Senator FERGUSON. You do solemnly swear, in the matter now pending before this subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate, that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God ?
     Mr. EWEN. I do.
     Mr. MORRIS. Please be seated, Professor Ewen. Will you give your full name and address to the reporter?
     Mr. EWEN. Frederic Ewen, F-r-e-d-e-r-i-c E-w-e-n.
     Mr. MORRIS.. What is your present address?
     Mr. EWEN. 410 Central Park West, New York.
     Mr. MORRIS. What is your occupation?
     Mr. EWEN. I have no occupation, sir.
     Mr. MORRIS. Have you been an associate professor at Brooklyn College?
     Mr. EWEN. No, sir; I have been an assistant professor.
     Mr. MORRIS. When did you cease being an assistant professor?
     Mr. EWEN. I ceased being an assistant professor on September 23, 1952.
     Mr. MORRIS. Is that yesterday?
     Mr. EWEN. That was yesterday, sir.
     Mr. MORRIS. Now, Professor Ewen, have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?
     Mr. EWEN. Mr. Morris and Senator Ferguson, I have been a teacher at Brooklyn College for over 30 years, sir. I have given my whole life to the school system in America.
     Senator FERGUSON. Do you claim that this is part of the answer to this question?
     Mr. EWEN. I claim that's the first part of the answer.
     Senator FERGUSON. To this question?
     Mr. EWEN. To this question, sir. I have made myself a scholar and a reputation for scholarship and teaching, which I think is city-wide.
     I have had thousands of students come to me. I claim that, among the things which I tried to teach them in my courses in literature, one of the principles that was the most sacred was about art and literature and culture, was the right to express yourselves, to hold them, to defend them, to fight for them; that any invasion of that right was a violation which could never be condoned.
I have had thousands of students, and they have come back to me year after year, even after 25 and 30 years of absence, to report tome on the effect of my teaching of literature on them. I wish you would send down your investigators
     Senator FERGUSON. Is this part of the answer?
     Mr. EWEN. It is part of the answer.
     Senator FERGUSON. As to whether or not you were ever a member of the Communist Party?
     Mr. EWEN. It is part of the answer, sir.
     Mr. MORRIS. Mr. Chairman, I submit this man is not being responsive.
     Senator FERGUSON. I cannot see how it is part of the answer, as to whether or not you were ever a member.



     Mr. EWEN. It is part of the answer insofar as you are asking me a question which I will have to answer in terms of my belief and moral-code, sir; and, therefore, I am trying to tell you.
     Senator FERGUSON. I want to know what. your answer is to the particular question.
     Mr. EWEN. I am trying to tell you something about the principle underlying my answer, if you want to hear it.
     Senator FERGUSON. I want to know your answer.
     Mr. EWEN. My answer is that as a teacher for 30 years, and as a man who has tried in his whole life to devote himself to the cause of free expression and free thought, I consider this question an invasion of that right, and invasion of the very principles I have taught.
     I consider that question improper.
     Mr. MORRIS. Will you answer the question?
     Mr. EWEN. I must decline on the following grounds, Senator and Mr. Morris.
     I decline to answer this question on the grounds that it is an invasion of the most sacred principle of American thinking and education.
     I decline to answer it on the grounds that it is a violation of the constitutional guaranty of the fifth amendment.
     Senator FERGUSON. I will sustain it on the fifth amendment.
     Mr. EWEN. On the dignity of a human being and the right to think.
     Mr. MORRIS. Are you a member of the Teachers' Union?
     Mr. EWEN. I refuse to answer on all the grounds.
     Senator FERGUSON. I will sustain it on the fifth amendment.
     Mr. MORRIS. Are you a member of the Teachers' Union ?
     Mr. EWEN. I am a member of the Teachers' Union.
     Mr. MORRIS. Are you a member of the Communist Party?
     Mr. EWEN. I decline on all the grounds.
     Senator FERGUSON. I will sustain, on the grounds of the fifth amendment.
     Mr. MORRIS. Have you ever been a speaker before the International Workers Order?
     Mr. EWEN. I decline on the grounds stated.
     Senator FERGUSON. I will sustain it on the fifth amendment.
     Mr. EWEN. On all the grounds.
     Mr. MORRIS. Were you identified during the Rapp-Coudert hearings in 1940 and 1941as a Communist?
     Mr. EWEN. I will decline on all the grounds.
     Senator FERGUSON. Sustained, on the fifth amendment.
     Mr. MORRIS. Did you ever read in the newspapers in 1940 and 1941 that you had been identified by witnesses before a New York State committee as a Communist?
     Mr. EWEN. I decline to answer that on the grounds stated.
     Senator FERGUSON. I sustain the objection on the fifth amendment.
     Mr. MORRIS. Were you ever a guest lecturer in the School of Jewish Studies?
     Mr. EWEN. I decline on all the grounds.
     Senator FERGUSON. Sustained on the fifth amendment.
     Mr. MORRIS. Are you the editor of New Currents?
     Mr. EWEN. I am not the editor.
     Mr. MORRIS. Have you been an editor?


     Mr. EWEN. I decline on all the grounds I have stated.
     Senator FERGUSON. Sustained under the fifth amendment.
     Mr. MORRIS. Were you an air-raid warden during the war?
     Mr. EWEN. I decline to answer that.
     Mr. MORRIS. You will not answer whether or not you were an air-raid warden during the war?
     Mr. EWEN. I decline to answer.
     Senator FERGUSON. How can that incriminate you?
     Mr. EWEN. If I would tell you how anything incriminates me, I would be incriminating myself.
     Senator FERGUSON. I can only sustain it if I believe the witness, in good faith, is claiming protection under a constitutional amendment. As to whether or not a person was an air-raid warden, I am having a little trouble.
     Mr. EWEN. Yes; I was an air-raid warden. I withdraw the objection.
     Senator FERGUSON. All right.
     Mr. MORRIS. I have no more questions at this time.
     Senator FERGUSON. That is all.
     Mr. EWEN. Thank you, gentlemen.
     Mr. MORRIS. Professor Riess.