The German American Bund.

Very good point, I apologize for doing so with the post on "pro-business" types supporting the Nazis for profit, as well as support ideologically in a very few cases. Many of those larger corporations didn't let politics stand in the way of profit.

 

During the Vietnam war many of our so called allies were trading with North Vietnam. Their merchant marine boats were regular visitors to Haiphong Harbor, off limits as targets of course.

 

Perhaps you could point out to me where I in any way condoned my country's behavior regards the Poles post WW2?

 

Their summer camp was in my hometown of Pompton Lakes, NJ. (It may have straddled the border with Riverdale or another town)

We would play in the old ruined buildings, and dig under rocks looking for Nazi treasure.

Good times.

 

Looks like it is still there, at least as of 2010, lots of photos of the ruins here: http://www.williammaloney.com/Misc/FederalHillNJ/

 

and with the usual graphitti. It's a real shame people damage historical relics.

 

It would be interesting if there are major works in history that compares the pro-Nazi Bund to other German American Bunds in size and funding. I am under the impression that those organizations were decimated during the First World War. Was there a revival in German-American civic organizations, or was the Nazi Bund the only game in town?

 

There was a revival of sorts, in the post-war years, but mostly there groups were what you might call "underground" groups - small gatherings that lacked size and financing. The German American Bund came about through the combination of two groups; The Friends of a New German(ex-National Socialist Teutonia Association) and Gauleitung-USA(better known as Gau-USA). There was also the United German Societies, but this was effectively taken over by the Friends of a New Germany in 1933, when Heinz Spanknöbel, the new Nazi appointed leader of FoNG, conducted a "heavy-handed" takeover of the group - driving off most members who disagreed with Nazi policies and browbeating the remainder into following him. Following this move, Spanknöbel attempted to Nazify the California based group, German-American Alliance, which failed miserably and ended with the two opposing groups in California court. Through these antics Spanknöbel attracted the attention of the US government, which quickly realized that he was an undeclared foreign agent, and began the process to arrest him. Sources vary on whether he "escaped" or was "deported", but the end result was the same either way, before 1933 was out, he was back in Germany.

 

The circumstances of Spankoebel's return to Germany sounds fascinating!

Were there other German-American groups that refused to be taken over by Spanknoebel's organization in addition to GAA in California?

 

there are video footage of the presence of nazi supporters in USA before the war
https://youtu.be/OaB3Bd3GAHY