The Bund in Franklin County
During World War II, the German-American population in Missouri faced a new set of challenges. Having spent the last century proving to the Americans that they belonged in the country, all of their work and progress was set back when the World Wars broke out. World War II was a breaking point for many Americans’ trust in the Germans.
The Bund was an American group that were sympathetic to the Nazi party movement. Bundists wanted a “white, Gentile society” that was rid of all those who opposed their ideologies or did not fit into their standard for a perfect society. In 1939, the Nazis held a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York city to promote their movement. In the video, “A Night at the Garden” viewers can see thousands of Bundists saluting the Nazis as a picture of George Washington watched over them.
In the article above, written in 1942, says that the Bundists need to be not only jailed, but have their American citizen revoked. In the Americans eyes, this extremist group committed treason by pledging allegiance to Hitler and Nazi Germany.
