German-American Bund
The German-American Bund was an organization established in April 1936 by Fritz Julius Kuhn, aiming to promote a connection between German Americans and their homeland while asserting their loyalty to the United States. The Bund sought to preserve German language and culture and combat what it termed "Jewish Marxism." It displayed American patriotism alongside symbols of Nazi Germany, attempting to position itself as a distinctly American movement despite its Nazi affiliations. The organization included a paramilitary wing, the Ordnungsdienst (OD), which provided security at events but did not carry firearms.
Membership primarily comprised German immigrants who had faced significant hardships in the aftermath of World War I and often viewed their stay in the U.S. as temporary. Despite claims of drawing over 20,000 members, evidence suggested actual membership peaked at around 8,000 to 10,000. The Bund faced increasing scrutiny from the U.S. government and public due to its overt ties to Nazism and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Following Kuhn’s deportation in 1939 for embezzlement and the escalation of U.S. involvement in World War II, the organization rapidly declined, officially disbanding shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
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German-American Bund
Identification Organization representing German-American interests and promoting Nazi ideology
Also known as Amerikadeutscher Volksbund
Date April, 1936
The German-American Bund generated a great deal of alarm among many Americans, who saw the Bund’s public, uniformed demonstrations and anti-Semitic propaganda as clear indications that the organization represented a Nazi “fifth column” in the United States. The House Committee on Un-American Activities used such alarmist sentiment to investigate the Bund, setting a precedent for future actions against perceived internal enemies in the United States.
The German-American Bund was founded in April, 1936, by Fritz Julius Kuhn, a naturalized American citizen who remained the driving force of the movement throughout its existence. The Bund’s membership considered themselves loyal Americans who maintained strong ties to Germany. The organization’s official objectives were to fight against “Jewish Marxism,” to retain German language and customs, and to promote positive relations between the United States and Germany. The Bund tried to emphasize its members’ loyalty to the United States by displaying the American flag and portraits of George Washington alongside those of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler.
The Bund was the successor of a previous movement, the Friends of New Germany, which, like the Bund, promoted Nazism and friendship between the United States and Germany. Because of increasing concerns about international perceptions of Germany as the nation began to rearm and work toward repealing the various strictures imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazi government ordered all German nationals to withdraw from membership in the Friends of New Germany in October, 1935. Kuhn organized the remnants of that group into the German-American Bund, which attempted to portray itself as an inherently American movement by requiring U.S. citizenship as a prerequisite for membership.
Structurally, the Bund was modeled after the Nazi Führerprinzip (führer principle) of leadership, with Kuhn serving as the organization’s Bundesführer. Like the Nazi Party’s Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS), the Bund had a uniformed, paramilitary wing called the Ordnungsdienst (OD), which provided security for Bund functions, including public speeches and demonstrations. Unlike their Nazi counterparts, however, members of the OD did not carry firearms. The Bund also included a women’s auxiliary and youth groups modeled after the Hitler Youth. At Camp Nordland, New Jersey, youth groups participated in a variety of activities, including sports, the singing of traditional German songs, and education in Nazi principles.
The majority of the Bund’s membership was in New York and New Jersey, although there were several chapters across the country in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles. Many members of the Bund were immigrants who had experienced the harsh privations of World War I and its aftermath. These immigrants tended to feel a particularly powerful connection to Germany, and many saw their time in the United States as temporary. Although Kuhn claimed a national membership of more than twenty thousand, later evidence presented to the Dies Committee suggested the Bund never had more than eight to ten thousand official members.
Impact
The German-American Bund provided its members with a sense of community and connection to the German fatherland. Despite efforts to portray itself as an American movement, the Bund came under the increased scrutiny of the U.S. government and public because of its adherence to the trappings of Nazism, including military-style uniforms and vocal anti-Semitism. In 1938 and 1939, the Dies Committee (later renamed the House Committee on Un-American Activities) conducted a series of hearings in which the Bund was identified as an extension of the German Nazi Party despite Adolf Hitler’s general disdain for the movement as potentially damaging to German relations with the United States. In 1939, Kuhn was deported to Germany following his conviction for embezzling party funds, and the Bund fell into a rapid decline until its official disbanding on December 8, 1941, a day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Bibliography
Canedy, Susan. America’s Nazis: A Democratic Dilemma. Menlo Park, Calif.: Markgraf, 1990.
Gross, Ruth, ed. Traveling Between Worlds: German-American Encounters. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2006.
Kazal, Russell. Becoming Old Stock: The Paradox of German-American Identity. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2004.