Securing the Homeland Today Strikingly Similar to Government's Actions During WWII
Author and teacher cites parallels with the treatment of German American citizens during WWII and civil liberties issues raised since 9/11.
(PRWEB) October 23, 2004 -- Loyalty on Trial: One American's Battle with the
FBI provides a case study of how the government responded to what it perceived
to be disloyal German American citizens during WWII. According to its' author,
Winter Park Florida resident and teacher of U.S. Government and Politics, Erik
V. Wolter, this parallels the way the government reacts today as it struggles to
find a balance between safeguarding civil liberties and assuring national
security. Wolter offers an analysis of the issues raised then and now with a
careful comparison of what is at stake for all Americans.
"In an effort
to assure Americans during WWII that the homeland was secure from subversives
and potential saboteurs, the loyalty of German Americans was challenged by the
FBI," said the author. "The First Amendment issues raised in this case and
others were ultimately heard by the Supreme Court of the United States," Wolter
added.
Loyalty on Trial reveals that Arthur Wolter, the author's father,
was accused of being the "power behind the throne" of an organization targeted
by J. Edgar Hoover during WWII as subversive and un-American. Referenced in the
index files of the House Special Committee on un-American Activities as the
"poet-laureate of the German American Bund," Arthur Wolter's writings were used
against him in the government's attempt to revoke his citizenship.
The
historical context of how Arthur Wolter's story fits into the larger picture of
the Roosevelt/Hoover Era of pursuing domestic security by using internment,
deportation, and denaturalization - while grabbing emergency powers that skirted
the law - is detailed in the Foreword to Loyalty on Trial. Professor Arnold
Krammer of Texas A&M University writes the Foreword. Krammer is an expert in
German American history and the author of Undue Process: The Untold Story of
America’s Enemy Aliens.
According to the author, the purpose of Loyalty
on Trial is, “to provide a small but missing piece of the historical puzzle
concerning the erosion of our Constitutional rights from within. When government
seeks expedient means to achieve a 'greater good,' our history has already
provided us with enough 'red flags' for a wake-up call." He added, "For me, as a
teacher, what made the story worth documenting was not a desire to posthumously
defend my father's name. He pursued his legal vindication in the courts.
Instead, the impetus to tell the story of his loyalty on trial - this one
American's battle with the FBI - is to wave one of those red flags. Students and
others who value our rights must recognize the need to remain ever vigilant over
those who govern us."
Loyalty on Trial: One American's Battle with the
FBI was published in September 2004 (ISBN 0-595-32703-6) by iuniverse press. The
book is the recipient of the "Editor's Choice" Award. It is available online for
$26.95 at www.iuniverse.com, or any online bookseller such as Amazon,
Barnes and Noble, Borders, and BooksaMillion.
Contact:
Erik V.
Wolter
407-619-1358
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/10/prweb170786.htm