German-American Bund

German-American Bund. Formally organized in March 1936 by a German-born engineer, Fritz Julius Kuhn, this was one of several US groups promoting closer cultural and political ties between German Americans and their homeland. Although the Bund drew many of its members from organizations that were part of the Federation of German-American Societies, it differed from other groups because of the intensity of its pro-Nazi and anti-communist sentiments during the years preceding the Second World War. Attracting a small minority of Americans of German ancestry, the Bund's membership, which at its peak may have totalled more than 20,000, was concentrated in eastern and Midwestern cities containing substantial numbers of German immigrants. The organization opposed racial intermixture, atheism, communism, Jewish financial interests, and labour movements, and promoted Aryan culture. As Nazism became increasingly unpopular among the American public, including the majority of German Americans, the Bund tried to obscure its allegiance to Nazi ideology, claiming it had no official ties to Nazi Germany and stressing the Americanism of members.

In many cities the Bund organized massive rallies characterized by calls for pro-German national policies, displays of swastika banners, uniformed marchers, and other forms of Nazi pageantry. The most visible of these rallies were in New York City, where the group held gatherings at Madison Square Garden. The Bund also promoted its views through its national newspaper, The Free American and Deutscher Weckruf und Beobachter, and through many programmes aimed at young people. Bund camps were a popular arena for Bund members to congregate. The camps' stated aim was to restore a sense of German community, but the inculcation of Nazi ideology was an additional intent of Bund leaders. Camp Siegfried on Long Island and Camp Nordland in New Jersey were the largest camps, containing restaurants, pools, recreational facilities, and streets named after Nazi leaders.

Although it stressed its non-partisan affiliation, the Bund participated in American politics by urging its members to vote against Roosevelt in the 1936 election because of his leftist inclination and ‘preference for the Jewish element’.

The Bund's pro-Nazi reputation prompted widespread criticism as American public opinion turned increasingly against Germany. In particular, the OD (Order Service) attracted much public scrutiny. The OD claimed to be a guard unit needed to preserve order at Bund meetings. Their uniforms—grey shirts and black ties—resembled the German SS uniforms, prompting public concern that the OD was a subversive, paramilitary organization. Leftist groups often demonstrated outside its meetings, and by the late 1930s, some German American groups were denouncing the Bund's efforts to speak for the entire ethnic group. New York Congressman Samuel Dickstein organized opposition to the Bund and called for a congressional committee to investigate pro-German, subversive activities. In 1937, the House Committee on Un-American Activities launched an investigation of the group. Also in that year, Attorney General Homer S. Cummings initiated an FBI investigation of the Bund camps to determine if they were illegal but could find no violations.

Despite the proliferation of investigations and public criticisms levied against it, the Bund continued to defend its activities and struggled to maintain its membership. Leaders attributed external attacks on their organization to a Jewish–Communist conspiracy or to anti-German hysteria similar to that which occurred in the First World War. As more states outlawed displays of swastikas and aspects of the organization, the Bund responded with futile efforts to recruit more members and to prove their American loyalties. Bund leaders forbade the flying of their storm flag, altered the OD uniform to make it appear less like the SS, and publicly pledged their allegiance to the Constitution, claiming that their civil rights were being violated. But as Hitler's aggressive expansionist policies strengthened popular sentiments against Nazi Germany, the Bund lost more and more support from German Americans. Bund leaders encouraged their members to support neutrality and blamed the deepening international crisis on ‘Jewish war-mongers’.

In 1939, the Bund's recruitment efforts were severely undermined when its Führer, Fritz Kuhn, was convicted of embezzling the group's funds. He was replaced by Wilhelm Kunze, who failed to keep the Bund together and escaped to Mexico in 1941 amid internal turmoil in the organization. His successor, George Froboese, committed suicide soon after assuming office. Afterwards, the Bund lost members, and its remaining chapters disbanded when Germany declared war on the USA in December 1941. A few members were later prosecuted or deported for their pro-Nazi activities.

Clayborne Carson/ and Stephanie Brookins

Bibliography

Bell, L. V. , In Hitler's Shadow: The Anatomy of American Nazism (Port Washington, NY, 1973).