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Fritz Julius Kuhn

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Fritz Julius Kuhn
Kuhn in 1938
Born(1896-05-15)May 15, 1896
Munich,Bavaria,German Empire
DiedDecember 14, 1951(1951-12-14)(aged 55)
Munich,Bavaria,West Germany
NationalityGerman
CitizenshipUnited States (1934–1943; revoked)
Alma materTechnical University of Munich
OccupationLeader of theGerman American Bund
SpouseElsa
Children2
Parents
  • Georg Kuhn
  • Julia Justyna Beuth
AwardsIron Cross (1st Class)
The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
Madison Square Garden rally 1939
Kuhn appearing on the street after leaving a courthouse inWebster, Massachusetts,in 1939
Kuhn speaking at a "Bund" -camp-rally

Fritz Julius Kuhn(May 15, 1896 – December 14, 1951) was a GermanNaziactivist who served as the elected leader of theGerman American BundbeforeWorld War II.He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1934, though his citizenship was revoked in 1943 owing to his status as aforeign agentof Nazi Germany.[1]Kuhn served prison time for larceny and forgery from 1939 to 1943 and, upon release, was immediatelyinternedby the federal government as anenemy agent.[2][1]He was deported in 1945 and later served further prison time in post-war Germany before dying in 1951.[3]

Early life

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Kuhn was born inMunich,Germany,on May 15, 1896, the son of Georg Kuhn and Julia Justyna Beuth. DuringWorld War I,Kuhn earned anIron Crossas a German infantry lieutenant.[4][page needed]After the war, he joined theFreikorpsand later graduated from theTechnical University of Munichwith a master's degree inchemical engineering.[5]In the 1920s, Kuhn moved to Mexico. In 1928, he moved to the United States, and, in 1934, he became anaturalized citizenof the United States.[1]He worked at aFordfactory in Detroit before assuming control of the Bund in Buffalo, New York, in 1936.[6]

Leadership of the German American Bund

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A Congressional committee headed bySamuel Dicksteinconcluded that theFriends of New Germanysupported a branch of German dictator Adolf Hitler'sNazi Partyin the United States,[7]and the Friends of New Germany disbanded. However, in March 1936, theGerman American Bundwas established in Buffalo as a follow-up organization.[8]The Bund elected the German-born American citizen Kuhn as its leader.[9]

Kuhn, while describing the Bund as "sympathetic to the Hitler government", denied that the organization received money or took orders from the government of Germany. Kuhn also denied that the Bund had any agenda of introducing fascism to the United States.[10][11]

Kuhn enlisted thousands of Americans by using antisemitic, anticommunist, pro-German, and pro-American propaganda. One of his first tasks was planning a trip to Germany with 50 American followers. The purpose was to be in the presence of Hitler and to witness Nazism in practice personally.

At this time, Germany was preparing to host the1936 Olympics.Kuhn anticipated a warm welcome fromAdolf Hitler,but the encounter was disappointing.[citation needed]This did not stop Kuhn from fabricating propaganda to his followers once he returned to the United States about how Hitler acknowledged him as the "American Führer".[12]

As his profile grew, so did the tension against him. Not only Jewish-Americans, but also German-Americans who did not want to be associated with Nazis protested against the Bund.[13][14]These protests were occasionally violent, making the Bund front page news in the United States. In response to the outrage of Jewish war veterans,[citation needed]Congress in 1938 passed theForeign Agents Registration Actrequiring foreign agents to register with the State Department.[12]The negative attention to the American Nazis was not to Hitler's liking[citation needed]because he wanted the Nazi Party in the United States to be strong but stealthy.[citation needed]Hitler needed to keep the U.S. neutral throughout the coming war and sought to avoid provoking Americans. In contrast, Kuhn was eager to stir media attention. On March 1, 1938, the Nazi government decreed that no German national (Reichsdeutsche) could be a member of the Bund and that no Nazi emblems were to be used by the organization.[8]

Undaunted, on September 3, 1938, the Bund reelected Kuhn,[15]and on February 20, 1939, Kuhn held the largest and most publicizedrallyin the Bund's history atMadison Square Gardenin New York City.[16]Some 20,000 people attended and heard Kuhn mock PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltas "Frank D. Rosenfeld", calling hisNew Dealthe "Jew Deal" and denouncing what he calledBolshevik-Jewish American leadership. Kuhn also stated: "The Bund is fighting shoulder to shoulder with patriotic Americans to protect America from a race that is not the American race, that is not even a white race... The Jews are controlling everything and the white man is thrown out of his job.... The Jews are enemies of the United States.... All Jews are Communists.... Christ was not a Jew..."[17]There was an outbreak of violence between Bund storm troopers and thousands of angry protesters in the streets. During Kuhn's speech, a Jewish protester, Isadore Greenbaum, rushed the stage and had to be rescued by police after he was beaten and stripped by stormtroopers.[18][19][20]

Criminal conviction

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Later in 1939, seeking to cripple the Bund, New York City MayorFiorello La Guardiaordered the city to investigate the Bund's taxes.[21]It alleged that Kuhn had embezzled $14,548 from the organization, spending part of the money on a mistress.[21][22]District AttorneyThomas E. Deweyissued an indictment on May 25, 1939, and won a conviction against Kuhn. On December 5, 1939, Kuhn was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison for larceny and forgery.[2][23]The next day, he was sent to Sing Sing.[24]Despite his convictions for embezzlement, followers of the Bund continued to hold Kuhn in high regard, in line with theNaziFührerprinzip,which gives the leader absolute power.[25]

In 1940, James Wheeler-Hill, the Secretary of the Bund, was sentenced to one to three years in prison after pleading guilty to perjury for falsely testifying that he was an American citizen at Kuhn's trial. Wheeler-Hill had been born inLatvia,and was never naturalized.[26]

Imprisonment and deportation

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Kuhn's citizenship was revoked on June 1, 1943, while he was inSing Singprison, on the grounds of it having been obtained fraudulently as shown by his ongoing activity as a foreign agent of, and a person with loyalty including oaths of military service towards, Germany and the Nazi Party.[1][6]Upon his release after 43 months in prison, Kuhn was re-arrested on June 21, 1943, as an enemy agent and interned by the federal government at a camp inCrystal City, Texas.Interned with Kuhn were his wife and 16-year-old son, who were deemed "enemy aliens". Kuhn's family had returned to Germany in 1938, but came back to support him for the trial. They were repatriated to Germany in an exchange in February 1944.[27]

After the war, Kuhn, along with 714 other "unteachable Germans" was sent toEllis IslandanddeportedtoGermanyon September 15, 1945.[28]Upon his return, he was interned atHohenasperg Fortress.[1]A CIC agent who interrogated Kuhn in January 1946 recommended his release, saying he was "discredited and spiritually broken."[29]Kuhn wanted to return to the United States, but worked as an industrial chemist in a small chemical factory inMunich.[30]The German authorities then decided that he could be tried under Germany's denazification laws, and he was imprisoned in July 1947.[31]

Later life

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Held in an internment camp atDachau,awaiting trial before a Bavarian German de-Nazification court, Kuhn escaped on February 4, 1948, but was recaptured on June 15 in the French zone town ofBernkastel,nearTrier.[32]He had been sentenced to 10 years of hard labor, having been found guiltyin absentiaafter a five-hour trial on April 20. The proceeding was "made conspicuous by the absence of not only Kuhn but also his lawyer and witnesses. The trial was carried out entirely by the presentation of documents which purported to show that Kuhn had close ties with Hitler'sThird German Reichand that he had tried to transplant its ideology into the United States. "[33]How Kuhn escaped has never been officially explained, although there was an investigation; the camp director, Anton Zirngibl, was fired. Kuhn told reporters, 'The door was open so I went through.'[34]Kuhn said on June 17 that he considered the ten-year sentence as a "major Nazi offender" unfair and that he intended to appeal.[35]

In 1949, an appellate court reduced Kuhn's sentence to two years of hard labor. He was released on February 22, 1949.[36]While in prison, Kuhn reportedly sent a message to columnistWalter Winchell,who had helped lead media counterattacks against the Bund back in New York City. It read: "Tell Herr Vinchell, I will lift to piss on his grafe [sic]."[37](Winchell died in 1972).

Death

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Kuhn died of unknown causes on December 14, 1951, in Munich, Germany.The New York Timesobituary said that he died "a poor and obscure chemist, unheralded and unsung." Shortly before his death, Kuhn was asked why he'd followed Hitler. Disillusioned by the collapse of Nazi Germany, he replied, "Who would have known it would end like this?"[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcde"Fritz Kuhn, Former Bund Chief, Ordered Back to Germany".The Evening Independent.September 7, 1945.
  2. ^abAdams, Thomas (2005).Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History: A MultiDisciplinary Encyclopedia. G–N, volume 2.ABC-CLIO. p. 631.ISBN1-85109-628-0.RetrievedJanuary 11,2011.
  3. ^ab"Fritz Kuhn Death in 1951 Revealed. Lawyer Says Former Leader of German-American Bund Succumbed in Munich".The New York Times.Associated Press.February 2, 1953.Retrieved2008-07-20.
  4. ^Curt Riess (20 April 2017).Total Espionage: Germany's Information and Disinformation Apparatus 1932-40.Fonthill Media. GGKEY:W0990A01E5Q.
  5. ^Chan, Amy (2017-02-16)."Made in America: Americans in Support of the Nazi Cause".HistoryNet.Retrieved2024-06-21.
  6. ^abO'Haire, Hugh (May 8, 1977)."When the Bund Strutted in Yaphankl".The New York Times.Retrieved28 May2017.
  7. ^U.S. Congress, House Special Committee on Un-American Activities (1938).Investigation of un-American propaganda activities in the United States.United States Congress. p. 1090.Retrieved11 October2017.
  8. ^abJim Bredemus."American Bund – The Failure of American Nazism: The German-American Bund's Attempt to Create an American 'Fifth Column'".TRACES. Archived fromthe originalon 18 May 2011.Retrieved2 March2011.
  9. ^Cyprian Blamires; Paul Jackson (2006).World fascism: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 1.ABC-CLIO. p. 270.ISBN0-8223-0772-3.
  10. ^Says Hitler Group is 200,000 strong. Kuhn Denies Trying to Set Up Fascism in U.S.Associated PressinReading Eagle,March 12, 1937
  11. ^Kuhn Bares Bund Record Destruction."Kuhn steadfastly denied that the German government had any connection with his organization."Associated PressinReading Eagle,August 16, 1939
  12. ^abNazi America: A Secret History (2000), History Channel (92 min)
  13. ^"The Day The German-American Bund Marched In Grafton".WUWM.RetrievedJanuary 10,2020.
  14. ^"Nazis among the Cedars: The Inability of the German American Bund to Find Acceptance in Pre-War Milwaukee"(PDF).University of Wisconsin.RetrievedJanuary 3,2020.
  15. ^Taylor, Alan (5 June 2017)."American Nazis in the 1930s – The German American Bund".The Atlantic.Retrieved2023-05-06.
  16. ^Ratzis Fritz Kuhn and the Bund, 1939 by Jay Maeder Sunday, May 31, 1998
  17. ^"How Fritz Kuhn and American Nazis brought anti-Semitic fervor to New York City before WWII".New York Daily News.14 August 2017.RetrievedNovember 17,2023.
  18. ^"Fight Nazis in Big N.Y. Rally".No. February 21, 1939. Chicago Tribune Archive. Chicago Tribune News Service.Retrieved28 May2017.
  19. ^Philpot, Robert (February 22, 2019)."Eighty years ago this week: the night the Nazis played Madison Square Garden".The Jewish Chronicle.London.RetrievedMarch 23,2019.
  20. ^Philip Bump,When Nazis rallied in Manhattan, one working-class Jewish man from Brooklyn took them on,20 February 2017,The Washington Post
  21. ^abDuffy, Peter (2015).Double Agent: The First Hero of World War II and How the FBI Outwitted and Destroyed a Nazi Spy Ring.Scribner. p. 95.ISBN978-1-45166-796-7.RetrievedNovember 23,2019.
  22. ^Geels, James E. (August 1975)."The German-American Bund: Fifth Column or Deutschtum?".UNT Digital Library.Retrieved2023-07-31.
  23. ^"Article clipped from Journal Gazette".Journal Gazette.1939-12-05. p. 1.Retrieved2023-09-15.
  24. ^Taylor, Alan (5 June 2017)."American Nazis in the 1930s – The German American Bund".The Atlantic.Retrieved6 May2023.
  25. ^Sander, Gordon F. (2017-08-23)."When Nazis Filled Madison Square Garden".Politico Magazine.Retrieved2023-11-06.
  26. ^"The Mid-Island Mail 28 February 1940 – The NYS Historic Newspapers".nyshistoricnewspapers.org.Retrieved2023-11-06.
  27. ^"The Minneapolis Star from Minneapolis, Minnesota".Newspapers.1943-02-13.Retrieved2023-12-21.
  28. ^Kuhn Departs Today, On Way To Germany.In:New York Times.15. September 1945;Deportees, POW's Head For Germany; Fritz Kuhn Is Deportet.In:New York Times.16. September 1945.
  29. ^"2_Leader of German-American Bund held at Crystal City, Texas".Intelligencer Journal.1946-04-25. p. 3.Retrieved2023-11-19.
  30. ^Shaffer, Ryan (Spring 2010)."Long Island Nazis: A Local Synthesis of Transnational Politics".Vol. 21, no. 2.Journal of Long Island History.Archived fromthe originalon 2010-06-21.Retrieved2010-11-19.
  31. ^Associated Press, "Former Bund Leader Convicted In Absentia by German Court,"The San Bernardino Daily Sun,San Bernardino, California, Wednesday 21 April 1948, Volume LIV, Number 201, page 1.
  32. ^Associated Press, "Kuhn Captured In French Zone,"The San Bernardino Daily Sun,San Bernardino, California, Friday 18 June 1948, Volume LIV, Number 251, page 3.
  33. ^Associated Press, "Former Bund Leader Convicted In Absentia by German Court,"The San Bernardino Daily Sun,San Bernardino, California, Wednesday 21 April 1948, Volume LIV, Number 201, page 1.
  34. ^Associated Press, "Kuhn Captured In French Zone,"The San Bernardino Daily Sun,San Bernardino, California, Friday 18 June 1948, Volume LIV, Number 251, page 3.
  35. ^Associated Press, "Kuhn Captured In French Zone,"The San Bernardino Daily Sun,San Bernardino, California, Friday 18 June 1948, Volume LIV, Number 251, page 3.
  36. ^IMDb Biography
  37. ^Bernstein, Arnie (May 28, 2017)."Walter Winchell, Nazi Fighter".The New York Times Book Review:6.Retrieved27 May2017.
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