Swastika Nation: Fritz Kuhn and
The Rise and Fall of The German-American Bund
Swastika Nation: Fritz Kuhn and the Rise and Fall of the German-American Bund chronicles a pro-Nazi movement that swept the United States in the 1930s. However, their dream of America under a swastika flag and ruled by their leader Bundesführer Fritz Kuhn, attracted powerful foes.
Through the independent work of many larger than life figures--including the duo of New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and prosecutor Thomas Dewey, the newly-formed Congressional House Committee on Un-American Activities, the bulldog reporting of newspaper columnist Walter Winchell, and the distinctive methods employed by Jewish mobsters Meyer Lansky, Longy Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, and Mickey Cohen--Kuhn and the German-American Bund came to an inglorious end.
All this, plus a supporting cast that includes Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Jack Ruby, Edward G. Robinson, and many others. It's a book that's jam packed with incredible tales, a wild slice of American history you won't be able to put down.
I'm interviewed on the PBS series American Experience for the documentary "Nazi Town, USA" In February 1939, more than 20,000 Americans filled Madison Square Garden for an event billed as a “Pro-American Rally.” Images of George Washington hung next to swastikas and speakers railed against the “Jewish controlled media” and called for a return to a racially “pure” America. The keynote speaker was Fritz Kuhn, head of the German American Bund. Nazi Town, USA tells the largely unknown story of the Bund, which had scores of chapters in suburbs and big cities across the country and represented what many believe was a real threat of fascist subversion in the United States. The Bund held joint rallies with the Ku Klux Klan and ran dozens of summer camps for children centered around Nazi ideology and imagery. Its melding of patriotic values with virulent anti-Semitism raised thorny issues that we continue to wrestle with today.
I'm featured on Episodes 2 & 3 in the podcast "Star-Spangled Facism" Host Bradley W. Hart and guest host Rachel Maddow examines fascist leaders and movements that have emerged here in the United States over the past century. He’ll look at what fueled their authoritarian ambitions, the supporters who flocked to them, and the Americans who stood in their way. Available for download at all major podcast platforms.
My interview in documentary first broadcast on German public television. "The American Führer: Hitler's Deputy in America" is directed by Annette Baumeister. It details how Fritz Kuhn though of himself as Hitler's deputy in America in the 1930s, marching his troops through American cities and filling Madison Square Garden with supporters. Both Nazi Germany and the FBI want to put a stop to Kuhn. In the end, a love affair brings him down. With the help of Kuhn's distinctive cult of personality and the overwhelming press response, this documentary tells the unusual story of a master propagandist who ultimately was the author of his own demise.
Links & Resources
Polish translation published by Rebis Publishing House of Poznan, Poland
Zoom panel discussion sponsored by
Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York
FBI Files on the
German-American Bund
Critical Praise for Swastika Nation
"...a fresh account of a well-documented era."
Publishers Weekly