History Daily Nazis in New York
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Feb 20, 2026 A 1939 Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden draws 20,000 and sparks violent clashes. The rise of the German-American Bund and its leader Fritz Kuhn is explored. A dramatic onstage protest by Isidore Greenbaum turns the crowd against the rally. The aftermath shows public backlash, legal action, and the Bund's collapse.
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Stage Storming In Manhattan
- Isidore Greenbaum sneaks into a 1939 German-American Bund rally at Madison Square Garden to witness Nazi rhetoric firsthand.
- He storms the stage, yanks the microphone cable, shouts 'down with Hitler,' and is beaten and arrested for disorderly conduct.
Dorothy Thompson's Return
- Dorothy Thompson, expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934, returns to New York and becomes a prominent anti-fascist columnist and broadcaster.
- She uses her platform to warn Americans about fascism and criticize groups like the German-American Bund.
Homegrown Extremism Warning
- Dorothy Thompson argued that American groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the German-American Bund mirrored European fascism.
- She warned that without opposition, similar racial hatred could take hold in the United States.