Stanley M. Roberts (Sigmund Rosenfeld)

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AFFIDAV' IT II

I, STANLEY M. ROBERTS, herewith depose and state'

I immigrated into the United States of America on Aua-ust 28 1959 on , an Immigration 'lisa issued by the American Consul in 0 London: En2:1~nd. I arrived in the Port of New York on SSIiNorms.ndien, under the r:me of Sigmund Rosenfeld. I am born in 'lienna, AUstria, on January 11, 1910, ~nd have been an Austrian citizen. My name was changed by Court Order ~n November 19·39. My First Citizenship Papers were granted to llle by the District Court of New York; NY, on December 6, 1959. The number of my First Citizenship Papers is: 447870. I have registered under the Alien Registration Act of 1940 and the number of my Alien Registration Card is 5061692. Having always been an Austrian citizen I am not obliged to re-register as an Enemy Alien. I have registered under the Selective Service Act with Board 69, Precd.:nct 25, WJ order number being: 5251. Because of dependents I have been deferred into Class 5A. I am a 'lice President in Tersch Patents and C11emicala Inc., 52 'west Houston Street, New York, NY. This firm has a~1 authol~izedcapital of $ 50.000., of v/hich $ 200 000. are paid in. I hold 50% of the capital of that firm. The President of Tersch Patents and Chemicals Inc. is Mr.Walter von Feldau, a former Austrian citizen who immigrated into the United States of America in 1959, and holds25"fo of the shares, while !~r.Adolf Tersch who also immigrated from Austria in 1959 is holding the remaining 25% of the capital. This firm is manufacturing an insecticide, known under the trade-mark "Quick-Cidell and acts as a jobber for Waxes, Hetal Polish and other maintenance articles. The firm also t:la.nufactures .\ toileteries which are distributed by Tero Products Co.. , 52 'flest Houston Street, New York, j:JY, in which company I am a partner. My partner in Tero Products Co. is [.ir .Julius Meyer, a former Austrian citizen, \'1ho immigrated into this country in 1959. I have invested approx. $ 8.000 in that company. Further, 'I am a Vice President and Secretary in William Schle singer Inc.; 24 Stone Street, New York, NY,' and hold one third of its capital of 120 shares (no par value), paia in with ;$ 1.200. Mr.Vlilliam Scglesinger, a former Austrian citizen, vlho immigrated into the United States in 1959 also holds one third of the shares of this ftrm, while the balance is being held by lJ[r.A.Henry Floch who immigrated into this country in 1958 from Austria. \'lilliam Schlesinger Inc. is active in the export field, mainly to South America. Further, I am the sole proprietor of Rostra South American Trading Co. , 52 Vlest Houston Street, New York, NY. That firm is acting as an agent for Hostra Importadora Exportadora Ltda., Rio de Jane~ro':,Brazi~, i~ which rfr.; half-brother, MroGeorge K.Stransky and Trrf cous~n, 1'"r.Erv~no Heustadt, both of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are interested. The purpose of Rostra South American Trading Co. is to purchase for the Brazilian firm and to consolidate their orders for shipment. Inasmuch as Rostra Importadora . Expor:tadora Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has ~stabli~hed, so g~od a, cr~~~t 1_ with the A.merican manufacturers it represents ~n Bl'~z,~l tnat t110S~ .!lEl.:1~\~:,~ctL. t: rers are 11.0':1 prepared to ship mercha.ndise against s~gl:tdraft or o!~. COl1s~bnmen . Rostra South An:erican Trading 00. vlill' be liquidated Ul. the near I·.1ture. :; ~ Us rJ.a ,nave been ,8. Junior Partner in the banking f'irm: Rosenfeld & 00., : VJ.enn8., Rathausstrasse 20. The firm waS owned by Mr.Sigmund Popper who 'l'las ; the Senior Partner, I'lr .Julius Neustadt, -both unc Ies of mine -, my father :: r,Ir .Alfred Rosenfeld I'(ho deceased on January 9, 1959, and my couein, ' :'1 1 Hr.Ervino Neustadt. The firm !:Jad existed for 40 years It/hen it had to be i "aryanizedll because of Hitlerls conquest of Austria. During its activity ~i in the hani! s of' ll\I! family. Rosenfeld & Co. acted as the Viennese agent of 'i a nu:nber of large European Banks (Kommandite) and was well known the \'/1"1ole :1 v/Orld over as one of the first Austrian banks. Rosenfeld tv Co. enjoyed high , credits also in the United States .Ihere' it's connections wre: Irving Trust 1 Company, The Chase National Bank of tl1e City of New York and Ha1l7 arten &. Co. ,: After the "aryanization" of the firm the whole Austrian property ~f my family ,; and myself was blocked 'lith that firm -and later confiscated. I: I! The partners in Rosenfeld &. OOa were beneficiaries under a. Trust-Settlement :~ in London, England. After lrw immigrp,t.ion into the United States Of America , my share in that trust vJas remitted to me and deposited into my account :1 "lith Irving Trust Company, 1. VIall Strget, Neltl York, NY. U

;! The other members of my family left 'Vienna and settled ill various EU1'opean i; countries. Hr.Sigmund Popper It/ent to Sltlitzerland and is, staying at the II Hotel Steinbock in Chur (Coire). He is more than 85 years of age and in a ,! very poor health. r,{r.Sigmund Popper's main concern vias the well-being of all the members of the family Rosenfeld for \'lhorn he waS a kind of a good :: father. '1/hen it became apparent that the war would last for a long time :i l'.':r .Popper vii shed to ma.ke aure of the future support of' those members of the ': family 'tlho had been compelled to leave Austria pennyless and who had to rely !; on his support. He also realized that $0100 family members vJll0 were living :1' abroad on funds they had been able to save Itlould have to leave Europe without : be ing able to take their funds along and ,,.IQuld r-J.8. ve to be supported. I
; Mr.Popper therefor reT.:tested me to care for any needy members of our mutual ;i relation}!iship as to my best knowledge and to enable me to take proper care ;' at any time of whoever may need my support he remitted to me a number of 'I securities. He empowered me to use the dividentls of these securities, to sell the principal or to pledge the securities in roy aim discretion. vii On February 20,1941, Irving Trust Company, 1 \'/all Street, NeVI York, l\ry, credited my custody account with 500 common shares of United States Steel Corp., under the headings "Received for your account from Sltliss Bank Corporation by order of Societe de Banque Suisse,Zudch, by order of Sigmund Popper,Ohur, S\./itzerlandtl • On February 28, 1941, my custOldly account vlith the same Bank VIas credited under the same heading with, 100 common shares of United States Steel Corp. 100 common shares of Bethlehem Steel Corp. 250 common shares of Union Pacific Railroad Co. The above securities were credited to my custody account by Irving Trust Oompany without any reserve and dividends 'tlere credited to my and my wife's Joint Account "Stanley 1"[. and/or Elizabeth A.Roberts" l'lith the aal:J.e Bank. The events during the following months showed that Yfo/ uncle, Mr.Sigffiund Popper', : was right to be anxious about the fate of Various members of our family. . Upon having previously executed Affidavits of Support for r.r; mother, ]:irs.Rosa Rosenfeld, my parents-in-law, HroHermann Rand and It1rs.Terese Rand, to enable them to immigrate into the United States of America, I vIas compelled also to execute Affidavits of Support in favor of Dr.Simon Kien and !";rs. _J.:. Ella Kien and of Mr.Gyula Neustadt and lvlrs.Helene Neustadt. To have so many , ~, Affidavits of Support, all for old people who "'lould not be able to earn anything and who would;,have to rely on my support after their arrival in this country, accepted by the Department of State it 1IIaS necessary to give proof of consider-: able own means. In view of rr:y arrangement 1Ilith Mr.Sigmund Popper I did, of cour~e, not hesitate to declare the above mentioned securities as rfly property and assumed the O'uarantee against the Department of State to sup~ort the beneficiaries of my Affida~its of Support during their lifetime in this country. 334508 I
, , 'REPRODUCED ATTHE ~ATIONAL ARCHIVE~,:: . , V/hile my f.lother arrived in this country on August 20,1941, Dr.Sin:on and Hrs. Ella Kien have sailed from Lisbon a fev' days ago and are due to arrive in the United States in the near future. The Immigration Visa for ~'[r.Gyula a:ld jvirs.Helene 1,ieustadt not havini; yet been granted I h9.d to secure Cuban Visae for them as I realized that a prolong~d stay in Nice,France, might be dangerous, fo)' theu.:.~ Mr'.Gyula Neustadt being 75 years of age. I deemed it wioer to have them vmit in Cuba for th0ir American I':l:m:igration Visa and my' money outlay to secure these Cuban Visas was over $ 2.000. Upon their arrival in Ouba I ,.. ill have to support t:--,~ffi there, and shall, of course, then apply vlith the Federal nese::ve Bank for a license to make payments to them. i\nother uncle of mine, Mr.and Mrs.Alexander Ambes, of~Vienna, Austria, bein~ in danger of deportation to Poland ha d to be brought to Cuba for which purpose I secured visae; I am supporting then:, in Ea.vana. I am also supporting Hr.Wilhelm Kux, a cousin of my deceased father, vlho left Austria without any property of his ovm a.nd is, staying in Switzerland. Furt:-'er, I am supportin,?:; ['liss Cecile Sc!weyer, forrr:erly a nurSfl, vlho is living in S'flitzerland. I am also payin:s the schooling fees for a cousin of mine, ;'llis3 Lilo Pollak, "rho is staying in Eni~land. 'dhile I could ascertain that the dividflnds derived out of tile securities remitt~d to ~!le by j,!r.Sigmund Po}lper have so far a'mounted to $ ).750. it is I~;"y guess f
that I h8. Ve spent over (~ 10.000. for the bene1'it of my family, and I
nave assumed obligations to an arrount Wilich I
cannot estimate. \'1118n t~e report of all Alien Property Nas ordered I reali7,ed that it would be necessary'to clarify ti-,e situation re;;>;arding the se curities remitted to me by my uncle. I realized that as long as Hr.Sigrrund Popper lias entitled, to ask for refund of SUch part of the securities which mi~~ht at that ti!lle not l'k"lve been used up fOT the support of !'£ly family or for guarantees assumed on behalf of fa~ily members such property would have to be reported. However, at that time I had assumed guarantees the liabilities of which I could not value in Dollars and Cents. It. 'lIas impossible for me to state which :3.i':Qunts I 'IlOuld Yleed to fulfil the obligations out of the Affidavits of Suppo!:'t I had assumed. In view of n1'! personal commitments I honestly regarded tho property as my ovm and I felt that ~J uncle would so regard it, but I wanted to be sure. Bearing in mind that lofr.Sigmund Popper is a gentleman of high age who is living in a 688.11 S'.'Iiss to,m and might not be able to keep pace I'lith the developments I wrote to him as plainly as possible to explairi t6 him the situation. In that letter I requested t,rr.Popper to cable to me immediately upon receipt should he not agree Hith me that the securities Here my O\>ln and unconditional property. I figured that his cable in such case would reach me in time to file a report before October 51, 1941. However, no such cable was received, but in his lettex:: of Octobex:. 21,1241 Hr.Sh;rrund Popper declared to be in full agree~~ent '-------_....---.. -_..•._... -.....-_.._.....__.. --.-"'~ '-) wit11 me that title in the securities in question had passed to me uncondit,ionallw. FollowitJ.ghis intentien,t6use these funds for the welfare of the fal:lily he mentioned in this letter that for the future the responsibility of taking care of all needy family members would be mine. For my guidance he indicated which members of the family should pri;mrily be taken care of should need arise. In addition to my own jUd3;ement he reserved the right for himself, his \'life and two uncles for the ir lifetime to name me relatives in need of support. HoV/ever, there is no doubt that it was the intention of my uncle to pa'ss full title in the securities to me \'iithout any legal obligation on my part to pay any sum to any member of the familyo Therefore no member of my family nor anybody else has the right to claim any payment from me and it is left entirely to my own discretion whether I shall be 1-lilling to nake payments even if such payll'..ents should be suggested to me by !,!r.Sigmund Popper. This fact \'las also emphasized by Hr.Popper himself in his mentioned letter and I translate as fo1101'IS: lIyou \'Iill agree that I have great confidence in you putting this mission into your hands~, You are a man of honor and you wont disappoint me or your aunt. II I further ,rrention that any amounts remitted to membe rs of my family or in favor of such relatives have been transferred abroad by Irving Trust Company 334309 . , .. . .
'.llONAl ARCHIVES .. REPRODUCED AT THE NA .. " !! 1 VIall Street, NevI York, NY, or thru The Cbase National Bank of the City of !iNe·.1 York; Pine Street Corner of Nassau Street, New York,NY, in accordance 1tlith Ii the regulations of the Federal Rese rve Bank~ Ii !\ I therefore feel that I was entitled to regard and treat these securities lias lL'Y own property and did not hold myself obliged to file any report as I am i a generally licensed n.ationalo