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. - See more at:
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