The German American Bund

The German American Bund (also known as Friends of the New Germany) was an organization of ethnic Germans in the United States. The organization was pro-Nazi with an admiration for Hilter and the achievements of Nazi Germany. It also had its fair share of antisemitism and anti-communist sentiments. The German American Bund was also highly against America's entrance in the war. At the height of the organization, there were around 20,000 members. The organization published magazines, brochures, organized demonstrations, and held youth camps similar to Hitler's youth camps, as well as hosted rallies.

The most prominent rally was held at New York’s Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939, on George Washington’s birthday. This was because members of The German American Bund believed Washington to be “America’s first Fascist.” The event was advertised as a “pro-American” rally. In the stadium, there was a 30-foot-tall banner of Washing on the stage between American Flags, and swastikas. 

The rally opened with the pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag, and attendees held posters with slogans saying “stop Jewish domination of Christian America” and wore Nazi armbands

The speeches were incredibly anti-Semitic with tirades about “job-taking Jewish refugees”. One of the speakers, Gerhard Wilhelm Kunze, who was the national public relations director of the Bund, argued that white supremacy was present at American’s founding as a nation. He used examples of racism throughout American History to support his vision for a white-only America stating that “it has then always been very much American to protect the Aryan character of the nation.”

This rally, however, was the pinnacle for the German American Bund. In the same year, the leader of the organization Fritz Kuhn was indicted for embezzlement and later deported in 1945. Additionally, after the United States entered World War 2 in December 1841 the government outlawed the German American Bund and groups similar to it.