In February 1939, more than 20,000 Americans filled Madison Square Garden for an event billed as a “Pro-American Rally.” Images of George Washington hung next to swastikas and speakers railed against the “Jewish controlled media” and called for a return to a racially “pure” America. The keynote speaker was Fritz Kuhn, head of the German American Bund. Nazi Town, USA tells the largely unknown story of the Bund, which had scores of chapters in suburbs and big cities across the country and represented what many believe was a real threat of fascist subversion in the United States. The Bund held joint rallies with the Ku Klux Klan and ran dozens of summer camps for children centered around Nazi ideology and imagery. Its melding of patriotic values with virulent anti-Semitism raised thorny issues that we continue to wrestle with today.
Indeed we do. What Hitler did for Germany back then was to make it great again. After World War I the Treaty of Versailles stripped Germany of its power, forced them to pay reparations, and set up a food blockade. That was quickly followed by hyper-inflation that destroyed German currency. Making the value of the German mark worthless. The German people were demoralized.
Along came Hitler and changed everything. He broke the treaty, built up the military, turned inflation around and restored pride and dignity to his people. Doing so by virtue of becoming a dictator He also succeeded in creating a scapegoat and convincing the German public that the Jews were responsible for all of Germany’s woes.
At that particular point in time - there was a German immigrant here that was an admirer of Hitler. Fritz Kuhn created the Bund, an association of German Americans. He held rallies attended by tens of thousands of such Americans convincing them that Hitler was right about the Jews. And that the American values would best be promoted by following Hitler's example.
In essence he equated Americanism to Nazism. His rallies had both American flags and swastikas. As well as many other symbols of America. Although Bund members were of German descent, they were otherwise as American as apple pie.
The Bund set up summer camps all over the country that were wholesome - promoting family values and good clean fun. All, while indoctrinating campers with Jew hatred. Other than that campers were typical American kids. Camp activities were the same as any other American camp. The Bund even built a town where Nazism was the hallmark of its existence. There were swastikas all over - on homes, on public buildings and in parks.
Please do not misunderstand. MAGA Republicans are not being indoctrinated to hate Jews. There are after all many Orthodox Jews that are MAGA Republicans! But comparisons to MAGA Republicans and Trump cannot be avoided. They see Trump fixing all of their problems. They would love to destroy the left. Albeit not to the extremes of genocide. Obviously.
MAGA Republicans don't care how he does it. Democracy be damned. Restoring family values is far more important. If it takes a dictator to do it, so what? This is how strongly they feel about the moral abyss this country has fallen into. They love it when Trump says ‘We need to take our country back!’ By which he means taking it back from the leftists who are ruining it.
Replace ‘leftists’ with ‘Jews’ and you have Frtiz Kuhn and Hitler. They can put up with Trump’s flaws - considering them to be minor in comparison to Trump’s plan to make America great again.
The appeal of Hitler to Germans and of Fritz Kuhn to German Americans in the 30s is frighteningly similar to the appeal of Trump to MAGA Republicans.
Something to think about.