Nazism in the Americas

Short description: A history of Nazism in North & South America.

A foundational text of modern antisemitism by Henry Ford.

Nazism in the Americas has existed since the 1930s and still exists today. The membership of the earliest groups reflected the sympathies of some German-Americans and German Latin-Americans toward Nazi Germany, embracing the National Socialist spirit in Europe and establishing it within the Americas. Throughout the inter-war period and the outbreak of World War II, American Nazi parties engaged in activities such as sporting Nazi propaganda, storming newspapers, spreading Nazi-sympathetic materials and infiltrating other non-political organizations.

The reaction to these parties varied, ranging from widespread support to outright resistance, including the formation of the first anti-Nazi Jewish resistance organizations in the United States, such as the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights.^[1]

United States

Nazi march of German American Bund in East 86th St., New York City , 30 October 1939

Inter-war period

Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933.^[2] German-Americans for years^[when?] attempted to create pro-Nazi movements in the U.S., often bearing swastikas and wearing uniforms. These groups had little to do with Nazi Germany and lacked support from the wider German-American community.^[3] In May 1933, Heinz Spanknöbel received authority from Rudolf Hess, the deputy führer of Germany, to form an official American branch of the Nazi Party. The branch was known as the Friends of New Germany in the U.S.^[3] The Nazi Party referred to it as the National Socialist German Workers' Party of the U.S.A.^[2] Though the party had a strong presence in Chicago, it remained based in New York City, having received support from the German consul in the city. Spanknöbel's organization was openly pro-Nazi. Members stormed the German-language newspaper New Yorker Staats-Zeitung and demanded that the paper publish articles sympathetic to Nazis. Spanknöbel's leadership was short-lived, as he was deported in October 1933 following revelations that he had not registered as a foreign agent.^[3] Some American corporations had trade relations that continued even after declarations of war.^[4]

World War II

Kuhn speaking at a Bund rally

Flag of the German American Bund

The Friends of New Germany dissolved in the 1930s. The German American Bund, led by Fritz Kuhn, formed in 1935 and lasted until America formally entered World War II in 1941. The Bund existed with the goal of a united National Socialist German America. It proclaimed communism as their main target and expressed anti-Semitic attitudes.^[3] Inspired by the Hitler Youth, the Bund created its own youth division, where members "took German lessons, received instructions on how to salute the swastika, and learned to sing the 'Horst Wessel Lied' and other Nazi songs."^[5] The Bund continued to justify and glorify Hitler and his movements in Europe during the outbreak of World War II. After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Bund leaders released a statement demanding that America stay neutral in the ensuing conflict, and expressed sympathy for Germany's war effort. The Bund reasoned that this support for the German war effort was not disloyal to the United States, as German-Americans would "continue to fight for a Gentile America free of all atheistic Jewish Marxist elements."^[5]

After many internal and leadership disputes, the Bund's executive committee agreed to disband the party the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. On December 11, 1941, the United States formally declared war on the Axis powers, and Bund headquarters were raided by Treasury Department agents. The agents seized all records and arrested 76 Bund leaders.^[5]

After World War II

The Office of Special Investigations estimated around ten thousand Nazi war criminals entered the United States from Eastern Europe after the conclusion of World War II.^[6] Some were brought in Operation Paperclip, a project to bring German scientists and engineers to the U.S. Most Nazi collaborators entered the United States through the 1948 and 1950 Displaced Persons Acts and the Refugee Relief Act of 1953. Supporters of the acts showed only a slight awareness of the possibility of Nazi war criminals' entering the United States through them. Most of the supporters' concern was about disallowing known communists from entering. This shift of focus was likely due to the pressures of the Cold War in the years after World War II, when the United States focused on countering Soviet communism more than Nazism.^[6]

Eichmann photographed in or around 1942

During the 1950s, several investigations into suspected Nazi war criminals were conducted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, but no official trials came from these investigations. The Holocaust and the possibility of Nazi collaborators living in the country entered the national discussion in the 1960s with the trial of Adolf Eichmann, accusations of war criminals during Soviet war crimes trials, and a series of articles published by Charles R. Allen detailing the presence of Nazi war criminals living in the U.S. The federal government began to focus on uncovering Nazi war criminals remaining in the country.^[6] Public awareness of the Holocaust and remaining Nazi war criminals increased in the 1970s. Many cases made headline news. The case of Hermine Braunsteiner-Ryan, who was the first Nazi war criminal to be extradited from the United States, received widespread media coverage. The case triggered the Immigration and Nationalization Service to further locate Nazi collaborators. By the late 1970s, INS addressed thousands of cases, and the U.S. government formed the Office of Special Investigations, which was dedicated to locating Nazi war criminals in the United States.^[6]

Neo-Nazism emerged as an ideology during this time,^[7] seeking to revive and implement Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis seek to employ their ideology to promote hatred and white supremacy, attack racial and ethnic minorities, and create a fascist state.^[8]^[9] Neo-Nazism is a global phenomenon, with organized representation in many countries and international networks. It borrows elements from Nazi doctrine, including ultranationalism, racism, xenophobia, ableism, homophobia, anti-Romanyism, antisemitism, anti-communism, and creating a Fourth Reich. Holocaust denial is common in neo-Nazi circles.

In the United States, organizations such as the American Nazi Party, the National Alliance and White Aryan Resistance were formed during the second half of the 20th century.^[10] The National Alliance founded in the 1970s by William Luther Pierce, author of The Turner Diaries, was the largest and most active neo-Nazi group in the United States in the 1990s.^[11]^[10]

21st Century

Poster for the stage adaptation of It Can't Happen Here, October 27, 1936 at the Lafayette Theater as part of the Detroit Federal Theatre

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Alliance had lost most of its members by 2020 but is still visible in the U.S.^[11]^[12] Other groups, such as Atomwaffen Division have taken its place.^[13] American Neo-Nazi groups have moved towards more decentralized organization and online social networks with a terroristic focus.^[12]