The Mysteries of History (February 20 Edition)
Nazi Rally in America, John Glenn Orbits the Earth
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana, 1905
1939 — American Nazis Hold Rally in Madison Square Garden
public domain images from wikimedia commons
On this date in 1939, twenty-thousand and more pro-Hitler, rabidly antisemitic rallygoers assembled in Madison Square Garden in New York City to show their support for the Nazi party. Outside were five times as many protesters, as well as police, at least some of whom were there more to control the protesters than the hatemongers within.
As can be seen in the images above, the rally’s organizers called this get-together of theirs a “Pro America Rally” and sported a thirty-foot tall image of George Washington surrounded by swastikas, toward which Nazi salutes were lifted by the audience.
As shocking as this gathering may seem, it shouldn’t have been totally unexpected, as the organization behind it, the German American Bund, had been holding Nazi summer camps for youths and entire families (akin to an American “Hitler Youth” movement) throughout the 1930s. Members of these youth groups were present at the rally, as were the clan’s vigilante police forth, the “Ordnungsdienst” (Order Service) uniformed in the style of Hitler’s SS officers.
The hall (or “Garden”) was festooned with incendiary slogans such as “Stop Jewish Domination of Christian Americans” and “Wake Up America. Smash Jewish Communism.”
In his closing speech, the leader of the American Nazi group, Fritz Julius Kuhn (not to be confused with the modern-day German politician of the same first and last name), resorted to infantile name-mangling by referring to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as “Rosenfield” and Manhattan D.A. Thomas Dewey as “Thomas Jewey.” Kuhn stated that the main thing his group was fighting for was “a socially just, white, Gentile-ruled United States.”
Kuhn (1896-1951) was born in Munich, Germany, moved to Mexico in the 1920s, then to America, where he eventually became a naturalized citizen in 1934; was stripped of his citizenship in 1943 for his Nazi activities; was imprisoned multiple times, first in Sing Sing (New York), then Texas, then in Germany; escaped from the German prison, was captured, did some more time, and finally spent the rest of his life in relative obscurity and disillusionment, dying at 55 in Munich, where he was born.
Questions: Why did Kuhn move to Mexico? What did he do there? What did he do for work during the final years of his life? What happened to his family? Did he ever renounce Nazism? How long did his organization last, including the Youth Nazi camps, after this rally?
1962 — John Glenn Orbits the Earth
public domain images from wikimedia commons
Others had been in “Space” before (a couple of Russians and a couple of Americans), but John Glenn (1921-2016) was the first American to orbit the earth, doing so on this date in 1962. His craft’s speed after it “hits its stride” was 17,500 miles per hour; teenage daredevils and NASCAR drivers are sloth-like in comparison.
The trip was not a “walk in the park,” though. There were quite a few glitches and malfunctions along the way, including his ship, the Friendship 7, catching fire as it reentered earth’s atmosphere. Radio communication was cut off for four minutes, and during that time the ground-bound crew didn’t know if Glenn was still alive. After splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean, he was picked up by a military vessel. Glenn’s laconic commentary on his fiery descent — the first thing he said on emerging from the capsule — was, “It was hot in there.”
Ironically, Glenn’s heroic mission and resulting fame made him indispensable as a national figure, thus he was kept out of harm’s way by NASA no longer allowing him to take part in such dangerous missions. Glenn was, in a sense, a victim of his own success, and retired from NASA less than two years later, in January of 1964. Much of the rest of his life was spent in business and, especially, politics. He even ran for President in 1984 as a Democrat (the Republican Ronald Reagan won over the eventual Democratic candidate, Walter Mondale).
Questions: How did Glenn become an astronaut? What had been his previous accomplishments? Why was he called “The Clean Marine”? What was the high point of Glenn’s flying career — the Friendship 7 orbit of earth herein discussed, or something else? Why did he run for President in 1984 — what did he think he could bring to, or do for, the country? Why was he defeated for the Democratic nomination by Mondale?
