German American Bund Editorial Cartoon

This cartoon, drawn by Daniel Robert Fitzpatrick, was published in the St. Louis Post Dispatch on July 8th, 1942. Fitzpatrick was a well-known illustrator for the St. Louis Post Dispatch and chronicled many important world issues through his drawings, most usually through comedic interpretations. This cartoon, published during a very tense time of the Second World War, illustrates the American outlook on the German American Bund. Many Americans saw the Bund as a threat to American security and thought they would be better off in jail. The drawing above shows a large American hand, signified with cufflinks, picking up and placing a Nazi supporter inside what appears to be an encampment. American citizens were unhappy about the war to begin with but after joining in December of 1941, even more of them began openly criticizing any support of Germany. Halfway through 1942, the United States was struggling, and many citizens were sensitive to any support of Germany because of the threat to security and patriotism. This cartoon was probably highly favored at the time because most people thought those openly in support of the Nazi regime should be jailed.

I was unable to find a cartoon which specifically relates to German presence in Missouri but this one was published in the St. Louis Post Dispatch where there was and still is a large German presence. Even with the high German presence at the time, many German Americans in St. Louis were not in support of the Bund — I think mostly because they weren’t really allowed but also because most people could see the harm the Nazi regime was doing to all countries involved. I did attempt to find this issue of the newspaper online but did not have any luck. I would guess that the accompanying stories had to do with the Bund’s presence in St. Louis and if there is any support for the organization.