Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-07-14
Viereck Jury
s Il IL
.MayGet Case
Today
\ Defendant Testifies
He Sought to Prevent
u. S. Involvement


George Sylvester Viereck. German
propagandist on. trial for violations
of the Foreign Agents Registration
Act, was to be questioned by the
prosecution today as the Govern
ment prepared to break down the
defendants story he engaged In iso-
lationist activities before the war be-
cause he felt it his patriotic duty
to keep us out of war"
There were indications, mean
time, that the jury of three women
and nine men. who have listened to
more than two weeks testimony in
District Court, may receive the case
late today.
Viereck, the second and final wit
ness called by the defense, was on
the stand throughout yesterday and
under questioning of Defense At
torney Leo A. Rover maintained,
with fst-thumping emphasis, that:
l. He neither concealed nor
Shouted from the housetops" his
connections with Flanders Hall
publishing house and that the
$22,50O he invested in the firm for
publication Of isolationist pamphlets
was his own money and not from
any German sources.
Denies Being Foreign Office Agent.
2. He had never knowingly re-
ceived any money from the Reich
nor had ever served as an agent for
the German Foreign Once.
3. He had ceased sending weekly
reports to Munich newspaper on
the American political scene before
our entrance into the war and has
engaged In no such activities since.
4. He had not willfully concealed
any information from the State De-
partment concerning his activities
In this country.
The prosecution contends that
Viereck's weekly reports to Munich
were, in fact, intended for the Ger
man Foreign Once and that he
concealed his propaganda activities
with Flanders Hall, isolationist
members of Congress and German
consular officials in New York.
Viereck's explanation of his link
with Flanders Hall, which pub
Hshed a number OF anti-British
books, was that he wanted a Jump
ing oil place for after the war
to have a publishing house OF my
own and that further he felt there
was money to be made in printing
n-interventionist books.
He admitted that he had "pirated"
some of the manuscripts for Flan-
ders Hall publications from the
German Library of Information, but
he pointed out that they were not
copyrighted. Viereck freely admit
ted contributing between 81, 1000 and
$1,000 and maybe IS, 900" to the iso-
lationist Make Europe Pay War
Debts Committee" TX,
%. Says Neutrality Was3Objectiye.
The defendant insisted that the
money was his own, and that he
did 1t because one OF his big OBJ
jectives" was Ito keep us out OF the
bloody mess" He said he believed
the committee was doing pa
triotic duty for the country.
Viereck likewise admitted being a
friend Of Representative Fish, Re-
publican, of New York and the late
Senator Lundeen of Minnesota, and
had helped the latter polish and
tighten up" several of his speeches.
When asked by Mr.. Rover if he
had knowingly received money from
the Nazi government to carry on
his activities, Viereck replied:
mo. although I assume the money
from the German Library of In
formation came from the Reich"
He added that the State Depart
ment was aware the library was a
propaganda arm of the Reich" and
that he, too. was acquainted with
this fact when he signed a contract
with the library as literary adviser.
On registering as foreign agent,
Viereck listed the Munich newspaper
and later added the library as for
eign principals.
Mrs. Viereck was the only other
witness called by the defense.