During the 1930s, thousands of Americans sympathized with the Nazis, holding huge rallies. The rallies were organized by the American German Bund, which wanted to spread Nazi ideology.
Nazi supporters also organized summer camps for kids to teach them their values. Having radical fringe groups tearing at the seams of America is not a new phenomenon. Less than a 100 years ago, the Nazis were gathering for big rallies on U.S. soil, running youth camps, their numbers growing by tens of thousands. In the America of the 1930s, pro-Hitler groups like The Friends of New Germany carried out propaganda and intimidation campaigns to disseminate the National Socialist agenda. Their members wore uniforms, consisting of a white shirt and black trousers for men, topped by a black hat with a red symbol. Female attire included a white blouse and a black skirt. In 1936, the Amerikadeutscher Volksbund, or German American Bund, was created as “an organization of patriotic Americans of German stock.” They ran around 20 camps for youth and training, eventually establishing 70 regional divisions around the nation. The ostensible goal of the German American Bund was to represent Americans of German descent but its true objective was to promote the views of Nazi Germany. The Bund played into the growing “America First” stance that sought to keep the U.S. out of World War 2, while amplifying its racist messages. One of the most astonishing events held by the Bund was the “Americanization” rally it held at Madison Square Garden in New York on February 20th, 1939. The event, attended by 20,000 people, consisted of railing against Jewish conspiracies, President Roosevelt and similar sentiment. While speaking, the leader (Bundesführer) of the organization, Fritz Julius Kuhn (a chemical engineer by trade), spewed anti-Semitism, calling the President “Frank D. Rosenfield” while describing his New Deal as a “Jew Deal”. He referred to the U.S government as a whole as “Bolshevik-Jewish” and kept attacking the press and American culture as being run by the Jews. The rally featured a giant banner of George Washington, as the speakers tried to link the event to his birthday and supposed non-interventionist positions. Huge crowds of up to 100,000 people comprising of anti-Nazi protestors also came to make their voices heard at this event, but were held back by 1,700 New York police officers. For chilling footage and more on the Manhattan rally, check out the Academy Award-nominated short documentary film A Night at the Garden:
via bigthink: America of the 1930s saw thousands of people become Nazi
siehe auch: The America of Trump’s Father. One might have been confused about America’s actual loyalties during the brewing years of World War II if they happened to live in the greater New York City region. New York and its suburbs in Long Island and New Jersey had a vibrant community of first- and second-generation German Americans, the latter having included Fred Trump, Sr., a rising star in real estate and retailing.
Von New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer – Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection. <a rel=”nofollow” class=”external free” href=”http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c17148″>http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c17148</a>. CALL NUMBER: NYWTS – SUBJ/GEOG–German-American Bund, Gemeinfrei, Link