Philip de Laszlo: Vindicated

"Sir Charles Russell"
by Philip de Laszlo

"Although the nursing home was an improvement on Brixton Prison and Holloway Internment Camp, the continued confinement told upon Philip de Laszlo's nerves and his health began to suffer grievously from prolonged worry and lack of exercise. Lord Devonport recommended de Laszlo to put his legal affairs into the hands of Sir Charles Russell, who then very generously offered to lend his own country house, if the Home Secretary would agree to de Laszlo's removal there. Permission was given on medical grounds, provided that de Laszlo gave his parole not to go more than three miles from the house, and that a detective from Scotland Yard should pay periodic visits.

It was a great change for the better, for besides the house being in the country, Mrs. de Laszlo and his sons were able to join him. In thanks de Laszlo painted Sir Charles' portrait, which gave the lawyer great delight. A close friendship sprang up between them. 

But now a fresh anxiety confronted de Laszlo. In 1918 Parliament had passed the British Nationalities Act, the main purpose of which was to introduce wider powers for the revocation of certificates of naturalization. They could now be revoked in cases of proved disloyalty, serious criminal offenses, bad character, and where the individual had acted contrary to the declaration made on naturalization. Before de Laszlo could hope to obtain his freedom, it was necessary that this Committee should examine his case. 

He pressed Sir Charles to hasten his case on. 'I told Sir Charles what I thought about the whole affair. I called the men who had done this harm to me criminals, without any sense of chivalry and said I felt it my duty to my five sons to fight until my name was cleared in the eyes of the world. I said I would fight till the last breath of my life and would not rest till the world knew the truth about how I had been treated.'

Sir Charles wrote to him sternly, 'If you take up an attitude of complaint about the treatment meted out to you, your case is lost from that moment. Such a course of conduct is absolute madness. Do not forget that you broke the law, and, therefore, the treatment sustained by you was brought upon you by your own unwise and foolish conduct.' That was plain speaking, and de Laszlo acted upon his advice.

After much investigation and deliberation the Committee was satisfied that they had probed the matter to the bottom. They found that, first, no disloyalty had been proved; next, that although there had been breaches in the law, they had been inadvertent and had stopped when discovered. And with regard to the Horne incident and to the case generally, they were satisfied that there had been nothing in de Laszlo's conduct which would merit, or justify, the withdrawal from him of British citizenship. He was cleared of all charges.

The announcement brought a spate of congratulatory telegrams, letters and postcards, many written the same night. The de Laszlo boys returned to school after the case, and they too shared in the congratulations. As Sir John Simon told Sir Charles Russell, it had all happened in a terrible time, when everything was out of joint, and de Laszlo became the victim of circumstance - and, it may be added, of the inhumanity to man which the strain of war produced, not so much in the hearts of those who fought as in the minds of those who remained at home."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Portrait of a Painter" by Owen Rutter.)