German American Bund

Conclusion

For all the attention and hysteria created by the German American Bund, Fritz Kuhn and his group have largely receded from historical memory.  Dumped into the trash heap of history, they have been inconsequentially relegated to a mere footnote of the tumultuous 1930s.  Nevertheless, while the Bund represented only a small part of the picture of this turbulent period, the group’s ultimate significance was its unique and colorful addition to the mosaic of American radicalism.  The ideology of the German American Bund was a peculiar amalgam of ideas, a gradual evolution which culminated in an unprecedented triadic hybrid encompassing three elements, each critical to the movement:  Nazism, Deutschtum, and Americanism. 

While many of its ideas, symbols and rhetoric remained constant throughout the life of the movement, the ideology of the Bund never remained entirely static.  Through necessity, its principles and ideals steadily transformed in order to survive and adapt to the changing circumstances in both Germany and the United States.  Forerunners of the Bund, like the National Socialist Teutonia Association, began simply as an outpost of Nazism in America, external pressures forced it to dissolve and reform as the Friends of the New Germany whose primary function was to educate America to the virtues of the New Germany under Hitler.  However, before long, circumstances in 1935 forced the Friends to dissolve.  The remnants of the group soon realized that in order for its movement to survive, it had to become genuinely American.  The Friends were reborn in 1936 as the German American Bund with a decidedly more American agenda. 

Under the dynamic leadership of Fritz Kuhn, The Bund maintained much of the inspiration, look and ideals of National Socialism, yet “Americanism” became the watchword for the new movement.  The first “Americanization” of the group was to make sure its members were comprised of  U.S. citizens.   As Americans, the Bundists were free to openly and vociferously pursue their political goals in ways which their predecessors could not.  The emulation of Nazism was central to the look and ideals of the early Bund.  Bundists explained that while they were not trying to bring National Socialism to the America, they nevertheless continued to remain ostentatiously influenced by its ideology and élan.  Just as Hitler forged a new unity among the people of Germany, the Bund sought to unite all German-Americans as potent political force in the United States.  Bundists were to follow the examples of Germany for the benefit of America, their adopted nation.  As Fritz Kuhn proclaimed in 1936, “in the spirit of the German nation we will form a solid phalanx to fight the common enemy, to the end that as German American citizens we shall be able to exercise our influence on the destiny of our adopted country…”[1]   

As the Nazis usurped the notion of Deutschtum to encompass their own Weltanschauung, Bundists believed they had a duty to aggressively assert their Deutschtum in America for the benefit of both Germany and the United States.  In fact, much of the agenda of the earlier phase of the movement clearly served two masters: Germany and America.  Much of the Bund’s rhetoric and program in 1936 and 1937 concerned the Bundists’ connection and obligations to Germany.  Bundists were bound by blood to the Volksgemeinshaft but maintained political allegiance to their adopted nation.  They were to follow Germany’s example and fight worldwide communism which had permeated American life.  Battling communism and Jews in America remained a consistent leitmotiv of the movement.   For the good of both nations, the Bund lobbied for better German-American relations, an end to the German boycott, and for American isolationism in the storm which was gathering in Europe.  Nevertheless, in this early period, serving the interests of the Fatherland was undoubtedly of paramount importance to the group. 

Published in 1936, the pamphlet AWAKE AND ACT!  was a clear outline the Bund’s principles, many of which were designed to evoke awareness of Deutschtum and to remind German-Americans of their duty to both America and the Fatherland.  It proclaimed that “The German American Volksbund is inspired with the National Socialist world concept.  National Socialism has given the Germans in foreign countries a unified world view; they cannot survive without spiritual ties with the homeland.”[2]  To this end, the Bund youth movement was entirely modeled after Germany’s Hitler Youth.  Moreover, Bundists referred to themselves not as German-Americans, but as American Germans.

  Throughout 1936, the Bund conducted a vigorous campaign aimed at glorifying Hitler and the accomplishments of National Socialism.  The Bund listed three key duties which Auslandsdeutsche, Germans abroad, owed to the Third Reich:  act as cultural pioneers by preserving the German language, customs, traditions, stand as economic pioneers by buying German goods and services, and function as fighters against anti-German propaganda.[3]  During this period, the Bund’s chief propaganda organ, the Deutscher Weckruf und Beobachter, made statements like “we will do our utmost to serve the Fuehrer…Our duty is to the health and interests of the Fatherland.”[4]  Fritz Kuhn’s trip to Germany in 1936 further validated many of the Bund’s German goals. 

Failing to win over the American public, the Bund intensified its Americanization program in 1937 with modest results.  In an effort to prove their loyalty to America, its Purposes and Aims declared that first and foremost, the Bund stood to “uphold and defend the constitution and the laws of the United States” and to “respect and honor the [American] Flag and Institutions.”[5]  While defending the American constitution was paramount, the Purposes and Aims still included the goals of serving both Germany and America by promoting friendly relations and defending the good name of the homeland.  The Bund Yearbook in 1937 still considered American Germans racial comrades with obligations to the Fatherland.[6]  Further, in 1937, the Bund still continued to extend its appeal almost solely to German-Americans. 

The early Americanization of the Bund was in many ways a legitimate way for the Bund to serve its National Socialist interests.  Much of the rhetoric, institutions and look of the movement was conspicuously modeled after Nazi Germany and had little if any unadulterated American flair.  However, the rejection of the Bund by Germany in February, 1937 was a game-changer for the group.  Germany’s (and to a great extent America’s), rejection of the Bund was the catalyst for a more dramatic and genuine Americanization of the movement.  In many ways, the Bund had no choice but to change direction and become more authentically American.  Fritz Kuhn and his Bundists could either become more malleable in their focus and agenda, or they could simply cease to exist as a group.  They chose the former.  Thus, Americanization was the Bund’s last leg to stand on, and the group wholeheartedly adopted its program. 

While intensified Americanization originated as a mechanism for survival, it also evolved into a principle which Bundists became deeply invested in.  While the motive for such change was survival, the fact remains that the Bund did change its ideological course and every bit of evidence supports the notion that the transformation was not a red herring but instead a rather genuine ideological shift.  The Bund’s “American-ness” fuelled the group’s efforts and determination and it also became a justification of its indignation against its perceived unfair treatment by the American press and government.

The year 1938 was a turning point for the Bund as their program became even more aggressively Americanized.  The Bund adopted the slogan “Free America!” to replace its foreign sounding, “Sieg Heil!.” It dropped German songs for the Star-Spangled Banner, English language was expanded at rallies and in its propaganda, and its newspaper added the words, “the Free American” to its title.  Beyond such obvious American trappings, by 1938, the Bund had become much more genuinely and deeply invested in its American goals and rhetoric.  While the Bund previously sought to unite all German-Americans into a political force, by 1938, it was appealing to all broadly defined “Aryan-Americans.”  The cause of the Bund was now that of all “white America.”  To achieve further American credibility and demonstrate its unwavering patriotism, the Bund further intensified its anti-communist rhetoric and by 1941, the group even began collaborating with such firmly established American racists like the Ku Klux Klan. 

The Bund’s 1938 eight point program marked a critical turning point in the Americanization of the Bund.  The goals of the Bund were now entirely the goals of an American-centered organization.  Virtually nothing in the Bund’s program discussed German-American relations or German-Americans’ responsibilities to the Fatherland.  Even though the group continued to outwardly display all the regalia of Nazism, the program of the Bund was now decidedly Americanized.  Congruent with a host of other right-wing extremist and racist groups in America at the time, the Bund’s primary goal was to create a “socially just, gentile-ruled,”[7] Jew-free America.   Its program predominantly focused on its domestic agenda and its focus was almost solely on cleansing America from communist and Jewish influences.  By 1938, the Bund called for “gentile-control” over American labor unions, government, and education, and it demanded a cleansing of the “subversive” doctrines which permeated the American arts and press.   

By the Madison Square Garden rally in 1939, the German American Bund, though still thoroughly inspired and modeled after Nazi Germany, was by no means simply a group of “American Nazis.”  Through external pressures and extraordinary malleability, the group’s metamorphosis was complete.  They were a Nazi-modeled and inspired German-American group, imbued with vehement passion to embrace and celebrate their Deutschtum, while at the same time professed an uncompromising “patriotic” American political agenda.  By infusing the three seemingly contradictory concepts of Nazism, Deutschtum, and Americanism into one comprehensive political program, the German American Bund will forever remain a unique political anomaly within the history of American extremism. 

 

 

 

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