Hitler's American friends : the Third Reich's supporters in the United States

Hitler's American friends The Third Reich's supporters in the United States

Bradley W. Hart

Book - 2018

"A book examining the strange terrain of Nazi sympathizers, nonintervention campaigners and other voices in America who advocated on behalf of Nazi Germany in the years before World War II. Americans who remember World War II reminisce about how it brought the country together. The less popular truth behind this warm nostalgia: until the attack on Pearl Harbor, America was deeply, dangerously divided. Bradley W. Hart's Hitler's American Friends exposes the homegrown antagonists who sought to protect and promote Hitler, leave Europeans (and especially European Jews) to fend for themselves, and elevate the Nazi regime. Some of these friends were Americans of German heritage who joined the Bund, whose leadership dreamed of insta...lling a stateside Führer. Some were as bizarre and hair-raising as the Silver Shirt Legion, run by an eccentric who claimed that Hitler fulfilled a religious prophesy. Some were Midwestern Catholics like Father Charles Coughlin, an early right-wing radio star who broadcast anti-Semitic tirades. They were even members of Congress who used their franking privilege--sending mail at cost to American taxpayers--to distribute German propaganda. And celebrity pilot Charles Lindbergh ended up speaking for them all at the America First Committee. We try to tell ourselves it couldn't happen here, but Americans are not immune to the lure of fascism. Hitler's American Friends is a powerful look at how the forces of evil manipulate ordinary people, how we stepped back from the ledge, and the disturbing ease with which we could return to it."--

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Subjects
Hitler, Adolf, > 1889-1945 > Public opinion.
German American Bund > History.
National socialism > Public opinion.
Fascism > United States > History > 20th century.
Antisemitism > United States > History > 20th century.
Public opinion > United States > History > 20th century.
United States > Politics and government > 1933-1945.
Germany > Foreign public opinion, American > History > 20th century.
United States > Relations > Germany.
Germany > Relations > United States.
Published
New York : Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Press 2018.
Language
English
Main Author
Bradley W. Hart (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
296 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781250148957
  • Introduction
  • 1. The Bund
  • 2. The Silver Legion and the Chief
  • 3. The Religious Right
  • 4. The Senators
  • 5. The Businessmen
  • 6. The Students
  • 7. America First!
  • 8. The Spies
  • Afterword
  • Acknowledgments
  • Appendix: Hitler's American Friends in Numbers
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

"The threats posed by the American Nazi movement were far greater than we remember today" is the chilling conclusion that history professor Hart reaches in this well-sourced overview of American support for Nazism in the 1930s and 1940s. Hart opens with a 1941 speech by the best-known American Nazi sympathizer-legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh-who told an audience in Iowa that Jewish influence in Hollywood, the news media, and government "presented a unique danger" to the U.S. Though his anti-Semitic remarks were condemned widely, the America First Committee, for which Lindbergh was a spokesperson, also saw a "grassroots outpouring of support." Hart then steps back to detail lesser-known figures who aspired to bring Nazi ideology to the U.S. and to keep the country out of World War II, starting with the German American Bund, which held Fourth of July rallies honoring Hitler and Mussolini. That organization was brought low by John Metcalfe, a German-born reporter who had infiltrated it. Hart also gives credit to other journalists and government officials who "risked life and limb to expose plots against the United States." American Nazis were ultimately unsuccessful, but Hart intends his history as a cautionary tale, noting that "Hitler's American friends were successful for a time because they seemed to provide an alternative set of answers to those being offered by the political establishment." This illuminating history will interest anyone who wants to know how nationalist movements succeed or fail. Agent: Andy Ross, Andy Ross Agency. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Review by Library Journal Review

Hart (media, communications & journalism, California State Univ., Fresno; George Pitt-Rivers and the Nazis) shines new light on the extent of U.S. pro-Nazi backing during the 1930s until the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Extensive archival research shows that in addition to German-American cultural organizations, the Nazis had outspoken and influential support among the religious right, business, academia, isolationists, and members of Congress. A German spy network in the United States was broken up with help from British intelligence, in spite of J. Edgar Hoover's preference for finding Communists. Hart convincingly shows that these Nazi supporters had the potential to sway public opinion to their way of thinking but were often stopped by their own hubris, greed, violence and some brave journalists and civic officials who helped unmask their views. An intriguing afterword explores what happened to these individuals and corporations during and after the war. VERDICT Readers interested in the history of Depression-era politics and social climate, or those curious about the dissemination of religious and racial prejudice will appreciate this book.-Laurie Unger Skinner, Highland Park P.L., IL © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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