Biography
Gerhart Eisler was a German-born Communist whom the House Un-American Activities Committee portrayed as the secret director of the Communist Party in the United States. He received one year for contempt of Congress in June 1947 and three years in a separate passport case, but remained free on bail while appealing. Immigration authorities later detained him during deportation proceedings, and a federal court enlarged him on bail on March 6, 1948. He left the United States while on bail in May 1949 without serving the criminal sentences; the start date of the immigration detention remains unresolved.
The 1947 hearing includes Treasury handwriting examiner Alwyn Cole’s February 4 report concerning the Samuel Liptzen passport application. Cole attributed the body and witness writing to Leon Josephson, while specifically excluding the Sam Liptzen signature from that attribution. He could not identify either Josephson or Eisler as the signature’s author; similarities to Eisler’s writing could be coincidental and distinctive letter formations differed. These were qualified forensic opinions presented in the investigation, not a finding that Eisler had written the signature. HUAC, Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities (regarding Leon Josephson and Samuel Liptzen), March 5 and 21, 1947; physical PDF pages 57,58. Source SHA256 5ba99a9dcf44209a81a6206303a54a4df94dcf6fc0fd9787293073c82665b8f7.
