Thread: What was the German American Bund?

The German American Bund (Amerikadeutscher Bund) was an American National Socialist organization that rose from the ashes of its predecessor groups, the Teutonia and the Friends of New Germany, in March of 1936.

In 1933, Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess authorized Heinz Spanknobel, a German immigrant, to create an American National Socialist organization. This group was the Friends of New Germany.

Spanknobel was later deported in October of the same year for failing to register as a foreign agent. The Friends stayed active until 1935 when concerns that the group's activities were increasing anti-German sentiment in the U.S. led Hess to issue the Oktober Direktiv.

The Oktober Direktiv forbade Reich citizens in the U.S. from participating in domestic organizations. The Friends disbanded and many of its leaders returned to Germany. Remnants of the group created the German American Bund in Buffalo NY in March of 1936.

Fritz Kuhn, a Munich native that fought for the German army during the Great War and was awarded the Iron Cross, was elected as the Bund's leader or Bundesleiter.

Kuhn had attended the University of Munich and worked as a chemist in Mexico before becoming an American citizen in 1934. He moved to Detroit and worked as an industrial chemist at a Ford plant.

During his time as Bundesleiter he was on an unpaid leave-of-absence from the Ford plant, leading some to speculate that Henry Ford was providing financial support to the organization.

The Bund attacked J**ish and Communist influence, the Versailles treaty, and campaigned against further American intervention in Europe. Despite the Oktober Direktiv, many German citizens living in the U.S. and recent German immigrants were members.

During WWI, anti-German hysteria led to harassment and violence against German-Americans. There was even violence against animals such as German shepherds and dachshunds. The thought of another war with Germany was a nightmare to many German-Americans.

Due to a hostile press, anti-"Nazi" hysteria, and questionable testimony to the HUAC, an accurate membership number is hard to pin down. Anywhere from 8,000 to 500,000 were given as estimates by various sources. Kuhn himself, though known to exaggerate, gave a figure of 200,000.

The Bund was not anti-American. They embraced the flag, institutions, and constitution of the United States. Their aesthetic featured American imagery alongside National Socialist imagery. George Washington was revered as America's "first fascist" that was skeptical of democracy.

The Bund was based in New York and had a strong presence in Milwaukee and Chicago. They also established recreational camps for Bund youth such as Camp Siegfried in New York, Camp Nordland in New Jersey, and Camp Hindenburg in Wisconsin.

Children took part in marches, rifle practice, archery, sang songs such as the 'Star Spangled Banner' and 'Deutschland Über Alles', and were subject to inspections and late night woodland marches. They also learned the principles of National Socialism and the German language.

The Bund's stormtroopers were called the Order Division (Ordnungsdienst) and they were charged with maintaining order at rallies and meetings which were often assailed by hecklers and protesters. Riots broke out at two separate rallies in Milwaukee in 1938.

Despite claims made by the J**ish press and the HUAC, there is no evidence that the Bund received any official support from the NSDAP aside from some informal interactions and exchanges of literature.

Kuhn did meet the Führer when he traveled to Berlin to attend the 1936 Summer Olympics. Unfortunately, Kuhn's tendency to brag and exaggerate and the same concerns over anti-German sentiment in the U.S. led the NSDAP to distance itself from the Bund.

Unquestionably, the height of the Bund's glory was the rally at Madison Square Garden in 1939. 22,000 people attended along with 1,700 police. Violence erupted across several blocks and a man named Isadore Greenbaum attempted to rush the stage.

After Madison Square Garden, the Bund began to wane. Kuhn was under increasing pressure due to federal investigations and a bogus charge of embezzlement of Bund funds, though the membership stuck by him. Nevertheless, he was convicted and eventually deported after the war.

The Bund's new leaders were incompetent and the organization began to disintegrate. After Pearl Harbor, many of its leaders were arrested for various charges related to "subversive activity", fled the country, and even committed suicide.

If you want to read further about these heroes that strove to bring America to National Socialism, I recommend this article on the Daily Archives:

https://dailyarchives.org/index.php/archives/23-the-german-american-bund-of-the-1930s

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