German American Bund
The German American Bund also known as the Amerikadeutscher Volksbund “AV”, was an American National Socialist organization created in 1936 following the dissolution of its predecessor Friends of New Germany or FONG. The name changes and creation of the German American bund was due to the fact that the press and many others had accused them of being unpatriotic, and as a way to show patriotism, they created the new organization, German-American Bund.
Formation
The Bund was formed up of German Americans an Americans of German descent. The goal was to establish national socialism in the United States, promote positive views of the Third Reich, and to promote a noninterventionist position in the ever-evolving situation in Europe.
May of 1933, Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess gave German immigrant and NSDAP Party member Heinz Spanknöbel the authority to form an American national socialist organization. Soon after Spanknöbel created the Friends of New Germany (FONG) merging two older groups in the U.S. Gau-USA and the Free Society of Teutonia. Both smaller groups contained only a few hundred members. The FoNG was based in New York City but had a strong presence in Chicago. Male members wore a uniform consisting of a white shirt, black trousers and a black kepi adorned with the organizations symbol. Female members wore a white blouse with a black shirt.
Expansion
While under the leadership of Spanknöbel, the organization was involved in having members join other German-American organizations that were not necessarily politically affiliated in efforts to draw more members to the FoNG and into the fold of pro National Socialist ideals. At this time the FoNG was also heavily involved in trying to counter the jewish propaganda that was enticing Americans, especially jewish-American to boycott German goods that began in March of 1933 as a response to the NSDAP’s boycotting of jews stores in Germany. After an internal power struggle, Spanknöbel was removed from power and eventually moved back to Germany. He later died of starvation on March 10, 1947, in Russian Prison Camp #1, near Brandenburg. On December of 1935. Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess ordered all of the German citizens in the FoNG as well as its leadership to come back to the Vaterland.
Follow up
On March 19th of 1936, as a follow up to the March 10 194 Friends of New Germany (FONG), the German American Bund was officially established in Buffalo, NY. The man elected to lead this new organization as the BundsFührer, Fritz Julius Kuhn was a German WWI veteran and member of the Nazi party from the early days of its inception. The Bunds headquarters were located in Manhattan NYC at 178 East 85th Street. The Bund followed its organizational set up from the NSDAP’s in Germany. The U.S. was split into three GAUs: GAU OST or east, GAU MIDWEST, and GAU WEST. The three GAUs were comprised of 69 Ortsgruppes (local chapters) 40 of these Ortsgruppen were in GAU OST alone, then 19 in GAU MIDWEST, and 10 in GAU WEST. New York had the most with 17 being located in the state alone. Each GAU had its own Gauleiter and staff who ran each region and reported to the BundsFührer.