On Apr 5, 9:23 pm, The Daring Dufas <
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its because its true.
http://www.spiritone.com/~gdy52150/1930sp2.html
The 1930s: Nazis Parading on Main Street
Part 2: Republicans, Nazis &
Elections
With its pro-business agenda, and the fascist views of the leaders of
corporate America, the Republican Party soon became laden with
fascists.
Even before Hitler and the Nazis seized power in Germany, the Nazis
were already actively involved in American politics and elections.
Shockingly, the Nazis did not have to infiltrate the party; many were
already employed at high levels in the national or state Republican
Party organizations.
In October 1928, Edmond Furholzer, a pro-Nazi publisher from
Germantown, NY presented the New York State Republican Committee with
an offer that for twenty thousand dollars he would deliver the German
vote to Hoover. With Hoover's chances looking good, and it being late
in the campaign, Furholzer's offer was turned down.
Furholzer was hardly an obscure Nazi, and was a leading figure in the
hard right of Yorkville, a heavily German neighborhood of Manhattan.
The Republican State Committee adopted many of Furholzer's proposals
in 1928, and four years later, when Hoover's chances were dismal;
Furholzer's help was gladly accepted. In fact, during the 1932
campaign, Furholzer worked endlessly for the Republican National
Committee, campaigning tirelessly for Hoover in New York State. He
smeared Roosevelt as the new Wilson, the man that had destroyed
Germany.92 In 1933, Furholzer returned to Germany.
By 1934, the Nazis had only been in power for less than a year, but
already were active in placing their agents or pro-Nazis into
positions of power. On February 22, 1934, the Republican Party merged
their Senatorial and Congressional Campaign Committees into a single
organization independent of the Republican National Committee.
Senator Daniel Hastings of Delaware and Representative Chester Bolton
announced the merger. Just before the merger, the two campaign
committees hired Sidney Brooks, the long-time head of research at
International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT). ITT was one of many
American corporations that went to extraordinary means to continue
trading with the Nazis after war broke out.
Shortly after Brooks took charge, he made a frantic visit to New York.
On March 4, 1934, he went to Room 830 of the Hotel Edison, a room
rented to a Mr. William Goodales of Los Angles. Goodales was in fact
William Dudley Pelly. The meeting concluded with an agreement to merge
the Order of 76 with the Silver Shirts. Later Brooks would stop at 17
Battery Place, the address of the German Consulate General.
Brooks was a member of the Order of 76, a pro-fascist group. The Order
of 76 application required the fingerprints of the proposed member,
and certain details of their life. Brooks' application revealed that
he was the son of Nazi agent Colonel Edwin Emerson and that he chose
to use his mother's maiden name to conceal his father's identity.80
Emerson was a major financial backer of Furholzer and his paper.
Thus, as early as 1934, the Republican Party was collaborating with
Nazis and pro-fascist groups at a high level. This would not be the
last example of collaboration between high level Republicans and
Nazis, as the following headlines make clear.
On October 22, 1936, the New York Post broke the following story.
Nazi Publicist On G.O.P. Payroll
To win votes for Landon and Bleakley, the Republican State Committee
is employing on its payroll a staff of propagandists identified with
local Nazi organizations, the Post learned today.78
On October 30, 1936, the New York World-Telegram revealed additional
details.
U.S. Nazi Attack on Jews Is Laid to Republicans
Anti-Semitic Radio Speeches by Griebl, Others sponsored by G.O.P
Fritz Kuhn Among Speakers in Regular Broadcasts over WWRL
The Republican Party had been sponsoring radio broadcasts by American
Nazis to win German votes, it was disclosed today. One of the recent
speakers was Dr. Ignatz T. Griebl a national Nazi leader and
pronounced anti-Semitic…79
The hiring of Brooks in 1934 to head up the joint election campaign
committee, and the headlines from 1936 sets up a pattern of
collaboration between elements of the Republican Party and the Nazis.
While the use of a false name by Brooks provides some means of
deniability, his pro-fascist views were hardly a secret. However, the
earlier involvement of the Republican State Party with Furholzer would
render any deniability moot. There is no deniability for the 1936
headlines, as all were well known Nazis.
The more damaging second quote provides proof that the Republican
Party leadership was willing to promote Nazi racism. In fact, an
integral part of the Nazi battle plan was the promotion of racial
riots or division within the United States to weaken or prevent the
U.S. from entering the war. Such collaboration with the Nazis was
tantamount to treason. Hitler and his agents in the United States must
have been very pleased that leaders of the Republican Party were
willing to promote and incite civil unrest.
This example of vicious anti-Semitic campaigns by Republican leaders
was not an isolated incident. In fact, it was commonplace. In the 1938
Minnesota governor's race, leading officials of the Republican Party
conducted another vicious anti-Semitic campaign, this one to defeat
Farmer-Labor Governor Elmer Benson.
Benson's inaugural address on January 5, 1937 placed him on the left
end of the New Deal. FDR had endorsed Benson in 1936. The Republican
Party considered it a declaration of war. Among the issues Benson
supported were:
A two-year extension on the mortgage moratorium for farmers.
- A technical assistance program to assist and promote cooperatives.
- Union wages for state employees.
- The creation of a state commission on youth.
- Free transportation for rural high school students.
- Repeal of the criminal syndicalism laws (remember the Wobblies?)
- Creation of a state housing agency.
- The development of a state owned cement plant.
- Increased benefits for the disabled, people on relief, and the aged.
- A constitutional amendment enabling the state to produce and sell
electrical power to municipalities.
- A state liquor dispensary.
- New provisions in the state's unemployment benefits--including
benefits for striking workers.85
Few of Benson's proposals became law as his program was effectively
blocked in the state senate. Central to Benson's programs was a
restructuring of the tax code, which passed the state house of
representatives intact. Some of the provisions were:
1. Complete removal of the state tax levy of homes and homesteads up
to the value of $4,000.
2. Taxing of the net income of individuals and corporations on a
graduated basis so that a large share of local school taxes would be
replaced by state income tax revenues.
3. Increased taxes on accumulated wealth, including mining companies,
so that the state budget could be balanced.
4. Increased taxes on chain stores.85
The conservatives in the Senate ignored the House tax bill until a few
days before the legislative session closed, resulting in a special
session. The Twin City press ran article after article denouncing the
Farmer-Labor Party while citing such business leaders as Charles
Fowler of Northern States Power, Mr. Montague representing the Steel
Trust, Aleck Janes of Great Northern Railroad, and Aaron Youngquist of
Minnesota Power and Light. With the press at the beck and call of
business leaders clamoring that the Farmer-Labor Party was driving
business out of the state, Benson's tax proposals failed to pass the
Senate, but the stage was set for a bitter election campaign the
following year.
In 1938, the Republican Party, with Harold Stassen heading the state
ticket, ran two campaigns. One, a high road campaign by Stassen, the
other a dirty campaign headed by the old guard within the Republican
Party. Led by Ray P. Chase, this second campaign set new lows. Chase's
vehicle for running this second campaign was the Ray P. Chase Research
Bureau. Financing his efforts were some of Minnesota's business elite:
George Gillette, President of Minneapolis Moline; J. C. Hormel, the
meat packer; James Ford Bell, Northwestern Bank; Colonel Robert
McCormick, owner of the Chicago Tribune; and George Belden of the
Citizens Alliance.
To accomplish his goal, Chase used both legal and illegal methods.
Files were stolen from the State Relief Department and Farmer-Labor
members were scanned for communist activity. Dean Edward Nicholson
supplied data about left wing student organizations on the University
of Minnesota campus. One of the students labeled a dangerous radical
was Eric Sevareid. Chase produced and distributed the red baiting
pamphlet, Are They Communists or Catspaws. After the pamphlet's
introduction, Chase launched into a vicious anti-Semitic attack about
an alleged conspiracy, equating Judaism with communism, and Governor
Benson's role in it.
Chase's attack did not stop inside Minnesota. Using the services of
Cyrus McCormick, Chase managed to get U.S. Congressman Martin Dies to
hold hearings in late October on communist influence in the Farmer-
Labor Party.85
To understand how the Republican Party could run election campaigns
based on intense and vicious racist platforms; one needs to understand
the attitude of the country towards Jews at the time. A few days after
Kristallnacht, Roosevelt spoke out publicly expressing his anger and
horror. A Gallup poll that month revealed that 94% of the people
disapproved of the Nazi treatment of Jews, but 97% of the people also
disapproved of the way Nazis treated Catholics. A Roper poll that same
month revealed the deep anti-Semitic views in America. The poll found
that only 39% of the people believed that Jews should be treated as
everyone else, 53% believed that Jews were different and should be
restricted, and 10% believed Jews should be deported. In the winter of
1938-1939, many had denounced helping "refu-Jews." Polls revealed
71-85% opposed increasing immigration quotes; 67% opposed admitting
any refugees and 67% opposed a one-time admission of 10,000 refugee
children.
Turning away the refugees aboard the St. Louis was a low point in the
Roosevelt administration and perhaps indefensible in light of the
Holocaust, but Roosevelt hardly acted in a vacuum. The public opinion
was decidedly against admitting Jews. One can only guess at how much
of the anti-Semitism prevalent at the time, was the direct result of
the various anti-Semitic campaigns conducted by the Republican Party.
It could not be a minor factor, as many of these anti-Semitic
campaigns ran by Republicans equated Judaism with communism, as in the
example of the 1938 Minnesota election.
The pattern of collaboration between the Republican Party and the
Nazis extends further. On November 23, 1937, executives of General
Motors and other corporate and political leaders met with Baron
Manfred von Killinger, and agreed to a total commitment towards the
Nazi cause. The agreement also called for the replacement of
Roosevelt---preferably with Burton Wheeler of Montana. The agreement
was secret but leaked to George Seldes and published in In Fact. The
entire text of the agreement can be found in Facts and Fascism, a
portion of which appears below.9
"The substance of the German suggestion amounts to changing the spirit
of our nation as expressed by recent elections. That is possible but
by no means easy. The people must become aware of the disastrous
economic effects of the policies of the present administration first.
In the wake of reorientation of the public opinion a vigorous drive
must start in the press and radio. Technically it remains a question
as to whether this drive may center around the Republican National
Committee.
Farsighted businessmen will welcome conferences of this kind. A
tremendous inspiration might come out of them. There is no reason why
we should not learn of emergencies similar to those prevailing in our
own country and the methods by which farsighted governments were
trying to overcome them. It is also clear that manufacturers, who
usually contributed to the campaigns of all candidates must realize
that their support must be reserved to one, in whose selection they
must take an active hand."
Each section of the document was written by one of the participants. A
member of the United States Senate wrote the first paragraph of the
quote above, a representative of General Motors wrote the second. Once
again, it is clear from the first paragraph that leaders of the
Republican Party were collaborating with the Nazis. It further
establishes this pattern of collaboration over a period of several
years. Nor would this be the last involvement of Nazis within the
Republican Party. In 1940, a group of Republican congressmen accepted
money from Hitler for their election campaigns.
The second paragraph above is of paramount importance. The leaders of
corporate America did follow the prescription above for subverting
democracy.
After the failure of Landon in the presidential race, and in defiance
of Roosevelt's desire to improve working conditions for the average
man, Knudsen and du Pont launched a speed-up system at General Motors.
The system forced men to work at horrifying speed and many line
workers died from the heat and the pressure.
Irenee du Pont personally paid out almost one million dollars to hire
armed storm troopers modeled after the Gestapo, and equipped them with
gas to sweep through his plants and beat any rebellious workers. He
also hired Pinkerton to look through his industrial empire to spy on
left-wingers, "malcontents," or labor leaders. This was at the same
time he started to finance the notorious Black Legion in the Detroit
area. He encouraged foremen at General Motors to join this group of
terrorists.
The prime purpose of the Black Legion was to fire bomb union meetings,
murder union leaders and terrorize all workers to prevent
unionization. The Black Legion was linked to the Klan, and to the even
more terrifying Wolverine Republican League. Members of this later
group included several big business leaders. The Black Legion murdered
at least 50 people, many of them black .6
Just as the backers of Hitler's were rich industrialists, so were the
backers of fascism in the United States. Corporate America willingly
entered into cartel agreements, which, in effect, granted them a
monopoly. A second aspect of fascism that appealed to big business was
its extreme anti-unionism. Professor Gaetano Salvemini of Harvard was
quoted in the undergraduate daily, that a new fascism threatened
America, the fascism of corporate business enterprise in this country.
He also believed that 100% of American big business was in sympathy
with fascism .8 At the very least support, for fascism was widespread
among industrialists in this country, as the following quote from The
New York Times from the Ambassador to Germany, William Dodd shows:
"A clique of U.S. industrialists is hell-bent to bring a fascist state
to supplant our democratic government and is working closely with the
fascist regime in Germany and Italy. I have had plenty of opportunity
in my post in Berlin to witness how close some of our American ruling
families are to the Nazi regime. On (the ship) a fellow passenger, who
is a prominent executive of one of the largest corporations, told me
point blank that he would be ready to take definite action to bring
fascism into America if President Roosevelt continued his progressive
policies.
Certain American industrialist had a great deal to do with bringing
fascist regimes into being in both Germany and Italy. They extended
aid to help fascism occupy the seat of power, and they are helping to
keep it there.
Propagandists for the fascist groups try to dismiss the fascist scare.
We should be aware of the symptoms. When industrialists ignore laws
designed for social and economic progress they will seek recourse to a
fascist state when the institutions of our government compel them to
comply with the provisions." 7
The collaboration between the Republican Party and the Nazis was an
ongoing effort throughout the 1930s. However, it would not reach
epidemic proportions until the 1940 election. With the European
continent already embroiled in war, and President Roosevelt espousing
pro-British views, the Nazis were desperate to keep the United States
out of the war. In a bizarre plot full of intrigue involving Texas
oilman William Rhodes Davis, labor leader John L. Lewis, and Mexico,
Nazis provided extensive funding to the Republican Party for the 1940
election.
W.R. Davis of Texas Oil had been supplying the Germany navy with oil
since 1936, and was the owner of Eurotanker, a huge German refinery.
For the complete story of Davis, the reader should see Dale
Harrington's Mystery Man.93 Davis had arranged a deal to supply the
Nazis with oil from Mexico. Since Mexico had nationalized its oil
fields, including some owned by Davis, the Mexican oil market was
boycotted by big oil, led by Standard Oil of New Jersey. The deal,
therefore, was vital for the Mexican economy.
The outbreak of war in Europe also jeopardized Davis' road to riches.
Davis used his friendship with John L. Lewis to arrange a meeting with
Roosevelt early in 1940 in which he proposed a wild peace plan to FDR.
Roosevelt was cool to the plan and informed Davis that any peace plan
would have to come through official channels. Davis rushed to Europe,
arriving in Italy, and then traveling to Germany. There he met with
Goering. Central to Davis' plan was the removal of Hitler; the Nazis
would remain in power under Goering. Upon his return, Roosevelt
refused to meet with Davis.
Besides the peace plan, talk between Goering and Davis centered on the
upcoming presidential election. The Nazis were desperately seeking the
defeat of Roosevelt, although they were less than enthusiastic with
the Republican candidates. They agreed the best chance of defeating
Roosevelt was to back the Republicans rather than run a third party.
Davis knew that Lewis was opposed to war and had informed the Nazis
that Lewis had control over the election with his large block of union
voters. Lewis was not pro-fascism. Instead, he feared that a new war
would lead to a dictatorship and the placing of the CIO under
emergency laws. In light of the Red Scare of 1919 one can hardly fault
Lewis for his fears.94 Talk soon settled on how much money would be
needed to defeat Roosevelt, with the final sum settled at five million
dollars.
Joachim Herslet of the Reich Foreign Economic Ministry carried the
plan to the United States. To obtain dollars, Goering had persuaded
the Italians to release money from their fund used to finance fascist
propaganda and espionage. An Italian courier, Luigi Podesta delivered
the money to the German consulate in New York. Herslet informed the
charge d'affairs of the German Embassy in Washington of his mission,
and that he had five million dollars at his disposal. Davis received
some of the money from Herslet, then opened accounts in the Bank of
Boston, Irving Trust, Bank of America and Banco Germany of Mexico
City.
On the eve of the Republican National Convention, money from this Nazi
slush fund was used in a propaganda blitz for the isolationists. One
Republican congressman received $3,000 for heading up a contingent of
fifty isolationists. The Nazi money was well spent, as the convention
closed with a party platform plank firmly opposed to US involvement in
the war. The Nazis were especially pleased to note that the platform
plank was taken almost verbatim from the full-page German propaganda
ads placed in the New York Times on June 25.35 Stephen Day had been
paid thousands of dollars to form the committee publishing the ad.
Day, a Republican congressman from Illinois, would be named as a
fascist collaborator by Maloney. The ad was signed by Representatives
Samuel Pettingill, Harold Knudsen, John O'Conner and Hamilton Fish,
and Senators Edwin Johnson, Bennett Clark, David Walsh, Burton Wheeler
and Rush Holt.101 Both Lewis and Democratic Senator Burton Wheeler, a
leading isolationist, spoke before the convention.
With this success behind them, the Nazis then decided to spring a
similar effort on the Democratic convention. Central to the scheme was
Davis distributing $100,000 to buy forty delegates from Pennsylvania
to vote against Roosevelt. The Nazi press agent Kurt Sell arranged for
several other Democratic congressmen to attend the convention on
German Embassy funds. Sell also funded a number of anti-war ads in the
Chicago Tribune on July 15.
Although the Nazis were not enthused over Willkie's nomination, they
thought any president would be better than Roosevelt. With their slush
fund of five million dollars, the Nazis surreptitiously helped Willkie
through secret donations to various pro-Willkie clubs. Thomsen, the
charge d'affairs of the German embassy, destroyed all receipts, so it
may never be known how much money the Nazis funneled into the
Republican Party, or to whom. It is not clear if the entire five
million was spent. Supposedly, $3 million dollars was found in the
embassy when the FBI seized it in December 1941. Nevertheless, the
embassy had other sources of funding other than Herslet's funds. In
fact, Thomsen did not cooperate with Herslet and ran his own separate
campaign.
Perhaps the best summary of this plot is a quote from a report to the
German Foreign Ministry by the German Ambassador Thomsen.
"Roosevelt's prospects of being elected a third time have declined…3.
The election campaign maneuvers of John L. Lewis, chief of the CIO,
and Senator Wheeler… Regarding 3. At this juncture John L. Lewis
enters the arena with approximately 8 to 10 million votes controlled
by him. He is determined to make ruthless use of his influence, and
will do so in favor of strict isolationism. Lewis is pursuing that
policy not indeed because of any pro-German sentiments, but because he
fears that America's involvement in a war would mean the establishment
of an American dictatorship and the placing of his organization under
emergency laws. He is negotiating with Republicans at present and will
support them in the campaign if Willkie publicly declares himself for
keeping America out of all European conflicts. Lewis can throw his
strength at will to Republicans or the Democrats, but this much is
certain that he surely will not use it for Roosevelt. He may even, as
he has already threaten to do, organize a third party of disgruntled
Democrats, the Peace party, and in the person of closely allied
Senator Wheeler put up a suitable candidate."99
While $5 million dollars seems a trivial amount today in a
presidential campaign, in 1940 the amount was significant as the total
expenditures by the Republican Party was slightly less than $15
million.
Regardless of whether the Nazis spent only $2 million or the full $5
million dollars, they were a major source of campaign funds for the
Republicans in 1940. While the total amount of Nazis funds spent on
the Republican 1940 campaign may never be known with any certainty,
from the funds recovered in the embassy raid it is clear that at least
$2 million was spent from the slush fund alone. Therefore the lower
limit is at least $2 million. In short, a major proportion ranging
from 15% to over 33% of the Republican campaign funds in 1940 came
directly from the Nazis. Considering the fact the major industrialists
were active supporters of the Nazis and large donors to the Republican
Party, well over 50% of the Republican campaign funding in 1940 came
either directly from Nazis in Berlin or those within the United
States.
Following the Nazis, Davis likewise donated at least $48,000 to
Willkie, bypassing the $5,000 federal limit with several methods such
as donating to individual state parties. Davis also bankrolled the
radio address of Lewis on October 21 in which Lewis announced his
support for Willkie. In late October, Davis forwarded copies of his
documents pertaining to his proposed peace plan to leaders of the
Republican Party including Willkie, former President Hoover, Sam Pryor
and Verne Marshall. Willkie decided not to use the material, fearing
it might backfire. In the end, labor chose to remain loyal to FDR and
Roosevelt won the election with 27 million votes to Willkie's 22
million.95
Moreover, the involvement of the Nazis in the 1940 election extended
beyond the monetary donations and the bizarre plot of Davis. Top
Republican leaders, including former President Herbert Hoover closely
collaborated with high-level Nazi officials in Berlin to bring about
the defeat of Roosevelt. Hoover's conniving with the Nazis in the 1940
election was confirmed in post-war interviews of Goering and
Rubbentrop. Furthermore, Hoover was a secret member of the fascist
American First group, which was dedicated to bring about Roosevelt's
defeat.
The close association of the Republican Party with the Nazis was
confirmed in captured documents. In one captured document written in
anticipation of defeat the Nazis expressed hope for a Republican
victory so that they might achieve an "easy peace." A small excerpt
from the document in the appendix follows:
Right now, the chances for a separate peace with the West are a little
better, especially if we succeed, through our propaganda campaign and
our confidential" channels, to convince the enemy that Roosevelt's
policy of "unconditional surrender" drives the German people towards
Communism.
There is great fear in the U.S.A. of Bolshevism. The opposition
against Roosevelt's alliance with Stalin grows constantly. Our chances
for success are good, if we succeed to stir up influential circles
against Roosevelt's policy. This can be done through clever pieces of
information, or by references to unsuspicious neutral ecclesiastical
contact men.
We have at our command in the United States efficient contacts which
have been carefully kept up even during the war. The campaign of
hatred stirred up by Roosevelt and the Jews against everything German
has temporarily silenced the pro-German bloc in the U.S.A. However,
there is every hope that this situation will be completely changed
within a few months. If the Republicans succeed in defeating Roosevelt
in the coming presidential election, it would greatly influence the
American conduct of war towards us.
With the Battle of the Bulge raging in Europe the Republican
candidate, Dewey lashed out against Roosevelt, that his call for
unconditional surrender was prolonging the war and costing American
lives.
From the evidence above the Nazis were deeply involved in the
political process within the United States from at least 1932.
However, the extent of that involvement is still shrouded in fog.
Somewhere in the vaults of the United State and England incriminating
files lie hidden that will expose the collaboration of many more
individuals and corporations with the Nazis