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| \ | & 8 JEN 30 1853 | oe 4: OBODY knows how much undiscovered dynamite still Hes buried in the files of the House committee on UnAmert- ean Activities. The committee began work in 1938 very much under e cloud of Administration disapproval. Fer years it ekutked along wnsure either of where It was It got no cooperation from the Executive branch, but instead, direct opposition. In- stead of the Department, of Justice working in close associa- tion with the committee to stoly communism, it the committee. , even sc, the committee's record of achievement in nalling some of this country’s Worst enemies, is remarkabiy geocd. Maybe it Jooks so good because the Department of Justice looks zo bad. But anshow, here is a sample ef the sort of dynamite its werara holds j reterd nods, wne day in December. 1929. + Maas cuuummtiee culled to the wit- mess snehd a Negro, William Odel-Nowell of Detroit, Mich. ATOWELL had two important JN characteristics. First, he had been a Communist from 1929 to 1936 and had become an ex- tremely importznt azent travel- ing between the U.S.A. and Moscow, on missions of great 4mnartanee ta the narty, amportance 6 tie Partly. Second, Nowell bad ene ef those freak minds. He was cap- able of almost absolute and tetal recall of names, dates, Waces and remarks, He filled the pages with in- formation, the value of which it was impossible to estimate at the time. HILE he was in the midst of testifyinz, Mrs. Franklin D. Rooseveit actualiy came to the cotamittee rooms and, attended by numerous young Commu- nists, took up Ler knitting at a fonspicuous corner of the com- moittce tadie. Rhea Whitely, former FRI agent and then chief counsel of the committee, was in the proc: e's of asking Nowell about othe* Americans he had seen m Mos- caw in 1931, and Nowell wat rittling off names at a great rate. 1 - # By Frank C. Waldrop worked to sto “ errs = a A Ra = | how many Adminisiration of;% as Me paused for breath and said: «,.. Also, I met in Moscow a Mr. Gebhardi, who was from the German Communist party. He was a German by birth. He was a representative of the Ger- man Cotemuni-t party but in re cent years he had been inter- ested in and working on Amer- ican problems.” “So he had worked with the Amrrican commission of the Communist international. E's teraveled through America iti 1699 and 2 martinn of 1074 F iro MA PA a loelieve I met him in 1933. As a representative of the Comirl- tern he traveled under the alias of Edwards.” OBODY knew it then, but 47 those 10 lines of testimony Were pregnant with news that would break years later on every page one in America. That news would send men to jail. Ia would drag in the name of Mrs. Roosevelt and rive Hol. iyneud goose pimples, and em- arr ta-Cnoersecretary of ——s pyar.) State Samner Welles. For the "Mr. Gebhardt” whom none other than Gerhar S lar ‘he fant that Norffall genic ONss S4KG Ole MHI BTU se CA he had seen “Mr. Gebhardt” in America in 1933 traveling under the elias of Edwards, was the tlue that committee agents maught and foliowed, patiently and silently, from 1939 to 1947, i With no more evidence to start on than that, they ult+ mately hit a trail that led to: Gerhardt Alister, singled ow; later by the FBI as the mos; dangerous Communist in Amet- ica. now in Berlin heading « cold war on this country that May turn hat at any moment. HannsEisler, his brother, whom Mrs. Roosevelt had inter ceded for ¥ith Welles, with one of those famous “Dear Sumner* letters on Wh:te House station ery. Leon _sesefhion, who told an Americ consul in Denmark once 4hat he was the party's man, and “anything short of murder,” he would do on order of the party. False passports, theft, fraud, perjury, all these and mote were put in the recerd that afternoon Mrs. Roosevelt listened and nitted for the newsreel cam- eras, while Nowell testified. But EL A SR RL ers had interest in it? 4 Nowell had met in Moscow was, wie I Ai nal. 1939 was one of ti] mittee's biggest years for hooking big names ‘and Sdentifying organizations for : the public's understanding. ! Some of the main conse. quences that came on in time: Fritz Kuhn, fuehrer of the German-American Bund, was sent to prison for mishandling of the funds of his organization. Earl Browder, general secre tary of the Communist party, and William Weiner, party treasurer, were indicted on false passport charges. | Nicholas Dozenberg was :tharged with counterfeiting . AMerTiean money oo Giuers Irom the Communist Yrtorerticuel | Officials of Bookniga, Soviet Propaganda agency, pleaded guilty to the charge of failing to register as forciem events. Arno Rissi and Mrs. Leslie wry, West coast Nazi and Fay; plet laedere fled the enuntry See SRL, SEL EER WM Fe - But did anybody thank the committee for its efforts? Did you? ¥ INDEXED - $4 _ qe ter: CORDED neg-verald LS 62 JUN 28 1950 Wash. Star N.Y. Compass___ JUN 28 Date: N.Y. Mirror Page ——w ee ae tem aa ~ naa 1850 contempt meeaaraan S— a ed ae em ae