Six Things You May Not Have Known about Nazis in America

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Six Things You May Not Have Known about Nazis in America By: Arnie BernsteinDate:October7 , 2013

In the 1930s and 1940s (and beyond) fascism and Nazi loyalty was as American as a proverbial apple pie. Never mind Hitler and his Third Reich were held in political and moral disdain by the Roosevelt administration. There was a substantial counter culture of loyalists to Hitler and his throughout the United States during Depression era and into the WWII years.

 

1. The German-American Bund, headed by its popinjay leader Bundesführer Fritz Kuhn thrived from 1936 through 1939. Though their membership rolls were secretive, Kuhn claimed he had 200,000 followers nationwide. More reliable estimates from the FBI put the group between 6,000 to 8,000, though an American Legion study found upwards of 25,000 members. Certainly there were enough Bundists to develop a nationwide system of family retreats, businesses, publications, plus the organization’s own versions of Hitler Youth and SS squadrons. At their height in February 1939, the Bund held a rally in Madison Square Garden with some 20,000 people packing the arena to hear speeches by Kuhn and his flunkies. The group came to a crashing end when the Bundesführer went to prison after being convicted on embezzlement charges for using Bund funds to finance his numerous romantic dalliances.

 

2. Many Jewish organizations, including community groups and veterans associations, protested at Bund meetings. They weren’t alone in the fight. Jewish underworld kingpins, including Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Mickey Cohen broke up http://www.commandposts.com/2013/10/six-things-you-may-not-have-known-about-nazis-in-america/