Swastika Nation


Book Description

In the late 1930s, the German–American Bund, led by its popinjay dictator Fritz Kuhn, was a small but powerful national movement in pre-World War II America, determined to conquer the United States government with a fascist dictatorship. They met in private social halls and beer garden backrooms, gathered at private resorts and public rallies, developed their own version of the SS and Hitler Youth, published a national newspaper and—for a brief moment of their own imagined glory—seemed poised to make an impact on American politics. But while the American Nazi leadership dreamed of their Swastika Nation, an amalgamation of politicians, a rising legal star, an ego-charged newspaper columnist, and denizens of the criminal underworld utilized their respective means and muscle to bring down the movement and its dreams of a United Reich States. Swastika Nation by Arnie Bernstein is a story of bad guys, good guys, and a few guys who fell somewhere in-between. The rise and fall of Fritz Kuhn and his German-American Bund at the hands of these disparate fighters is a sometimes funny, sometimes harrowing, and always compelling story from start to finish.




Swastika Nation


Book Description

A history of the German-American Bund traces the efforts of Fritz Kuhn and his followers to overthrow the U.S. government with a fascist dictatorship, tracing their private and public meetings, the development of their own version of the SS and Hitler Youth and the politicians, lawyer, journalist and criminals who used respective means to counter the movement.




Surviving the Swastika


Book Description

A study of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft in the Nazi period. Ch. 3 (p. 51-72), "From Accommodation to Passive Opposition, 1933-35," discusses the dismissal of Jews from the various institutes. Max Planck tried to protect his Jewish colleagues from the Nazi authorities, but in vain. The only act of resistance undertaken by the scientists was the Fritz Haber Memorial Ceremony in 1935 (Haber, a Jewish scientist, died in Switzerland in 1934); the Nazis reluctantly allowed it to be held.




The Swastika


Book Description

Despite the enormous amount of material about Nazism, there has been no substantial work on its emblem, the swastika. This original contribution examines the popular appeal of the archaic image of the swastika: the tradition of the symbol.




Swastika Night


Book Description

In a "feudal Europe seven centuries into post-Hitlerian society, Burdekin's novel explores the connection between gender and political power and anticipates modern feminist science fiction."--Cover.




Bath Massacre


Book Description

"With the meticulous attention to detail of a historian and a storyteller's eye for human drama, Bernstein shines a beam of truth on a forgotten American tragedy. Heartbreaking and riveting." ---Gregg Olsen, New York Times best-selling author of Starvation Heights "A chilling and historic character study of the unfathomable suffering that desperation and fury, once unleashed inside a twisted mind, can wreak on a small town. Contemporary mass murderers Timothy McVeigh, Columbine's Dylan Klebold, and Virginia Tech's Seung-Hui Cho can each trace their horrific genealogy of terror to one man: Bath school bomber Andrew Kehoe." ---Mardi Link, author of When Evil Came to Good Hart On May 18, 1927, the small town of Bath, Michigan, was forever changed when Andrew Kehoe set off a cache of explosives concealed in the basement of the local school. Thirty-eight children and six adults were dead, among them Kehoe, who had literally blown himself to bits by setting off a dynamite charge in his car. The next day, on Kehoe's farm, what was left of his wife---burned beyond recognition after Kehoe set his property and buildings ablaze---was found tied to a handcart, her skull crushed. With seemingly endless stories of school violence and suicide bombers filling today's headlines, Bath Massacre serves as a reminder that terrorism and large-scale murder are nothing new.




American Swastika


Book Description

This second edition of the acclaimed American Swastika provides an up-to-date perspective on the white power movement in America. The book takes readers through hidden enclaves of hate, exploring how white supremacy movements thrive nationwide and how we can work to prevent future violence. Filled with powerful case studies, interviews, and first-person accounts, the book explains the differences between various hate groups, then shows how white supremacy groups cultivate their membership through Aryan homes, parties, rituals, music festivals, and online propaganda. Featuring updated statistics and examples throughout, the second edition of American Swastika describes most of today’s active white power groups and the legacy of recently disbanded groups. It also discusses new players in the world of white power websites and music and shares new research on how people exit hate groups. As recent events have made clear that the idea of a “post–racial America” is a myth, American Swastika is essential reading for understanding both how hate builds and how we can work to prevent violence.




Hitler's American Friends


Book Description

A book examining the strange terrain of Nazi sympathizers, nonintervention campaigners and other voices in America who advocated on behalf of Nazi Germany in the years before World War II. Americans who remember World War II reminisce about how it brought the country together. The less popular truth behind this warm nostalgia: until the attack on Pearl Harbor, America was deeply, dangerously divided. Bradley W. Hart's 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 these friends were Americans of German heritage who joined the Bund, whose leadership dreamed of installing a stateside Führer. Some were as bizarre and hair-raising as the Silver Shirt Legion, run by an eccentric who claimed that Hitler fulfilled a religious prophesy. Some were Midwestern Catholics like Father Charles Coughlin, an early right-wing radio star who broadcast anti-Semitic tirades. They were even members of Congress who used their franking privilege—sending mail at cost to American taxpayers—to distribute German propaganda. And celebrity pilot Charles Lindbergh 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. Hitler's American Friends is 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.




The Swastika


Book Description

"Forces even the most sophisticated to rethink and rework their ideas of how images work in the world."--School Library Journal.* Traces the history of the swastika, from religious symbol to reviled symbol * More than 175 illustrations * Powerful examination of the impact of one graphic symbol on society. This acclaimed examination of the most powerful symbol ever created is now available in paperback. The rise and fall of the swastika, and its mysteries and misunderstandings, are fully explained and explored. Readers will be captivated by the twists and turns of the symbol’s fortunes, from its pre-Nazi religious and commercial uses, to the Nazi appropriation and misuse of the form, to its contemporary applications as both a racist and an apolitical logo. In a new afterword, author Steven Heller discusses the controversy around ideas to ban the symbol and public reaction to the book since it was first published. This is a classic story, masterfully told, about how one graphic symbol can endure and influence culture for generations. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.




The Iron Dream


Book Description