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received: 2023-08-26                    DOI 10.19233/ASHS.2023.24
SAFEGUARDING LIBERTY? REPRESSIVE MEASURES AGAINST ENEMY 
ALIENS AND ETHNIC COMMUNITY RESILIENCE IN WWI UNITED STATES: 
THE SLOVENIAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
David HAZEMALI
University of Maribor, Faculty of Arts, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
e-mail: david.hazemali@um.si
ABSTRACT
This article delves into the complexities of the U.S.’s treatment of enemy aliens during World War I, particularly 
illuminating the experiences of the Slovenian-American immigrant ethnic community, following the declaration of 
war on Austro-Hungary. It presents instances of repression, violence and internment suffered by members of the 
Slovenian-American community and other immigrant ethnic communities originating from Austria-Hungary, while 
also highlighting examples of their resilience and defiance. The study is firmly grounded in the archives of the 
Slovenian-American fraternal benefit society the Slovene National Benefit Society (SNPJ), and the Yugoslav Socialist 
Alliance (JSZ), housed at the Immigration History Research Center Archives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Keywords: Slovenian Americans/American Slovenians, Slovenian-American community, fraternal benefit societies, 
World War I, USA, enemy aliens
PROTEGGERE LA LIBERTÀ? MISURE RESTRITTIVE CONTRO GLI STRANIERI NEMICI E 
RESILIENZA DELLA COMUNITÀ ETNICA DURANTE LA PRIMA GUERRA MONDIALE 
NEGLI STATI UNITI: L’ESPERIENZA SLOVENO-AMERICANA
SINTESI
L’articolo esamina in profondità le complessità del trattamento riservato dagli Stati Uniti agli alieni nemici du-
rante la Prima Guerra Mondiale, mettendo in particolare luce sulle esperienze della comunità etnica di immigrati 
sloveno-americani, in seguito alla dichiarazione di guerra all’Austria-Ungheria. Esso presenta episodi di repressione, 
violenza e internamento subiti dai membri della comunità sloveno-americana e da altre comunità etniche di immi-
grati provenienti dall’Austria-Ungheria, mettendo in risalto anche esempi della loro resilienza e resistenza. La ricerca 
si basa sugli archivi archivi della Società di beneficenza sloveno-americana, la Slovene National Benefit Society 
(SNPJ), e della Yugoslav Socialist Alliance (JSZ), che si trovano presso gli Archivi del Centro di Ricerca sulla Storia 
dell’Immigrazione a Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Parole chiave: sloveno-americani / americani sloveni, comunità sloveno-americana, società di beneficenza 
confraternale, Prima guerra mondiale, Stati Uniti, stranieri nemici
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David HAZEMALI: SAFEGUARDING LIBERTY? REPRESSIVE MEASURES AGAINST ENEMY ALIENS AND ETHNIC COMMUNITY RESILIENCE IN WWI UNITED STATES: ..., 489–502
INTRODUCTION1
On 12 October 1937, naturalized Slovenian 
American Louis (Alojz) John Pirc (1888–1939), who 
is primarily remembered in historiography for his 
editorial, translation, and teaching work within the 
Cleveland Slovenian-American immigrant ethnic 
community, concluded his radio speech with the 
following words2: ‘‘I am proud to be of Slovenian 
descent. I am immensely proud to be an American 
citizen; to serve a country that permits you to be 
a person and not simply a cog in a great wheel.’’3
His words, emphasizing the freedom to be an 
individual in the United States (U.S.), resonate 
ironically in light of the subsequent treatment 
of non-naturalized members of the Slovenian-
American and other immigrant ethnic communities 
from Austria-Hungary, pacifists, and those who 
supported Austria-Hungary after the U.S.’s entry 
into World War I.
The American wartime government undertook 
the mobilization of their citizens in favour of the 
American war effort through federal agencies, 
established defence councils at various adminis-
trative levels, law enforcement bodies, and sup-
pressive wartime legislation. For many, several of 
the established societal and social norms of the 
pre-war period became a thing of the past (Šorn, 
2020, 728). The once free expression of opinions of 
individuals, local associations, larger movements, 
organizations, unions, and political parties, re-
gardless of ethnic affiliation, ideological-political 
orientation, or religion, was reduced to merely one 
premise: either you were/became a supporter of 
the American war effort, or you remained/became 
an undesirable ‘foreigner’, even an internal enemy.
This article delves into the complexities of the 
U.S.’s treatment of enemy aliens, particularly il-
luminating the experiences of the Slovenian-Amer-
ican immigrant ethnic community, following the 
declaration of war on Austro-Hungary. It reveals a 
stark contrast to Pirc’s optimistic sentiments and 
explores how the community navigated these tur-
bulent times. The first part of the article provides a 
1 The article originated within the research programme Slovenska identiteta in kulturna zavest v jezikovno in etnično stičnih prosto-
rih v preteklosti in sedanjosti (P6-0372 (B)), funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS).
2 Literal quotations are presented in their original form, including (but not limited to) any grammatical or other errors that may be present. 
Originals in Slovenian are added in footnotes.
3 Original: “Ponosen sem, da sem slovenskega rodu. Neizmerno sem ponosen, da sem ameriški državljan; da smem služiti državi, ki ti 
dovoljuje, da si oseba in ne le zobnik v velikem kolesu” (Work projects Administration in Ohio, 1940, 433).
4 Because the U.S. federal government did not formally recognise the Slovenian-American immigrant ethnic community in the U.S. as a 
sovereign legal entity during that period, as best illustrated by measures directed against non-naturalized immigrants from countries at 
war with the U.S., the Slovenian-American community is considered in this article in the context of a broader, either (South) Slavic or 
Austro-Hungarian immigrant community, in many matters.
5 The abbreviations for the Slovenian-American fraternal benefit societies the Slovene National Benefit Society (SNPJ) and the Grand 
Carniolan Slovenian Catholic Union (KSKJ), and the Slovenian-dominated Yugoslav Socialist Alliance (JSZ), correspond to the original 
Slovenian names of the organizations, not their English translations.
comprehensive examination of U.S.’s suppressive 
wartime legislation, with a particular focus on the 
repressive measures imposed on enemy aliens. In 
the second part, the article presents instances of 
repression, violence and internment suffered by 
members of the Slovenian-American community 
and other immigrant ethnic communities origi-
nating from Austria-Hungary. This challenges the 
assessment of Croatian historian and migration 
researcher Ivan Čizmić, who suggested that “the 
position of Slovenians, Croatians, and Serbs in the 
US between April 1917 and November 1918 was 
favorable compared to that of the German-Ameri-
can community” (Čizmić, 1982, 273).4 Finally, in 
the third part, the article documents examples of 
diverse resilience strategies and defiance. 
It builds on insights from scholars Jörg Nagler 
(2000) and Nicole Phelps (2010), who have pro-
vided valuable perspectives on the status of Austro-
Hungarian enemy aliens in the U.S. during World 
War I. It also expands on the introductory study 
from Hazemali & Matjašič Friš (2018), which first 
addressed the status of the Slovenian-American 
community during this historical period, offering a 
more comprehensive understanding of the nuances 
within this context. The study is firmly grounded 
in the archives of the Slovenian-American frater-
nal benefit society the Slovene National Benefit 
Society (Slovenian: Slovenska narodna podporna 
jednota, SNPJ), and the Yugoslav Socialist Alliance 
(Slovenian: Jugoslovanska socialistična zveza, 
JSZ), housed at the Immigration History Research 
Center Archives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.5 Ad-
ditionally, it draws from official records of the U.S. 
Congress, federal laws, presidential decrees, select 
Slovenian-American newspapers, and a wide se-
lection of standard and contemporary scholarly 
works on the topic.
TARGETING ENEMY ALIENS: 
SUPPRESSIVE WARTIME LEGISLATION
On 7 December 1917, the U.S. declared war 
on Austria-Hungary, thus the Slovenian-American 
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community found itself at war with its ‘old home-
land’ (Scott, 1918, 165–172).6 Consequently, as 
discussed by Hazemali & Matjašič Friš (2018), 
Slovenians and individuals from other immigrant 
ethnic communities from the Danubian monarchy 
who had not yet acquired American citizenship 
were designated as enemy aliens (Slovenian: 
sovražni tujci), similar to citizens of the German 
Empire in the U.S. in April of that year (cf. the 
following standard works on the well-documented 
status of the German-American community in the 
U.S. during WWI: Capozzola, 2008; Nagler, 2000; 
Manning, 2014, 14–22; Richardson, 1995, 79–89; 
Leola, 1974, 418–429; Trommler, 2009, 241–266; 
Wüstenbecker, 2007).
The term enemy alien originated in 1798 during 
the threat of war with France, leading to the Alien 
and Sedition Acts (Phelps, 2010, 93). Driven by con-
cerns about foreign residents potentially supporting 
French revolutionaries, these laws had (at least) two 
far-reaching consequences that manifested during 
the period under consideration, coinciding with ac-
tive American military participation in World War I. 
The first consequence was the establishment of the 
definition of an enemy alien. This classification refers 
to non-U.S. citizens residing in the U.S. who are typi-
cally citizens of a country at war with the U.S. These 
individuals, from the declaration to the end of the 
war, may support their home country, as specified by 
legislation or presidential decrees. Individuals falling 
under this classification may be subject to specific le-
gal restrictions and scrutiny, impacting their rights and 
privileges within the United States (Brandon, 1950, 
382). The second consequence was a transformation 
in American legislation concerning naturalization be-
tween 1798 and 1917, marked by key Naturalization 
Acts in 1802, 1906, and 1917. The 1906 Act replaced 
the 1802 version, reducing the residency requirement 
from fourteen to five years and introducing a three-year 
advance intention to become a citizen. The Fourteenth 
Amendment in 1868 granted citizenship by birth. The 
1906 Act established the Bureau of Immigration and 
Naturalization, streamlining the process and confining 
it to competent courts (Schneider, 2011; Aptekar, 2015, 
9). The 1917 Act, enacted despite President Woodrow 
Wilson’s veto, introduced a literacy requirement in the 
native language for foreign applicants (Powell, 2009).
6 When discussing the legal status of the Slovenian-American community in the U.S. during WWI, we must distinguish between the 
period before the declaration of war between the U.S. and the Danubian monarchy and the period after the declaration. Although 
Slovenians and other Slavs who migrated to the U.S. were problematic in many respects in the eyes of the American authorities 
and ‘full-fledged’ Americans, as pointed out by American Historian Karel Dennis Bicha (1982, 16–38), they were able to express 
their views relatively freely until the U.S. entered World War I.
7 DCL, BC (1913): 13th U.S. Census of Population 1910, 965.
8 Until the American declaration of war on Austro-Hungary, measures against enemy aliens did not apply to non-naturalized Slo-
venian immigrants, i.e., all those who had not yet completed the naturalization process and acquired citizenship. However, the 
line between law and practice was blurred during this time of war.
9 CR 55, 65th US Congress, 1st Session, page 693 and onwards, and page 800 and onwards.
10 Clevelandska Amerika, 9. 4. 1917: (Uredništvo), Proglas predsednika Wilsona glede zadržanja Nemcev, 1.
The implications of the Naturalization Acts and the 
Fourteenth Amendment on the Slovenian-American 
community were manifold. Thanks to the reduced 
residency requirement and birthright citizenship, tens 
of thousands within the community, born as Ameri-
can citizens, were de jure spared from the stringent 
measures imposed on enemy aliens between 1917 
and 1918. While the precise breakdown between 
Slovenian Americans and naturalized Slovenian 
immigrants during this period remains unknown at 
the federal level, the 1910 census sheds light. Out 
of 183,431 individuals declaring Slovenian as their 
mother tongue, 59,800 were Slovenian Americans, 
descendants of immigrants who gained citizenship 
by birth. The status of the remaining 123,631, not 
born in the U.S., and their citizenship or enemy alien 
designation by 1917 remains unclear.7
Even before the U.S. armed forces strategically, 
tactically, and operationally intervened in World War 
I, employees at the U.S. Department of Justice, hid-
den from the public eye and certain other branches 
of government, began compiling lists of potentially 
dangerous immigrants from the ranks of Germans, 
Hungarians, and ‘Austrians’. The latter almost 
certainly included Slovenians, along with other im-
migrant ethnic communities from the Cisleithanian 
part of the Danubian monarchy. At the same time, 
the U.S. Department of War began implementing 
plans for internment camps for the enemies of the 
U.S. When the American Congress declared war 
on the German Empire on 6 April8, Wilson issued a 
presidential decree on the same day with measures 
related to the powers and, above all, the duties of 
enemy aliens – at that time only Germans without 
American citizenship (children under the age of 
fourteen did not receive this designation) (Phelps, 
2010, 93).
Non-naturalized Germans residing on American 
soil were prohibited from serving in the U.S. armed 
forces – naturalized individuals were allowed to do 
so. Several debates ensued in both houses of the 
American Congress regarding whether enemy aliens 
should be permitted to serve in the U.S. armed forc-
es.9 Furthermore, non-naturalized Germans were not 
allowed to linger near weapon factories, barracks, 
etc. (Phelps, 2010, 93). Authorities could also register, 
interrogate, and intern them.10 
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In June 1917, Wilson signed into law the Espio-
nage Act, which prohibited interference with mili-
tary operations or the recruitment of armed forces, 
prevented disobedience in the armed forces, and 
prevented giving or showing support to the enemies 
of the United States during the war. The law also 
granted the U.S. Postmaster General the authority 
to seize or refuse the shipment of publications of 
all forms that were found to violate legal prohibi-
tions. With this clause, the Wilson administration 
abolished the issuance of all pro-Austrian publica-
tions as well as those advocating isolationism. 
Labour organizations were also affected (Zavertnik, 
1925, 228). The editor of the left-leaning Slovenian-
American newspaper Prosveta, Jože (Josip) Zavert-
nik (1869–1929), commented on the new law in a 
letter addressed to the Supreme Committee of SNPJ, 
stating that the government wanted “to prevent 
any writing against the war”11 in this way. Editors 
of foreign-language newspapers in the U.S. had to 
translate every news item related to the war into Eng-
lish. Newspapers that received special permission12 
from the U.S. Postmaster General were exempted, 
but by the end of 1917, there were hundreds of such 
requests in Washington, so editors had no choice 
but to start publishing bilingual news.13 This did not 
stop Zavertnik and others at the top of SNPJ: ‘‘The 
main administrative board then decided to send the 
chief secretary and the society’s lawyer to Wash-
ington on this matter. This was carried out, and 
the society’s publication received permission to be 
issued without having to translate articles and news 
related to the war into English.’’14 In Washington, 
D.C., editors of foreign-language publications were 
thoroughly interrogated. The interrogators were 
particularly interested in their attitudes towards the 
war. According to the preserved minutes of the main 
board meeting, the Prosveta editorial staff made a 
good impression on the competent representatives 
of the federal authorities. They humorously added 
that the: “Croatians have a very bad influence on 
the government.”15
To intensify the campaign against enemy aliens, 
the Wilson administration instituted the Commit-
tee on Public Information (CPI), also known as 
the Creel Committee, an autonomous government 
11 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1917–1918, Glavni Odbor, Minutes 1917–1918: Joseph Kuhelj in Ivan Molek, Seja gl. upravnega odbora 
27. septembra 1917.
12 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1917–1918, Joseph Kuhelj in Ivan Molek, Seja gl. upravnega odbora 25. oktober 1917.
13 IHRCA-2241: SNBS, 2, 1917–1918, Joseph Kuhelj in Ivan Molek, Izredna seja gl. upravnega odbora 29. oktobra 1917.
14 Original: ‘‘Glavni upravni odbor je nato sklenil, da pošlje glavnega tajnika in jednotinega odvetnika v Washington v tej zadevi. To 
se je izvršilo in jednotino glasilo je prejelo dovoljenje, da je smelo izhajati, ne da bi bilo treba prevajati člankov in vesti, tikajočih 
se vojne, v angleščino” (IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1917–1918, John Vogrich in Ivan Molek, Letna seja glavnega odbora SNPJ. Prva 
seja 17. januarja 1918).
15 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1917–1918, John Vogrich in Ivan Molek, Letna seja glavnega odbora SNPJ. Prva seja 17. januarja 1918.
16 Following the U.S. decision to intervene with other Entente members in the Russian Civil War in January 1918, Bolsheviks and commu-
nists were added to the existing threats (Nežmah, 2020, 130).
17 CR 55, 65th US Congress, 1st Session, 411–426.
entity primarily tasked with fostering enthusiasm 
and backing for the war effort among the diverse 
American population on the home front (Haze-
mali & Matjašič Friš, 2018, 914). Its crucial role 
extended to supplying provisions for the military 
and boosting the willingness of young men to enlist. 
Simultaneously, the Committee aimed to counteract 
individuals and organizations accused of attempt-
ing to undermine the U.S. war effort (Creel, 1920, 
1–10). These included enemy aliens, radicals, 
anarchists, and even pacifists.16 The scope of the 
engagement was comprehensive, touching every 
facet of the war machinery and utilizing various 
mediums of communication, including the printed 
word, spoken discourse, motion pictures, posters, 
and signboards. Creel himself later remembered 
that these mediums were used “to make our own 
people and all other peoples understand the causes 
that compelled America to take arms in defense 
of its liberties and free institutions” (Creel, 1920, 
2). Throughout its existence from April 14, 1917, 
to June 30, 1919, the Committee, either indepen-
dently or through collaborating institutions exerted 
every conceivable effort to promote its objectives 
through diverse media channels. Even today, the 
CPI’s endeavors are widely acknowledged as one of 
the most noteworthy propaganda campaigns in the 
history of the United States (Vaughn, 1980).
The American Protective League (APL) assisted 
U.S. law enforcement in dealing with enemy aliens. 
Its members were individuals with anti-immigrant 
sentiments. The APL helped identify sympathizers of 
Germany or Austria-Hungary, as well as radicals, 
anarchists, Bolsheviks, and even pacifists (Luebke, 
1974).
In October 1917, the Trading with the Enemy 
Act17 was adopted, which, among other things, gave 
the U.S. government the authority to confiscate 
the property of enemy aliens on American soil. In 
practice, it often happened that the property of full-
fledged American citizens was confiscated, either in-
tentionally or due to a simple mistake (Garner, 1918, 
744–779; 1919, 22–59; Potterf, 1927, 453–472).
The mentioned laws also affected inheritance 
law. At the meeting of the main board of SNPJ on 1 
August 1917, they discussed the case of Fr. Vehovec 
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from Cleveland, who could not obtain a birth cer-
tificate from the ‘old homeland’ because of the “war 
situation,” and therefore could not inherit from his 
father, a member of SNPJ Lodge No. 5 Lovrenc 
Vehovec.18
On 16 November, a new presidential decree fol-
lowed, along with a new wave of measures aimed 
at enemy aliens. From then on, all non-naturalized 
Germans in the U.S. had to register and always 
carry registration information with them. In the 
summer of 1918, this measure was extended to non-
naturalized German women residing in the U.S.19
On May 16, 1918, the U.S. Congress broadened 
the Espionage Act of 1917 with the introduction 
of the Sedition Act. This act extended the scope of 
punishable offenses to encompass not only actions 
but also speech and expressions of opinion that 
portrayed the government or the war effort nega-
tively, hindered the sale of government bonds, or 
employed disrespectful or abusive language about 
the U.S. government, its flag, or its armed forces. 
While it wasn’t explicitly directed at enemy aliens, 
its broad language allowed for the prosecution of 
individuals, regardless of their citizenship status, 
who were deemed to be undermining the war ef-
fort or promoting dissent. The Sedition Act marked 
a peak in the U.S. government’s efforts to control 
dissent, enemy aliens and other perceived threats 
during World War I (Phelps, 2010).
DOCUMENTED CASES OF REPRESSIVE MEASURES 
AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE SLOVENIAN-
AMERICAN AND OTHER ETHNIC IMMIGRANT 
COMMUNITIES FROM AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
The measures aimed at enemy aliens exhibited 
a seemingly peculiar nature in that, even after the 
American declaration of war on Austro-Hungary, 
when non-naturalized Slovenians residing in the 
U.S. legally became enemy aliens, most of the 
formal applications of these measures de jure 
did not extend to them or other immigrant ethnic 
communities from the Danubian monarchy, or 
they were milder in nature. Wilson (Phelps, 2010, 
93) himself pointed this out, although, according 
to Josephus Daniels, the then American Secretary 
of the Navy, the American president initially had 
a different opinion (Cronon, 1963, 275). With 
18 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1916–1917, Ivan Molek, Seja gl. upravnega odbora 1. avgusta 1917.
19 Clevelandska Amerika, 9. 5. 1917: (Uredništvo), Selitev Nemcev iz nevarnih krajev. Popis vsega nemškega prebivalstva, 1.
20 In this context, a passport did not mean a document of identity issued by the state but metaphorically meant a document that allowed the 
holder to travel to a certain country or part of it and still be insured by the fraternal support organization. The reason for this was mainly 
economic: workers who had moved to the U.S. from the poorer regions of the Danubian monarchy predominated in the production of 
weapons and ammunition and in the mining and metallurgical sectors critical for wartime conditions (IHRCA-2241,SNBS, 2, 1916–1917, 
Joseph Kuhelj, Seja gl. upravnega odbora 21. novembra 1917).
21 With a strong Slovenian-American community in Johnstown, one might wonder if Kovath had Slovenian roots (Klemenčič, 1987, 66).
22 IHRCA-1149, JSF, 1, Executive Committee, Minutes, 1915–1920, J. Horvat, Zapisnik seje eksekutive J. S. S. dne 11. maja 1918, 245.
the presidential decree of 11 December, it was 
formally forbidden for these immigrant ethnic 
communities to leave and for other citizens of the 
Danubian monarchy to enter the U.S., and there 
was also the possibility of their internment in case 
of suspicious behaviour or evidence of anti-state 
activity (Capozzola, 2008, 26). Consequently, in-
tercontinental travel was severely hindered for the 
vast majority of the non-naturalized members of 
the Slovenian-American community between April 
1917 and November 1918. This is evidenced by the 
preserved request of Joe Tomazetič from Chisholm, 
Minnesota. Tomazetič, wishing to visit Italy, turned 
to the Supreme Committee of SNPJ. Their response 
was more than telling: “The Society cannot issue a 
passport anywhere as long as the war lasts.”20 Ad-
ditional documented cases of repression, violence, 
and internment in this part of the article underscore 
that, despite the peculiarities in the formal applica-
tion of these measures, the Slovenian-American and 
other immigrant ethnic communities from Austria-
Hungary did, in fact, suffer from them, experiencing 
significant and adverse effects.
One such notable case involved the 35-year-old 
Austrian citizen Joseph Kovath, who worked in a 
steel mill in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.21 His refusal 
to buy war bonds led to a brutal public shaming: 
about 40 to 50 workers from a nearby factory first 
soaked him in a “concrete bed,” then smeared his 
palms and face with grease, and dragged him bound 
through the streets. An unnamed Justice Department 
employee commented that this was not “cruel or 
violent treatment.” He concluded that the estab-
lished norms at the time were “greatly beneficial to 
the alien population.” After the humiliation, Kovath 
purchased a $100 war bond (two thousand U.S. 
dollars in 2022) – a significant sum at the time – 
and was allowed to return to work. His assailants 
went unpunished. There were many similar cases; 
over 70 ended in the victim’s death (Hazemali & 
Matjašič Friš, 2018, 913; Capozzola, 2008, 10).
Among those affected were also confirmed members 
of the Slovenian-American community. In May 1918, in 
Staunton, Illinois, an attack by the “public” targeted an 
unknown member of JSZ Lodge No. 100.22 The reason 
for the attack remains unknown. Editor Jože Zavertnik 
was also among those affected. Although he did not suf-
fer physical injuries, he experienced property damage 
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by unknown perpetrators because of his subscription to 
a pacifist publication, according to Prosveta’s assistant 
editor at the time Ivan Molek (1882–1962) (Molek, 
1979, 193). In May 1918, JSZ Secretary-General Frank 
Petrich reported to the alliance’s leader that govern-
ment detectives had “inspected all correspondence 
and literature since April 1917” in his office. They also 
took some correspondence and literature.23 Law en-
forcement was particularly ruthless towards individuals 
who refused to respond to the military draft. The Im-
migration History Research Center archives contain a 
note about an unnamed secretary of SNPJ Lodge No. 
110 from Chisholm, Minnesota, who ended up in jail 
in the summer of 1917. The SNPJ’s Supreme Committee 
concluded on 27 June that this was because he “did not 
want to register.”24
At the same meeting, they also discussed a letter 
from M. E. Sostarič of Chisholm, also a member of 
SNPJ Lodge No. 110. Sostarič addressed the letter 
to the editorial office of Prosveta. Sostarič’s letter is 
one of the few preserved and discovered testimo-
nies from the period in question in the Slovenian 
language, reflecting the uncensored experience of 
propaganda and repressive measures by a member 
of the Slovenian-American community in the U.S., 
making it worthy of quoting in full:
Dear Brother Editor!25 It is impossible to judge 
how a person like you can fall so low and 
write in favour of our exploiters and murder-
ers. You have crossed all the boundaries of 
an honest worker’s editor. Do not think that 
only “radical” socialists who keep watch do 
not agree with your low writing and dog-like 
loyalty, but our entire nation is outraged, and 
you can believe me that “Prosveta” will lose 
thousands of subscribers. You have become 
more disgusting than other Slovenian editors 
in America. And be assured that what you 
have achieved with years of hard work, you 
now want to destroy if you continue this way. 
23 IHRCA-1149, JSF, 1, Executive Committee, Minutes, 1915–1920, J. Horvat, Zapisnik seje eksekutive J. S. S. dne 11. maja 1918, 245.
24 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1916–1917, John Vogrich in Ivan Molek, Seja gl. upravnega odbora 27. junija 1917.
25 He was addressing Jože Zavertnik, as confirmed by those present (IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1916–1917, John Vogrich in Ivan Molek, Seja 
gl. upravnega odbora 27. junija 1917).
26 Original: ‘‘Cenjeni Brat urednik! Nemogoče je presoditi kako da človek kakor ste vi more pasti tako nisko in pisati vprid naših isko-
riščevalcev in morilcev. Viste prekoračili vse meje poštenega delavskega urednika. Nikar ne mislite da samo ‘‘radikalni” socialisti 
oko straže se ne strinjajo z vašim niskim pisanjem in pasjo lojalnostjo ampak ves naš narod je ogorčen in lahko mi verjemete da 
‘‘Prosveta” bo izgubila na tisoče naročnikov. Vi ste postali gnjus veči kakor so drugi slovenski uredniki v Ameriki. In bodite uvereni 
da ono kaj ste leta in leta steškim naporom postigli hočete zdaj vničiti če tako dalj bodete šli. Nimam nič protiv toga česte vi prepri-
čani da se Amerika bori za ‘‘svobodo” in da so vaše simpatije na strani saveznikov, ampak da bi človek zbog toga pamet izgubil in 
prekoračil vse meje ponižnosti in sovinizmu, je preveč. Prepričan sem da kad bi živeli tukaj pod pestjo U. S. Steel trusta, da bi vas 
misel prešla pisati o ‘‘svobodi” v Ameriki. Oh, svoboda, ‘‘keep your mouth shut and obey the law”, aretirati človeka brez waranta, 
vstreliti človeka na sred ulice kakor psa in zakaj? Zato ker se ni registriral. Sodrug, ali vas ne bo savest pekla kedaj si pomislite da 
ste vi tudi krivi umora tisočerih nedolžnih revežev? Ampak se ni vredno na vas apelirati za kaj pametnega v tem času, ali bodite 
prepričani da število naročnikov na Prosveto vas bo že k pameti dognalo (IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2,1916–1917, John Vogrich in Ivan 
Molek, Seja gl. upravnega odbora 27. junija 1917).
27 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1916–1917, John Vogrich in Ivan Molek, Seja gl. upravnega odbora 27. junija 1917.
28 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1916–1917, John Vogrich in Ivan Molek, Seja gl. upravnega odbora 27. junija 1917.
I have nothing against you being convinced 
that America is fighting for “freedom” and 
that your sympathies are with the allies, but 
to lose one’s mind and cross all boundaries 
of humility and chauvinism is too much. I am 
convinced that if you lived here under the 
fist of the U.S. Steel trust, you would change 
your mind about writing about “freedom” in 
America. Oh, freedom, “keep your mouth shut 
and obey the law,” arresting a man without a 
warrant, shooting a man in the middle of the 
street like a dog, and why? Because he did 
not register. Comrade, will your conscience 
not burn when you think that you are also 
guilty of the murder of thousands of innocent 
poor? But it is not worth appealing to you for 
anything sensible at this time, but rest assured 
that the number of subscribers to Prosveta 
will bring you to your senses.26
The SNPJ Supreme Committee members com-
mented on the letter, which they called an “attack on 
the editorial office,” merely stating that Sostarič was an 
agitator who wanted people to “violate military law” 
and “support anarchy.”27 They did not comment on 
Sostarič’s shocking descriptions of warrantless arrests, 
shootings of people “in the middle of the street” for 
failing to respond to the draft, etc.28
Enemy aliens, even their naturalized family 
members, also became targets of crimes unrelated 
to the war. One such case occurred in December 
1917 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Deputy Sheriff 
Schoppe arrested Erich Pohl, an Austrian citizen 
and engineer living in Salt Lake City with his wife 
and three children. As noted by American historian 
Nicole Phelps, Schoppe was interested in Pohl’s 
wife. He allegedly harassed her family for months 
and pressured her into divorce, among other things. 
In prison, Erich Pohl was told that the federal au-
thorities did not even know he was an alien without 
citizenship before his case (Phelps, 2010, 97).
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Concurrently with the search for the ‘internal en-
emy’ among non-naturalized immigrants from enemy 
countries, the U.S. authorities attempted to suppress 
the pacifist stance of socialists, which also affected the 
Slovenian-American community (Miller, 1970, 398–411). 
The testimony of Frank Kalan, secretary of SNPJ Lodge 
No. 313, about the activities of the “Socialist Club J. S. Z.” 
in West Frankfort, located in southern Illinois, has been 
preserved. The club opened its doors in May 1917 but 
“collapsed due to war conditions” by 1918 (Zavertnik, 
1925, 331). The reasons for the collapse likely lie some-
where between the club’s ideological orientation and a 
high likelihood of non-naturalized members.
According to German historian Jörg Nagler, by the 
end of the war, there were about 6,300 enemy aliens 
in American prisons (Nagler, 2000, 537), including 
150 citizens of Austria-Hungary (Phelps, 2010, 95).29 
He adds that many internees were German soldiers 
whom the U.S. authorities had imprisoned upon seizing 
their warships in American ports. This occurred after 
the enactment of confiscation in May 1917 (American 
Society of International Law, 1918b, 22–23). The U.S. 
committed to treating the internees in accordance with 
the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of 
the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field, adopted 
on 6 July 1906, in Geneva (American Society of Interna-
tional Law, 1918a, 7). However, the statistics do not tell 
us much in this case, as the above figures only apply to 
selected American prisons that were specially adapted 
for prisoners of war. We know of a case of a non-natural-
ized Croatian, Ante (Anton) Yakubin, who was interned 
on 15 March 1918 for pro-German cheers and trans-
ferred to Fort Oglethorpe prison (Cross & Myers, 2012, 
233–259). In his preserved letter dated 20 November 
1918, in which he asks for release, Yakubin mentions 
that there were 45 of ‘his fellow citizens’ in prison at 
that time, by which he probably meant all those with 
Austro-Hungarian passports (Worldwar1centennial.org, 
2022). How many members of the Slovenian-American 
community were in this prison is unknown, but it is one 
of the many questions that should be investigated in 
this context in the future. An unknown but significantly 
larger number of enemy aliens, including American 
citizens, were imprisoned elsewhere, often wrongly, for 
crimes they may never have committed (Nagler, 2000). 
Specifically of the Slovenian-American community, Ivan 
Molek poignantly wrote: “Those of our American Slove-
29 Clevelandska Amerika, 4. 5. 1917: Ujeti Nemci pridejo v Ameriko, 1.
30 Clevelandska Amerika, 11. 4. 1917: Ljudski shod Slovencev. Slovesna manifestacija Slovencev v četrtek.
31 Original: “2500 Slovencev v Clevelandu zbranih na shodu Slovenskega Političnega Kluba vam pošilja svoje izraze lojalnosti napram 
ustavi in postavam Zjed. držav in izraža svoje zadoščenje radi vašega koraka, ki ste ga naredili tedaj, ko ste napovedali nemški cesarski 
vladi vojno. Obenem se Vam Amerikanci slovenskega pokoljenja zahvaljujejo za vaš krasen nastop v prid svobode in narodne sreče ma-
lih narodov v bodočnosti. Ameriški državljani slovenskega pokoljenja so globoko prepričani, da je Nemška cesarska vlada kriva silovite, 
krvave evropske vojne, ker je hotela zagospodovati z ognjem in mečem vsem malini narodom in ogrožati bodoči mir in svobodo naro-
dov. Prisegamo, v imenu vsega naroda slovenskega v Zjed .državah, da bodemo stali z ameriško vlado in se borili proti cesarski nemški 
vladi z vsemi močmi in požrtvovalnostjo, ki nam je na razpolago. Gospod predsednik, v vas vidimo svojega voditelja, sledili bodemo 
vam in naši iskreno ljubljeni ameriški zastavi, kamorkoli nas bodete poslali in kamorkoli nas bo ameriška zastava svobode in pravice 
vodila” (Clevelandska Amerika, 20. 4. 1917: Hon. Woodrow Wilson. President of United States, Washington, D. C., 1).
nians who were still Austrian citizens and who showed 
even a word of sympathy for Austria were immediately 
interned” (Molek, 1979, 192).
WEATHERING THE STORM – BETWEEN RESILIENCE 
AND DEFIANCE
Slovenian-American and other immigrant communi-
ties in the U.S., originating from the Danube Monarchy, 
resisted this life trial in various ways and with varying 
success, mainly at the local level. One method was to 
declare their allegiance to their ‘new homeland’ through 
oaths and small gatherings. In Cleveland, Ohio, the then 
largest ‘Slovenian’ city in the U.S., Pirc helped organize 
a well-attended rally in support of the American war 
effort.30 The Slovenian Political Club operating in Cleve-
land, through its president Pirc, shortly thereafter sent a 
pledge to President Wilson, expressing the commitment 
of Slovenians in Cleveland to the American state. The 
transcript of the pledge was published on April 20 in 
the Cleveland based Slovenian-American newspaper 
Clevelandska Amerika:
2,500 Slovenians in Cleveland gathered at the 
meeting of the Slovenian Political Club send you 
their expressions of loyalty to the constitution and 
principles of the United States and express their 
satisfaction for your step, which you took when 
you declared war on the German imperial govern-
ment. At the same time, Americans of Slovenian 
descent thank you for your splendid performance 
in favor of the freedom and national happiness of 
small nations in the future. American citizens of 
Slovenian descent are deeply convinced that the 
German imperial government is responsible for the 
violent, bloody European war because it wanted 
to dominate with fire and sword all small nations 
and endanger the future peace and freedom of na-
tions. We swear, on behalf of the entire Slovenian 
nation in the United States, that we will stand with 
the American government and fight against the 
imperial German government with all the strength 
and sacrifice at our disposal. Mr. President, we 
see you as our leader, we will follow you under 
our beloved American flag wherever you send us, 
and wherever the American flag of freedom and 
justice will lead us.31
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Also worth highlighting are the gatherings of the 
Slovenian-American community from Indianapolis, the 
capital of Indiana, and from Rock Springs, Wyoming. 
According to American historian Nancy Gentile Ford, 
350 Slovenians gathered in Indianapolis on 4 July 
1918, including a group of Slovenian women dressed 
in traditional Slovenian dress, carrying the sign: “We 
Are For America First, Last and All the Time.” The num-
ber of Slovenians and their descendants who gathered 
for the celebration in Rock Springs on the same day is 
not known, but Gentile Ford found that they also car-
ried a banner, which read: “Your Allies the Jugo-Slavs” 
(Ford, 2001, 27).
The Slovenian-American community also demon-
strated American patriotism by serving in the military, 
some voluntarily32, but most were drafted.33 The mili-
tary became attractive because soldiers could receive 
citizenship through an expedited process. Although the 
Selective Service Act of 1917 prohibited enemy aliens 
from joining the American armed forces either volun-
tarily or through conscription, in practice this did not 
hold up, and by the end of 1917, tens of thousands of 
enemy aliens were included in the then innumerable 
units of the American armed forces. The greatest danger 
for them did not lie in the legislation that the American 
state had adopted for dealing with them, but in the fact 
that as enemy aliens they risked being judged and put 
on trial as traitors in case of capture by the enemy, that 
is, by the countries of which they were citizens. These 
trials would result in death. Consequently, enemy 
aliens in active service were given the option of either 
being discharged from the armed forces or transferred 
to ordnance (logistics and supply) units in the rear of 
the front (Provost Marshal General, 1919, 104). The 
War Department simultaneously began to educate of-
ficers about the various ethnic/national affiliations of 
immigrants, and officers sought ‘loyal’ and ‘disloyal’ 
immigrants in their ranks. Many of those who fell into 
the category of ‘disloyal’, the imprisoned Yakubin be-
ing one of them, were detained and sent to specially 
established prisons across the country. The final solution 
for all enemy aliens in active military service came with 
another change in relevant legislation on 9 May 1918 
(Chambers II, 1987, 231). From then on, every alien 
32 During WWI, American patriotism often coincided with anti-Austrian sentiment even prior to the declaration of war between the two 
countries. Notably, hundreds of South Slavic immigrants from Austria-Hungary enlisted in the Serbian armed forces even before the U.S. 
entered the war, reflecting a complex intersection of immigrant loyalties (Tasić, 2021, 703).
33 Clevelandska Amerika, 20. 4. 1917: Vojaška služba pride za vse, 1–2; Enakopravnost, 11. 9. 1918: Slovencem, kateri se morajo 
registrirati, 1; Clevelandska Amerika, 21. 5. 1917: Dne 5. junija je vojna registracija, 1; Clevelandska Amerika, 23. 5. 1917: 
Sedem glavnih točk registracije, 1.
34 Clevelandska Amerika, 16. 4. 1917: Kako postanete ameriški državljan, 2; Clevelandska Amerika, 7. 5. 1917: Kaj pomeni prvi 
državni papir?, 1.
35 Amerikanski Slovenec, 9. 4. 1918: Rojaki, kupujte Liberty Bonde!, 1; Amerikanski Slovenec, 30. 4. 1918: Slovenci, kupujte Liberty Bon-
de, 1; Glas naroda, 18. 10. 1918: Naprej k zmagi! V boj za posojilo!, 1; Prosveta, 24. 4. 1918: S.N.P.J. je posodila vladi 105.000.00$: 
Krajevna društva naše jednote tudi vrše svojo nalogo. Rudarji kupujejo bonde, 1; Enakopravnost, 19. 8. 1918: Novice: Vrednost prvih 
vojnih zadolžnic očividno raste, 2.
36 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1917–1918, Seja gl. upr. odbora 3. januar 1918.
37 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1917–1918, Seja gl. upr. odbora 3. januar 1918.
who served in the American armed forces could apply 
for American citizenship without proving other require-
ments. Non-naturalized Slovenians and non-naturalized 
members of other ethnic immigrant groups in active 
military service no longer had to demonstrate proof of 
arrival on American soil, permanent residence in an 
American state, nor did they have to file an intention 
to acquire citizenship. The Chief of the Military Police, 
Enoch H. Crowder (1859–1932), estimated after the 
war that 155,000 immigrants had obtained citizenship 
through military service since the adoption of the May 
legislation until the end of World War I.34
Slovenian-American fraternal benefit societies 
employed other measures. For example, according to 
Slovenian Historian Darko Friš, the KSKJ suspended the 
membership status of all the members living in the “old 
homeland”, upon the news of America’s entry into the 
war to show their American patriotism and support for 
the American war effort. This decision was not revoked 
until 1923 (Friš, 1995, 83).
Members of the Slovenian-American community also 
demonstrated their ‘Americanism’ by purchasing war 
bonds, mainly at the level of associations, unions, or 
organizations, and other securities, such as war savings 
stamps.35 In this regard, on 12 December 1917, the then 
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo 
(1863–1941) organized a conference for representatives 
of all immigrant ethnic communities.36 The SNPJ was also 
invited to this conference. The conference, attended by 
229 fraternal benefit societies and other ethnic immigrant 
societies and alliances, was missed by the SNPJ’s Secretary-
General John Verderbar. Nevertheless, he and ten other 
representatives were received by McAdoo at a meeting the 
next day.37 The host appealed to those present to “recom-
mend” to their members the spread of purchasing war 
loans and patriotism. He said, “The American flag must 
be in every hall where society meetings are held.” At the 
meeting, a resolution was adopted, stating that the present 
organizations would continue to support the government 
and show favour “and goodwill to cooperate in these criti-
cal times, to end the war as soon as possible with the vic-
tory of democracy.” After the meeting, the attendees were 
invited to the White House, where they were received by 
President Wilson. Verderbar noted that he was told that the 
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president “does not receive private citizens in the current 
wartime, but he made an exception for us because he 
considers that the benefit societies are the flower of the 
American nation.”38 At the SNPJ main committee meeting 
on 3 January 1918, the leadership adopted a resolution, 
the conclusion of which read as follows:
The main committee members of the Slovenian 
National Benefit Society, gathered at the annual 
session on January 17, 1918, fully approve that the 
Secretary-General and the Treasurer, in agreement 
with other members of the main executive com-
mittee, invested $30,000 of the society’s funds in 
the war loan of the United States or liberty bonds. 
The United States, according to President Wilson’s 
solemn declaration, is fighting for the democracy 
of the entire world and for the freedom and self-
determination of all nations. This means that they 
are also fighting for our Slovenian nation, which 
has been oppressed and suppressed for centuries. 
As citizens of the great American republic, we are 
aware that true freedom will not exist in the world 
until militarism and crowned and uncrowned 
autocracy fall, and until every nation, no matter 
how small, has the right to decide its own fate. The 
United States is fighting and striving for these goals, 
so it is the duty of our progressive organization to 
provide the government with all possible moral and 
financial support for this purpose. For these reasons, 
and considering that liberty bonds, backed by the 
entire nation of the United States, are absolutely 
safe and well-interesting, and can be immediately 
exchanged for cash if necessary, the main commit-
tee of the S. N. P. J. instructs the Secretary-General 
and the Treasurer to invest as much as possible of 
the society’s assets in these government securities in 
future war loan calls.39
38 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1917–1918, Seja gl. upr. odbora 3. januar 1918.
39 Original: “Glavni odborniki Slovenske narodne podporne jednote, zbrani na letni seji dne 17. januarja 1918, popolnoma odobravajo, 
da sta glavni tajnik in glavni blagajnik v sporazumu z ostalimi člani glavnega upravnega odbora naložila $30,000 jednotinega denarja 
v vojno posojilo Združenih držav ali liberty-bonde. Združene države se po slovesni izjavi predsednika Wilsona bore za demokracijo 
vsega sveta in svobodo ter samoodločevanje vseh narodov. To pomeni, da se bore tudi za naš, stoletja tlačeni in zatirani slovenski 
narod. Kot državljani velike ameriške republike se zavedamo, da prave svobode ne bo na svetu, dokler ne pade militarizem in krona-
na ter nekronana avtokracija in dokler nima pravice vsak še tako majhen narod odločati sam o svoji usodi. Združene države se bore 
in streme za temi cilji, zato je dolžnost naše napredne organizacije, da nudi vladi vso možno in moralno ter finančno pomoč v to 
svrho. Vsled navedenih razlogov in z ozirom na dejstvo, ker so liberty-bondi, za katerimi stoji ves narod Združenih držav, absolutno 
varni in se dobro obrestujejo, ter se morejo v slučaju potrebe takoj zamenjati za gotov denar, nalaga glavni odbor S. N. P. J. glavnemu 
tajniku in glavnemu blagajniku, da pri bodočih razpisih vojnega posojila naložita kolikor največ mogoče jednotinega premoženja v 
omenjene vladne zadolžnice” (Zavertnik, 1925, 610).
40 Prosveta, 30. 1. 1918: Letna seja Glabnega odbora S.N.P.J., 2.
41 IHRCA-1149, JSF, 1, Frank Petrich, Poročilo stranki, 250.
42 Original: “Eksekutiva skupne socialistične stranke je imela dne 6. in 7. maja t. l. sejo, na kateri je razpravljala o situaciji, v kateri 
se stranka nahaja vsled hitro se razvijajočih političnih in gospodarskih razmer v Evropi in Ameriki vsled vojne, kakor tudi drugih 
potežkoč, ki so nastale vsled novih zakonov v zvezi z upravljanjem vojne. Odbor izjavlja, da je z ozirom na vse to v stranki 
gibanje za izpremenitev vojnega stališča, ki ga zavzema stranka od zadnje konvencije. To, meni odbor, se v obliki referendumov 
sedaj ne da rešiti, ker bi prišla pod temi razmerami samo ena stran do glasu in ne druga stran. Zato prosi odbor sodruge, da naj 
ne iniciirajo predlogov, ki so v zvezi s taktiko o vojnem vprašanju. Odbor priznava, da so se vojne razmere v zadnjem času v 
marsičem izpremenile, in da bo morala stranka zavzeti z ozirom na te izpremembe pozitivno in enotno stališče” (IHRCA-1149, 
JSF, 1, Tajništvo J. S. Z., Članom Jugoslovanske socialistične zveze, 239).
This resolution was published in Prosveta on 30 
January of that year.40
Upon the announcement of the fourth series of war 
bonds on 28 September 1918, the KSKJ leadership 
also committed to purchasing them in the amount of 
$100,000, which would have amounted to nearly two 
million U.S. dollars in 2022. According to Friš, this 
action was particularly welcomed by U.S. government 
services (Friš, 1995, 83–84).
The JSZ was also successful in purchasing American 
securities. Between May 1917 and May 1918, it “sold” 
its members as many as 17,526 stamps of various 
values.41 During this time, there was also a general 
break in the JSZ’s attitude towards World War I. They 
held their first serious discussion on their risky pacifist 
stance for those conditions in May 1918:
The executive committee of the joint socialist party 
had a session on 6 and 7 May of this year, during which 
it discussed the situation in which the party finds itself 
due to the rapidly developing political and economic 
conditions in Europe and America following the war, 
as well as other difficulties that have arisen due to new 
laws related to the conduct of the war.
The committee declares that, in view of all this, 
there is a movement within the party for a change in 
the war stance that the party has taken since the last 
convention. The committee believes that this cannot 
now be resolved in the form of referendums, because 
under these circumstances only one side would have a 
voice and not the other side. Therefore, the committee 
asks comrades not to initiate proposals related to the 
tactics of the war issue.
The committee acknowledges that the war condi-
tions have changed significantly recently and that the 
party will have to take a positive and united stance with 
regard to these changes.42
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Not only did the JSZ leadership decide to sup-
port the American war effort owning to “newly 
arisen conditions,” which we must understand as 
an American attack on pacifists, pacifist-oriented 
socialists, and other like-minded people, but a few 
months later, on 30 September, they even withdrew 
from the (federal) Socialist Party of American (SPA). 
At this meeting, the JSZ leadership concluded that 
pacifism in the U.S. was over:
On 30 September 1918, comrades! The 
Slovenian and Serbian sections, now forming 
the Yugoslav Socialist Alliance, unanimously 
decided to withdraw from the socialist party 
at a conference held recently in Springfield, 
Ill. The reason for this step is briefly as fol-
lows: With its anti-war stance, adopted at the 
St. Louis convention, and with its resistance 
to changing it even after historical events 
that showed that this stance is in contradic-
tion with the socialist spirit, and even when 
the membership seriously but unsuccessfully 
demanded a change, the party became dead 
as a means of propagating socialism and de-
mocracy. […] Standing as such, the socialist 
party will remain only as a kind of pacifist 
sect, which the American people will largely 
consider a tool that will best serve the Junkers 
of the central states.43
Defiance of the newly arisen conditions was 
risky in 1917, and after 1918, as evidenced by the 
uncovered cases, it became dangerous and possible 
only intimately, away from the eyes of law enforce-
ment, or reflected in obscure gestures. A preserved 
description exists of a protest march that took place 
on 1 May 1917, in the mining town of Clinton in 
the state of Indiana, where many Slovenian families 
had settled (Mladineo, 1937, 256 and 276). Jože 
Zavertnik described the event as follows:
In 1917, public parades on the streets were 
prohibited. Miners celebrated 1 May every 
43 Original: “30. septembra 1918 so izstopili iz ASS Sodrugi! Slovenska in srbska sekcija, sedaj tvoreče Jugosl. Socialistično zvezo, 
ste na konferenci, obdržavani pred kratkem v Springfieldu, Ill., soglasno sklenile izstopiti iz socialistične stranke. Vzrok temu 
koraku je v kratkem sledeči: S svojim protivojnim stališčem, sprejetim na st. louiški konvenciji in s svojim upiranjem, da ga menja 
celo izza zgodovinskih dogodkov, ki so pokazali, da je to stališče v protislovju s socialističnim duhom, in še ko je članstvo resno 
a brezuspešno zahtevalo izpremembo, je postala stranka kot sredstvo za propagiranje socializma in demokracije, mrtva. /…/ Tako 
stoječa, bo ostala socialistična stranka le še kot nekakšna pacifistična sekta, katero bo smatralo ameriško ljudstvo v veliki večini 
za sredstvo, ki bo služilo najbolje Junkerjem centralnih držav” (IHRCA-1149, JSF, 1, Frank Petrich, Jugosl. Socialistična zveza 
izstopila iz Socialistične stranke, 253).
44 Original: “V letu 1917 so bile javne povorke po ulicah prepovedane. Rudarji so vsako leto praznovali prvi majnik. In tako so tudi v tem 
letu priredili javni delavski pohod. Na čelu je korakala majhna deklica v rdeči obleki z majhno ameriško zastavico v roki. Delavci so pa 
mirno, molče in v vrstah stopali za njo. Pohod je bil veličasten, in mestni uradniki so izjavili, da se ljudem ne more prepovedati, česar 
so bili vajeni v starem kraju” (Zavertnik, 1925, 335).
45 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1917–1918, Joseph Kuhelj in Ivan Molek, Redna seja gl. upravnega odbora 11. septembra 1918.
46 IHRCA-2241, SNBS, 2, 1917–1918, Joseph Kuhelj in Ivan Molek, Redna seja gl. upravnega odbora 11. septembra 1918.
47 CR 55, 65th US Congress, 1st Session, 1047.
year. And so, that year, they organized a pub-
lic workers’ march. At the front marched a 
little girl in a red dress with a small American 
flag in her hand. The workers followed her 
quietly, silently, and in rows. The march was 
magnificent, and city officials stated that peo-
ple should not be forbidden what they were 
accustomed to back home.44
The IHRCA archive holds a correspondence note 
from September 1918 about an unnamed actor or 
actors, otherwise a member or members of the SNPJ, 
from the town of Franklin in the state of Kansas, 
which contained attacks on the American govern-
ment and “praises of Austria.”45 The Prosveta edito-
rial office, to which the correspondence was sent, 
immediately reported the actor(s) to the competent 
authorities.46 Given the date, the note is considered 
an example of one of the latest known incidents of 
defiance against the American repressive apparatus 
during World War I.
Immigrants from the Danube Monarchy living 
in Calumet, Michigan, adopted a completely 
different approach to resisting the described 
conditions, serving as the concluding docu-
mented example within this part of the article. 
In this small mining town, where the strong 
Slovenian parish of St. Joseph existed at the 
time, the Austrian Rifle and Fishing Club wanted 
to rename itself the Calumet Rifle Club (Ilenich 
& Sprajcar, 1940, 45). The petition was signed 
by J. J. Wershay.47 Instead of drawing attention 
to themselves and especially their allegiance to 
the US, the residents of Calumet chose a subtle 
path and preferred to rid themselves of the ad-
jective Austrian in their name – a word that was 
anything but desirable at the time. Ironically, 
before World War I, according to Edward Gob-
etz’s findings, Slovenian immigrants often used 
the adjective Austrian rather than Slovenian for 
their associations and choirs to avoid the sharp 
prejudices, which targeted Slovenians and other 
Slavic immigrants (Gobetz, 1980, 556).
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ANNALES · Ser. hist. sociol. · 33 · 2023 · 3
CONCLUSION
During World War I, the American wartime adminis-
tration orchestrated a comprehensive effort to influence 
public sentiment in favor of the war. This involved the 
use of established federal agencies, defense councils at 
different levels, law enforcement bodies and suppres-
sive wartime legislation backed by propaganda. The 
diverse range of opinions expressed by individuals and 
groups, regardless of their ethnic, ideological-political, 
or religious affiliations, underwent a significant shift. It 
was distilled into a binary framework: individuals were 
either staunch supporters of the American war effort 
or perceived as undesirable ‘foreigners,’ potentially 
categorized as internal enemies.
These measures had a significant impact on enemy 
aliens, referring to individuals from the Slovenian-
American and other immigrant ethnic communities 
originating from countries at war with the U.S. Those 
without American citizenship or showing no inclina-
tion to obtain it found themselves navigating a chal-
lenging landscape characterized by stringent loyalty 
expectations.
Documented cases of repression, violence, 
and internment underscore that, despite the 
peculiarities in the formal application of these 
measures, the Slovenian-American and other im-
migrant ethnic communities from Austria-Hunga-
ry did, in fact, suffer from them, experiencing 
different adverse effects.
In examining how members of the Slovenian-
American and other immigrant ethnic communities 
originating from Austria-Hungary responded to the 
challenges of wartime conditions, the study also 
reveals their diverse resilience strategies. These 
included statements of loyalty with oaths, small 
gatherings, military service to demonstrate Ameri-
can patriotism – Americanism, and the purchase 
of war bonds and other securities to express al-
legiance to the “new homeland.” The varied strate-
gies employed reveal a dynamic interplay between 
individual, societal, and community identity, and 
the broader socio-political context. A handful of 
documented cases show that a few also dared to 
show defiance.
Figure 1: The ‘Austrian’ Cornet Band, composed of Slovenians, performed at Slovenian-American cultural, 
sports, and other events in Cleveland. Later, it changed the adjective Austrian (Gobetz, 1980, 556).
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David HAZEMALI: SAFEGUARDING LIBERTY? REPRESSIVE MEASURES AGAINST ENEMY ALIENS AND ETHNIC COMMUNITY RESILIENCE IN WWI UNITED STATES: ..., 489–502
 VAROVANJE SVOBODE? REPRESIVNI UKREPI PROTI SOVRAŽNIM TUJCEM IN 
ODPORNOST ETNIČNE SKUPNOSTI V ZDA MED PRVO SVETOVNO VOJNO: 
IZKUŠNJA SLOVENSKO-AMERIŠKE SKUPNOSTI
David HAZEMALI
Univerza v Mariboru, Filozofska fakulteta, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenija
e-mail: david.hazemali@um.si
POVZETEK
Ameriška vojna administracija se je preko vzpostavljenih zveznih agencij, obrambnih svetov na različnih 
administrativnih ravneh, organov pregona ter zatirajočo vojno zakonodajo lotila mobilizacije javnega mnenja v 
prid ameriškemu vojnemu naporu. Nekdaj svobodno izražanje mnenj na ravni posameznikov, lokalnih združenj, 
večjih gibanj, organizacij, zvez in strank ne glede na etnično pripadnost, ideološko-politično usmeritev ali 
usmeritev na verski osnovi je bilo zreducirano na zgolj eno premiso: bodisi si bil/postal podpornik ameriškega 
vojnega napora v najširšem pomenu te besedne zveze bodisi si (p)ostal nezaželeni ‚tujec‘, celo notranji sovra-
žnik. Te ukrepe so še zlasti občutili sovražni tujci – tisti pripadniki slovensko-ameriške in drugih priseljenskih 
etničnih skupnosti iz držav, s katerimi so bile ZDA v vojni, ki še niso imeli ameriškega državljanstva oziroma ki 
še niso pokazali namere postati to. Ob preučevanju načinov, kako so se pripadniki slovensko-ameriške in drugih 
priseljenskih etničnih skupnosti iz Avstro-Ogrske  upirali izzivom vojnih razmer, še zlasti statusu sovražnih 
tujcev, raziskava izpostavlja njihove raznolike strategije prilagajanja in odpora. Od izjav zvestobe s prisegami 
in shodi do izkazovanja ameriškega patriotizma in ‚amerikanizma‘ s služenjem v oboroženih silah so pripadniki 
teh skupnosti (po)kazali odpornost in elastičnost. Poleg tega so pripadnost »novi domovini« kazali z nakupom 
vojnih obveznic in drugih vrednostnih papirjev. S prikazom ugotovljenih niansiranih odzivov slovensko-ameriške 
skupnosti raziskava osvetljuje večplastna prizadevanja njenih članov, zlasti tistih brez ameriškega državljanstva 
– sovražnih tujcev, s katerimi so želeli prebroditi vihar vojnih razmer.
Ključne besede: slovenski Američani/ameriški Slovenci, slovensko-ameriška skupnost, bratske podporne 
organizacije, prva svetovna vojna, ZDA, sovražni tujci
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