Samuel Krieger

Samuel Krieger (1902–1981) was an American union organizer, IWW member, Teamsters member, and communist.

Life

Background

Samuel Krieger was born in Russia on August 20, 1902. He came with his family to the United States at age two. He grew up in New York and New Jersey.

He served as an international representative for the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers. The Trials of Alger Hiss (1980)

Personal and death

In 1925, Krieger was already married to Carol Krieger in a party marriage, which seems to fall apart the same year because "Carol had run away with Comrade Hardy." Krieger sued for libel against Allen Weinstein, author of Perjury; Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., the book's publisher; and The New Republic magazine.

Although it was Krieger personally who was suing—reports vary from $3 million to $9 million

The aim of the Krieger lawsuit and similar efforts was to discredit Whittaker Chambers as a witness in the trials of Alger Hiss:

This disputed quotes did not by themselves prove or disprove the guilt of Alger Hiss ... But Weinstein's disputed interviews all concerned the issue of Whittaker Chambers' credibility -- the central issue in the case. All the new sources [in Perjury] were marshaled by Weinstein to show that Chambers was a "truthful man."

The process of the lawsuit also more firmly established that Krieger had in fact been a member of the Communist Party. For example, the New York Magazine gave its article on the lawsuit the title "Communist Sues Hiss Historian." Finally, Victor Navasky himself stated "Krieger [was] an important figure in the Hiss case because he introduced Whittaker Chambers into the Communist Party."

As the Associated Press noted at the time, Krieger's lawsuit coincided with a new effort by Hiss to seek exoneration: "Hiss, who has always maintained he was innocent, is now preparing a motion to set aside the guilty verdict under which he was imprisoned a quarter-century ago."

Papers

An unnamed source placed Krieger's papers in the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University in March 1995, opened for research in August 1996. They record retirement activities, "reflecting his lifelong interests in human rights."