The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

November 21, 2008

Ex-Nazi guard from Sharon appeals loss of citizenship

Supreme Court asked to hear case

By Joe Pinchot

SHARON — A Sharon man whose U.S. citizenship was stripped because he served as a Nazi concentration camp guard has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case.

Anton Geiser, 84, of 411 Cedar Ave., was born in Yugoslavia — now part of Croatia — to ethnic German parents, and was drafted into the German army. He served as a concentration camp guard during World War II.

He immigrated to the United States in 1956 and became a citizen in Mercer County in 1962.

A U.S. District Court judge in Pittsburgh ordered in September 2006 that Geiser’s citizenship be stripped, vacated the order granting him citizenship and canceled his naturalization certificate.

Judge David S. Cercone agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice that Geiser was not eligible for citizenship under the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 because he had served as a camp guard.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, backed Cercone’s decision in June.

Geiser’s attorney, Adrian N. Rose of Watkins Dulac & Roe, Pittsburgh, could not be reached Thursday. He had 90 days from Aug. 20, the date the Third Circuit turned down a request for a rehearing, to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court request for hearing was received Monday, according to the docket entry posted Thursday.

The Supreme Court can decide what cases it wants to hear and does not have to grant Geiser’s request.

In his request for rehearing, Roe said the appellate court overlooked some of Geiser’s argument, misapprehended other parts and reached a decision that “undermines the integrity of the immigration process.”

He also said the Refugee Relief Act has ambiguous passages and is silent on key issues such as whether camp guards are eligible for visas.

Roe said Geiser fulfilled his visa eligibility requirements because he was not a war criminal. Geiser has said he never mistreated or harmed any prisoners, although he carried a loaded gun, a contention the government has not contested.

The government has maintained that Nazi concentration camp guards could not be admitted to the U.S., whether they harmed any prisoners or not, and ultimately want to deport Geiser.

The Refugee Relief Act of 1953 bars anyone who “personally advocated or assisted in the persecution of . . . [a] group of persons because of race, religion, or national origin.” The three-judge appellate panel said Geiser did not have to harm anyone to persecute them. Judge D. Michael Fisher wrote for the three-judge panel:

“Geiser stood watch at the perimeter of the concentration camps with instructions to fire his rifle if a prisoner tried to escape. Thus, his personal actions assisted in keeping the prisoners confined in the camps where they were persecuted. In addition, he marched prisoners to and from their work sites, and these personal actions assisted in coercing the prisoners into performing forced labor.”

Geiser started working at Sharon Steel Corp., Farrell, the year he immigrated, and retired after 31 years.

The U.S. government first approached Geiser in the late 1990s, and filed a complaint in August 2004 arguing that Geiser obtained his visa and citizenship illegally.

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