The Bund in Gasconade County — Friend or Foe?
As the Bund became more popular across America, they eventually made their way into Missouri. Though some areas may have reacted differently than others, I will be examining how the German-Americans in my research county of Gasconade responded to the Bund’s activities in Missouri.
This article from a Gasconade County newspaper, titled The Bland Courier, sheds light on how German-Americans in the area felt about the Bund’s presence in Missouri. The writer begins by showing their sympathy for those who complain of the “foreign set-ups” in the United States. Right off the bat, its clear that groups like the Bund were not well received in Gasconade.
An interesting aspect of the article is that it claims that the Bund cannot be compared to other violent groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. The Bund is different because it is not intrinsically American. It was seen as an “importation.”
The author splits members of the Bund into two groups: those who are naturalized and those who are not. If a German-American of several generations joins the Bund, you cannot say they’re disloyal if the group is financed from abroad. However, a naturalized American born out of the country is seen as having bad faith by joining an aggregate group like the Bund. If found to be associated with the Bund, the author says that they should have their citizenship revoked. Even further, it adds that Bund members who aren’t U.S. citizens are an obvious nuisance and only sent here to cause trouble.
Though there may not have been much those in Gasconade County could do about the presence of the Bund in Missouri, it is clear that they were not fond of the Nazism that was occurring in their state.
