In HITLER’S AMERICAN FRIENDS: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States (Thomas Dunne Books; October 2, 2018; $28.99 hardcover) Bradley W. Hart details just how deeply rooted in America the Nazi Party was, how sympathetic millions of Americans were to Germany, and how close many of their plans to affect the outcome of the war, and America’s intervention in it, came to succeeding.
Americans who remember World War II reminisce about how it brought the country together. Popular mythology of the period holds that all Americans were patriotic and supported the war effort, but this was far from the case.
From the German American Bund to sketchy American businessmen and the most dangerous of all – the America First Committee – the United States was deeply divided before Pearl Harbor.
HITLER’S AMERICAN FRIENDS exposes the homegrown antagonists who sought to protect and promote Hitler, leave Europeans (and especially European Jews) to fend for themselves, and elevate the Nazi regime. Some of whom include:
- Americans of German heritage who joined the Bund, whose leadership dreamed of installing a stateside Führer
- Members of the Silver Shirt Legion, run by an eccentric who claimed that Hitler fulfilled a religious prophesy
- Midwestern Catholics like Father Charles Coughlin, an early right-wing radio star who broadcast anti-Semitic tirades
- Members of Congress who used their privilege—sending mail at cost to American taxpayers—to distribute German propaganda
- Celebrity pilot Charles Lindbergh who ended up speaking for them all at the America First Committee
We try to tell ourselves it couldn’t happen here, but Americans are not immune to the lure of fascism.
A powerful look at how the forces of evil manipulate ordinary people, how we stepped back from the ledge, and the disturbing ease with which we could return to it, HITLER’S AMERICAN FRIENDS reminds us that nothing can be taken for granted when it comes to standing up to evil and dangerous ideologies, and that Americans must constantly be on guard to protect democratic rights and traditions.