1 00:00:01,466 --> 00:00:02,900 ANNOUNCER: The following program includes 2 00:00:02,900 --> 00:00:05,433 derogatory images and language in historical context 3 00:00:05,433 --> 00:00:07,166 for educational purposes. 4 00:00:07,166 --> 00:00:09,166 Viewer discretion is advised. 5 00:00:21,033 --> 00:00:25,433 ♪ ♪ 6 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,800 NEWSREEL NARRATOR: In ever-increasing numbers, 7 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,833 the nation's youth has been going away to camp. 8 00:00:33,833 --> 00:00:39,433 This year has seen more boys and girls at camp than ever before. 9 00:00:39,433 --> 00:00:43,400 All of them have enjoyed common experiences, common adventures. 10 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:45,700 ♪ ♪ 11 00:00:45,700 --> 00:00:47,533 Building muscle, learning fellowship, 12 00:00:47,533 --> 00:00:49,900 acquiring camp spirit. 13 00:00:49,900 --> 00:00:52,633 ♪ ♪ 14 00:00:52,633 --> 00:00:54,266 (rifle shot) 15 00:00:54,266 --> 00:00:56,900 ARNIE BERNSTEIN: It looked like any summer camp in America. 16 00:00:56,900 --> 00:00:58,933 It looked normal. 17 00:00:58,933 --> 00:01:00,833 But it wasn't normal. 18 00:01:02,900 --> 00:01:04,933 It was Nazi camp. 19 00:01:08,333 --> 00:01:12,566 In the 1930s, there were these camps all across the country. 20 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:17,033 SARAH CHURCHWELL: They were indoctrinating centers. 21 00:01:17,033 --> 00:01:19,466 That's what they were for. 22 00:01:19,466 --> 00:01:22,266 As well as for protecting the purity and the health 23 00:01:22,266 --> 00:01:24,100 of your superior breed. 24 00:01:25,466 --> 00:01:27,400 HART: The camps were the creation 25 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,433 of something called the German American Bund. 26 00:01:29,433 --> 00:01:32,800 The Bund's vision was an America ruled by white Christians, 27 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,033 and they thought that Nazism 28 00:01:35,033 --> 00:01:38,666 was entirely consistent with American ideals. 29 00:01:39,733 --> 00:01:42,000 RALLY LEADER: My fellow Americans, 30 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,866 what would George Washington think and do 31 00:01:45,866 --> 00:01:48,900 were he alive today? 32 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:50,166 Would he not plead 33 00:01:50,166 --> 00:01:53,200 with the thinking, the loyal 34 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,633 and law-abiding people, the true Christian Americans? 35 00:01:57,633 --> 00:02:01,400 LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR: The German American Bund is after power, 36 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,600 they're after influence, 37 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,633 within the very fabric of the United States. 38 00:02:06,633 --> 00:02:11,133 They want their ideas to become mainstream, 39 00:02:11,133 --> 00:02:14,066 and they want people to embrace those ideas. 40 00:02:15,233 --> 00:02:17,566 WILLIAM HITCHCOCK: They were against democracy. 41 00:02:17,566 --> 00:02:19,400 And thought that America 42 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:21,866 would be a kind of star in a constellation 43 00:02:21,866 --> 00:02:24,666 of pro-Nazi governments around the world. 44 00:02:24,666 --> 00:02:27,866 ♪ ♪ 45 00:02:27,866 --> 00:02:30,166 RIGUEUR: We assume that democracy 46 00:02:30,166 --> 00:02:32,700 is something that all Americans embrace. 47 00:02:34,233 --> 00:02:37,566 But in the 1930s, there were people in the United States 48 00:02:37,566 --> 00:02:41,033 who were ready to try something different. 49 00:02:52,333 --> 00:02:56,100 (crowd chanting) 50 00:03:00,700 --> 00:03:03,633 BEVERLY GAGE: In the 1930s, lots of Americans 51 00:03:03,633 --> 00:03:07,400 thought the whole social order was about to collapse. 52 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,400 Capitalism, democracy, they were done for, 53 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,000 and something else was going 54 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:14,200 to have to come along 55 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:15,400 to take its place. 56 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:17,866 And a lot of people thought 57 00:03:17,866 --> 00:03:20,266 that was going to be fascism. 58 00:03:20,266 --> 00:03:24,500 SINGERS (on radio): ♪ Gave proof through the night that our flag ♪ 59 00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:27,333 ♪ Was still there ♪ 60 00:03:27,333 --> 00:03:29,766 ♪ O say does that ♪ 61 00:03:29,766 --> 00:03:37,400 ♪ Star-spangled banner yet wave? ♪ 62 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,566 ♪ O'er the land ♪ 63 00:03:40,566 --> 00:03:43,133 ♪ Of the free... ♪ 64 00:03:43,133 --> 00:03:44,700 HITCHCOCK: In the 1930s, 65 00:03:44,700 --> 00:03:47,200 the largest fascist group in the United States 66 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,866 was the German American Bund. 67 00:03:49,866 --> 00:03:52,933 "Bund" simply means organization. 68 00:03:52,933 --> 00:03:57,066 But, fundamentally, this is an American organization. 69 00:03:57,066 --> 00:03:59,100 They believe in a pure nation. 70 00:03:59,100 --> 00:04:01,233 They believe in a strong nation. 71 00:04:01,233 --> 00:04:02,566 They believe that government 72 00:04:02,566 --> 00:04:04,000 is best when it is organized 73 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:05,433 in a hierarchical way with 74 00:04:05,433 --> 00:04:06,800 a powerful dictator at the top, 75 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,200 and that this would improve America. 76 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:13,266 We have no time, nor excuse, to be idle, 77 00:04:13,266 --> 00:04:15,733   so march along with the Bund! 78 00:04:15,733 --> 00:04:18,866 GAGE: The popularity of the Bund showed 79 00:04:18,866 --> 00:04:23,366 that there were certain elements of the fascist vision 80 00:04:23,366 --> 00:04:26,400 that had real appeal in the United States. 81 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:28,233 BUND SPEAKER: We have to fight 82 00:04:28,233 --> 00:04:30,033 for our rights! 83 00:04:30,033 --> 00:04:31,533 CHURCHWELL: When you look at American fascism 84 00:04:31,533 --> 00:04:34,033 in the 1920s and '30s, 85 00:04:34,033 --> 00:04:36,666 the outcome of German fascism 86 00:04:36,666 --> 00:04:38,033 had not yet happened 87 00:04:38,033 --> 00:04:39,200 and was not known. 88 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,100 We have the benefit of hindsight, 89 00:04:42,100 --> 00:04:44,066 but Americans at the time 90 00:04:44,066 --> 00:04:47,100 didn't know where it was going to go. 91 00:04:47,100 --> 00:04:49,800 (crowd singing) 92 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,466 HART: As foreign as this might seem, fascist ideology 93 00:04:53,466 --> 00:04:56,000 tapped into some deep historical realities, 94 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:57,800 dark realities, in America. 95 00:04:59,233 --> 00:05:02,200 So the United States was fertile ground for groups 96 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,500 like the German American Bund to emerge. 97 00:05:07,333 --> 00:05:09,900 GAGE: The United States in the 1920s 98 00:05:09,900 --> 00:05:13,200 is a place of powerful divisions. 99 00:05:14,700 --> 00:05:16,500 It is a place of deep antisemitism 100 00:05:16,500 --> 00:05:18,133 and it is a place 101 00:05:18,133 --> 00:05:22,600 that has very formal racial segregation. 102 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:24,733 HITCHCOCK: The separation of races was something 103 00:05:24,733 --> 00:05:27,233 that Americans have been doing for centuries, 104 00:05:27,233 --> 00:05:29,000 but they've been doing it legally 105 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,733 since the end of the Civil War through Jim Crow, 106 00:05:31,733 --> 00:05:34,700 the body of laws, as well as habits and customs, 107 00:05:34,700 --> 00:05:37,133 that kept white and Black people apart in public spaces. 108 00:05:37,133 --> 00:05:40,966 In fact, the whole structure of racism in America 109 00:05:40,966 --> 00:05:43,466 had broad popular support. 110 00:05:44,500 --> 00:05:49,433 GAGE: In the 1920s, one of the biggest organizations 111 00:05:49,433 --> 00:05:53,500 in the United States was the Ku Klux Klan, 112 00:05:53,500 --> 00:05:55,733 which was not only anti-Black, 113 00:05:55,733 --> 00:05:58,833 it was anti-Jew, it was anti-immigrant, 114 00:05:58,833 --> 00:06:01,933 and those weren't marginal ideas. 115 00:06:03,666 --> 00:06:06,633 HITCHCOCK: In 1924, five million people 116 00:06:06,633 --> 00:06:09,533 were in the Ku Klux Klan, 117 00:06:09,533 --> 00:06:13,233 including a couple of dozen senators and congressmen. 118 00:06:13,233 --> 00:06:15,866 The Klan's basic message was a combination 119 00:06:15,866 --> 00:06:18,666 of white Christian nationalism combined with family values, 120 00:06:18,666 --> 00:06:22,666 which was a message that was appealing to millions of people. 121 00:06:22,666 --> 00:06:25,166 STEVEN ROSS: Father Coughlin, Charles Coughlin, 122 00:06:25,166 --> 00:06:27,066 known as the radio priest, 123 00:06:27,066 --> 00:06:30,833 every week went on the air to 14 million listeners, 124 00:06:30,833 --> 00:06:32,433 basically warning the country 125 00:06:32,433 --> 00:06:33,966 that Jews were destroying it. 126 00:06:33,966 --> 00:06:36,133 COUGHLIN (over radio): We are Christian 127 00:06:36,133 --> 00:06:40,166 in so far as we believe in Christ's principle 128 00:06:40,166 --> 00:06:43,433 of love your neighbor as yourself. 129 00:06:43,433 --> 00:06:45,766   And with that principle, 130 00:06:45,766 --> 00:06:48,400 I challenge every Jew in this nation 131 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:52,966 to tell me that he does not believe in it. 132 00:06:52,966 --> 00:06:54,466 (cheers and applause) 133 00:06:54,466 --> 00:06:57,866 ROSS: Antisemitism is rife in the United States, 134 00:06:57,866 --> 00:07:02,000 and at this point, it's out in the open. 135 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,200 The most famous antisemite in America 136 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,500 was probably Henry Ford. 137 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:10,633 HITCHCOCK: Henry Ford was an inventor, 138 00:07:10,633 --> 00:07:13,266 an extraordinary capitalist, 139 00:07:13,266 --> 00:07:15,900 but he used his wealth to promote 140 00:07:15,900 --> 00:07:17,733 some of the most virulent 141 00:07:17,733 --> 00:07:20,766 antisemitic conspiracy theories. 142 00:07:20,766 --> 00:07:24,666 He published a notorious book called "The International Jew," 143 00:07:24,666 --> 00:07:28,533 and had it distributed widely around the country. 144 00:07:28,533 --> 00:07:30,866 Millions of people might have heard of this book, 145 00:07:30,866 --> 00:07:33,733 but never actually seen it. 146 00:07:33,733 --> 00:07:36,466 Well, Ford took care of that. 147 00:07:36,466 --> 00:07:38,333 CHURCHWELL: At that time, 148 00:07:38,333 --> 00:07:42,033 antisemitic and white supremacist ideas were supported 149 00:07:42,033 --> 00:07:43,900 by a pseudo-scientific movement 150 00:07:43,900 --> 00:07:46,233 that was wildly popular 151 00:07:46,233 --> 00:07:50,666 in Europe and in the United States called eugenics. 152 00:07:50,666 --> 00:07:53,033 What is the bearing of the laws of heredity 153 00:07:53,033 --> 00:07:55,000   upon human affairs? 154 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,033 Eugenics provides the answer so far as this is known. 155 00:07:58,033 --> 00:08:02,066 Eugenics seeks to apply the known laws of heredity 156 00:08:02,066 --> 00:08:04,566 so as to prevent the degeneration of the race 157 00:08:04,566 --> 00:08:07,333 and improve its inborn qualities. 158 00:08:07,333 --> 00:08:09,166 CHURCHWELL: Eugenics said that 159 00:08:09,166 --> 00:08:14,133 white supremacy was biologically determined and could be proven. 160 00:08:14,133 --> 00:08:17,333 As could the identities of the inferior, 161 00:08:17,333 --> 00:08:20,866 you know, so-called inferior races. 162 00:08:20,866 --> 00:08:23,833 It rationalized white supremacism 163 00:08:23,833 --> 00:08:27,833 by apparently giving it a scientific basis. 164 00:08:27,833 --> 00:08:31,766 Laws were based on these ideas. 165 00:08:33,433 --> 00:08:36,433 RIGUEUR: In 1924, the United States passes 166 00:08:36,433 --> 00:08:39,333 the Johnson-Reed Act, which puts a quota system 167 00:08:39,333 --> 00:08:43,800 on people immigrating into the United States from Europe. 168 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,300 Under this new law, 169 00:08:46,300 --> 00:08:49,666 roughly 90% of them are going to come from 170 00:08:49,666 --> 00:08:52,200 northern European countries; 171 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,233 a.k.a., white. 172 00:08:54,233 --> 00:08:56,000 (man shouting commands) 173 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,133 ROSS: All this led right wing groups 174 00:08:58,133 --> 00:09:00,500 like the German American Bund to believe 175 00:09:00,500 --> 00:09:03,933 that they would actually have a receptive audience in America. 176 00:09:03,933 --> 00:09:05,633 Because, look, 177 00:09:05,633 --> 00:09:07,300 Americans had cast themselves as a white nation. 178 00:09:07,300 --> 00:09:08,600 (cheers and applause) 179 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:10,400 RALLY LEADER: We are decidedly not preaching 180 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:13,666 un-Americanism or anything basically new. 181 00:09:13,666 --> 00:09:16,133 We have an Asiatic exclusion act, 182 00:09:16,133 --> 00:09:18,966 Jim Crow laws, and a complicated system 183 00:09:18,966 --> 00:09:22,400 of immigration quotas differentiating even between 184 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:24,466 the various white peoples. 185 00:09:24,466 --> 00:09:28,266 It has then always been very much American. 186 00:09:28,266 --> 00:09:30,900 (cheers and applause) 187 00:09:30,900 --> 00:09:33,366 HART: The leader of the Bund 188 00:09:33,366 --> 00:09:37,433 was a naturalized American citizen named Fritz Julius Kuhn. 189 00:09:37,433 --> 00:09:39,866 Kuhn had some bold ambitions. 190 00:09:39,866 --> 00:09:42,000 He presented himself as an American führer, 191 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,500 and his vision was to become the absolute leader, 192 00:09:45,500 --> 00:09:49,000 the absolute dictator, of this organization he claims 193 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:50,666 is going to take control of the United States. 194 00:09:50,666 --> 00:09:53,900 Let me welcome you, in the name of our local unit 195 00:09:53,900 --> 00:09:55,600 of the German American Bund of Brooklyn. 196 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:58,833 And I'd like to tell you a few words 197 00:09:58,833 --> 00:10:00,966 about our purpose and aims. 198 00:10:00,966 --> 00:10:03,600 HITCHCOCK: He imagined that he was going to build 199 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:06,866 a distinctively American version of Nazism. 200 00:10:06,866 --> 00:10:09,133 Because America's problem is that 201 00:10:09,133 --> 00:10:10,800 it has too many differences, 202 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,066 it has too many races all mingled together, 203 00:10:13,066 --> 00:10:14,766 too many languages. 204 00:10:14,766 --> 00:10:16,700 This country can't possibly survive for a long time 205 00:10:16,700 --> 00:10:18,566 in such a crazy state. 206 00:10:18,566 --> 00:10:21,033 It should be organized, it should be disciplined, 207 00:10:21,033 --> 00:10:25,166 and it should be unified by one charismatic leader. 208 00:10:27,100 --> 00:10:29,200 HART: Kuhn's path to the United States 209 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,833 was somewhat typical for men of his generation 210 00:10:31,833 --> 00:10:34,133 who had lived through World War I... 211 00:10:34,133 --> 00:10:35,500 (explosion) 212 00:10:35,500 --> 00:10:37,866 ...only to experience the economic ruin 213 00:10:37,866 --> 00:10:42,033 that Germany went through in the early 1920s. 214 00:10:42,033 --> 00:10:45,633 European society was devastated after World War I, 215 00:10:45,633 --> 00:10:49,300 and Germans, as the losing side of the war, 216 00:10:49,300 --> 00:10:52,166 were especially affected. 217 00:10:52,166 --> 00:10:55,333 You had hyperinflation. 218 00:10:55,333 --> 00:10:57,900 You had unemployed soldiers, unemployed workers, 219 00:10:57,900 --> 00:11:00,433 all desperate. 220 00:11:00,433 --> 00:11:02,866 Everyone was looking for a solution. 221 00:11:02,866 --> 00:11:06,766 (newsreel music playing) 222 00:11:06,766 --> 00:11:09,800 NEWSREEL NARRATOR (in Russian): 223 00:11:12,533 --> 00:11:15,166 ♪ ♪ 224 00:11:15,166 --> 00:11:19,300 CHURCHWELL: A lot of people thought that communism was the answer. 225 00:11:19,300 --> 00:11:21,400 But others were very, very worried 226 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:23,466 that revolutionaries were coming. 227 00:11:23,466 --> 00:11:25,500 That property would be abolished 228 00:11:25,500 --> 00:11:27,100 and this infection would spread. 229 00:11:28,533 --> 00:11:30,066 In Europe, 230 00:11:30,066 --> 00:11:34,900 one main ideological counter to communism was fascism. 231 00:11:36,166 --> 00:11:39,900 GAGE: Our association of fascism with the Second World War, 232 00:11:39,900 --> 00:11:42,400 and particularly with the Holocaust, 233 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,366 isn't a set of associations that anyone had 234 00:11:45,366 --> 00:11:48,066 in the 1920s. 235 00:11:48,066 --> 00:11:50,866 HITCHCOCK: People looked at the fascist Italian dictator Mussolini 236 00:11:50,866 --> 00:11:54,666 and said, Mussolini has solved Italy's economic crisis 237 00:11:54,666 --> 00:11:57,200 by suppressing the communists, 238 00:11:57,200 --> 00:11:59,266 by getting rid of parliament, 239 00:11:59,266 --> 00:12:01,766 getting rid of divisive political parties. 240 00:12:01,766 --> 00:12:04,766 And he's basically asked Italians to trust him 241 00:12:04,766 --> 00:12:07,533 and his vision of a united country. 242 00:12:08,833 --> 00:12:11,933 CHURCHWELL: Fascism was a word that was coined by Mussolini 243 00:12:11,933 --> 00:12:14,900 to identify his political movement. 244 00:12:14,900 --> 00:12:18,200 It says that in order to reclaim the strength and the purity 245 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:20,266 and the nobility of your country, 246 00:12:20,266 --> 00:12:23,866 you need to purify your nation of "the wrong people" 247 00:12:23,866 --> 00:12:27,766 to get back to what the nation is supposed to be. 248 00:12:31,133 --> 00:12:33,533 It's essentially a white nationalist movement, 249 00:12:33,533 --> 00:12:37,233 so a lot of Americans were intrigued by fascism, 250 00:12:37,233 --> 00:12:39,133 at least in its Italian form. 251 00:12:39,133 --> 00:12:41,566 I am very glad to be able 252 00:12:41,566 --> 00:12:43,900 to express my friendly feelings 253 00:12:43,900 --> 00:12:46,833 towards the American nation. 254 00:12:46,833 --> 00:12:49,100 My fellow citizens, who are 255 00:12:49,100 --> 00:12:51,666 working to make America great. 256 00:12:54,833 --> 00:12:56,633 ROSS: In Germany, 257 00:12:56,633 --> 00:12:58,900 Adolf Hitler's Nazi party is first seen 258 00:12:58,900 --> 00:13:01,266 as a very marginal group of thugs. 259 00:13:01,266 --> 00:13:07,033 Hitler rises to power on one promise: to save Germany. 260 00:13:07,033 --> 00:13:08,633 And to save Germany, 261 00:13:08,633 --> 00:13:12,400 he's going to get rid of the communists and the Jews. 262 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,300 CHURCHWELL: Fritz Kuhn was involved 263 00:13:15,300 --> 00:13:17,933 in the early days of the Nazi party. 264 00:13:17,933 --> 00:13:20,000 He claimed that he had been part 265 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:24,300 of Hitler's failed coup attempt in 1923. 266 00:13:24,300 --> 00:13:27,200 HITCHCOCK: Kuhn is emblematic of this generation 267 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,666 of young German men who feel 268 00:13:29,666 --> 00:13:31,066 that they are the victims 269 00:13:31,066 --> 00:13:32,833 of the outcome of the First World War. 270 00:13:32,833 --> 00:13:35,000 They want unity, 271 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,400 they want comradeship, but most of all, 272 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:39,733 they want employment. 273 00:13:39,733 --> 00:13:45,366 ROSS: So in 1924, he decides to do what many other Germans do: 274 00:13:45,366 --> 00:13:47,233 leave the country and come to America. 275 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:50,566 HART: German Americans and their descendants 276 00:13:50,566 --> 00:13:52,433 had been in the United States for a long period of time 277 00:13:52,433 --> 00:13:53,566 at this point. 278 00:13:53,566 --> 00:13:54,800 There were actually multiple waves 279 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:56,433 of German immigration to the U.S. 280 00:13:57,466 --> 00:14:00,333 BERNSTEIN: So Kuhn went to Detroit and got a job 281 00:14:00,333 --> 00:14:03,633 at the Henry Ford Hospital as an X-ray technician. 282 00:14:03,633 --> 00:14:05,266 It was a hospital 283 00:14:05,266 --> 00:14:08,300 that had a policy of no Jewish doctors. 284 00:14:10,033 --> 00:14:13,600 CHURCHWELL: It's an era of deep antisemitism, 285 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:17,733 of legalized racism, 286 00:14:17,733 --> 00:14:20,500 of growing inequality 287 00:14:20,500 --> 00:14:22,200 across the United States. 288 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:23,933 And then 289 00:14:23,933 --> 00:14:26,133 the Great Depression begins. 290 00:14:27,633 --> 00:14:31,066 ♪ ♪ 291 00:14:31,066 --> 00:14:32,966 RIGUEUR: In October 1929, 292 00:14:32,966 --> 00:14:35,133 the stock market crashed 293 00:14:35,133 --> 00:14:39,366 with the subsequent onset of a massive depression. 294 00:14:41,033 --> 00:14:43,133 GAGE: The stock market lost about 295 00:14:43,133 --> 00:14:45,233 90% of its value. 296 00:14:46,666 --> 00:14:50,466 In places where you had a largely foreign-born, 297 00:14:50,466 --> 00:14:53,733 industrial, working-class population, 298 00:14:53,733 --> 00:14:57,333 as many as 80% of those workers were out of work. 299 00:14:57,333 --> 00:14:59,266 CHURCHWELL: In the depths of the Depression, 300 00:14:59,266 --> 00:15:01,600 a great many Americans started to ask themselves whether 301 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:03,233 the American experiment was failing. 302 00:15:04,766 --> 00:15:07,466 ROSS: In one poll of conservative professionals, 303 00:15:07,466 --> 00:15:10,033 something like a third of them said it was time 304 00:15:10,033 --> 00:15:12,533 for a revolution; some kind of change. 305 00:15:12,533 --> 00:15:15,700 Whether it was going to be democracy, 306 00:15:15,700 --> 00:15:18,733 whether it was going to be communism, 307 00:15:18,733 --> 00:15:21,600 whether it was going to be fascism, 308 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,233 all these ideas were finding supporters. 309 00:15:24,233 --> 00:15:30,100 (cheers and applause) 310 00:15:32,866 --> 00:15:37,066 (crowd clamoring) (whistle blowing) 311 00:15:41,233 --> 00:15:44,433 RIGUEUR: The 1930s is a period 312 00:15:44,433 --> 00:15:46,966 that can be characterized by fear. 313 00:15:46,966 --> 00:15:50,000 Fear of the other. 314 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,666 Fear of want. 315 00:15:52,666 --> 00:15:55,966 Fear of losing everything. 316 00:15:55,966 --> 00:15:59,433 ROOSEVELT: The only thing we have to fear 317 00:15:59,433 --> 00:16:02,166 is fear itself! 318 00:16:02,166 --> 00:16:04,633 HITCHCOCK: Franklin Roosevelt comes into the White House 319 00:16:04,633 --> 00:16:06,733 in March of 1933 320 00:16:06,733 --> 00:16:08,900 in the midst of the biggest economic 321 00:16:08,900 --> 00:16:11,133 and social crisis since the Civil War. 322 00:16:11,133 --> 00:16:14,733 My most immediate concern is in carrying out 323 00:16:14,733 --> 00:16:17,166 the purposes of the great work program 324 00:16:17,166 --> 00:16:19,366 just enacted by the Congress. 325 00:16:19,366 --> 00:16:21,400 RIGUEUR: His solution is to introduce 326 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:26,033 a series of programs that come to be known as the New Deal. 327 00:16:26,033 --> 00:16:29,566 There has not been another president 328 00:16:29,566 --> 00:16:32,466 that has introduced more legislation 329 00:16:32,466 --> 00:16:35,800 than Roosevelt did in his first 100 days. 330 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:41,233 ♪ ♪ 331 00:16:41,233 --> 00:16:43,800 CHURCHWELL: American right-wing groups 332 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,233 were rabidly opposed to Roosevelt's New Deal, 333 00:16:47,233 --> 00:16:49,600 which they saw as a communist plot, 334 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:51,466 as a redistribution of property, 335 00:16:51,466 --> 00:16:54,566 and began calling it "the Jew Deal" 336 00:16:54,566 --> 00:16:58,100 because they said that Roosevelt was being manipulated 337 00:16:58,100 --> 00:17:02,033 by Jewish financiers who were pulling the strings. 338 00:17:04,566 --> 00:17:08,000 GAGE: 1933 was also the year 339 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:12,100 that Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. 340 00:17:12,100 --> 00:17:14,400 So there was a sense not only that there was 341 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,166 a crisis at home, but that fascism 342 00:17:17,166 --> 00:17:20,233   was really beginning to take root around the world. 343 00:17:22,766 --> 00:17:24,366 HART: Hitler puts Germany on what appears 344 00:17:24,366 --> 00:17:25,900 to be a very successful course. 345 00:17:25,900 --> 00:17:29,233 Inflation is under control, 346 00:17:29,233 --> 00:17:31,866 and according to the Nazis' official figures, 347 00:17:31,866 --> 00:17:34,466 unemployment has all but disappeared. 348 00:17:34,466 --> 00:17:37,433 Americans who see their own system in crisis 349 00:17:37,433 --> 00:17:39,533 are looking at fascism and Nazism 350 00:17:39,533 --> 00:17:41,600 as perhaps models that could be emulated 351 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:43,366 in the United States. 352 00:17:43,366 --> 00:17:45,666 So extremist groups pop up all over the country 353 00:17:45,666 --> 00:17:48,800 inspired by what's going on in Europe. 354 00:17:50,966 --> 00:17:52,833 There was the Order of '76, 355 00:17:52,833 --> 00:17:54,200 there was the Black Legion, 356 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:55,433 there was the Liberty League. 357 00:17:55,433 --> 00:17:57,466 There were the White Shirts, 358 00:17:57,466 --> 00:17:58,966 the Black Shirts, and Brown Shirts. 359 00:17:58,966 --> 00:18:00,433 There were the Silver Shirts. 360 00:18:00,433 --> 00:18:03,033 PAPERMAN: Free speech stopped by Jew riot! 361 00:18:03,033 --> 00:18:05,166 CHURCHWELL: They just proliferated. 362 00:18:05,166 --> 00:18:10,366 ♪ ♪ 363 00:18:15,566 --> 00:18:18,166 HITCHCOCK: In its earliest expressions, 364 00:18:18,166 --> 00:18:21,266 fascism was thought by many Americans 365 00:18:21,266 --> 00:18:23,400 to be a suitable answer 366 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:25,600 to America's problems. 367 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,966 But there were others who opposed fascism 368 00:18:28,966 --> 00:18:30,600 from the beginning. 369 00:18:31,933 --> 00:18:34,133 CHURCHWELL: Dorothy Thompson was one of the first female 370 00:18:34,133 --> 00:18:37,533 foreign correspondents for American newspapers 371 00:18:37,533 --> 00:18:42,733 and was working in Europe during the rise of fascism. 372 00:18:42,733 --> 00:18:45,633 She could see the danger that it posed 373 00:18:45,633 --> 00:18:48,133 and she was very outspoken 374 00:18:48,133 --> 00:18:50,633 about it from very early on. 375 00:18:50,633 --> 00:18:52,766 She had the honor, 376 00:18:52,766 --> 00:18:56,766 I think, of being the first American foreign correspondent 377 00:18:56,766 --> 00:19:01,000 to be ejected from Germany after Hitler came to power. 378 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,900 There seems to me to be a certain misunderstanding about, 379 00:19:03,900 --> 00:19:07,833 about the antisemitic end of the Hitler movement. 380 00:19:07,833 --> 00:19:10,433 A great many people didn't believe 381 00:19:10,433 --> 00:19:12,033 that if they came to power they would carry this, 382 00:19:12,033 --> 00:19:13,933 carry this program out, 383 00:19:13,933 --> 00:19:15,933 but as a matter of fact they are doing what they have said 384 00:19:15,933 --> 00:19:19,166 for 13 years that they would do if they came to power. 385 00:19:20,433 --> 00:19:23,600 HITCHCOCK: Another one of the great public figures of that era, 386 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:25,800 Rabbi Stephen Wise, 387 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,066 steps forward and says we are going to act. 388 00:19:29,066 --> 00:19:32,266 We're going to mobilize against Nazism. 389 00:19:33,533 --> 00:19:37,433 ROSS: Wise called for a boycott of all German products 390 00:19:37,433 --> 00:19:41,133 until Hitler stopped persecuting all minorities; 391 00:19:41,133 --> 00:19:43,800 not just Jews, but all minorities. 392 00:19:44,900 --> 00:19:49,300 It led to a big decline in German imports. 393 00:19:49,300 --> 00:19:52,000 This presents a challenge to Berlin, 394 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,733 which is "How do we improve our reputation in the United States 395 00:19:56,733 --> 00:19:58,866 "while also pursuing our policies 396 00:19:58,866 --> 00:20:01,566 against the Jews here in Germany?" 397 00:20:02,666 --> 00:20:05,333 ROSS: Rudolf Hess, the number two Nazi leader, 398 00:20:05,333 --> 00:20:07,566 was looking at the American situation 399 00:20:07,566 --> 00:20:09,300 and saying, "How are we going to offset this?" 400 00:20:09,300 --> 00:20:12,866 And so he helped create the Friends of New Germany. 401 00:20:12,866 --> 00:20:15,300 NEWSREEL NARRATOR: The membership card in the Friends of the New Germany. 402 00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:18,700 Note the American emblem, and over it the Nazi swastika. 403 00:20:18,700 --> 00:20:20,766 ROSS: People join the Friends of New Germany 404 00:20:20,766 --> 00:20:22,500 in the same way you would join 405 00:20:22,500 --> 00:20:25,066 the Masons, or the Odd Fellows, or the Elks. 406 00:20:26,466 --> 00:20:28,733 HITCHCOCK: So Kuhn joins the Friends of New Germany 407 00:20:28,733 --> 00:20:32,433 and becomes the head of the Midwest district. 408 00:20:32,433 --> 00:20:36,033 ROSS: It was one thing for Americans to say, 409 00:20:36,033 --> 00:20:38,266 well, Hitler's doing great things for Germany, 410 00:20:38,266 --> 00:20:40,766 um, from a distance. 411 00:20:42,166 --> 00:20:43,933 But Americans didn't actually like 412 00:20:43,933 --> 00:20:47,500 seeing swastikas in their neighborhoods. 413 00:20:47,500 --> 00:20:51,833 This began to turn American public opinion 414 00:20:51,833 --> 00:20:56,500 against the Friends of New Germany and against the Nazis. 415 00:20:59,266 --> 00:21:00,833 BERNSTEIN: In the 1930s, 416 00:21:00,833 --> 00:21:04,866 there was a very strong Jewish presence in the mafia, 417 00:21:04,866 --> 00:21:08,000   and they had an army of Jewish prizefighters, 418 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,533 guys who knew how to work their fists. 419 00:21:11,533 --> 00:21:13,466 ROSS: At the time, 420 00:21:13,466 --> 00:21:17,200 about a third of professional boxers were Jewish. 421 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,300 And many of those Jewish boxers 422 00:21:19,300 --> 00:21:21,433 were very proud of their heritage 423 00:21:21,433 --> 00:21:24,066 and they had Stars of David on their trunks. 424 00:21:25,933 --> 00:21:27,466 BERNSTEIN: They saw it as their duty 425 00:21:27,466 --> 00:21:30,100 to take on the Friends of New Germany. 426 00:21:31,300 --> 00:21:34,133 In New Jersey, this army of boxers was called 427 00:21:34,133 --> 00:21:38,233 the Minutemen-- because they could be there in a minute. 428 00:21:38,233 --> 00:21:41,333 ROSS: They would burst into open meetings 429 00:21:41,333 --> 00:21:44,400 of the Friends of New Germany 430 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,700 and they would beat the stuffing out of them. 431 00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:50,500 In Newark, New Jersey, 432 00:21:50,500 --> 00:21:53,266 they were so angry there was a massive brawl 433 00:21:53,266 --> 00:21:55,266 that lasted for hours until 434 00:21:55,266 --> 00:21:57,733 the police were able to get it under control. 435 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,600 The government in Berlin starts to feel 436 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,066 that it's more of a problem than it is an asset, 437 00:22:04,066 --> 00:22:06,600 and in late 1935 438 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:08,900 they disband the organization. 439 00:22:09,966 --> 00:22:11,533 The Friends of New Germany was no more, 440 00:22:11,533 --> 00:22:15,333 and Fritz Kuhn saw his opportunity, and seized it. 441 00:22:15,333 --> 00:22:18,400 He said, you know, we have to re-form this group. 442 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,966 We have an infrastructure already in place 443 00:22:20,966 --> 00:22:23,866 with chapters all over the country. 444 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:27,766 HITCHCOCK: So in early 1936, 445 00:22:27,766 --> 00:22:30,866 Fritz Kuhn founds the German American Bund. 446 00:22:30,866 --> 00:22:33,300 And Kuhn was trying to sell it as an American organization. 447 00:22:34,733 --> 00:22:37,766 ROSS: What you begin to see in 1936 448 00:22:37,766 --> 00:22:40,300 with the creation of the Bund 449 00:22:40,300 --> 00:22:41,800 is what I would call 450 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:43,866 the beginning of star-spangled fascism. 451 00:22:43,866 --> 00:22:47,266 The German American Bund is a patriotic, 452 00:22:47,266 --> 00:22:51,333 law-abiding and honor-bound fighting organization 453 00:22:51,333 --> 00:22:54,133 of loyal Americans of German extraction, 454 00:22:54,133 --> 00:22:57,066 fighting to exterminate Jewish, international, 455 00:22:57,066 --> 00:22:58,800 atheistic Bolshevism. 456 00:23:00,333 --> 00:23:01,700 RIGUEUR: The German American Bund 457 00:23:01,700 --> 00:23:04,866 starts very deliberately cloaking itself 458 00:23:04,866 --> 00:23:09,633 in the explicit symbols of Americanness-- 459 00:23:09,633 --> 00:23:14,766   George Washington, the American flag. 460 00:23:15,933 --> 00:23:17,666 HART: You have these bizarre mixtures 461 00:23:17,666 --> 00:23:21,800 of American symbols with the symbols of Nazism. 462 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,833 People dressed as Minutemen from the American Revolution 463 00:23:24,833 --> 00:23:26,900 standing on stage next to these Bund members 464 00:23:26,900 --> 00:23:29,166 in their own uniforms, 465 00:23:29,166 --> 00:23:33,166 or a man dressed as a Native American chief. 466 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:36,600 HITCHCOCK: Kuhn is trying to change the conversation a little bit 467 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,266 by saying, "You can be a patriotic American 468 00:23:39,266 --> 00:23:42,900 and you can be proud of the Nazi government as well." 469 00:23:42,900 --> 00:23:45,233 So he is going to try to square the circle, 470 00:23:45,233 --> 00:23:48,066 which is to make Americans and American citizens 471 00:23:48,066 --> 00:23:49,833 a part of an organization that is 472 00:23:49,833 --> 00:23:52,933 basically designed to propagate Nazism. 473 00:23:52,933 --> 00:23:55,566 (people chattering) 474 00:23:55,566 --> 00:24:00,166 ROSS: The National Bund establishes its headquarters 475 00:24:00,166 --> 00:24:01,900 on the Upper East Side of Manhattan 476 00:24:01,900 --> 00:24:04,266 in the Yorkville neighborhood. 477 00:24:04,266 --> 00:24:07,333 German was spoken in the streets. 478 00:24:07,333 --> 00:24:10,233 The shops had signs in German. 479 00:24:10,233 --> 00:24:13,333 If you walked through Yorkville in 1936, 480 00:24:13,333 --> 00:24:15,600 you could think you were in a German city. 481 00:24:17,166 --> 00:24:20,500 The Bund also had a fairly extensive business arm. 482 00:24:20,500 --> 00:24:24,166 New York City had beer halls where its members would gather, 483 00:24:24,166 --> 00:24:27,200 and these were often owned and operated by the Bund. 484 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:31,366 (singing in German) 485 00:24:34,666 --> 00:24:37,766 (singing continues) 486 00:24:37,766 --> 00:24:39,666 CHURCHWELL: Nationally, 487 00:24:39,666 --> 00:24:44,066 most German Americans were not supporters of the Bund, 488 00:24:44,066 --> 00:24:48,333 but the German American Bund had a great presence in New York, 489 00:24:48,333 --> 00:24:49,900 so it was deliberately provocative 490 00:24:49,900 --> 00:24:51,366 for the Jewish community 491 00:24:51,366 --> 00:24:54,066 because they were literally holding parades 492 00:24:54,066 --> 00:24:57,266 in front of Jewish people's homes. 493 00:24:57,266 --> 00:25:00,933 We are American citizens 494 00:25:00,933 --> 00:25:02,866 and we demand our rights 495 00:25:02,866 --> 00:25:04,800 to be American citizens! 496 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,266   ROSS: Like Hitler, Kuhn wanted to establish 497 00:25:07,266 --> 00:25:10,266 a Reich that would last for a thousand years. 498 00:25:10,266 --> 00:25:14,900 So he gets to work expanding the group. 499 00:25:14,900 --> 00:25:20,233 HITCHCOCK: In 1936 and '37, the Bund has a period of real growth. 500 00:25:20,233 --> 00:25:22,800 There were three big districts of the Bund in America, 501 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:25,700 but there were 45 regional districts 502 00:25:25,700 --> 00:25:28,000 and then 80 smaller little branches. 503 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:29,733 They're all over the place in the West Coast, 504 00:25:29,733 --> 00:25:32,066 Midwest, and East. 505 00:25:32,066 --> 00:25:36,333 HART: At its peak, the Bund attracts as many as 100,000 members. 506 00:25:36,333 --> 00:25:37,666 And there were thousands of people 507 00:25:37,666 --> 00:25:39,300 who were also sympathetic to the Bund 508 00:25:39,300 --> 00:25:41,900 who were attending its events. 509 00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:46,100 RIGUEUR: One of the best ways to get people on board 510 00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:47,600 is to target their children. 511 00:25:48,933 --> 00:25:51,633 People can say, "Well, this is a good organization. 512 00:25:51,633 --> 00:25:53,433 "It teaches them about the beauty of nature. 513 00:25:53,433 --> 00:25:55,766 "It teaches them vital skills in life. 514 00:25:55,766 --> 00:25:58,633 "And it's family friendly and family oriented. 515 00:25:58,633 --> 00:26:00,633 "By the way, we hate Jews, 516 00:26:00,633 --> 00:26:02,566 we hate Blacks, we hate Catholics." 517 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:07,166 (singing in German) 518 00:26:15,366 --> 00:26:17,700 (singing in German continues) 519 00:26:25,566 --> 00:26:26,966 (song ends) 520 00:26:28,266 --> 00:26:32,200 CHURCHWELL: You get kids out of unhealthy city environments 521 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,633 and put them into these summer camps. 522 00:26:34,633 --> 00:26:37,366 It's all about making sure that your superior breed 523 00:26:37,366 --> 00:26:39,633 is kept separate from pollutants-- 524 00:26:39,633 --> 00:26:42,566 people of inferior races and ethnicities. 525 00:26:43,666 --> 00:26:48,333 HART: Children are essential to the future of the movement. 526 00:26:48,333 --> 00:26:50,100 They have to be physically primed to become 527 00:26:50,100 --> 00:26:53,066 the leaders of this Nazi Reich. 528 00:26:53,066 --> 00:26:55,033 So there was a camp in upstate New York, 529 00:26:55,033 --> 00:26:56,666 Milwaukee, Chicago, 530 00:26:56,666 --> 00:27:00,333 Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Pacific Northwest. 531 00:27:00,333 --> 00:27:03,033 There were camps located all over the country. 532 00:27:05,066 --> 00:27:08,966 ♪ ♪ 533 00:27:08,966 --> 00:27:10,733 BERNSTEIN: The grand opening for Camp Norland 534 00:27:10,733 --> 00:27:13,566 was July 18, 1937, 535 00:27:13,566 --> 00:27:16,133 and it was an event to be seen. 536 00:27:16,133 --> 00:27:19,666 ♪ ♪ 537 00:27:19,666 --> 00:27:21,766 There were more than 10,000 people there. 538 00:27:21,766 --> 00:27:24,566 And this was in New Jersey, 539 00:27:24,566 --> 00:27:27,300 60 miles outside of Manhattan. 540 00:27:27,300 --> 00:27:31,566 ♪ ♪ 541 00:27:31,566 --> 00:27:36,266 MAN (over speaker): I call upon all of you to join us in the battle 542 00:27:36,266 --> 00:27:39,466 for a socially just, 543 00:27:39,466 --> 00:27:43,200 financially independent, 544 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,700 and Jew-free America. 545 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,200 HITCHCOCK: The biggest camp 546 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:53,966 that the Bund built 547 00:27:53,966 --> 00:27:55,433 was Camp Siegfried, 548 00:27:55,433 --> 00:27:58,133 in Yaphank, Long Island. 549 00:27:58,133 --> 00:28:01,100 It was a destination for lots of people 550 00:28:01,100 --> 00:28:03,133 from the New York area, not just during summer camp, 551 00:28:03,133 --> 00:28:05,633 but for rallies and picnics 552 00:28:05,633 --> 00:28:08,666 and gatherings throughout the year. 553 00:28:08,666 --> 00:28:11,100 BERNSTEIN: There was a train every Friday 554 00:28:11,100 --> 00:28:13,566 direct from Penn Station to Long Island 555 00:28:13,566 --> 00:28:16,200 called "The Siegfried Special," 556 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:17,700 and it would be packed with 557 00:28:17,700 --> 00:28:19,100 people getting away for the weekend. 558 00:28:19,100 --> 00:28:21,800 ♪ ♪ 559 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,200 HITCHCOCK: Camp Siegfried was so popular, 560 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:26,133 the Bund created a front organization 561 00:28:26,133 --> 00:28:28,233 called the German American Settlement League, 562 00:28:28,233 --> 00:28:30,500 which bought property so that 563 00:28:30,500 --> 00:28:33,000 they could establish, not only camps, 564 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,633 but actual planned communities. 565 00:28:35,633 --> 00:28:39,700 And at Yaphank, they did build a German-American settlement 566 00:28:39,700 --> 00:28:42,466 called German Gardens. 567 00:28:42,466 --> 00:28:45,366 CHURCHWELL: The town that they set up 568 00:28:45,366 --> 00:28:48,800 named streets on Long Island after prominent Nazis. 569 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:53,200 So there was Adolf Hitler Street and there was Goering Street. 570 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:57,433 They had laws on the books restricting ownership. 571 00:28:57,433 --> 00:28:59,800 So, unsurprisingly, 572 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,100 this community was not willing to 573 00:29:02,100 --> 00:29:04,533 admit Jewish homeowners. 574 00:29:04,533 --> 00:29:06,533 ♪ ♪ 575 00:29:06,533 --> 00:29:07,933 HART: It was designed around the idea 576 00:29:07,933 --> 00:29:10,833 of creating an idealized sort of Nazi town. 577 00:29:10,833 --> 00:29:12,466 ♪ ♪ 578 00:29:12,466 --> 00:29:15,666 In the late summer of 1936, 579 00:29:15,666 --> 00:29:18,866 President Roosevelt calls J. Edgar Hoover, 580 00:29:18,866 --> 00:29:21,300 who's the head of the FBI, 581 00:29:21,300 --> 00:29:24,066 asking him to look into the activities 582 00:29:24,066 --> 00:29:26,733 of Nazis in the United States. 583 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:29,666 One of the first things 584 00:29:29,666 --> 00:29:32,533 that the FBI sets out to investigate 585 00:29:32,533 --> 00:29:35,033 is the German American Bund. 586 00:29:35,033 --> 00:29:36,500 Sieg... CROWD: Heil! 587 00:29:36,500 --> 00:29:37,533 Sieg... CROWD: Heil! 588 00:29:37,533 --> 00:29:38,666 Sieg... CROWD: Heil! 589 00:29:38,666 --> 00:29:43,166 GAGE: Ultimately, the FBI produces 590 00:29:43,166 --> 00:29:47,200 a thousand-page report which really lays out 591 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:51,566 some of the more outrageous aspects of this organization. 592 00:29:51,566 --> 00:29:54,100 The pro-Nazi imagery, 593 00:29:54,100 --> 00:29:55,966 the pro-Hitler sentiments, 594 00:29:55,966 --> 00:29:59,066 the antisemitism-- all of it's there, 595 00:29:59,066 --> 00:30:02,833 but Hoover was not terribly interested 596 00:30:02,833 --> 00:30:05,900 in taking this on. 597 00:30:05,900 --> 00:30:09,266 Why is Hoover sitting on his hands 598 00:30:09,266 --> 00:30:12,500 doing nothing with the Nazi fascist threat? 599 00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:15,233 The answer is actually pretty simple. 600 00:30:15,233 --> 00:30:19,200 It's because he was a rabid anti-communist. 601 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,366 HOOVER: The Communist Party of the United States 602 00:30:21,366 --> 00:30:23,700 is not a political party. 603 00:30:23,700 --> 00:30:25,200 It is a way of life, 604 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,033 an evil and malignant way of life. 605 00:30:28,300 --> 00:30:29,833 HITCHCOCK: Like many Americans, 606 00:30:29,833 --> 00:30:32,200 Hoover thought "Well, I don't really like fascism, 607 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:34,866 but I do like its anti-communist credentials." 608 00:30:34,866 --> 00:30:36,600 So, people tolerated 609 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:38,200 organizations like the German American Bund 610 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:39,833 that were explicitly anti-communist. 611 00:30:39,833 --> 00:30:42,533 RALLY LEADER: We stand beside you as Christian soldiers 612 00:30:42,533 --> 00:30:45,666 in your valiant fight against Jewish communism. 613 00:30:45,666 --> 00:30:47,400 (applause) 614 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,033 There is a movement to stop hate speech. 615 00:30:51,033 --> 00:30:53,400 And, in fact, the New Jersey legislature 616 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,266 passes the race libel law. 617 00:30:56,266 --> 00:30:58,133 You can't libel somebody 618 00:30:58,133 --> 00:31:01,600 because of their race, their religion, their color. 619 00:31:04,166 --> 00:31:08,033 HART: This is, in some ways, a novel concept in law. 620 00:31:08,033 --> 00:31:09,466 The problem with this is that groups 621 00:31:09,466 --> 00:31:11,366 like the ACLU immediately become involved 622 00:31:11,366 --> 00:31:13,566 and raise the obvious constitutional objection 623 00:31:13,566 --> 00:31:16,300   of how can you possibly outlaw speech 624 00:31:16,300 --> 00:31:18,900 that is offensive to a particular group. 625 00:31:20,733 --> 00:31:23,766 For all of the kind of horror 626 00:31:23,766 --> 00:31:26,333 of the idea of pro-Nazi forces 627 00:31:26,333 --> 00:31:28,266 acting in the United States, 628 00:31:28,266 --> 00:31:31,033 it's really not clear that they were breaking 629 00:31:31,033 --> 00:31:33,666 any particular federal law 630 00:31:33,666 --> 00:31:35,266 that existed at that point 631 00:31:35,266 --> 00:31:38,566 by engaging in the activities they were engaged in. 632 00:31:40,166 --> 00:31:42,800 HART: Ultimately, the big test for the race libel law 633 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:44,466 comes because of Camp Nordland, 634 00:31:44,466 --> 00:31:47,300 the German American Bund camp in the state of New Jersey, 635 00:31:47,300 --> 00:31:50,066 because of speeches that were defamatory 636 00:31:50,066 --> 00:31:51,666 towards the Jewish community. 637 00:31:51,666 --> 00:31:54,900 RALLY LEADER: We know that the Jew is most concerned 638 00:31:54,900 --> 00:31:56,833 with maintaining his stranglehold 639 00:31:56,833 --> 00:31:59,833 on the financial systems of the world. 640 00:31:59,833 --> 00:32:01,533 (crowd cheering) 641 00:32:01,533 --> 00:32:02,900 HART: Ultimately, 642 00:32:02,900 --> 00:32:04,666 there is a conviction of nine Bund members 643 00:32:04,666 --> 00:32:06,433 for violating the race libel law, 644 00:32:06,433 --> 00:32:08,000 but that's struck down 645 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,833 by the New Jersey State Supreme Court. 646 00:32:10,833 --> 00:32:13,766 In the end, the ACLU publishes a pamphlet 647 00:32:13,766 --> 00:32:17,133 defending their decision to defend the free speech of Nazis. 648 00:32:19,333 --> 00:32:21,800 RIGUEUR: This is the double-edged sword of the First Amendment. 649 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:25,466 It is a fundamental American right to be allowed 650 00:32:25,466 --> 00:32:28,133 to say horrible things, 651 00:32:28,133 --> 00:32:30,900 but the protection of the right to be hateful 652 00:32:30,900 --> 00:32:35,300 is what allows these ideas to proliferate. 653 00:32:35,300 --> 00:32:38,333 ♪ ♪ 654 00:32:42,533 --> 00:32:45,000 (car horns honking) 655 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:46,900 HITCHCOCK: In early 1937, 656 00:32:46,900 --> 00:32:50,200 a Chicago newspaper, the "Chicago Daily Times," 657 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:53,433 decides it's going to send reporters incognito 658 00:32:53,433 --> 00:32:55,333 into the world of the German American Bund. 659 00:32:55,333 --> 00:32:57,100 ♪ ♪ 660 00:32:57,100 --> 00:32:58,700 BERNSTEIN: John and James Metcalfe 661 00:32:58,700 --> 00:33:00,766 were brothers, born in Germany, 662 00:33:00,766 --> 00:33:04,066 were both reporters for the "Chicago Daily Times." 663 00:33:04,066 --> 00:33:06,433 They were assigned to go undercover 664 00:33:06,433 --> 00:33:08,866 and infiltrate the Bund. 665 00:33:08,866 --> 00:33:10,500 They had German birth certificates 666 00:33:10,500 --> 00:33:12,066 and they could speak German. 667 00:33:12,066 --> 00:33:13,800 So they had the perfect credentials. 668 00:33:15,066 --> 00:33:17,566 HITCHCOCK: John had a little toothbrush mustache, 669 00:33:17,566 --> 00:33:19,900 if that might be a little familiar, 670 00:33:19,900 --> 00:33:21,633 and looked the part. 671 00:33:22,833 --> 00:33:25,600 He approaches the Bund headquarters in New York 672 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,266 and works his way into the organization. 673 00:33:28,266 --> 00:33:32,866 Metcalfe goes by an alias, Helmut Oberwinder, 674 00:33:32,866 --> 00:33:35,700 and very quickly ingratiates himself with Fritz Kuhn. 675 00:33:35,700 --> 00:33:39,300 ♪ ♪ 676 00:33:39,300 --> 00:33:42,133 HART: Because he's willing to dedicate himself to the cause, 677 00:33:42,133 --> 00:33:43,733 within just a few months, 678 00:33:43,733 --> 00:33:47,066 John Metcalfe becomes Kuhn's right-hand man. 679 00:33:47,066 --> 00:33:50,166 And Kuhn dispatches Metcalfe as a personal emissary 680 00:33:50,166 --> 00:33:52,533 to local and regional Bund chapters. 681 00:33:52,533 --> 00:33:55,100 So Metcalfe travels all over the country, 682 00:33:55,100 --> 00:33:57,300 visiting with various Bund leaders. 683 00:33:58,733 --> 00:33:59,933 And, all along the way, 684 00:33:59,933 --> 00:34:03,666 he's filing reports back to his paper. 685 00:34:03,666 --> 00:34:06,500 Everything from how a local Bund chapter 686 00:34:06,500 --> 00:34:08,066 might be completely inept-- 687 00:34:08,066 --> 00:34:09,366 they were more interested 688 00:34:09,366 --> 00:34:11,300 in having drinking parties than politics-- 689 00:34:11,300 --> 00:34:15,066 to Bund leaders scoffing at Kuhn's authority, 690 00:34:15,066 --> 00:34:16,833 all the way to individual rank and file members 691 00:34:16,833 --> 00:34:18,433 talking about their ambitions 692 00:34:18,433 --> 00:34:20,233 to actually overthrow the U.S. government 693 00:34:20,233 --> 00:34:22,333 and establish a Nazi dictatorship. 694 00:34:27,866 --> 00:34:30,366 ♪ ♪ 695 00:34:32,133 --> 00:34:35,033 HITCHCOCK: In September of 1937, 696 00:34:35,033 --> 00:34:37,233   the "Chicago Daily Times" drops the bomb. 697 00:34:38,666 --> 00:34:41,300 They publish a series of articles 698 00:34:41,300 --> 00:34:44,766 on the German American Bund and they don't hold back. 699 00:34:44,766 --> 00:34:48,266 ♪ ♪ 700 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,866 ROSS: These stories came out one after the other. 701 00:34:58,866 --> 00:35:01,000 These exposés of how 702 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:03,933 the Nazis in America are trying 703 00:35:03,933 --> 00:35:06,100 to undermine the American people, 704 00:35:06,100 --> 00:35:08,533 the American government, and the American way of life. 705 00:35:10,233 --> 00:35:11,600 HART: The Metcalfes heard whispers 706 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:13,533 inside the Bund's inner circle 707 00:35:13,533 --> 00:35:15,966 of something called Der Tag, 708 00:35:15,966 --> 00:35:18,400 which translates to "the day." 709 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:19,900 The day when the Bund believes 710 00:35:19,900 --> 00:35:22,966 there will be a fascist revolution in the United States. 711 00:35:24,433 --> 00:35:27,133 BERNSTEIN: This would be the day that there would be an insurrection. 712 00:35:27,133 --> 00:35:29,400 They would take over the United States government, 713 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:32,300 and the swastika would fly above the Capitol. 714 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:37,066 The Metcalfe scoop really galvanizes 715 00:35:37,066 --> 00:35:38,433 public opinion against the Bund, 716 00:35:38,433 --> 00:35:41,266 and Congress begins to enter the discourse 717 00:35:41,266 --> 00:35:42,633 about what should be done 718 00:35:42,633 --> 00:35:44,966 about subversive groups in the United States. 719 00:35:44,966 --> 00:35:47,233 Congressman Martin Dies, Jr. becomes the chairman 720 00:35:47,233 --> 00:35:48,566 of what will come to be called 721 00:35:48,566 --> 00:35:50,666 the House Un-American Activities Committee, 722 00:35:50,666 --> 00:35:52,033 or HUAC. 723 00:35:52,033 --> 00:35:55,733 Tactics of communists, Nazis, and fascists 724 00:35:55,733 --> 00:35:58,233 are now endangering this country. 725 00:35:58,233 --> 00:36:02,000 America must wake up to its danger. 726 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:04,733 HUAC PROSECUTOR: To whom were you sending these letters? 727 00:36:04,733 --> 00:36:09,033 I sent that to a list of approximately 150 people. 728 00:36:09,033 --> 00:36:12,000 GAGE: HUAC was very much in the mindset 729 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,233 that there were an array of 730 00:36:14,233 --> 00:36:17,666 subversive organizations that needed to be investigated, 731 00:36:17,666 --> 00:36:20,833 and that a lot of them actually were on the right. 732 00:36:22,133 --> 00:36:24,300 HART: John Metcalfe was the first witness 733 00:36:24,300 --> 00:36:26,000 called before the committee. 734 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:27,800 And there's incredible images of him giving Martin Dies 735 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:31,100 and the committee the Nazi salute from the witness table, 736 00:36:31,100 --> 00:36:32,900 and then he showed them photos 737 00:36:32,900 --> 00:36:36,233 of how the Bund was preparing some sort of military coup. 738 00:36:38,466 --> 00:36:41,800 ROSS: What were we going to be as a nation? 739 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,633 Because what the Bund wanted America to be 740 00:36:44,633 --> 00:36:48,966 was a nation that was proud of its white Aryan past. 741 00:36:48,966 --> 00:36:52,166 But there were people who stood up for the right cause, 742 00:36:52,166 --> 00:36:56,033 who stood up for what we think of as American ideals. 743 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,800 CHURCHWELL: Dorothy Thompson had interviewed Hitler in 1931, 744 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:06,600 and was very clear about the risks that he posed, 745 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:08,433 and not just to Europe. 746 00:37:09,700 --> 00:37:11,533 THOMPSON: The classical end 747 00:37:11,533 --> 00:37:13,966 of all pure democracy 748 00:37:13,966 --> 00:37:16,333 is the popular tyrant. 749 00:37:16,333 --> 00:37:18,233 And incidentally, all successful 750 00:37:18,233 --> 00:37:19,866 tyrants throughout history 751 00:37:19,866 --> 00:37:22,333 have been popular idols. 752 00:37:22,333 --> 00:37:24,233 CHURCHWELL: In 1938 alone, 753 00:37:24,233 --> 00:37:25,933 she gave more than 50 speeches 754 00:37:25,933 --> 00:37:28,666 about the importance of democracy and fighting fascism. 755 00:37:29,900 --> 00:37:31,200 And her radio broadcasts 756 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:33,966 reached more than five million people. 757 00:37:33,966 --> 00:37:36,200 THOMPSON: The tyrant, said Machiavelli, 758 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:38,833 must pose as the friend of the people, 759 00:37:38,833 --> 00:37:40,600 as their champion against 760 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:43,133 the rich and aristocratic, 761 00:37:43,133 --> 00:37:44,700 as the incorporation 762 00:37:44,700 --> 00:37:46,966 of the people's will. 763 00:37:46,966 --> 00:37:49,433 They must be made to feel that through him, 764 00:37:49,433 --> 00:37:50,633 in his person, 765 00:37:50,633 --> 00:37:53,366 they are actually ruling. 766 00:37:53,366 --> 00:37:56,166 This was the formula of Caesar, 767 00:37:56,166 --> 00:37:58,000 and it's the formula of Stalin, 768 00:37:58,000 --> 00:37:59,900 Mussolini, and Hitler. 769 00:38:01,466 --> 00:38:04,000 Her point was, "Never be complacent." 770 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,100 Her point was, "This can happen anywhere, 771 00:38:07,100 --> 00:38:09,600 and you have to be on your guard." 772 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:12,466 ♪ ♪ 773 00:38:12,466 --> 00:38:15,166 ROSS: On November 9, 1938, 774 00:38:15,166 --> 00:38:18,533 in hundreds of cities across Germany, 775 00:38:18,533 --> 00:38:21,400 we have Kristallnacht-- "Night of the Broken Glass." 776 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:25,866 ♪ ♪ (crowd clamoring) 777 00:38:27,866 --> 00:38:30,333 (glass shattering) 778 00:38:33,666 --> 00:38:37,900 For two nights, Jewish businesses are destroyed. 779 00:38:37,900 --> 00:38:41,433 ♪ ♪ 780 00:38:41,433 --> 00:38:44,600 Their homes ransacked. 781 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:47,633 ♪ ♪ 782 00:38:47,633 --> 00:38:50,333 Synagogues are burned. 783 00:38:50,333 --> 00:38:54,466 ♪ ♪ 784 00:38:54,466 --> 00:38:57,700 30,000 Jewish men are rounded up 785 00:38:57,700 --> 00:39:00,166 and sent to concentration camps. 786 00:39:02,533 --> 00:39:04,633 HITCHCOCK: Americans now knew that 787 00:39:04,633 --> 00:39:06,833 Nazi Germany wasn't just 788 00:39:06,833 --> 00:39:09,300 a normal country with a fascist dictator. 789 00:39:10,433 --> 00:39:12,133 It was a malevolent force. 790 00:39:14,266 --> 00:39:16,000 HART: In the aftermath of Kristallnacht, 791 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,400 the Bund's tactics are very provocative 792 00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:19,766 in the eyes of most Americans. 793 00:39:19,766 --> 00:39:21,333 Hut! 794 00:39:21,333 --> 00:39:23,900 HART: But rather than disappear from the public eye, 795 00:39:23,900 --> 00:39:27,033 the German American Bund decides on mass provocation. 796 00:39:34,133 --> 00:39:36,433 HITCHCOCK: By the end of 1938, 797 00:39:36,433 --> 00:39:38,966 the Bund made it clear that what they wanted to do 798 00:39:38,966 --> 00:39:42,133 was to show "That we are popular, 799 00:39:42,133 --> 00:39:43,866 "that we are relevant, 800 00:39:43,866 --> 00:39:46,566 "that we're fulfilling our ambition 801 00:39:46,566 --> 00:39:48,633 "of making German Americans into 802 00:39:48,633 --> 00:39:50,800 "good Nazis and Americans at the same time. 803 00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:52,933 How can we do that? Let's have a rally." 804 00:39:52,933 --> 00:39:55,333 ♪ ♪ 805 00:39:59,500 --> 00:40:01,700 BERNSTEIN: People appealed to Mayor LaGuardia, 806 00:40:01,700 --> 00:40:03,700 and said, "How can you allow this to happen?" 807 00:40:03,700 --> 00:40:06,266 LaGuardia said they have every right to do it, 808 00:40:06,266 --> 00:40:07,866 and he wasn't going to stand in the way. 809 00:40:09,133 --> 00:40:11,633 It was the First Amendment. 810 00:40:11,633 --> 00:40:14,133 ROSS: In those days, 811 00:40:14,133 --> 00:40:16,100 just like today, New York City had the largest 812 00:40:16,100 --> 00:40:17,800 Jewish population in America. 813 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:21,633 Of course there had been fascist demonstrations before 814 00:40:21,633 --> 00:40:23,766 all around the country, 815 00:40:23,766 --> 00:40:27,200 but the Bund was going to Madison Square Garden 816 00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:30,833 in the center of the Jewish-American world. 817 00:40:30,833 --> 00:40:32,933 (indistinct chatter) 818 00:40:32,933 --> 00:40:35,400 BERNSTEIN: Over 20,000 Bundists were 819 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:37,666 admitted inside the Garden that night. 820 00:40:37,666 --> 00:40:42,366 Outside were tens of thousands of anti-Bundists 821 00:40:42,366 --> 00:40:44,100 wanting to get inside. 822 00:40:44,100 --> 00:40:45,800 (indistinct shouting) 823 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,733 (drum and bugle corps marching) 824 00:41:02,366 --> 00:41:04,566 (drumming continues) 825 00:41:11,666 --> 00:41:13,066 MAN: O.D.s. 826 00:41:13,066 --> 00:41:15,600 Attention! 827 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:21,600 I pledge undivided allegiance 828 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:26,866 to the flag of the United States of America 829 00:41:26,866 --> 00:41:30,700 and the Republic for which it stands, 830 00:41:30,700 --> 00:41:33,400 one nation, indivisible, 831 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:37,600 with liberty and justice for all. 832 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:39,066 (applause) 833 00:41:39,066 --> 00:41:41,333 HART: Because of the visibility of this event, 834 00:41:41,333 --> 00:41:43,533 there had been a sort of general assumption 835 00:41:43,533 --> 00:41:44,900 that the Bund speakers 836 00:41:44,900 --> 00:41:47,733 would refrain from their most hateful speech, 837 00:41:47,733 --> 00:41:49,000 especially against Jews. 838 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:51,800 But that proves not to be the case. 839 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,833 GERHARD KUNZE: The Jew is a thousand times more dangerous to us 840 00:41:54,833 --> 00:41:58,833 than all the others by reason of his parasitic nature. 841 00:41:58,833 --> 00:42:01,400 (cheers and applause) 842 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:03,033 CHURCHWELL: Also present that night 843 00:42:03,033 --> 00:42:06,000 was the indomitable Dorothy Thompson, 844 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:09,066 who was furious that this rally was taking place. 845 00:42:09,066 --> 00:42:13,533 And amidst 22,000 fascists, 846 00:42:13,533 --> 00:42:15,633 she started shouting "Bunk!" 847 00:42:17,100 --> 00:42:19,333 BERNSTEIN: Dorothy Thompson didn't hold anything back. 848 00:42:19,333 --> 00:42:20,700 She went there to heckle. 849 00:42:20,700 --> 00:42:21,966 She went there to cause a fuss. 850 00:42:21,966 --> 00:42:26,166 (crowd shouting) 851 00:42:29,266 --> 00:42:32,500 CHURCHWELL: There is footage of Dorothy being hustled out. 852 00:42:34,266 --> 00:42:37,466 Bodily thrown out of Madison Square Garden. 853 00:42:39,266 --> 00:42:41,200 (car horns honking) 854 00:42:43,766 --> 00:42:46,266 ROSS: Inside the Garden, 855 00:42:46,266 --> 00:42:50,000 the final speaker is Fritz Kuhn himself. 856 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:54,500 KUNZE: We love him for the enemies he has made. 857 00:42:54,500 --> 00:42:55,666 Ladies and gentlemen, 858 00:42:55,666 --> 00:42:57,600 Mr. Fritz Kuhn. 859 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:02,033 (cheers and applause) 860 00:43:10,233 --> 00:43:12,666 KUHN: Ladies and gentlemen, 861 00:43:12,666 --> 00:43:16,800 fellow Americans, American patriots. 862 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:21,700 If you ask what we're actively fighting for 863 00:43:21,700 --> 00:43:23,800 under our charter-- 864 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:26,033 first, a socially just, 865 00:43:26,033 --> 00:43:28,100 white gentile-ruled 866 00:43:28,100 --> 00:43:29,633 United States. 867 00:43:29,633 --> 00:43:30,866 Second... 868 00:43:30,866 --> 00:43:32,766 (applause) 869 00:43:32,766 --> 00:43:34,300 gentile-controlled 870 00:43:34,300 --> 00:43:35,333 labor union, 871 00:43:35,333 --> 00:43:36,833 free from Jewish 872 00:43:36,833 --> 00:43:38,666 Moscow-directed domination. 873 00:43:38,666 --> 00:43:41,966 (applause) 874 00:43:41,966 --> 00:43:45,633 (rumbling, indistinct yelling) 875 00:43:45,633 --> 00:43:48,066 Wait, wait! (men shouting) 876 00:43:48,066 --> 00:43:52,566 ROSS: A 26 year-old Jewish plumber named Isidor Greenbaum 877 00:43:52,566 --> 00:43:55,333 can't stand what he's hearing, 878 00:43:55,333 --> 00:43:56,900 and he runs onto the stage. 879 00:43:56,900 --> 00:44:00,966 Stormtroopers grab him and are beating the hell out of him. 880 00:44:00,966 --> 00:44:02,500 (crowd shouting) 881 00:44:02,500 --> 00:44:04,266 They could have killed him, 882 00:44:04,266 --> 00:44:07,133 except the police came in and stopped the fight. 883 00:44:07,133 --> 00:44:09,666 (crowd clamoring) 884 00:44:09,666 --> 00:44:11,600 Be seated, please. 885 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:14,200 One fanatic don't make any difference, 886 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:15,433 ladies and gentlemen. 887 00:44:15,433 --> 00:44:18,766 (crowd shouting) 888 00:44:24,366 --> 00:44:26,866 (indistinct shouting, whistling) 889 00:44:26,866 --> 00:44:31,000 HART: So the rally really comes to this violent conclusion. 890 00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:35,733 Outside, there's an almost riotous situation 891 00:44:35,733 --> 00:44:37,566 as protesters clash with the police 892 00:44:37,566 --> 00:44:38,700 and with Bund members. 893 00:44:38,700 --> 00:44:43,533 (indistinct shouting, clamoring) 894 00:44:50,633 --> 00:44:52,200 BERNSTEIN: After the rally, 895 00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:54,433 New York Mayor LaGuardia was furious 896 00:44:54,433 --> 00:44:56,966 that this thing had happened in his city. 897 00:44:56,966 --> 00:45:00,700 So he called his district attorney, Thomas Dewey, 898 00:45:00,700 --> 00:45:04,900 and said, "We can't get Fritz Kuhn for what he says. 899 00:45:04,900 --> 00:45:06,700 But there's got to be another way to get him." 900 00:45:06,700 --> 00:45:09,600 So his office started investigating. 901 00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:12,466 ♪ ♪ 902 00:45:12,466 --> 00:45:16,233 Thomas Dewey discovered that Kuhn had been using money 903 00:45:16,233 --> 00:45:19,500 from the Bund coffers to pay for his romances. 904 00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:22,700 HART: Throughout his leadership of the Bund, 905 00:45:22,700 --> 00:45:26,600 Kuhn has maintained a network of mistresses across the country. 906 00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:28,833 And he's used some of these funds to not only 907 00:45:28,833 --> 00:45:30,433 pay for his personal expenses, 908 00:45:30,433 --> 00:45:32,100 but also those of his lady friends. 909 00:45:32,100 --> 00:45:34,566 NEWSREEL NARRATOR: The law books a would-be American führer 910 00:45:34,566 --> 00:45:37,500 on charges of grand larceny and forgery. 911 00:45:37,500 --> 00:45:40,533 He's Fritz Kuhn, Bund leader and friend of Hitler. 912 00:45:40,533 --> 00:45:43,000 But right now, his chief task is to explain 913 00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:45,466 about some $14,000 914 00:45:45,466 --> 00:45:47,433 he's accused of stealing from his followers. 915 00:45:48,533 --> 00:45:52,800 ROSS: Fritz Kuhn is found guilty of embezzlement and tax evasion, 916 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:54,233 and he's sentenced to 917 00:45:54,233 --> 00:45:55,800 two-and-a-half to five years in prison. 918 00:45:57,833 --> 00:46:00,200 HART: As Kuhn is sitting in Sing Sing Prison, 919 00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:02,566 he learns that Hitler has invaded Poland, 920 00:46:02,566 --> 00:46:04,300 and war has now broken out in Europe 921 00:46:04,300 --> 00:46:05,933 for the second time in a generation. 922 00:46:05,933 --> 00:46:08,466 Debate is raging all over the country 923 00:46:08,466 --> 00:46:10,400 about whether the U.S. should even take sides 924 00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:12,233 in the war in Europe. 925 00:46:12,233 --> 00:46:14,100 CHURCHWELL: There was a coalition of 926 00:46:14,100 --> 00:46:16,966 unlikely bedfellows of people who wanted to keep 927 00:46:16,966 --> 00:46:19,200 the United States out of the war for different reasons. 928 00:46:19,200 --> 00:46:21,933 There were big business interests, 929 00:46:21,933 --> 00:46:24,033 there were pacifists, 930 00:46:24,033 --> 00:46:26,666 and then there were Nazi sympathizers. 931 00:46:26,666 --> 00:46:28,566 So, all of these people 932 00:46:28,566 --> 00:46:31,366 formed this coalition called America First, 933 00:46:31,366 --> 00:46:34,266 and Charles Lindbergh became their spokesperson. 934 00:46:34,266 --> 00:46:37,500 I have been forced to the conclusion 935 00:46:37,500 --> 00:46:40,233 that we cannot win this war for England, 936 00:46:40,233 --> 00:46:42,533 regardless of how much assistance we send. 937 00:46:42,533 --> 00:46:44,766 (cheers and applause) 938 00:46:44,766 --> 00:46:48,300 That is why the America First Committee 939 00:46:48,300 --> 00:46:49,900 has been formed. 940 00:46:49,900 --> 00:46:52,866 HART: Lindbergh had first come into prominence in 1927 941 00:46:52,866 --> 00:46:56,000 when he was the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic. 942 00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:58,233 He's a true national hero, 943 00:46:58,233 --> 00:47:00,766 and one of most famous men in the world in this period. 944 00:47:00,766 --> 00:47:04,266 At its peak in mid-1941, 945 00:47:04,266 --> 00:47:07,866 America First has 800,000 members nationwide, dwarfing 946 00:47:07,866 --> 00:47:11,966 any other nonpartisan political organization of the era. 947 00:47:11,966 --> 00:47:16,233 The imminent danger of war lies in the action 948 00:47:16,233 --> 00:47:19,166 taken by President Roosevelt and his supporters. 949 00:47:19,166 --> 00:47:22,133 I appeal to all Americans, 950 00:47:22,133 --> 00:47:25,666 no matter what their viewpoint on the war may be, 951 00:47:25,666 --> 00:47:30,500 to unite behind the demand for a leadership in Washington 952 00:47:30,500 --> 00:47:33,166 that stands squarely upon American tradition. 953 00:47:33,166 --> 00:47:34,966 (cheers and applause) 954 00:47:34,966 --> 00:47:39,300 GAGE: Lindbergh not only criticizes the Roosevelt administration, 955 00:47:39,300 --> 00:47:44,800 but also begins to really flirt, in pretty overt ways, 956 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:49,633 with pro-Hitler sentiments, with antisemitism here at home, 957 00:47:49,633 --> 00:47:52,100 and becomes kind of the hero 958 00:47:52,100 --> 00:47:55,233 of the, to some degree, anti-war, 959 00:47:55,233 --> 00:47:58,200 and to some degree, pro-Hitler right. 960 00:47:59,166 --> 00:48:01,433 HART: Another belief of the Bund 961 00:48:01,433 --> 00:48:03,400 was that after the fascist revolution, 962 00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:05,400 after "Der Tag," some leader 963 00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:08,533 will be swept into power on the Bund's political platform. 964 00:48:08,533 --> 00:48:10,066 Now, who is this leader? 965 00:48:10,066 --> 00:48:12,666 Fritz Kuhn might be one option, 966 00:48:12,666 --> 00:48:14,666 but the name that is whispered more commonly 967 00:48:14,666 --> 00:48:16,733 is Charles Lindbergh. 968 00:48:16,733 --> 00:48:19,733 CHURCHWELL: There was talk of him running for president. 969 00:48:19,733 --> 00:48:21,500 And, in fact, the America First Committee 970 00:48:21,500 --> 00:48:23,333 was organizing itself into a political party 971 00:48:23,333 --> 00:48:26,133 when Pearl Harbor happened, 972 00:48:26,133 --> 00:48:28,800 and everything, you know, unfurled differently. 973 00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:31,133 (explosion booming) 974 00:48:31,133 --> 00:48:34,833 ♪ ♪ 975 00:48:34,833 --> 00:48:37,833 HART: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, 976 00:48:37,833 --> 00:48:40,666 and the U.S. declares war against Japan. 977 00:48:40,666 --> 00:48:42,466 A few days later, Hitler and Germany 978 00:48:42,466 --> 00:48:43,866 declare war on the United States. 979 00:48:43,866 --> 00:48:45,333 (booming) 980 00:48:45,333 --> 00:48:47,700 GAGE: With the United States entering the war, 981 00:48:47,700 --> 00:48:51,233 you begin to get new laws that require 982 00:48:51,233 --> 00:48:54,466 non-citizens in the United States 983 00:48:54,466 --> 00:48:56,866 to register with the federal government. 984 00:48:56,866 --> 00:48:58,566 March! 985 00:48:58,566 --> 00:49:01,000 GAGE: You get laws like the Smith Act, 986 00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:04,100 which says that any group that advocates 987 00:49:04,100 --> 00:49:07,433 for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government 988 00:49:07,433 --> 00:49:10,633 can be subject to a whole host of criminal penalties. 989 00:49:12,600 --> 00:49:14,800 ROSS: So after he's released from prison, 990 00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:17,633 Kuhn was then convicted a second time 991 00:49:17,633 --> 00:49:19,966 and given a second jail sentence 992 00:49:19,966 --> 00:49:21,533 for never having registered 993 00:49:21,533 --> 00:49:24,033 as a foreign agent of the German government. 994 00:49:25,066 --> 00:49:27,700 And then, in 1945, 995 00:49:27,700 --> 00:49:29,966 he's stripped of his citizenship 996 00:49:29,966 --> 00:49:32,966 and sent back to Germany. 997 00:49:32,966 --> 00:49:36,400 The Bund as an organization collapsed. 998 00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:38,666 But, of course, the people who were in the Bund 999 00:49:38,666 --> 00:49:40,300 didn't then disappear. 1000 00:49:40,300 --> 00:49:43,733 The end of the Bund just meant that 1001 00:49:43,733 --> 00:49:46,600 they blended back into American life. 1002 00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:48,566 ♪ ♪ 1003 00:49:48,566 --> 00:49:51,100 RIGUEUR: They go on to run businesses. 1004 00:49:51,100 --> 00:49:53,066 They go on to be doctors, 1005 00:49:53,066 --> 00:49:56,933 and dentists, and police chiefs. 1006 00:49:56,933 --> 00:49:59,200 So when we say a group has disappeared, 1007 00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:01,733 in a lot of ways that means nothing, 1008 00:50:01,733 --> 00:50:05,433 because until the ideas are actually gone, 1009 00:50:05,433 --> 00:50:07,066 it's still there. 1010 00:50:08,233 --> 00:50:10,633 It's the ideas that matter. 1011 00:50:12,833 --> 00:50:15,266 BERNSTEIN: Fritz Kuhn tapped into something that was, 1012 00:50:15,266 --> 00:50:17,033 unfortunately, 1013 00:50:17,033 --> 00:50:19,233 I wouldn't say just part of the American makeup, 1014 00:50:19,233 --> 00:50:21,133 but part of human makeup. 1015 00:50:21,133 --> 00:50:25,466 The part that we don't like to look at. 1016 00:50:27,166 --> 00:50:30,666 HITCHCOCK: America triumphantly wins the Second World War, 1017 00:50:30,666 --> 00:50:34,000 which justifies a sense of pride 1018 00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:35,566 and recognition of sacrifices made 1019 00:50:35,566 --> 00:50:37,200 by Americans to defeat Nazism. 1020 00:50:38,833 --> 00:50:41,033 But there's not so much a reckoning 1021 00:50:41,033 --> 00:50:44,766 with the ideology that had motivated 1022 00:50:44,766 --> 00:50:46,200 organizations like the Bund. 1023 00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:49,133 Those questions go unasked and unanswered 1024 00:50:49,133 --> 00:50:51,100 after World War II. 1025 00:50:52,066 --> 00:50:55,333 There's this huge wish to simply forget 1026 00:50:55,333 --> 00:50:57,600 about the fractious politics of the 1930s. 1027 00:50:57,600 --> 00:50:59,766 To think that groups like the Bund 1028 00:50:59,766 --> 00:51:01,400 were all something that couldn't possibly 1029 00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:03,866 present a serious threat to American democracy. 1030 00:51:06,133 --> 00:51:08,933 GAGE: It was unlikely that 1031 00:51:08,933 --> 00:51:12,466 an avowedly pro-German organization 1032 00:51:12,466 --> 00:51:15,633 was going to become the vehicle through which 1033 00:51:15,633 --> 00:51:19,200 fascism came to America. 1034 00:51:19,200 --> 00:51:23,100 But it doesn't mean that that can't or won't happen. 1035 00:51:23,100 --> 00:51:25,966 ♪ ♪ 1036 00:51:25,966 --> 00:51:28,533 CHURCHWELL: The history of the German American Bund 1037 00:51:28,533 --> 00:51:30,833 reminds us that fascism 1038 00:51:30,833 --> 00:51:33,133 is ultra nationalist. 1039 00:51:34,766 --> 00:51:35,933 In other words, 1040 00:51:35,933 --> 00:51:38,333 there's no such thing as foreign fascism. 1041 00:51:40,300 --> 00:51:44,533 Fascism is always homegrown. 1042 00:51:44,533 --> 00:51:47,833 ♪ ♪ 1043 00:51:52,166 --> 00:51:56,533 ♪ ♪ 1044 00:52:10,900 --> 00:52:15,733 ♪ ♪ 1045 00:52:25,700 --> 00:52:28,966 ♪ ♪