The Wilmington morning star., 1947-12-12
AS Pegler Sees It
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
copyright, 1947, by King Features
Syndicate, Inc.)

(COpyrlght, l947, Dy Ming FedtuTeS
Syndicate, Inco
WASHINGTON, Dec. Ill should like TO
report more about the Joseph@son @ protneta' e4,5
II con and Bernard and the Cafes Society
uptown and downtown, New York, whlch
have been given a great deal OF Tree ao
vertising in the night club, amusement ana
underworld columns OF our press.
Such COPY is optional, it has absolutely
no news value. Ed Sullivan, VINO covers ,,s
this run for the New YORK News saVG ;+o,, w
ar.t11itously announcing the beginning OIL ali
engagement at the uptown house py La1Ly 1
Agiae y vaudeville act, who plays the
mouth organ ..;.+oo
| Last February, the Thomas committee zee
m un-American activities discovered 'lla'
Leon Josephson obtained py r.1 1iduu +Sa a..
American passport for Gerhart Elsler, me
ohief of the Soviet conspiracy agalnst the
neonle and the government OF the unl1eo
ststes Bernard Josephson is one OF the
incorporators of Cafe Society winch opef- per.
ates both cafes. Lucy Josephson, .ne 9;e w1le
of Leon, is co-holder OF the ~ nqqEl 1;ue in an
an anartment m on West 10th ST., New York
Eisler's passport was issued in the name
of Samuel Liptzen, age about 30, porn IN
Iinsk. Russia, who came here IN l9O9, pc
came a citizen in 1917, helped to establlsh
the communist party in the, United otateS
in 1920 and has been member @ eyer 5! siticg t az
East 18th St., which houses the national
and state communist parties, The Daily
Worker and Freiheit, Jewish paper Wnlch
shares m hinery with Inc WORKER
Liptzen processes to be humble nanny.
man for Freiheit and strikes the pose OF
Actually, he is a shrewd active commu-
mist and a liar by the record. He made
a trip to Canada in 1945 to collect bills
for Freiheit, about that time the Russian
atomic spy ring was in action
Edward Kuntz, a lawyer, representing
Liptzen and Freiheit and who formerly rep
resented The Worker, tried to convince the
committee that Freiheit was not a COM
munist paper because some OF It's en-
nIovees and contributors could not be
shown to hold party cards he SAID, ne
himself, was not member, although ne
was sympathetic to 'most OF communism.
He had been chief of staff of 300 lawyers
of the International Labor Defense, no
torious communist agency, and an habjtue
of both of the night clubs OF the Joseph
sons.
The application for the false passport for
Eisler, issued in the name of Liptzen, was
accompanied by Liptzen's naturalization
papers.
Liptzen told the committee under oath
from his room at 228 or 230 West 14th ST.
in the red blotch Of downtown New York,
in the summer of 1882 or 1888. He said
Ihe raised an outcry and that the police
came but did nothing He lived in this
apartment three or four years but could
not remember the address.
Louis J. Russell, former F;B1. man
now detective for the committee, SAID
Liptzen actually took two years to report
the theft of his papers, a precious pos
session of every naturalized alien. He testl-
fled that the thief would have had to pass
through three bedrooms where three per
sons were asleep, and kitchen, to get
to Lptzen's room One of the persons in
the apartment that night remained un,
identified and Russell said he had ground
for a belief that this person was Elsler,
himself, although Liptzen sWore t n u ne
had never met Eisler or Leon Josephson'
either. Actually Liptzen and Leon Joseph
son were old friends and it is incredible
that this founding father of the anti -Amerl-
can conspiracy employed around mead
quarters, remained a stranger to the man
who was sent here to take charge
Leon Josephson refused TO testl1y aha
was tried and convicted of contempt OF
Congress in the district court in New York.
He got one year and a fine of $1,000. He
lis now out on appeal.
A government expert swore to his opin-
ion that Leon Josephson filled in the ques-
tionnaire in the application Tor the pass
port which was issued to Eisler.
This was done in August, 1884 and Els
ler proceeded to Paris as Liptzen and there
got a visa from the Soviet authorities for
trip to Russia.
In December, 1884, Barney Josephson
went to Spain although ne n, had oeen @ lo1e
and appeared to be broke. The next year
Barney is detected as a sponsor OF the
Spanish Refugee Appeal. This was al
branch of the Anti-Fascist Refugee Com
rittee which paid Eisler living allow
ance as communist functionary IN New
York. It also financed the triumphant re-
turn to Jugoslavia of Drog Tito, the butcher
who later murdered five American Army
flyers by shooting them down, unarmed
over territory which the United States had
liberated from the Germans.
Leon Josephson was arrested IN Copen-
sian communist, who had four American
passports One had been issued to Harry
LYMAN Kaplan, of Trenton, N. j., the
Josephsons' home town. Kaplan owned a
hotel in Trenton and Barney Josephson had
worked for him. Mr.. Russell testified that
by Barney Josephson. He told Mr.. Russell,
however, that he couldn't prove it:
An applicant for passport must be ac-
companied by witness to identity him.
apparently the identifying witness is not
Required to establish his own true identity.
la SOveIIlIIiGLI expert SWOle w lllo PioACo
sional opinion that Eisler's witness, who
identified him as Liptzen, was Leon Joseph
son. This witness gave the name of
Bernard A. Hirschfield." Bernard, oil
course, is the first name of Josephson's
brother. Hirschfield was their mothers
maiden name. In the same vein, the name
OF Berger, which Eisler sometimes used
here, was the maiden name of Liptzen's
mother.
Leon was born in Libau, Latvia, now in
Soviet Russia, but Barney was born in
Trenton of the same parents Both enjoyed
american freedom and opportunity, but