As you know, she is presently serving in the prison in West Virginia, a
Federal penitentiary in West Virginia.
I think she certainly exhibited a great deal of courage and a great
deal of American spirit in giving the testimony that she did.
Mr. Dennett, as far as the particular testimony you have given about
your expulsion from the Communist Party is concerned, the experience
that you had is similar to the experience of other persons who have
been expelled from the Communist Party.
I think, of course, that you should be proud to have been expelled
by the Communist Party. And I trust that, while you might at times
find yourself in the same position of following the same line that the
Communist Party does at the present time, that you no longer cling to
the philosophy that we know the Communist Party represents here in
the United States, that is, the philosophy of the Soviet Union, which
intends of course, to rule the world eventually, whether it be by
changing governments by peaceful means or by overthrowing it by force
and violence.
We say it has been a great pleasure to hear your very fine testimony,
and let me say also that I agree that you have been a very intelligent
and truthful witness.
Mr. MOULDER. With our thanks and gratitude, you are excused.
Mr. DENNETT. Thank you, sir.
I wish to say, upon my being excused, that I want to extend my greatest
appreciation to the patience of Mr. Tavenner, who has been the counsel
to examine me. It has been a pleasure to work with a gentleman who is
as well versed and who knows what he is doing as well as Mr. Tavenner.
And I want to thank Mr. Wheeler for the patience that he had, and the
committee as well.
Mr. MOULDER. Call the next witness, Mr. Tavenner.
Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. Abraham Cohen.
Mr. MOULDER. Hold up your right hand.
Mr. Photographer, when you take your picture, would you stand to the
right or left so I can swear the witness.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give before
this congressional committee will be the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. COHEN. I do.
TESTIMONY OF ABRAHAM ARTHUR COHEN, ACCOMPANIED BY HIS COUNSEL, EDWARD
E. HENRY
Mr. TAVENNER. What is your name, please, sir?
Mr. COHEN. Abraham Arthur Cohen.
(Whereupon a brief disturbance occurred in the corridor outside the
door of the hearing room.)
Mr. TAVENNER. Let’s proceed.
Mr. MOULDER. Please be seated. We will have order in the hearing room,
please.
Mr. TAVENNER. Will everyone be seated, please.
Mr. MOULDER. No pictures will be taken, please.
Mr. TAVENNER. Will you seat those people at the door, and close the
door, please.
I note you are accompanied by counsel. Will counsel please identify
himself.
Mr. HENRY. Edward Henry, of the Seattle bar.
Mr. TAVENNER. I am not going to take the time to ask you various
questions which I know the committee is interested in asking you
because of the lateness of the hour. I will confine my questions to
just 2 or 3 matters. Are you now a member of the Communist Party?
Mr. COHEN. I am not.
Mr. TAVENNER. Have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?
Mr. COHEN. I have been.
Mr. TAVENNER. Over what period of time were you a member of the
Communist Party?
Mr. COHEN. From early in--well, I believe July 1937 until I left for
the Armed Forces in March of 1942, and then upon returning from the
war, oh, some time early in 1946, I would say, until January 1, 1951.
Mr. TAVENNER. Have you been a member of the Communist Party since 1951?
Mr. COHEN. No, sir.
Mr. TAVENNER. I believe you are one of the few, if not the only person
in the United States, who registered as a member of the Communist Party
upon the adoption of the Internal Security Act of 1950.
Mr. COHEN. It wasn’t a thing of which I was ashamed. I felt I was in
the party. I felt that what I was doing was the right thing. I had no
conscientious qualms about belonging to it. I felt what we were doing
was right. And everything that I saw--nothing I saw led me to believe
that it was subversive. I felt it was--what we were doing was in the
interest of the workingman.
Mr. TAVENNER. Our purpose in subpenaing you was to ask you certain
facts we think are within your knowledge regarding Communist Party
activities. You have indicated a full desire, a willingness to give the
committee the facts that you have. You have given a a written statement
to the staff.
Mr. COHEN. Yes, sir.
Mr. TAVENNER. I am not going into any of those matters now because they
are here available for us. But, out of fairness to you, I want to give
you the opportunity to make any further statement you desire regarding
your own attitude toward the Communist Party.
Mr. COHEN. Do you feel that I haven’t stated my position enough in that
brief?
Mr. TAVENNER. We would ask you additional questions if we had time
to do it, and we may do that later. But for the present I want to be
certain you have an opportunity to tell the committee anything further
that is on your mind that might be of some benefit to yourself.
Mr. COHEN. Well, I felt that my desires on leaving the party were that
I was in it primarily because of its connection with the trade-union
movement. It helped the Guild in the early days to organize.
Mr. TAVENNER. And you function within the American Newspaper Guild?
Mr. COHEN. That is right.
I felt it did a worthwhile job there. And a great many
people--Communists and non-Communists--benefited thereby. After the war
the situation changed.
Mr. MOULDER. The witness is excused.
Mr. TAVENNER. I am not sure that he is through.
Mr. COHEN. I am ready to quit talking at any time.
Mr. TAVENNER. This is your time to talk if you want to.
Mr. COHEN. After the war I felt that we were in a--we were extending
the neighborhood branches, and that the trade union, the time for trade
union action was past. We didn’t function in trade union matters. My
working hours were changed, and I no longer was--I rarely attended
meetings. I really lost what contact I had.
And the act that finally culminated in my leaving was the fact that I
wanted to take a trip abroad, and under one of the provisions of the
McCarran Act it required that no Communist should be granted a passport.
And so I wanted to visit scenes of where I had been during the war, and
I explained to the party that I wanted to leave. And it startled them,
I admit, reasonably. But I succeeded in resigning. And there have been
no repercussions since.
Mr. VELDE. Do I understand you have been, and are willing at any time
to make available any information you have relative to your activities
in the Communist Party?
Mr. COHEN. Yes, I am. I will say--before anybody even talks to
me--there weren’t very many. There were very few; there weren’t very
many.
Mr. VELDE. But are you willing to make those available to us?
Mr. COHEN. Yes.
Mr. VELDE. And, of course, we would be willing to hear you at length if
we had the opportunity to do so.
Mr. TAVENNER. In light of the witness’ statements, I have no further
questions.
Mr. MOULDER. Do you have any further statement you wish to make, Mr.
Witness?
Mr. COHEN. Nothing further to say.
Mr. MOULDER. Then you are excused as a witness.
(Whereupon the witness was excused.)
Mr. TAVENNER. May I call Mr. Dennett to the front of the rostrum for a
moment?
TESTIMONY OF EUGENE VICTOR DENNETT, ACCOMPANIED BY HIS COUNSEL, KENNETH
A. MacDONALD--Resumed
Mr. MOULDER. Mr. Dennett.
Mr. DENNETT. Yes, sir.
Mr. MOULDER. It has been my suggestion, after conferring with counsel,
that probably it would be best that we revoke and withdraw our order
excusing you from the force and effect of your subpena, and keep you
under subpena.
Mr. DENNETT. I still have it.
Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. Chairman, I believe there may be a legal technicality
involved, and I ask that the witness be resubpenaed. So there will be
no question about it.
Mr. MOULDER. It is so ordered.
Mr. TAVENNER. That is a matter of protection to the witness.
Mr. VELDE. I think we ought to make this additional statement, that
the reason for resubpenaing you is so that you might be within the
protection of the United States Government in case anything arises as
apparently happened out here a few minutes ago.
Mr. MOULDER. That is our only purpose in issuing another subpena.
Mr. DENNETT. Thank you.
Mr. MOULDER. Call the next witness.
Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. Bernard Freyd.
Mr. HATTEN. May I request the Chair to ask the photographers not to
take pictures?
Mr. MOULDER. We will have order in the hearing room.
Mr. HATTEN. Will you please not take any pictures?
Mr. MOULDER. Mr. Hatten.
Mr. HATTEN. I would like to request, Mr. Freyd does not like to
have his picture taken in the hearing room. Would you so direct the
photographers?
Mr. MOULDER. Very well.
The photographers will please refrain from taking pictures of the
witness approaching the witness stand.
Hold up your right hand and be sworn, please.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony which you are about to give
before this congressional committee will be the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, so help you, God?
Mr. FREYD. I do.