The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1944-02-24

and there are no charges against
him. All that can really be made OF
his record is that he is an unfortun-
ate pacifist zealot, sincere peace
fanatic, a At neuropsychiatric case
who has stirred up a fuss but of all
proportion to his Importance.
Collect, now 33. was born in Oslo
of good family. For a few weeks
after the German invasion of Nor
way in 1910, the young man served
in the Norwegian army against the
Nazis Then his captains diSbanded
the force to evade surrender and
avoid capture, and Collect made his
way back to Oslo, then across the
border to Stockholm, where he OBJ
/ tanned a regular Norwegian en-
bassy passport with Russian and
japanese visas permitting him to
come to the United States by way
of Siberia and Tokyo.
BECAME PACIFIST
Incredible stories that he got this
support only by German connivanse
are discounted by Norwegians who
say that such passports were the
usual thing before Pearl Harbor.
The idea was that such young men
would join Norwegian forces train
ing in Canada, and return to fight,
but young Collett did not follow
this routine.
| Arriving in San Francisco, he
went first to the home of an uncle
in Colorado, then came to New York
and took a job in the New York
Offices of his family'S firm of Col
lett and Company. dealers in vita
min concentrates. He quit that job
after few months. He decided to
complete his education and for one
semester was in college in Califor-
mia. Some place along the line he
discovered he was a pacifist. He at
tended a conscientious DIRECTORS
school. He got in with the Quakers
and, being a Incorporating young
idealist, eventually he met the lead
ers of several American peace So
cieties.
He Thought they weren't doing
enough to promote peace. He
thought there should be more
militant peace movement, and in
his zeal and enthusiasm, he sold the
American peace leaders a bill of
goods. They thought they investi-
gated him thoroughly. He gave as
references Mrs. Daisy Hartman,
former U. S. minister to Norway,
who had known his family in Oslo,
the Collett firm in New York. and
Norwegian Minister Morgenstierne.
"PEACE NOW" ORGANIZED
Not wanting to become stamped
as extremists themselves, the lead
erS of the old and established
American peace societies meeting in
Philadelphia in July, 1913, decided
to support the new Peace Now
movement for about pacifists fay
oring a negotiated peace at any
price. For time, young Collett was
field secretary of the movement,
and Travelled about the country. In
Cincinnati, he was caught climbing
a tree outside girls dormitory, was
arrested on Peeping Tom charges,
pleaded guilty and paid 500 fine.
About this time, leaders of nearly
lall the U. S. peace societies with
drew their support from the Peace
Now movement, which was going
too far even for professional paci-
fists. Collett himself withdrew from
the organization, saying he thought
the presence of foreigner in the
organization was hampering it's pro-
gress. although he had filed appli-
cation for American citizenship in
1941 and had taken out his first
papers He had a complete nervous
breakdown, spent some time on a
farm outside of Philadelphia and
at one time was reported to be in
a sanitarium, undergoing psychia-
trio treatment.