Biography
John Santo, also known as János Szántó and Desideriu Hammer, was a Romanian-born organizer for New York’s Transport Workers Union. Immigration authorities arrested him on September 8, 1941 under a deportation warrant. He posted $1,000 bail and was immediately rearrested by the FBI over a Selective Service statement that he was a citizen. The final disposition and release date from that episode remain unresolved. The government revived deportation proceedings after the war, and Santo left the United States for Hungary in 1949.
The December 2, 1941 Congressional Record’s anti-CIO compilation reports the already recorded September 8, 1941 deportation-warrant arrest, $1,000 bail and immediate FBI rearrest over alleged false citizenship on a Selective Service statement. It names him as former Transport Workers Union secretary-treasurer and gives Desideriu Hammer, Jack Weiss and John Szanto as aliases. These are attributed identifications; the unrelated Philadelphia knitgoods picket Jack Weiss is not merged on a shared alias alone. No final disposition or completed detention total is supplied. Source: https://www.congress.gov/77/crecb/1941/12/02/GPO-CRECB-1941-pt9-5-1.pdf#page=11
