A History of Fascism in America
by Coast
Watcher
Somewhere
in and around the city there is a beat-up old car
held together with duct tape and baling wire. It’s not an unusual
sight in the impoverished city where damaged vehicles are a dime a
dozen, but plastered over the surface of this particular vehicle (and
probably helping to hold it together) is a range of pro-Trump
propaganda and a portrait of George Washington. It was the latter
image that made me think of this photo taken of the German-American
Bund rally in Madison Square Gardens held on George Washington’s
birthday on February 20, 1939.
The
rally drew over 20,000 members of this American Nazi organization dedicated to
promoting the rights of white gentiles, whom the literature described
as “true patriots,” and to keeping the United States out of the
war looming in Europe. The crowd booed President Franklin D.
Roosevelt and chanted Heil Hitler. The overt use of Nazi symbols and
terminology made no bones about where this organization’s loyalties
lay.
The
Turbulent Thirties
The Bund originated in the Friends of New Germany (FoNG), an organization founded in 1933 by Nazi party member and immigrant Heinz Spanknöbel with German Deputy Führer Rudolph Hess’ approval. Based out of New York City with a strong presence in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Chicago, members wore a uniform of white shirt and black pants for the men, white blouse and black skirts for women.
From
the first the FoNG were openly pro-Nazi and sought to infiltrate and
subvert the numerous non-political German groups throughout the US.
It was responsible for a massive outpouring of Nazi literature and
counter-attacks against Jewish, socialist and communist moves to warn
the world of Hitler’s growing power and attempted boycotts of
German goods.
Not
long after its foundation the FoNG went through a spell of infighting
on a smaller and less bloody scale to that which occurred in the
German party when Himmler ousted SA leader Ernst Röhm.
Spanknöbel was ejected from the FoNG and subsequently
deported as an unregistered foreign agent. The FoNGs’ numbers were
noisy but remained small, ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 until 1935,
when Rudolph Hess ordered all German citizens to leave the group and
the leadership to return to Germany.
The
German-American Bund arose out of the FoNG in Buffalo, New York under the
leadership of WWI veteran Fritz Julius Kuhn. At its height the
organization had over 25,000 members—including an 8,000 strong
Sturmabteilungen (SA Storm Detachment) brigade and ran summer
camps modeled on the German Hitler Youth, one of which, Camp
Hindenburg, was located in Grafton, Wisconsin. A photo exists of a
1937 Bund rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin, scene of recent protests against the
fascist attitudes of the local police in regards to their shooting of Jacob Blake seven times in the back.
The
Bund engaged in several bloody clashes with opposition groups,
including Jewish WWI veterans in New York City, which mirrored those
clashes occurring in Britain, notably the “Battle of Cable Street” in 1936.
In
1934 it became the subject of a special Congressional inquiry headed
by Congressman Samuel Dickstein which concluded the Friends were a
branch of Hitler’s Nazi party. Another inquiry in 1939 confirmed
the findings. Dickstein had reason to investigate and turn the screws
on the Bund. Not only was he a Jewish immigrant (born the son of a
Rabbi in Vilna, Russia in 1885), a subsequent release of Soviet-era
documentation showed Dickstein worked as an agent of the NKVD,
predecessor to the KGB.
The
decline and fall of the Bund came quickly. A New York State tax
investigation found Kuhn had embezzled $14,000 from the Bund’s
coffers. The party declined to press charges, holding that the
leadership had absolute power in the party and could do as they
wished. Nevertheless, the New York DA pressed charges in an effort to
cripple the Bund and succeeded in jailing Kuhn for tax fraud. The
Bund replaced Kuhn as leader, but the writing was on the wall.
Congress
enacted a peacetime draft in September 1940, which led to the Bund
ordering members of draft age to avoid conscription—a criminal
offense which carried a jail sentence of up to five years and a
$10,000 fine. By 1941 membership of the Bund had waned. When the
United States actively entered the war in December 1941 the Bund was
officially outlawed.
The
Present Day
Neo-Nazi
groups like the so-called “Proud Boys” are widespread across
America. Whether their membership numbers are anywhere like what they
claim is debatable. I suspect that, like their predecessor
organizations the FoNG and German-American Bund, the number of actual
members is in the thousands, but those who tacitly support their
far-right aims are far greater. Social media is a powerful vector for
spreading such hatreds, something the current demagogue president
quickly picked up on.
It
certainly works in the case of the poor individual driving around town in that beat-up vehicle plastered with Trump propaganda. Does he and those poor Americans who
share his far-right mindset really believe Trump gives a damn about
them and their plight? Do they really believe Trump will “Make
America Great Again” (or even “Make America Great Again Again” –
as Vice President Pence said at a recent rally.) I suspect they either don’t
know or don’t care, being content merely to spread hatred and
division when the ordinary people of America should be uniting against
the oppressive oligarchy.
Related articles:BIO: Coast Watcher keeps a close eye on the present as he researches the past. The parallels between the German-American Bund and modern-day white supremacists groups are too close--and downright scary--to ignore. We can't afford to let history repeat itself. We must be vigilant and take out the fascists as our (great) grandparents did.
Other excellent articles to read:
Chris Hedges: American Bloodlands
https://scheerpost.com/2020/09/08/chris-hedges-american-bloodlands/
Democracy Dies In Obfuscation
https://fair.org/home/democracy-dies-in-obfuscation/
From Facebook:
Here's why I don't talk about you know who and why I don't bother trying to change his supporters minds about him. I just read this on a friend’s page.
The question was posed, "Why do people continue supporting Trump no matter what he does?" A lady named Bev answered it this way:
“You all don't get it. I live in Trump country, in the Ozarks in southern Missouri, one of the last places where the KKK still has a relatively strong established presence. They don't give a shit what he does. He's just something to rally around and hate liberals, that's it, period. He absolutely realizes that and plays it up. They love it. He knows they love it. The fact that people act like it's anything other than that proves to them that liberals are idiots, all the more reason for high fives all around.
If you keep getting caught up in "why do they not realize this problem" and "how can they still back Trump after this scandal," then you do not understand what the underlying motivating factor of his support is. It's f*ck liberals, that's pretty much it.
Have you noticed he can do pretty much anything imaginable, and they'll explain some way that rationalizes it that makes zero logical sense? Because they're not even keeping track of any coherent narrative, it's irrelevant. Fuck liberals is the only relevant thing. Trust me; I know firsthand what I'm talking about.
That's why they just laugh at it all because you all don't even realize they truly don't give a f*ck about whatever the conversation is about. It's just a side mission story that doesn't matter anyway. That's all just trivial details - the economy, health care, whatever.
F*ck liberals.
Look at the issue with not wearing the masks. I can tell you what that's about. It's about exposing fear. They're playing chicken with nature, and whoever flinches just moved down their internal pecking order, one step closer to being a liberal.
You've got to understand the one core value that they hold above all others is hatred for what they consider weakness because that's what they believe strength is, hatred of weakness. And I mean passionate, sadistic hatred. And I'm not exaggerating. Believe me.
Sadistic, passionate hatred, and that's what proves they're strong, their passionate hatred for weakness. Sometimes they will lump vulnerability in with weakness. They do that because people tend to start humbling themselves when they're in some compromising or overwhelming circumstance, and to them, that's an obvious sign of weakness.
Kindness = weakness. Honesty = weakness. Compromise = weakness.
They consider their very existence to be superior in every way to anyone who doesn't hate weakness as much as they do. They consider liberals to be weak people that are inferior, almost a different species, and the fact that liberals are so weak is why they have to unite in large numbers, which they find disgusting, but it's that disgust that is a true expression of their natural superiority.
Go ahead and try to have a logical, rational conversation with them. Just keep in mind what I said here and be forewarned.”
***
Newsbroke is back! Francesca explains the myths of American Individualism and the American Dream and why they're literally killing us during the COVID-19 pandemic. Worth watching and sharing.https://youtu.be/rVxSfX_nCr8
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| This week marks six months since Breonna Taylor was killed. Six months since Louisville police broke into her apartment while she slept. Six months since police fired multiple rounds of bullets into her apartment. Six months of millions calling for justice and taking to the streets to demand accountability. Six months of Kentucky officials like Attorney General Daniel Cameron staying silent. But the demands for justice for Breonna Taylor won’t stop. Not until the systemic failures that led to Breonna’s murder are addressed. More than 11 million people have taken action on a petition started by student Loralei HoJay to call for change in the wake of Breonna Taylor’s killing. Tonight, during the opening Sunday night game of the NFL season, two ads will run in Kentucky showing the power of this movement, and urging people to keep the pressure on Kentucky lawmakers to get justice. See the ad now. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| The
deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks, along with
the shooting of Jacob Blake and countless other acts of police violence
have put the issue of police reform in the spotlight this summer. New powerful legislation – the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act – would help address this issue. Democrats and Republicans came together to propose the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This law will ban discriminatory profiling, chokeholds, carotid holds and no-knock warrants in drug cases. It will require training, a national police misconduct registry and use of body cams. You can take a moment now to tell your members of Congress to support this. Add your name to this petition and demand your lawmakers support the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Sign the petition. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Millions
of voices are demanding justice. Millions of voters want real, systemic
police reform. And millions of Americans are going to keep saying
Breonna Taylor’s name until there is accountability for her murder. Thank you for taking action, Mike Jones, Change.org
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