Evening star., 1953-06-20
354 Hunter st.
OSsining, N. Y.
June 16. 1853

354 Hunter st.
OSsining, N. Y.
June Is, 1853
President Dwight D. Eisen-
hover.
White House. Washington,
D. C.
Dear Mr.. President,
At various intervals during
the two long and bitter years
I have spent in the death
house at Sing Sing. I have had
the impulse to address myself
to the President of the United
States. Always, in the end, a
certain innate shyness, an en-
barrassment almost compar-
able to that which the ordinary
person feels in the presence of
the great and the famous, pre-
vailed upon me not to do so.
Since then, however, the
moving plea Of Mrs. William
Oats on behalf Of her husband
has lent me inspiration. She
had not been ashamed to bare
her heart to the head of a for
eign state; would it really be
such a presumption for a citi-
zen to ask for redress of griev-
ance and to expect as much
consideration as Mrs. Oats re-
ceived at the hands of Strang-
erS?
Of CzechoSlovakia I know
very little, of her President less
than that. But my own land
is a part of me. I should be
homesick for her anywhere
else in the world. And Dwight
D. Eisenhower was ''liberator"
to millions before he was ever
President" It does not seem
reasonable to me, then, that a
letter concerning itself with
condemned wife as well as con-
demned husband, should not
merit this particular Presi-
dents sober attention.
True, to date, you have not
seen fit to spare our lives. Be
that as it may, it is my hum
BILE belief that the burdens of
your Office and the exigencies
of our times have allowed of
no genuine opportunity, as
yet, for your more personal
consideration.
1t is chiefly the death SEN
tence I would entreat you to
ponder. I would entreat you
to ask yourself whether that
sentence does not serve the
ends of "force and violence"
rather than an enlightened
justice. Even granting the as
sumption that the convictions
had been properly procured
land there now exists incon-
trovertible evidence to the con-
trary), the Steadfast denial of
guilt, extending over q pro-
tracted period of solitary con-
f1nement and enforced Sepa-
ration from our loved ones,
makes of the death penalty an
act of vengeance.
AS commander-in-chief of
the European theater. you had
ample opportunity to witness
the wanton and hideous tor
lures that such a policy Of
vengeance had wreaked upon
vast multitudes of guiltless
victims. Today, while these
ghastly mass butchers, these
obscene raciStS, are graciouSly
receiving the benefits of mercy
and in many instances being
reinstated in public Office, the
great democratic United States
is proposing the savage de-
Struction of a small unoffend-
ing Jewish family, whose guilt
is seriously doubted through
out the length and breadth of
the civilized world. AS you
have recently so wisely de-
clared. no nation can chance
going it alone" That, Mr..
President, is truly the voice Of
sanity and of the leadership
so sorely needed in these par
lous times. Surely you must
recognize then, that the en-
suing damage to the good
name of our country, and it's
struggle to lead the world to-
ward a more equitable and
righteous way of life, should
not be underestimated.
Surely, too, what single ac-
ton could more effectively
demonstrate this Nations fe-
atty to religious and demo-
cratic ideals, than the grant,
ing of clemency to my hus-
band and myself.
Such an act would also be
a fitting reply to a small boys
desperate appeal. His bright
young mind and homeSick
heart prompted him (even as
his mother was prompted), to
see in Mr.. Oats release, q
hope for the release of his
own dear parents. I approach
you then as he did, solely on
the basis of mercy, and earn
estly beseech you to let this
quality sway you rather than
any narrow judicial concern,
which is after all the province
Of the courts. It is rather the
province of the affectionate
grandfather, the sensitive art
ist, the devoutly religious man.
that I would entreat. I ask
this man, himself no stranger
to the humanities, what man
there is that history has ac-
claimed great, whose greatness
has not been measured in
terms of his goodness? Truly,
the stories of Christ, of
Moses. of Ghandi hold more
sheer wonderment and spirit
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