The History of The Cleveland Nazis: 1933 - 1945

During Cleveland’s Great Depression, in an age of turmoil and time of upheaval, grew the first seeds of American Nazism. Complete with swastika flags, Hitler Youth, armed fascists and alleged intricate Jewish/Communist conspiracies, Cleveland was caught in the tempest of the frightening rise of National Socialism. The city fostered an explicitly Nazi German-American Bund, a covert Silvershirt Legion detachment and prominent diplomatic agents from the Third Reich, furiously struggling to advance the cause of American fascism. These elements came crashing headlong into the stiff resistance of the press, Jewish groups, and most prominently the city’s German-American community. Festooned with photos, and meticulously documented, this book examines the fundamental, timeless questions of American allegiance, the responsibilities of democratic governance, the security threats of “Un-American” activities, and the passions, motivations and dreams of American immigrants. In the most unlikely of places, here is a case-study true story of the fascinating, bewildering and terrifying rise of American Nazism.