Rosika Schwimmer is Denied U.S. Citizenship

(Jewish Daily Bulletin)

Mme. Rosika Schwimmer, author and lecturer, has been denied United States citizenship.

Her appilcation for citizenship was rejected by Fred J. Schlotfeldt, naturalization director of the Chicago district.

The reasons why she was rejected were given by Attorney William B. Gemmill, retained by Mme. Schwimmer to obtain her admission as a citizen. He said:

“Asked if she were willing to take up arms in the defense of the United States she replied ‘not personally.'” Mme. Schwimmer added that she knew no country where women were required to fight.

In a radio lecture broadcast from New York, Mme. Schwimmer termed herself an atheist, and when questioned by authorities said that her religious beliefs did not effect her citizenship qualifications.

Federal officials say Mme. Schwimmer should not have citizenship because “she has no nationalistic feeling,” to which she retorted that her mere act of renouncing Hungarian citizenship and seeking to become an American refutes this objection.

Colonel Lee Alexander Stone and a number of other military men have protested against Mme. Schwimmer’s admission to citizenship, terming her a menace. Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt and the American Civil Liberties Union are interested in the case, which promises to assume major proportions when it reaches court.

Mme. Schwimmer gained wide publicity in connection with Henry Ford’s famous “peace ship” expedition during the World War. It was stated that Mme. Schwimmer was the one who inspired Mr. Ford to undertake the expedition following which he embarked on his anti-Jewish campaign.