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By ARLEEN CARLINCourier Times Staff WriterTo say Walter A. Steene is just an outstanding teacher is like saying music is just a collection of sounds.The Morrisvilie teacher, who teaches German at Morrisvilie High School was recently named one of the 10 outstanding teachers in the state by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.A native of Austria, Steene has taught German at the high school for the past nine years. He also teaches German at Rider College in Trenton during the evenings.He is a man who is totally committed to whatever he does. There is no half way for Walter Steene. Loyality and integrity are his living habits, not his ideals.Moves To U.S.A.In 1935 he left Austria and moved to the United States. He said he left Austria because he was disgusted with its “middle of the road “ politics.At the time Hitler was still a political unknown in Germany but the roots of nationalist socialism were already firmly embedded in Austria.“The idea of the unification of Eastern Europe had its beginnings in Austria. ’ explained Steene.Hitler did not find a comfortable atmosphere for Nazism in Austria because Austria would never commit itself to one party. The Austrians are not a pure race. There is a great mixture of Hungarian, Czechoslovakian and Italian. Consequently. Austria was and is still unable to commit itself to one political idealogy or philosophy,” he added.Denied Citizenship“This is one of the reasons why I left Austria. I firmly believe in democracy. There was no democracy in Austria — only hypocrisy.The Austrian was and still is on the side of anyone who can be of use to him. When the person or the political party no longer serves a useful purpose, the Austrian changes hats, ” he continued.Steene attempted to obtain citizenship in the late 30’s but was told by the Department of Labor, which was handling naturalization cases at the time,'he was an “enemy alien and could not be granted citizenship.“I guess I really could have been very upset bv this,” said Steene “But I wasn't. I had written to the Department of Labor and told them that according to a decision by the Department of State. Austria walt; considered a conquered nation because Hitler had annexed it. Therefore I was a friendly alien.“They wrote me back and said. No you are an enemy alien.' I wrote them back and sent them a copy of the Department of State’s decision.“They returned my letter saying, We don't give a damn what the Department of State saysSucks (Hmmftj (Euaritf SumsMorrisvilie Yardley Lower Makefieyou're an enemy alien. '“I was drafted in 1941 and I received another letter from the Department of U bor saying. ‘ You don't have to go to war because you are an enemy alien. But if you don't go you will never have a chance of becoming a citizen.’ “Well I had no desire not to go. As a matter of fact I was very anxious to go. Three months later I became a citizen while in the service.”Intelligence OfficerSometimes during the war, highly qualified men in the service were wasted on menial clerical tasks just because their qualifications and the bureaucratic machinery never clicked.Such was the case with Steene He was assigned as a clerk in Camp Upton. Rhode Island when he first entered the service. Steene speaks and writes four languages — English, French, German and Dutch, fluently He is also a college graduate “One day I was called upon to act as an interpreter for the batal-lion commander There was a young fellow at headquarters who spoke only French. The commander said he needed someone who spoke French to talk to this fellow as no one else at the camp spoke French but me.” Steen explained.“I talked to him and I was just ready to leave when this major came in and said. Do you speak any other languages?’I told him I did. He said.‘Well why didn't you tell us that before?’“I told him it was on my records. He said. Well what are you doing here? They need people like you on the front.”Two days later he was on his way to the Military Intelligence Training Center in Cambridge,Maryland. Later he was called to the U.S. Embassy in London where he was assigned as the U.S. Liason Officer.”Interrogates Goering While in London, Steene was assigned to interrogate the cream of Hitler's Nazi crop; Reich Marshal Hermann Goering, Doenitz, grand admiral of the German Fleet; Keitel, chief of staff and Kesselring. field marshal in charge of the Italian front.Steene’s interrogation reports were sent back to Washington where they were used in preparation for the Nuremberg Trials.“I interrogated them ( war criminals) in German. I took down the interrogation in shorthand. At night I dictated the testimonies to a WAC secretary who in turn teletyped them to the United States.“It was really a rather cut and dry process for the most part. We were issued questionnaires by the War Department We had to follow them closely.“The idea was not to antagonize the people. They were captive. But they knew they were not going to live very long. My job was to get as much out of them as humanly possible by not being overly friendly but by being polite and firm so they would respond.” he said.“Most of them knew they had nothing to lose. The war was over and that was that. They would admit they were wrongBut some people were still diehards-like Goering for example. Goering was a confirmed Nazi. He claimed everything the Nazis did was right, just and fair.“He knew what was going to happen to him so he spilled everything he could. He bragged about what he had done and was constantly belittling the United States.“Some of the things he said were humorous. For instance, he pointed out that our ambassador had visited a famous porcelain factory in Germany around 1924. At that time the factory was being prepared to become an aircraft factory.'Goering said the ambassador never realized when he visited the factory that the firm's largest porcelain figure was two feet high and all the gates at the factory were 12 feet high. Obviously for airplanes.As though that were not enough, when the ambassador s commercial airliner took off from the airstrip the pilot mistakenly opened the plane's bomb bays. The ambassador never noticed that either. ”Hypocrites Steene’s list of anecdotes is endless. He has traveled all over the world and has known a number of interesting people He bubbles with enthusiasm tor life. He abhors hyprocrisy and consequently will have nothing to do with religion which he claims is full of hyprocites.He has a sharp and bit mg sense of humor which is often sarcastic but always beautifully executed Perhaps his most charming quality is his sincerity and honesty. He doesn t “snow” his pupils which includes nearly every one he has contact with. He has no time for phonies.“Life is too short for trivia and deceit. To live is to become involved. No man can live until he has committed himself to something.’’N.J. hearings continueAir pollution code nearPRINCETON, N.J. (UPI) -The views of ail those testifying at public hearings, which continued today, will be taken into consideration before a state air pollution code is enacted, according to the state commissioner of environmental protection Commissioner Richard J. Sullivan said at the opening day of the hearings at Rider college here Thursday that the proposed code would be reviewed in light of the testimony given.Some 20 speakers strode to the rostrum Thursday to debate the merits of code, which is aimed at meeting standards set by the federal government “We feel that the restrict! v-enness of the proposed regulationmay be justified and a prudent control strategy is applied to new source.” said J.L. Richmond, a representative of I.E. De Pont de Nemours and Company, which has eight already-established plants in New Jersey, but that engineering and economic practicalities often preclude achieving the same emission limit for existing facilities.”Richmond complained that “the degrees of control, called; for will require the needless expenditure of million of dollars for the control of emissions that have no known adverse effect on health or welfare.”The opposition point of view was taken by Mrs, Barbara G. Eis-ter, president of the New JerseyCitizens for Clean Air, Inc., and East Orange organizationThe proposed standards, she said, “have not gone far enough in meeting the problems of the most heavily populated industrialized and automobilized state in the union ”Mrs Eisler said that restricting the individual plants is not sufficient.Thomas A. Plata, executive director of the Suburban .Air Pollution Commission. West Orange warned that “if an airpollution emergency were declared today we would be in a great state of confusion since procedures and responsibilities for local control agencies are not clearly delineat-ed” by the proposed code_Morrisvilie teacher left Austria to escape hypocrisy, HitlerMORRISVILLE TEACHER WAS INTERROGATOR■.. Walter A. Steene holds a copy of Hitler's Mein KampfOn Heacock RoadPUC to investigate crossingThe Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission is going to investigate the need for automatic crossing signals at the railroad‘Dracula” at libraryvDracula.” a story by Bram Stoker of the most famous vampire of all times is among the new books available at the Morrisvilie Free Public Library,Sarah Cardiff's “Fools Apple. is a novel about witchcraft and tragedy in New England. Alistair MacLean's “Bear Island.” is a story about an artic island which becomes an isle of terror.Franz Kafka’s “Selected Stories.” is an assemblage of stories by an author who has a unique quality of writing, Soren Kierkegaard’s “A Kierkegarrd Anthology.” is a collection of works by a famous philosopherSehmilt finishespilots coursecrossing on Heacock Road in Lower Makefield Township.George I. Bloom, chairman of the commission said the commission’s action comes as a result of a request made by the Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce.The Chamber s traffic and highway committee with the cooperation of Chief Charles Ronaldo ofLower Makefield Township Police wrote to Bloom in December of 1971 expressing them concern about the increasing number of railroad-automobile accidents at this unprotected crossing.The PUC will conduct a field investigation and conference at the Heacock crossing site on Jan. Hat 1:30 p.m.
Newspaper Details
Bucks County Courier Times
Levittown, Pennsylvania, US
Fri, Jan 07, 1972
Page 23
Full Page
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Library O.
DC, USA 18 Dec 2024
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