poland. As the Soviet Army drove westward, the Streibel Battalion retreated. By mid-February 1945, the Streibel Battalion set up a new headquarters in Medingen, Germany, ten miles north of Dresden. Oberwachmann Hajda remained a member of that unit until at least April 6, 1945.
On the night of February 13, 1945, Anglo-American bombers unleashed their terrible incendiary bombing raids on the City of Dresden. The newly arrived members of the Streibel Battalion, including Oberwachmann Hajda, were assigned to clear away the rubble and remove bodies. Some time before April 25, 1945, the Soviet Army overran the positions of the Streibel Battalion. While he remained on the guard roster as of April 16, 1945, it is not clear whether Oberwachmann Hajda deserted his unit near Dresden, or whether he retreated with it into Czechoslovakia where the Streibel Battalion disintegrated near the end of April 1945. Near the end, officers of the Streibel Battalion advised their men to move west in small groups and to surrender to the United States armed forces rather than to Soviet troops.
Documents from Russia establish that the Wachmann Hajda's personnel file was in the possession of Soviet authorities after the war. Although the file is missing, its contents are summarized in Soviet records. The following information is known about Wachmann Hajda from those records:
Name: Bronislaw Stanislaw Hajda
Born: March 19, 1924
Birth place: Jordanov, Poland
Nationality: Gurale
Citizenship: Poland
Occupation: Bootmaker (cobbler)
Height: 165 centimeters
Facial shape: Oval
Color of eyes: Blue
Hair color: Blond
The following is known about Defendant Hajda:
Name: Bronislaw Hajda
Born: March 19, 1924
Birth place: Jordanov, Poland
Nationality: Gurale
Citizenship: Poland (originally)
Occupation: Apprentice cobbler
Height: 173 centimeters (currently)
Facial shape: Oval
Color of eyes: Blue
Hair color: Dark brown/black(currently)
In addition, Defendant's father was named Stanislaw. It was customary to give the father's name as the son's middle name.
The government contends that these similarities establish beyond any reasonable doubt that Defendant and Wachmann Hajda are the same person. Moreover, the government cites to statements by Defendant's father and sister made in connection with postwar proceedings that Defendant worked with the SS during the war. Kazimiera Hajda stated, "[M]y brother served in the German military, in the SS." (Govt. Ex. 182 at 2 (English Translation)). Stanislaw Hajda stated, "[M]y son went to Germany to join the SS." (Govt. Ex. 187 at 4 (English Translation)).
The Defendant contends that he is not, and could not be, Wachmann Hajda because Defendant never served as a guard at Trawniki, Treblinka, or in the Streibel Battalion. While Defendant disputes that he served in these units and that he misrepresented his wartime activities in order to gain entry into the United States, he does not dispute that such activities, if proven, would have rendered him ineligible to receive a visa under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 ("DPA"), Pub.L. No. 80-774, ch. 647, 62 Stat. 1009, June 16, 1950, Pub.L. No. 81-555, ch. 262, 64 Stat. 219 (1950).
Defendant testified that he was born in the small town of Jordanov, Poland, on March 19, 1924. His mother was Zofia, and his father was Stanislaw, a shoemaker. Defendant had a brother Wladyslaw, and two sisters, Maria and Kazimiera. Before the war, Defendant had obtained six years of schooling.
Some time in 1942, Defendant was traveling by train to Warsaw to purchase leather for his father when he was arrested by Gestapo agents on the train. He was taken to Warsaw to a prison called Pawiak. Later he was taken to another prison in Warsaw, where he remained for approximately six months. He was then transferred to another prison in Krakow, called Montelupich. He remained there for less than six months before being transferred to Camp Pustkow (hereinafter "Pustkow"). He does not remember the date on which he arrived at Pustkow.
When he arrived at Pustkow, Defendant was taken to the office where those in charge took the names of the prisoners and gave them numbers. He does not recall his number, except that it contained the numerals "2 and 0" and the remaining number was fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen. The prisoners' numbers were sewn on the front and the rear of their clothing. At Pustkow, Defendant wore the same clothing that he was wearing when he was arrested on the train. He wore his prison uniform over his own clothing.
Defendant recalls cutting trees, unloading prefabricated barracks from rail cars, and digging tank traps at Pustkow. He also recalls seeing rockets at Blizna when he was working nearby. In addition, he remembers an incident when a V-2 rocket crashed and killed a German general and seeing the casket of the general with a flag draped across it. This was one of only a few times that he saw a dead person during his stay at Pustkow. The second time was when his work party was returning to camp one evening. The body of a prisoner who...
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