Abraham Feller

Abraham Feller AKA Abraham H. Feller AKA Abe Feller (1904-1952) was chief legal counsel under Trygve Lie of the United Nations and friend of Alger Hiss who committed suicide during investigations into communist subversion at the UN by the U.S. Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS).[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Background

Feller was born around 1905 in New York City.[2][4]In 1928, he graduated from Harvard Law School (a year ahead of Alger Hiss and Lee Pressman–and, like them, an editor of the Harvard Law Review[5]).[1]

Career

In 1932, Feller taught at Harvard Law School through 1933.[1]

During the 1930s New Deal and into the 1940s, Feller had served the federal government in Washington, DC.[1][4] He was a member of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "brain trust."[5]

In 1946, Feller joined the United Nations during its formation in London as legal counsel and policy adviser.[4] He co-authored the UN charter.[5] At the time, he was working closely with Alger Hiss.[6]

By 1951, Feller was "General Counsel and Principal Director, Legal Department, United Nations Secretariat."[3] He headed a 52-person legal team.[7] He served as liaison between the UN and U.S. congressional committees investigating communist subversion in government.[1]

A States Department report dated January 17, 1951, states:

Subject: McCarran Act1—Possible Conflict with Headquarters Agreement
In conversation with Abe Feller in New York recently he expressed the view that the regulations which have been issued under the McCarran Act make it fairly clear to him that there is likely to be some conflict between that Act and the way in which it is being interpreted and the Headquarters Agreement. He expressed the view that in the event of such conflict the UN secretariat would be forced to resort to the arbitration procedure under the Agreement. He stated he thought this would be very unfortunate and wondered whether any consideration was being given to a general amendment to the McCarran Act which would waive its provisions so far as it conflicted with international obligations or international agreements. I told him I did not know whether any amendments were under consideration but that I would bring his view to your attention.[3]

Fellers appointment as chief legal counsel had upset the Communist press:

Pravda, in an article published Feb, 21, 1951, said that Mr. Feller decided all matters in the legal department and that Mr. Feller and Andrew W. Cordier, Mr. Lie's executive assistant, were "agents of the American State Department" and "American stooges" who "plan in the machinery of the Secretariat various behind-the-scene actions connected with the American aggression in Korea."[8]

TIME magazine also reported that Feller was under no suspicion himself–and that the US hearings had "uncovered 17 among the 2,000 Americans on the UN staff who refused to say whether or not they have engaged in subversive activities."[4] However, according to Feller's grand-nephew, he had received a subpoena from Roy Cohn to appear before SISS.[6] Weeks before his death, he had become acting Assistant Secretary General of the UN.[4]

Personal life and death

Feller was "reportedly" a "close friend" of Alger Hiss – at the time of Feller's suicide, already convicted of perjury in 1950 based on Communism-related charges.[1]

On November 13, 1952, age 47, Feller committed suicide by jumping out of the window of his 12th-floor apartment in New York City.[2][8][4][6][7]

Secretary General Trygve Lie blamed "indiscriminate smears" from the McCarran committee.[7] He said that Feller could not take the strain of investigations by a U.S. grand jury and the SISS.[2] "But what depressed Feller most were the problems and pressures that had been laid on the U.N. in recent months by a Federal grand jury and the McCarran Senate subcommittee, in their investigation of subversive Americans on the U.N. Secretariat"[4] His wife said he had suffered a "nervous breakdown brought on by overwork."[7]

According to a source unidentified by the New York Times, two recent events had depressed Feller: first, the defeat of New York governor Adlai Stevenson Jr., and, second, the resignation of Secretary General Lie.[8]

The Fellers had one daughter.[4] Writer Peter Birkenhead is his great-nephew.[5]

Aftermath

Secretary General Lie characterized Feller's death as an "irreparable loss to the United Nations and to me personally."[8]

His wife said of him, "He was an idealist, and his whole life was devoted to the United Nations."[4]

Ralph Bunche, then director of the "Department of Trusteeship" for the United Nations, "denounced Americans who bring pressure upon the United Nations as unable to understand that such an international body cannot serve the exclusive national interests of any member state. Dr. Bunche was alluding the the Senate Internal Security subcommittee."[8]

According to the New York Times, members of the UN Secretariat believe that

that the subcommittoe has not confined itself to a search for employees guilty of espionage or of subversive activities, or for members of the Communist party, but actually is on the trail of all with a Left Wing or New Deal background.[8]

The Secretariat also complained of leaks to newspapers from the U.S. grand jury. Overall, the Secretariat had noticed that US government was ready to go after any Americans at the UN "who were ever in the slightest degree associated with Alger Hiss.[8]

Legacy

Works

  • "Addendum to the Regulations Problem" with Erwin N. Griswold (1941)[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ex-Law Teacher, Aide to UN's Lie, Commits Suicide". The Crimson. Harvard University. 14 November 1952. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Abraham Feller, High U.N. Official, Commits Suicide in New York". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 14 November 1952. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Memorandum by the Director of the Office of International Administration and Conferences (Hall) to the Legal Adviser (Fisher)". Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951. U.S. Department of State. 17 January 1951. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "UNITED NATIONS: Death of an Idealist". TIME. 24 November 1952. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Birkenhead, Peter (25 June 2015). "The Man Who Jumped Out the Window". The Week. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Birkenhead, Peter (26 June 2005). "What the Bullies Did to Uncle Abe". The Week. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "U.N. Has a Bad Week". LIFE. 24 November 1952. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Secretary General Says Aide Sought Justice for Those Accused of Subversion". New York Times. 14 November 1952. p. 1. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  9. ↑ Feller, Abraham H.; Griswold, Erwin N. (1941). "Addendum to the Regulations Problem". Harvard Law Review. Retrieved 10 October 2018.

External sources

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