The German American Bund was an organization of ethnic Germans
living in the United States and was very pro-Nazi. After the U. S.
entered World War 2 the government outlawed it. Apart from its
admiration for Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, the German American
Bund program included anti-Semitism and strong anti-communist
sentiments. It also demanded that the U. S. stay neutral. Public
opinion in 1939 showed that Fritz Kuhn, the Bunds' leader, was seen
as the leading anti-Semite in the country. He was later convicted
of embezzling funds from the Bund and sent to prison. Membership
figures for the Bund are not known with certainty, but reliable
estimates place membership at 25,000 dues-paying members, including
some 8,000 uniformed Storm Troopers. The Bund activities often led
to clashes and street battles with other groups including Jewish
veterans of World War I. During February 1939 a rally was held on
George Washington's birthday in Madison Square Garden to proclaim
the rights of white gentiles. The crowd of 20,000 consistently
booed President Roosevelt and chanted the Nazi salutation "Heil
Hitler."
