So I was doing some research for an essay and came across groups like the German-American Bund, Silver Legion, Free Society of Teutonia, etc. While they're only tangentially related to what I'm writing, I still find myself curious. As far as I can tell, the Bund was the largest and most successful of them, but they capped at like 25,000 members and didn't really expand past NY.
Still, I'd like to ask: what exactly did they do on a day-to-day basis? I know that some of these groups had camps, but not much of what happened in them. How much did they affect the US, and how did Germany view them?
You’ve stumbled upon my exact research topic so you’re in luck. You’re right that the Bund was the largest of these groups, and it was also the most well known because it’s actuvities were very public. They ran youth camps, seaking to indoctrinate first their youth and then all youth with the principles of the Third Reich and hatred for Jews and Communists. They ran various propaganda machines, held rallies across the country, the biggest in Madison Square Garden.
Membership numbers for the Bund are iffy, some cap it about 25,000 and other estimates are higher. There has ever been any concrete total. However, they did greatly expand further than NY. There were Bund Divisions from coast to coast, with hubs in Omaha, Milwaukee, Detroit, Taylor TX, LA, and many other states.
I would argue that their influence on the US was making Americans more worried about and fearful of Nazi Germany. For the most part, the American people were totally against the Bund, and saw them as a “fifth column” in the United States, spies and an army for Hitler if he ever came across the ocean.
And Germany disavowed them fairly early on. The government saw how much the Bund was damaging the reputation of the Nazi Government in the US, and instead of keeping America isolationist it was making us more willing to act.
Hope this answers your question, let me know if I can help more!
-historyrepeats666