German American Bund
The German American Bund, or the German American Federation (German: Amerikadeutscher Bund, Amerikadeutscher Volksbund, AV), was a German-American Nazi organization which was established in 1936 as a successor to the Friends of New Germany (FONG, FDND in German). The organization chose its new name in order to emphasize its American credentials after the press accused it of being unpatriotic. The Bund was allowed to consist only of American citizens of German descent.[6] Its main goal was to promote a favorable view of Nazi Germany.
German American Bund
German American Federation
March 19, 1936
December 1941[1]
New York,[2] Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California and the Midwest
Defunct
≈25,000[4]
Foreign relations[edit]
Relationship with Germany[edit]
Key members of the Bund often claimed to have a relationship with the German Nazi party in Berlin in order to legitimise the organisation in the eyes of the American public. For example, Helen Vooros, the former Bund youth leader, claimed that ‘“she was taught” that the Nazis planned an Austrian-like anschluss with the United States and ‘recognised Bund leader Fritz Kuhn as the “United States’ Fuehrer”’.[43] Although there was never any evidence to suggest this was true, it reveals how the Bund favoured their alliance to Germany over their declaration of allegiance to “the Constitution, the flag and the institutions of the United States of America”.[44] Despite these grand claims however, members of the Third Reich continued to discredit the Bund with the German Ambassador to the United States, Hans Heinrich Dieckhoff, voicing his disproval of the Bund when he expressed his belief that the organisation was only serving to stir up anti-German sentiment among the American public. Due to this conflicting relationship, Germany distanced themselves from the Bund as they saw them as being untrustworthy and detrimental to German-American relations.[45][44] On the 1st of March 1938 the Nazi government declared that no German citizen could be a member of the German-American Bund and, no Nazi emblems or symbols were to be used in association with this organisation.[45]
Relationship with America[edit]
Meanwhile, in America, there was a growing fear that the Bund was working with Germany to spark a fascist revolution in the States. American newspapers rallied fear surrounding the organisation by creating no distinction between the Nazi party and the German-American Bund. In the aftermath of the 1939 rally in Madison Square Gardens, The New York Times stated that the Bund was “determined to destroy our democracy and to establish in its place a fascist dictatorship”.[46] Statements such as this promoted a genuine fear of the reach of German Fascism in America and incentivised a widespread anti-German sentiment across the country, especially when followed by accounts of everyday Americans joining the Bund as seen in both The Chicago Daily Tribune and The Washington Post. Despite its original goal of garnering sympathy for the Nazi party in America, the Bund was a leading contributor to the hatred of National Socialists in the States. Due to the antisemitic teachings and pro-Hitler stance, the Bund became marginalised from American society and became an aid to the Roosevelt administration in promoting the detrimental effect of National Socialism on American society.[47]
Impact on German-American Relations[edit]
In the 1930s, the Bund amplified the anti-German feeling which lingered in the American public's consciousness and Americans believed that the Bund posed a threat to their way of life. Political leaders such as Roosevelt recognised the threat which the Nazi ideology posed to the West and they used the American people's fear of the Bund as a helpful tool in support of their efforts to steer the American people towards the possibility of war.[48] Fear of Nazi ideology triggered tensions between Germany and America because the American public had strong feelings against the Nazi regime due to its experiences with the Bund, feelings which were amplified by the Attack on Pearl Harbour. Therefore, the American public supported the war effort in an attempt to protect its freedom, ultimately leading to a break in German-American relations when Nazi Germany declared war against the United States on December 11, 1941, four days after the attack on Pearl Harbour.
Notes
Further reading