Robert Lowe Kunzig (October 31, 1918 – February 21, 1982) was an American attorney,

HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...

counsel, and judge of the

United States Court of Claims The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims (), and abolished in 1982. Then, its jurisdiction was assumed by the n ...

Background

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, Kunzig received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1939, and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

in 1942.

Career

Kunzig served as a captain in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

from 1942 to 1946. He was a civilian war crimes prosecutor for the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

from 1946 to 1947. He was in private practice in Philadelphia from 1948 to 1969. He was deputy attorney general for the State of Pennsylvania from 1948 to 1953. He was counsel for the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1953 to 1955. Leading witness

Bella Dodd Bella Dodd (née Visono; 1904 – 29 April 1969 ) was a teacher, lawyer, and labor union activist, member of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) and New York City Teachers Union (TU) in the 1930s and 1940s ("one of Communi ...

(former teacher and CPUSA leader), Kunzig elicited yes or no answers as follows:

KUNZIG: Are you suggesting that professional people and teachers are handled in a special way?
DODD: Yes, I said in the very beginning–
KUNZIG: –If there was a professor in a college anywhere... his Communist Party membership and his participation in Communist activities would be kept on a highly secret level?
DODD: Yes, it would.

He also elicited from her testimony on communist espionage among teachers by querying her about spymaster

J. Peters J. Peters (born Sándor Goldberger; 11 August 1894 – 1990) was the most commonly known pseudonym of a man who last went by the name "Alexander Stevens" in 1949. Peters was a journalist, political activist, and accused Soviet spy who was a leadi ...

KUNZIG: Did you know an individual by the name of J. Peters — and, before you answer, I would like to say something on the record about J. Peters. J. Peters, as you know, was the author of the instruction book on espionage. He has been established as head of the Soviet-controlled espionage organization which operated in America. Did you know J. Peters? If so, how did you know him?
DODD: Well, that is an interesting question, because I knew of the J. Peters manual before I had read it. It had been given to me to read and study, and I knew a man by the name of Steve Miller, but Steve Miller was an insignificant little fellow who used to help with mimeographing at party headquarters. He was attached to the New York County committee. He was assigned from time to time to teach communism to some of the teachers, kind of take individual teachers who were rising in the party movement and give them special instructions. I thought he was just an insignificant little fellow until one day the authorities picked him up and I discovered he was J. Peters. He was engaged in using teachers throughout the United States for maildrop purposes, for revolutionary mail that was going back and forth from the Soviet Union into the United States.

(The document to which they were referring was ''The Communist Party: A Manual on Organization'' by J. Peter. ) Kunzig was legal adviser to the Chairman and Executive Director of the

Civil Aeronautics Board The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1940 from a split of the Civil Aeronautics Authority and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services (including scheduled passe ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

from 1955 to 1958. He was a member of the

Foreign Claims Settlement Commission The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States (FCSC) is a quasi-judicial, independent agency within the U.S. Department of Justice which adjudicates claims of U.S. nationals against foreign governments, either under specific jurisdic ...

in Washington, D.C. from 1958 to 1961. He was an administrative assistant for

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Hugh Scott Hugh Doggett Scott Jr. (November 11, 1900 – July 21, 1994) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1941 to 1945 and from 1947 to 1959 and in the ...

from 1963 to 1966. He was executive director of the General State Authority for the State of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1968. He was Administrator of the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...

from 1969 to 1972. Additionally, Kunzig managed the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

campaign of United States Senator Hugh Scott in 1964, the campaign of

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...

for District Attorney of Philadelphia in 1965 and the campaign of

Raymond P. Shafer Raymond Philip Shafer (March 5, 1917 – December 12, 2006) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 39th governor of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1971. Prior to that, he served as the 23rd lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from ...

for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1966.

Federal judicial service

Kunzig was nominated by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

on November 18, 1971, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Don Nelson Laramore Don Nelson Laramore (December 22, 1906 – August 9, 1989) was a judge of the United States Court of Claims and later a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Education and career Born on Decem ...

. He was confirmed by the

on December 2, 1971, and received his commission on January 3, 1972. His service terminated on February 21, 1982, due to his death in Washington, D.C. He died in hospital after a short illness.

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunzig, Robert Lowe 1918 births 1982 deaths Lawyers from Philadelphia Military personnel from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania alumni Judges of the United States Court of Claims Administrators of the General Services Administration United States Article I federal judges appointed by Richard Nixon University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Nixon administration personnel Members of the House Un-American Activities Committee