United States v. Rossler, 307.
| Decision Date | 06 July 1944 |
| Docket Number | No. 307.,307. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. ROSSLER. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Joseph L. Petrunick, of Syracuse, N. Y., for appellant.
Robert M. Hitchcock and D. E. Balch, Sp. Assts. to Atty. Gen., and Irving J. Higbee, U. S. Atty., and B. Fitch Tompkins, Asst. U. S. Atty., both of Syracuse, N. Y., for appellee.
Before L. HAND, SWAN, and CHASE, Circuit Judges.
Rossler appeals from a judgment of the district court cancelling his certificate of naturalization upon a complaint for fraud in its procurement, on the ground that he was at the time not "attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States," and that he did not "in good faith intend to renounce * * * all allegiance and fidelity to the German Reich" of which he was a subject. The following are the crucial findings made by the judge after a trial. The "German-American Bund" was "a German militant `Fifth Column' organization in the United States, antagonistic to the democratic form of government and to the Constitution and laws of the United States." The "principles of German National Socialism are the antithesis in all respects to the principles of democracy and to the Constitution and laws of the United States." Rossler joined the Syracuse unit of the "Bund" "early in the Fall of 1938"; and for "from five to eight months beginning some time in 1939 and ending in January, 1940" he "acted as leader" of that unit. Finally, "as evidenced by his membership in the Bund, his leadership and activity therein, his adoption of the aims and purposes thereof, together with the beliefs and actions possessed, expounded and performed by him," he did not really renounce his allegiance, or mean to defend the United States "against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Upon these findings the judge concluded that Rossler had fraudulently procured his certificate, and that it should be cancelled.
The evidence in support of the findings was in substance as follows. Rossler was born in Germany of German parents in 1907, came to this country in 1926, and joined his brother who lived in Syracuse. He went back in November, 1928, married a German in 1930, and came again to this country on May 18, of that year. He was a wood carver by trade, got a job in Colorado Springs soon after he returned, and brought his wife over to join him. He swore that he had never formed any political connection with the Nazi party during his stay in Germany, and the only evidence even remotely bearing upon his beliefs or national attachments before he was naturalized was the testimony of three acquaintances in Colorado Springs. Two of these — husband and wife — swore that they had heard Rossler and his wife in "argument": he Another acquaintance, Kuhlman, quoted Rossler as saying that he had been a Nazi in Germany (presumably before 1926): "they went around and marched and trained; * * * the new party was good and this youth organization would make a different rule in Germany." Rossler had frequently argued with his father-in-law, who was a Liberal Socialist, while Rossler was a Nazi; Rossler thought that party the "best," and hoped that it "would win out."
Even were the test not so severe as that which ...
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United States v. Title, Civ. No. 17368.
...approved by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Tauchen v. Barber, 9 Cir., 1950, 183 F.2d 266, 267. Cf. United States v. Rossler, 2 Cir., 1944, 144 F.2d 463, 465. For comments on the tests for determining "attachment to the principles of the constitution" as laid down in these cas......
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