1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden

The German American Bund was a pro-Hitler organization in the United States before American involvement in World War II around 1939/1941. The group promoted Nazi propaganda in the United States, combining Nazi and American patriotic imagery. However, the Bund was the most influential of several pro-Nazi German groups in the United States in the 1930s; others included the Deutsch-Amerikanischen Wirtschafts-Ausschuss (German-American Economic Committee), Teutonia Society and Friends of New Germany, also known as the Hitler Club. Alongside allied groups, such as the Christian Front, these organizations were anti-semitic. The pro-Nazi organizations in the U.S. were countered by a number of anti-Nazi organizations led by American Jews with other political activists and humanitarians who opposed Hitlerism and supported an anti-Nazi boycott of German goods since 1933, when Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power in Germany. The Joint Boycott Committee held a rally at Madison Square Garden two years before in 1937. ==Preparations==

New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia was aware of the dangers posed by the rally in Madison Square Garden and he dispatched the largest number of city police to guard a single event in the city's history. 1,700 uniformed police officers patrolled outside the venue as well as 600 undercover detectives and non-uniformed New York Police Department officers scattered throughout the hall, and even 35 Fire Department of New York firefighters, armed with a heavy-duty fire hose in preparation of a riot. Bomb squads also combed the arena in response to a threat received a week earlier, boasting of a series of time-activated devices to explode during the event. New York was ready for the influx of Nazi rally attendees and was prepared to protect their ability to hold the rally at all costs. Chief Inspector Louis F. Costuma illustrated this commitment to safety, telling the press, "We had enough police here to stop a revolution" in an interview in preparation for the rally. While Madison Square Garden had prepared itself for the presence of the German Bund, many around New York City considered them less welcome in their city. About 100,000 anti-Nazi protesters gathered around the arena in protest of the Bund, carrying signs stating "Smash Anti-Semitism" and "Drive the Nazis Out of New York". ==Rally==

The rally occurred when the German American Bund's membership was dropping; Fritz Julius Kuhn hoped that a provocative high-profile event would reverse the group's declining fortunes. The pro-Nazi Bund was unpopular in New York City, and some called for the event to be banned. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia allowed the event to go forward, correctly predicting that the Bund's highly publicized spectacle would further discredit them in the public eye. Martial music and German folk songs were also played at the rally. Calling upon his fellow Americans, Wheller-Hill challenged Bund members to restore America to the 'True Americans' while condemning President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of the Interior, Harold L. Ickes, for attacking Nazi officials. Midwestern Gau leader George Froboese was next to speak, pushing themes of 'Jewish world domination', blaming the 'oriental cunning of the Jew Karl Marx-Mordecais for the class warfare felt across the country.' Later identified as 26-year-old plumbing assistant Isadore Greenbaum, the victim was pulled away by a team of police, saving the young man from serious injury. Attempting to control the riled-up crowd, Kuhn delivered his rousing finish, advocating the establishment of an America which would be ruled by White Gentiles, free from a Jewish Hollywood and news. "The Bund is open to you, provided you are sincere, of good character, of White Gentile Stock, and an American Citizen imbued with patriotic zeal. Therefore: Join!" As Kuhn exited the stage, 20 thousand Bund members chanted "Free America! Free America! Free America!" in the biggest Nazi rally in United States history. At 11:15pm, members of the Bund buttoned up their overcoats, hiding their uniforms, and were escorted through police lines along Fifty-Second amid the crowds of protesters who were waiting outside. Ralliers were met with a roar of catcalls, jeers, and a few punches. By midnight, all was quiet. When he was asked about the cause of his actions, Greenbaum quickly stated, "Gee, what would you have done if you were in my place listening to that s.o.b. hollering against the government and publicly kissing [Adolf] Hitler's behind – while thousands cheered? Well, I did it." For his actions, Greenbaum was sentenced to serve 10 days in jail. He was later released after he paid a $25 fine. ==Aftermath==

After the rally, the Bund met with two pro-Nazi Congressmen in Washington, John C. Schafer and Fred C. Gartner. However, the group rapidly declined. Two months after the rally, the Hollywood feature film Confessions of a Nazi Spy was released by the Warner Brothers studio, ridiculing the Nazis and their American sympathizers. The Bund also came under investigation. After its financial records were seized in a raid on the group's Yorkville, Manhattan headquarters on the Upper Eastside, authorities discovered that $14,000 (worth about $273,000 in 2021) which was raised by the Bund during the rally was unaccounted for – Kuhn had spent it on his mistress and various personal expenses. Kuhn was later convicted of embezzlement and sent to Sing Sing prison in upstate Ossining, New York in December 1939. The Bund's final national leader was George Froboese, who was in charge of the organization when Germany declared war on the United States, several days after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 11, 1941. Froboese committed suicide a year later in 1942 after he received a federal grand jury subpoena. ==Legacy==

• The rally was featured in The Nazis Strike (1943), the second film of Frank Capra's wartime anti-Nazi propaganda series Why We Fight. • Actual footage of the rally was incorporated into a fictional newsreel created for the 2004 Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Storm Front", illustrating an alternate history in which the Nazis invaded and occupied the United States with the help of aliens from the future. • A 2017 short documentary film about the rally called A Night at the Garden by Marshall Curry was nominated for the 91st Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short. • A similar rally is depicted in the 2020 HBO miniseries The Plot Against America, which is based on the novel with the same title by Philip Roth. • Another similar rally is depicted in the 2022 film Amsterdam. • The 2022 Ken Burns documentary The U.S. and the Holocaust covers the event. ==See also==