United States v. Siegel, Civ. No. 1113.

• Decision Date: 11 January 1945
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 1113.
• Citation: 59 F. Supp. 183
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. SIEGEL.

59 F. Supp. 183

UNITED STATES v. SIEGEL.

Civ. No. 1113.

District Court, D. Connecticut.

January 11, 1945.

Thomas J. Dodd, Jr., Sp. Asst. to the Atty. Gen., and Robert P. Butler, U. S. Atty., of Hartford, Conn., for plaintiff.

Dennis P. O'Connor and John W. Joy, both of Hartford, Conn., for defendant.

SMITH, District Judge.

This is an action to cancel the certificate of naturalization of the defendant for fraud and illegality on the ground that the defendant lacked attachment to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, intention to forswear allegiance to the German Reich and assume allegiance to the United States, and intention permanently to reside in the United States, by suit brought under Section 338 of the Nationality Act of 1940, 54 Stat. 1158, 8 U.S. C.A. § 738. The allegations as to attachment to the principles of the Constitution, intention to renounce allegiance to the German Reich, and intention to reside permanently in the United States, relate to the petition for naturalization dated May 1, 1937. Allegations as to renunciation of allegiance to the German Reich and assumption of allegiance to the United States also relate to May 4, 1938, the date of the taking of the oath of allegiance to the United States by the defendant. At the pre-trial conference, it was agreed that the fraud and illegality, alleged in Paragraph 8 of the complaint, in the procurement of the certificate of naturalization related to the state of mind of the defendant as involving lack of attachment to the principles of the Constitution, lack of intention to forswear allegiance to the German Reich and to assume allegiance to the United States of America, and lack of intention permanently to reside in the United States, at the times alleged in the complaint. There is no allegation in the complaint that the statement of intention to reside permanently in the United States contained in the declaration of intention filed September 26, 1943, was fraudulent. In the statement, Government's Exhibit No. 4, the defendant, referring to the time of his declaration of intention (1932) states that he had no particular intention of remaining permanently in the United States. It appears to be the defendant's claim, however, that he did have such an intention at the time of his declaration and also that, at the time of his petition and oath of allegiance, he intended to reside permanently in the United States.

The defendant raises the question of the constitutionality of the act under which this proceeding is brought, permitting the revocation of a decree of naturalization and the cancellation of a certificate obtained by fraud or illegality. The decisions, however, recognize the constitutionality of the act. Baumgartner v. United States, 1944, 322 U.S. 665, 672, 64 S. Ct. 1240. Yet the nature of a set of facts necessary to constitute fraud or illegality within the meaning of the act is still in some doubt. Moore (see Note, 3 Moore — Digest of International Law, Section 422, page 500) questions the applicability of the principle of res adjudicata to a decree of naturalization which he contends is not a judgment terminating a pre-existing controversy, but, on the contrary, a basis of constant and repeated future claims on the part of the beneficiary to the rights and privileges of citizenship and the protective action of the government. He points out that the United States Department of State has declined to recognize, as valid grounds for its intervention, decrees of naturalization which it found by recourse to facts outside the record to have been improperly obtained. The misrepresentation which occurred in the naturalization proceeding in most, if not all, of these cases was a misrepresentation as to the length of residence in the United States.

Here, the question is whether false statements of a state of mind made in the petition, or mental reservations in taking the oath, can constitute fraud within the meaning of the act. The cases up to now appear to assume that they can but frown upon proof of such reservations by inference from later acts or statements. Baumgartner v. United States, supra, at 675. In other words, such false statements or reservations are held to be such fraud as can vitiate a judgment, but the quantum of proof is governed by the fact that it is a judgment the plaintiff attacks.

This may seem to broaden the historic grounds of attack upon judgments, but some such solution is probably justified by the unique nature of the naturalization judgment and the proceedings leading up to it, which impressed this defendant as merely a "clerical procedure". If, therefore, it can be proved by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that the defendant made his petition or took the oath lacking attachment to the principles of the Constitution, or lacking intention to forswear allegiance to the German Reich or assume allegiance to the United States, or lacking intention to reside permanently in the United States, the plaintiff may prevail in this action.

The defendant was born in 1898 in Augsburg, Germany, educated in German schools, and eventually awarded a degree in Business Administration at the University of Munich in 1919. He was not accepted for military service during the First World War but did some hospital service work for a period. Following the war, in 1919, he served for a period in the Free Corps Epp, an irregular military organization which fought against left-wing groups in the civil strife around Munich. This Free Corps episode interrupted his studies but he returned to the University of Munich and was graduated in August, 1919. Thereafter he went to Spain, working in a bank in Spain until June, 1922, and carrying on studies in banking. In October, 1922, he entered the University of Frankfort from which he was graduated in July, 1923, with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics. For one year thereafter, he was employed in a private banking firm, and in the summer of 1924 acquired a partnership in a small private banking firm in which he continued until August, 1930, at first as a partner and later as sole owner. After financial reverses, he made a settlement with his creditors in the spring of 1930 in a court action, establishing the amounts owed and the length of time allowed him to liquidate the indebtedness. His assets at the time appear to have been in excess of his indebtedness, but the assets were not immediately collectible due to the economic depression then prevailing. He continued the business for a short time after the settlement but sold out in August, 1930, to a larger private banking firm. In February, 1931, the defendant came to the United States to study and to obtain some position in the financial business world which would enable him to earn money to apply to the settlement of his debts in Germany and prevent the liquidation of his remaining assets in Germany and those of his wife and daughter and of other relatives which had been endangered by their guarantees of his settlement. He was unsuccessful in obtaining employment of the type sought by him but was offered a teaching position at the University of Connecticut. Since he had entered the United States on a student visa, he then obtained a non-quota immigration visa and entered through Canada as an immigrant September 1, 1931. He has been employed on the faculty of the University of Connecticut since September, 1931. During 1932 and 1933, the defendant was also employed by the German dye trust's New York office in an advisory capacity. The defendant brought his wife to this country in 1931, his daughter in 1932. They have made their residence here with him except for a number of visits to Germany. His daughter has grown up here, with the exception of trips and of one year spent by her at school in Germany. The defendant was never a member of the Nazi Party and, particularly in the early days of Hitler's régime, was opposed to some of its internal policies, notably the regimentation of the people and the methods employed against the Jews. He was always, however, an enthusiastic supporter of Hitler's efforts to expand and strengthen Germany internationally, applauding with a great deal of feeling German diplomatic and military successes. He lectured steadily from the start of his teaching career in this country until 1941, in an effort to present the German viewpoint, particularly on the claimed injustice of the Treaty of Versailles. He kept in close touch with the German government's representatives in the United States, and consulted with them on the subject of his lectures. This lecturing activity he considered a part of the so-called "small propaganda" for the German cause, aimed at justifying the international course taken by Germany and creating a friendlier feeling toward the German government on the part of Americans, as an aid to the German program of creating and expanding a stronger, larger, and more powerful Germany.

When the defendant first came to the United States, he intended to return to Germany. After taking the position at the University of Connecticut, however, his plans seem to have been somewhat indefinite at first, based largely on the hope of cleaning up his indebtedness in Germany and freeing his property there from obligations. This turned out, however, to be a long-drawn-out task, and he was forced to depend largely on his German income from his properties there to cut down the debts. He also attempted to use some of his German income to transfer some funds to himself in the United States and became entangled in legal proceedings brought by the German government against him, in which a penalty was assessed against him for his effort to evade the foreign exchange regulations, in spite of his frequent protestations to the German government of the scope and value of his propaganda activities in this country. In these proceedings, he had his attorney in Germany hold him out as an ardent...