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 Americas 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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