Burros may have studied under a fake name at the Manhattan School of Printing in mid-1958. He began work July 10, 1958, for the
Queens Public Library, operating office machines and printing cataloguing cards. He had a reputation as a good worker, but would talk about neo-Nazi topics to his coworkers at length. This lasted for a year and a half before he quit in January 1960 over a printing dispute; Burros refused to obey his boss's instructions for how to handle
catalog cards. Soon after he found work operating a multigraph for the U.S. Navigation Company. Burros began expressing an interest in
neo-Nazi activism in December 1958 and contacted several neo-Nazi groups. He signed his letters with a red swastika and the name of the American National Socialist Party; he was the sole member of the supposed organization. He collected
Nazi paraphernalia and often drew detailed art of Jews dying. By this time, the police had taken notice of his extremist views. Burros became a known figure among the letter-sending Nazi underground, and through correspondence came into contact with several German ex-military officers. He donated money to racist causes, including avowed racist
John Kasper, who sent the money back as he considered Burros too pro-Nazi. He was briefly a member of the
British National Party in early 1960, receiving a membership card.
American Nazi Party (1960–1961) In June 1960, Burros joined the
American Nazi Party (ANP) and moved from New York City to their headquarters in
Arlington County, Virginia. The party's leader,
George Lincoln Rockwell, recalled that Burros had made contact with the party in 1960, first contacting
James K. Warner. He was especially interested in the Nazi uniforms, and claimed on the application form that he was ethnically German. He was accepted and took the "Trooper's Oath". At the same time, he found work at the
United States Chamber of Commerce operating a multilith, a kind of printing press. Burros was accepted quickly into the group, willing to donate large amounts of time and money to the party. He claimed he had learned Hebrew to better "investigate the enemy". His heritage was unknown in the ANP, but some members were suspicious of him, and he was occasionally teased for supposedly looking Jewish. Some members may have known the truth. ANP member
Matt Koehl later said Burros had not looked Jewish and said Burros probably had some amount of "Aryan blood". Rockwell appreciated Burros, impressed by his fervent Nazism and artistic and mechanical skills; he was seen by Rockwell as too fanatical, but unlike many prospective members, had valuable skills. Burros was active in the ANP's public demonstrations and
picketings, being convicted several times for use of profane language and fights. Burros worked as the ANP's printer for their propaganda, including bumper stickers and antisemitic soap wrappers, largely sold through mail-order in the
National Socialist Bulletin magazine. One of the items of merchandise printed by Burros was the "Jew Pass" (which was to be given to a Jew who would be last in line for the gas chamber). In one instance, a Jewish teenager from Arlington arrived at their headquarters and said he wanted to join the party. Several ANP members, including Rockwell, thought it would be a good publicity stunt to allow it, but Burros was staunchly opposed to any Jews joining the party. Burros was known for his especially violent
antisemitism, to a degree author
Kevin Coogan called "almost psychotic". It sometimes embarrassed his compatriots, and at times disgusted other members of the group, particularly due to his
torture fantasies. Burros carried a bar of soap labeled "Made from the finest Jewish fat", and often talked about creating torture devices to use on Jews. A specific, favorite fantasy of Burros involved the keys of a
piano being modified to deliver
electric shocks via wires attached to the Jewish victim of their choice, which the torturer would play to make the victim scream in different keys. He expressed contempt for
Christianity as a "doctrine of weakness" and in some letters he wrote, he talked of a "Nordic religion". After several neo-Nazis complained the ANP members were worse fed than the party dog, Gas Chamber, Burros suggested that they eat him, which some members believed was a genuine threat. When
John Patler joined, his printing and fighting skills impressed Burros, and both men became close friends. They asked Rockwell to take control of the
National Socialist Bulletin from Warner, which failed but incensed Warner. As revenge, Warner told Burros a photo of his would be removed from the
Bulletin. This resulted in a fit of rage from Burros, who had to be calmed down by Rockwell telling Warner to wait for a replacement photo. In 1960, ANP security officer Roger Foss conducted
background checks on all ANP members; Rockwell said that a refusal to comply with the background check meant being kicked out of the party. Burros told Foss he could give neither his background information nor
home address, even if it was given confidentially. In response, party secretary James K. Warner suggested Burros be kicked out of the party. Warner and Foss went to Rockwell, who said he needed Burros as his printer, and directed them to make an exception for the background check. This led to lengthy arguments; Foss called it a security risk, and called Burros a "sadist" and a "nut" who was obviously Jewish. Rockwell nevertheless refused to remove Burros. It is unknown if Rockwell was unaware that he was Jewish, or knew that he was Jewish and did not care. On July 3, 1960, after a fight at a Rockwell speech, several ANP members, including Rockwell and Burros, and their opponents, were arrested for disorderly conduct. Due to the subsequent legal proceedings, Rockwell was
involuntarily committed to a
psychiatric hospital for observation for thirty days. The members worried that he would never be released. On July 26, 1960, the day before Rockwell was committed, Patler and Burros went to the
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) headquarters, where they asked for copies of the
ADL Bulletin, placed swastika stickers in the elevator and wrote the words "we are back". A member of the ADL called the police and a warrant was issued for their arrest for defacing the ADL's private property. The next day, Burros, Foss and Patler all picketed the White House advocating for Rockwell to be freed. After they had spent several hours picketing, Patler and Burros were arrested due to the warrant and were imprisoned. Patler's wife raised bail from a Jewish bondsman. Rockwell was released from the psychiatric hospital after only a few days. When he returned, he suspended both Patler and Burros until the outcome of their trial, but then reinstated them due to his belief in their innocence. At their trial on September 20, they were found guilty and sentenced by a jury to a $100 fine or a 10-day jail sentence and six months suspended. Both chose the fine. The Chamber of Commerce fired Burros over his ANP membership in February 1961. In response, Burros got some of the other troopers to picket the building. In May of that year, Burros was one of the ANP members to tour in the party's Hate Bus protesting the
Freedom Riders. When
Jim Jones, the leader of the
Peoples Temple, wrote to the American Nazi Party requesting a meeting over racial matters, it was Burros who wrote back for the party. Burros criticized Jones as an
integrationist with "unnatural" beliefs and said their "natures are so divergent that we could never understand each other"; this letter was circulated in Jones's base of operations in
Indianapolis. Burros was promoted to lieutenant and national secretary of the party in July 1961, making him the third highest-ranking person in the party, behind only Rockwell himself and J. V. Morgan. He authored the ANP's ''Official Stormtrooper's Manual''. It was the ANP's official manual, distributed to all group recruits, dedicated to
Horst Wessel, with design by Patler.
American National Party (1962) In late 1961, Burros and Patler began to question Rockwell's leadership. They, alongside fellow ANP member Ralph Grandinetti, were causing unity problems, due to what Rockwell biographer
William H. Schmaltz described as their "continual scheming", constantly accusing other members of being spies for the Jews. As a result of their behavior, Roger Foss grew to dislike the trio. The three later got Foss demoted over a disciplinary infraction, leading to Foss leaving ANP headquarters. Burros and Patler had also edited the ''Official Stormtrooper's Manual'' in a manner Rockwell viewed as self-promotional. Burros and Patler left without notice November 5, 1961, and moved to New York. In New York, they launched a magazine called
Kill! which was "dedicated to the annihilation of the enemies of the White people". Its first issue was published in July 1962, edited by Burros. The magazine was an outlet for attacking other members of the movement and was described by Jeffrey Kaplan as "viciously racist and anti-Semitic". The first issue of
Kill! displays on its back a noose and the words "Impeach the Traitor John F. Kennedy for Giving Aid and Comfort to the Enemies of the U.S.A."; the same issue also featured a Burros-written editorial entitled "The Importance of Killing". He attacked Rockwell in the magazine, saying that "without the swastika, Rockwell would be nothing" and calling him a "nigger loving liberal". Alongside
Kill! the two founded their own splinter group, the American National Party. Patler was the national chairman and Burros was their national vice chairman. Their party was functionally a duplicate of the American Nazi Party, and never had more than a few members. They were so poor that they could not afford Nazi uniforms, disappointing Burros, and although they picketed leftist meetings and movie theaters, they received little attention. At the time, Burros worked at a Jewish-owned printing company and did not discuss his views while at work. He spent his time collecting Nazi memorabilia. Burros informed on members of other extremist groups in New York to the police; his information was rarely helpful. Despite the risk of it outing him as Jewish, he often visited his parents in the neighborhood where he was recognized as Jewish. The American National Party dissolved about a year later and the magazine ended after four issues, when Patler and Burros had a falling-out. When Patler was arrested and jailed for picketing a rally, he started a hunger strike in jail. He then became irate when Burros did not provide sufficient support. He was also annoyed when Burros decided to watch football instead of picketing
Eleanor Roosevelt's funeral with him. Burros ultimately stayed in New York and Patler returned to the American Nazi Party. Patler
murdered Rockwell in 1967.
National Renaissance Party (1963–1964) Now without a group, Burros spent his time giving speeches on street corners and reading literature. He was especially interested in
Francis Parker Yockey's book
Imperium which he read repeatedly and called "the Bible of the American right-wing".
Imperium is virulently antisemitic, but advocates a non-biological view of Jewishness; Yockey argues that some ethnic Jews are of "Western race" by virtue of having acquired "Western feelings", while some "Western" men become Jewish by absorbing Jewish philosophy. Burros joined the neo-Nazi
National Renaissance Party in early 1963. The leader of the party,
James H. Madole, was also interested in Yockey; while Madole hated Rockwell, he had many of the same views. Impressed by Burros's ideological fervor, Madole promoted him to the party's high-ranking Security Echelon. However, Madole did not trust Burros, worrying he was a spy for Rockwell. Burros wrote for the group's
National Renaissance Bulletin, and also edited the Security Echelon's own magazine, the
SE Guard. The NRP members saw themselves as more sophisticated racists than the American Nazi Party, and at times found Burros's extreme views embarrassing, but nevertheless found him useful. He was also the editor of a magazine,
The International Nazi Fascist, sometimes just the
Nazi Fascist and later renamed
The Free American, which became popular with neo-Nazis. The magazine dated its issues by years since
Adolf Hitler's birth. During the investigation into the 1963
assassination of John F. Kennedy, it was found that
Lee Harvey Oswald had Burros and Rockwell in his address book, which was printed in exhibit Volume XVI of the
Warren Commission. They are the only far-right figures listed. This is likely due to a communist publication incorrectly linking Burros's American National Party to Rockwell's, misinterpreting the news of its foundation as Rockwell relocating to Queens, leading Oswald to think Burros's group was Rockwell's. Following the assassination, Burros wore a button emblazoned "Lee Harvey Oswald Fan Club". In July 1963, Burros and other NRP members were jailed after getting into a fight with
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) protestors at a diner. They were not arrested for the fight, but after they went to file a complaint against the CORE members, a police detective found a stash of weapons and racist literature in their car. Both Madole and Burros were arrested and indicted for conspiracy and several other crimes. All were released on bail, and the case took ten months to come to trial, during which time Burros continued to correspond with other racists, attend NRP meetings, and work as a printer. He spent most of his spare time writing antisemitic literature, and acquired some amount of notoriety with racists worldwide. His name was filed in the records of police in Germany and the United Kingdom, and he received letters from other neo-Nazis expressing their admiration. Several of his writings were distributed in German neo-Nazi meetings. Come the trial May 4, 1964, Burros was sentenced to one to two years at
Sing Sing State Prison. The judge blamed Madole and Burros, the most "sophisticated" members of the party, for leading the rest astray. One of the other members of the NRP was outed as Jewish during the trial. All of the men were released in less than two weeks after an appeal and Burros was bailed out by his uncle. Burros grew to dislike Madole and debated rejoining Rockwell's party, but never did. He perceived the NRP as being only talk. Madole and Burros ultimately had a falling-out. One telling says this resulted from Burros's wish to
nuke communist
China, contrary to Madole's growing appreciation of China and leftist figures. Madole claimed Burros left the party because he still liked Rockwell. Burros also found Madole's dislike of swastikas annoying. Burros left the NRP and became an
Odinist, but was not very committed to the faith. He was a member of an Odinist group, which considered him one of their
Skalds. Other neo-Nazis nicknamed him "Dan the
Fink", and he acquired a reputation as a "floater", or someone who jumps from far-right group to far-right group.
Ku Klux Klan (1965) After leaving the NRP, Burros became frustrated, feeling that the racist movement was not reaching people or achieving its goals. He attributed this to a lack of leadership; he desired a group with many people and a leader. In 1965, at the
Museum of Modern Art, Burros watched the 1915 film
The Birth of a Nation, a propaganda film for the
Ku Klux Klan; Burros became preoccupied with the film and the Klan, seeing it as similar to Nazism and the actual organization he desired. Initially Burros saw the Klan as a dead movement, which saddened him, but former American Nazi Party member and Klan organizer
Roy Frankhouser, with whom he had reconnected after leaving the ANP, recruited him into the
United Klans of America. Frankhouser invited Burros to a Klan meeting in
Bear, Delaware, on July 28. Burros was shocked by the number of attendees, which numbered in the thousands. He told Frankhouser that this was what they needed, but that he was saddened he could not join them because he was not Christian, as the Klan required. Frankhouser asked him if he "liked Christ and everything" and Burros agreed, which Frankhouser said was sufficient.
Grand Wizard Robert Shelton had previously refused to admit members of the ANP, but since Burros was an ex-member and had Frankhouser to vouch for him, he was allowed to join. The Northern realms of the Klan (state level chapters) had fewer members, and especially devoted initiates into these chapters were promoted quickly. Burros became the
Grand Dragon (state level leader) of the New York-area Ku Klux Klan almost immediately after he joined, since the Klan needed "intellectual" types and Burros was one of only a few KKK members in the North who were seriously devoted. He also became the
King Kleagle (a KKK term for head organizer) of New York. At this time he worked as a printer for the
University Club of New York. Burros was very enthusiastic about the KKK. He agreed to stop using the swastika so as to not tie the KKK to the Nazis. Burros led two
klaverns (local groups), one in
Upper Manhattan and one in
Lower Manhattan. They hated each other, and Burros tried to improve relations between the two. Burros and Frankhouser became close friends, and Burros continued to hide his Jewish background from him. On occasion Burros would make statements that made Frankhouser wonder if Burros was Jewish, but Frankhouser never seriously considered it due to how extreme Burros's antisemitism was. That year, he met and fell in love with a woman named Carol, also involved in
white supremacy, whom he met at a
Von Steuben Day parade. He claimed to her that he was German, and after they met she decided to join the Klan. His new position brought him to the attention of authorities; his parents were visited by a federal agent, who then realized Burros was Jewish. After failing to hide that they were Jewish to the agent, his mother begged the agent to not include the information in the report. His parents knew of his involvement in racist politics, but said nothing. Partially out of sympathy for his parents, and partially due to the information on racist movements Burros provided them, the agent did not reveal this fact. More government agencies likely knew that Burros was Jewish, but for a time none revealed it. == Reveal of Jewish heritage and suicide ==