Authorities at Post College of Long Island University announced their refusal today to accede to demands that a former member of the Nazi party be dismissed from the faculty of the college. Dean R. Gordon Hoxie cited “the principle of academic freedom” in explaining the university’s decision to retain on the faculty Edward V. Sittler, a teacher of English and German literature.
Sittler, who participated in propaganda broadcasts for the Nazi Government during World War II, was born in Ohio and renounced his American citizenship while he was a student in Germany in 1939. In 1946, he was brought to this country as a German citizen to testify in the Federal treason prosecution of Douglas Chandler and Robert Best, both Americans and Nazi broadcasters. No charges were ever brought against Sittler, who is now applying for reinstatement of his American citizenship. Sittler has been ousted from two previous teaching posts–one at Northwestern University and one at the Michigan College of Mining and Technology.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
