Nazi POW during WWII in rural America are said to have been given a great life such as somewhat free access to roam, and in some cases even were taken in by families as helpful labor.
They also worked jobs on nearby farms. ‘If it hadn’t been for the POWs, a lot of the crops would have rotted in the fields,’ May said. William Barnes remembers as a young boy, working alongside POWs near Ottawa. ‘And you never worried about your own safety?’ KMBC’s Kris Ketz asked Barnes. ‘Oh, no. No, and it never occurred to me or my parents either. They were just very nice people. They were very happy,’ Barnes said. […] ‘I think there was just, they could see that they were of European origins and had much more seemingly in common with people out here,’ said Virgil Dean, a Kansas historian. It was a complicated time but at least here, a world at war finally ended with enemies no longer. …your best allies,’ May said.
Nazis as “best allies” of America, and this was during WWII?
Rural Americans hated the Japanese. There is no way this would have been the same story given the racism of America. Yet somehow Nazis were described as “best” and “seemingly in common” because they all shared their “European origins”.
Notice the problem?
Let me make an even finer point. American farmers of Japanese heritage, dedicated hard-working loyal Americans, were put into concentration camps by California (in a campaign led by racist Agriculture industry that intended to unfairly advantage white farmers) at the same time Nazi German soldiers were sent to farms in America to save “a lot of the crops”. Completely backwards and illogical.
Now you might say soldiers in the Nazi military were just regular guys who didn’t believe in Nazism, to which I’ll point you back to why this wouldn’t work for Japanese POW. There is more to this story than just whether or not a POW is a nice guy.
When people ask why resistance cells didn’t seem to rise up and continue to attack American soldiers after WWII, consider for a minute whether the defeated Nazis were instead seen as being on the same side and taken in as allies instead of enemies.
In other words, look at how America’s sudden rise of pro-Nazism after 1948 (e.g. Dixiecrats, rejection of civil rights) manifested in Confederate flags suddenly waving again after being completely obscure/ignored before WWII.
August 18, 1940 a RAF pilot was training in an unarmed plane when he was attacked during the battle of Britain. He countered by ramming the Germans, killing all as he sacrificed himself.
[Nazis] caught sight of the [RAF Avro] Anson flown by Sgt Hancock and gave chase. Reports from ground observers at the time say that the German plane turned towards the Anson and its front gunner opened fire on it. They also say that Hancock turned off his landing lights and slowed his plane, allowing the German aircraft to overfly him. Then, once the Heinkel’s pilot was committed to the manoeuvre, Hancock climbed, ramming the German plane out of the sky.
Add to the list of Ulysses Grant’s already amazing legacy (easily being the best American General and one of the best if not the best President in history) his environmentalism mixed with civil rights: deployment of Black mounted federal soldiers to protect nature (and invent mountain biking).
The first U.S. rangers included Black Americans, known at the time as Buffalo Soldiers. The U.S. Army had assigned them protective duty over newly created “national parks” before a National Park Service existed.
Approximately 500 Buffalo Soldiers were stationed throughout Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant parks to conserve wildlife from poachers, as well as to build access routes.
The mid-1890s — a period noted for the “Wheelmen” advocacy in creating roads — is when bicycles also were being explored as rugged all-terrain transportation even for the U.S. Army.
Thus, as it was just pointed out to me by Bilal A. Salaam, in the earliest days of modern cycling a team of eight Black soldiers can be credited with inventing how to reliably ride American mountains (and hills and everything dirt including gravel and mud).
Source: Montana Historical Society. Minerva Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park 1896.
Fort Missoula’s Buffalo Soldier Bicycle Corps in fact trained and tested eight men in a wild Yellowstone, then set out with twelve more men on a jaw-dropping 1,900-miles from Fort Missoula, Montana, to Saint Louis, Missouri.
1,900 miles on bikes in just 40 days with few or no roads. Source: U.S. National Archives
Major General Nelson A. Miles, as Army Commander-in-Chief, expressed his interest by recommending that one full regiment be equipped with bicycles in 1892, and that existing troops at different posts around the country use bicycles to obtain a thorough knowledge of their own country, especially the topographical features, conditions of the roads, sources of supplies, and all information of military importance.
On May 12, 1896, Fort Missoula’s 2nd Lieutenant James A. Moss received permission to organize the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps, the first of its kind in the country. Moss, a native of Louisiana and a West Point graduate, was an avid cyclist who set out to thoroughly test the practicality of the bicycle for military purposes.
The Spalding design he sought for his men to ride was simple yet very practical. It was a fat-tire single speed with flat bars — iconic first mountain bike — that even would hold its own today.
Moss contacted the A. G. Spalding Company, who provided military bicycles at no cost. The Corps, consisting of eight black enlisted men, soon was riding in formation, drilling, scaling fences up to nine-feet high, fording streams, and pedaling 40 miles a day. Each bicycle carried a knapsack, blanket roll, and a shelter strapped to the handlebar. A hard leather frame case fit into the diamond of each bicycle and a drinking cup was kept in a cloth sack under the seat. Each rider carried a rifle (first slung over the back, later strapped to the horizontal bar) and 50 rounds of ammunition.
Source: Online Bicycle Museum. The Spalding definitively was ridden in 1896 as the first mountain bike in America, heavily marketed and produced by 1897.
That 1897 cover story looks like something straight out of 1987. It might as well say Cannondale, Schwinn or Specialized.
Not only did these Americans handle self-sufficiency with intentionally stretched supply routes (100 mile distance set between resupply stations, and carrying only 2-days food), on challenging terrain, they also navigated egregiously hostile racism and discrimination.
In the face of incredible challenges, in the awesome legacy of Grant’s best ideas, American men who rode the first organized American mountain bikes in history earned their reputation for courage and skill.
Another ride was planned for 1898 all the way to San Francisco to promote even more awareness of Black soldiers, yet it was cancelled instead for unclear reasons. Was there fear that Blacks might object to Polk’s “immoral war” of 1845 that landed California in American hands, or was there worry about Black soldiers interfering with Stanford’s ongoing genocide of non-whites?
Some believed demonstrations like Blacks on a grueling ride to San Francisco, or even serving in combat roles as soldiers in America’s “expansionist” pursuits, would gain respect and social entry or status for non-whites in America:
…many African Americans felt a good military showing by Black troops in the [1899 Spanish-American War in the] Philippines would reflect favorably and enhance their cause in the United States.
The Black soldiers, like their impressive mountain biking, indeed ended up playing an outsized heroic role in the Spanish-American war:
“If it hadn’t been for the black cavalry, the Rough Riders would have been exterminated.” Five black soldiers of the 10th Cavalry received the Medal of Honor and 25 other black soldiers were awarded the Certificate of Merit.
Yet this did not improve barriers to civil rights. Quite the opposite.
These American heroes ran directly into American racism. Instead of celebration and expansion, the backlash of resentment from white insecurity grew against these Blacks who ventured to demonstrate their value and capabilities — success in America meant risk of being punished and relegated to lesser roles.
Shortly after the end of the Spanish-American War a decline began in the status of Black serviceman. White sentiment ran against Black soldiers; too much apparently had been made of their success, causing them to forget their subservient “place.” Even Theodore Roosevelt, who had been a supporter of Black soldiers, reversing his earlier praise, stated that Black soldiers were peculiarly dependent upon their white officers and Black noncommissioned officers generally lacked the ability to command and handle the men like the best classes of whites. Roosevelt apparently was bowing to the pressures of public opinion.
At the close of the century, however, Black servicemen had become impatient with the long-standing policy of limited opportunities, discrimination, and paternalistic white officers. Chaplain Steward’s comments revealed the deepening dissatisfaction of Black servicemen: “The colored American soldier, by his own prowess, has won an acknowledged place by the side of the best trained fighters with arms,” he said. “In the fullness of his manhood he has no rejoicing in patronizing paean, the colored troops fought nobly, nor does he glow at all when told of his “faithfulness” and devotion to his white officers, qualities accentuated to the point where they might well fit an affectionate dog.”
The military refused to meet the growing expectations of its Black soldiers.
Some in America basically refused to end their anti-democratic rebellion — extending Civil War — especially as Blacks proved to be equal in every way to whites who clearly felt a sense of loss from any gains made by their fellow citizens.
A decade later in 1912, Woodrow Wilson narrowly became President with just 42% of the vote and immediately set about denigrating much of Grant’s legacy — using the White House to revive the KKK and terrorize Blacks as well as remove Blacks from service in government and the military so they would be unable to defend America from racist men like Woodrow Wilson.
No one was more at risk of experiencing targeted violence than Black veterans who had proven their valor and courage as soldiers during the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. Military service sparked dreams of racial equality for generations of African Americans, but rather than welcomed home and honored for their service, many Black veterans were targeted for mistreatment, violence, and murder during the lynching era due to their race and military experience.
Such a precedent by the Buffalo Soldiers in resilience, resourcefulness, park management and environmental stewardship continues to this day, although these first mountain bikers in American history have mostly been ignored or forgotten because of… racism.
Mountain biking culture in America never, ever speaks of this true origin story about Black cyclists.
Source: Marin Museum of Bicycling. Come on. A fat-tire single speed with flat bars for dirt in 1953…? That’s like over 50 years late. What really changed from the famous 1897 Spalding?
The Yellowstone expedition’s eight men were named Sgt. Dalbert P. Green, Cpl. John G. Williams, Pvt. John Findley, Pvt. Frank L. Johnson, Pvt. William Proctor, Pvt. William Haynes, Pvt. Elwood Forman, and William W. Brown.
Source: Montana Historical Society. William Haynes, original American mountain biker showing his 1896 gear in Yellowstone.
Likewise, the world’s first Black sports celebrity was a cyclist named Marshall Taylor, the forefather of today’s superstar athletes. You would think such a man would be an American icon, yet how many times have you heard someone even say his name?
This program tells the story of the 25th Infantry’s bicycle trip from Missoula, Montana, to St. Louis, Missouri in 1897. The African American infantry took the trip to test a theory that the bicycle would replace the horse in transporting men for the army. The program also examines the life of the African American soldier at the turn of the century, in particular First Sergeant Mingo Sanders.
The only reference to the bicycle corps that I found in the National Archives files of the soldiers was a 1910 pension application from Frank Johnson, who had “the piles & rheumatism… received by riding a bicycle from Fort Missoula Montana to Saint Louis Missouri.” Frank Johnson, “Declaration for Original Invalid Pension,” 18 May 1910, State of New York, County of New York, National Archives Building, Washington, DC.
Whitman tells us of Nazi efforts to use American racist laws to help draft their Nuremberg Laws. It makes sense. So let’s explore a bit more.
Woodrow Wilson’s time in office (1912-1921) was clearly responsible for the rise of a “Second Empire” of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), so was America even more of a blueprint for Nazi Germany?
Such a virulently racist President, with virtually no representative experience (he was elected to New Jersey office then almost immediately ran for President and was elected by just 42%) advocated for a “strong executive” who would bypass what he termed “inefficiencies” of representative government.
Wilson’s racism wasn’t the matter of a few unfortunate remarks here or there. It was a core part of his political identity, as indicated both by his anti-black policies as president and by his writings before taking office. It is completely accurate to describe him as a racist and white supremacist and condemn him accordingly.
That’s a pretty bold start.
And the following changes he made all should look familiar to anyone studying Nazi Germany:
President Wilson made it a requirement to include a photograph with any application for a federal position, to facilitate the exclusion of blacks from government jobs. Wilson pushed for segregation of federal workers, systematically demoted black civil servants, and claimed nothing could be done to improve the situation of blacks in the country. He refused to meet with black leaders, to appear at black conferences on race issues, or to publicly denounce lynching.
Priorities.
Even the National Interest refers to him as the worst President in history
Prices shot up into double digits, and then came a potent economic recession that lasted three years. He accepted the suppression of civil liberties by his notorious attorney general, A. Mitchell Palmer. His government nationalized many private industries, including the telegraph, telephone and railroad industries, along with the distribution of coal. Race riots erupted in numerous cities that claimed nearly 150 lives in two years.
Palmer was notorious because of arrests, convictions, incarcerations, and immigrant deportations, all without hearings or trials…some of the worst violations of civil rights and freedom of speech until Trump repeated them.
And that number of 150 is actually an unfairly low estimate, given how mass graves are being unearthed now from those “riots” (white mobs killing black Americans).
1919 was the devastating Red Summer such that by 1921 the Tulsa Massacre (white supremacists fire bombing an entire black neighborhood and building a KKK meeting hall on the ruins) was how the WWI black veterans were viciously attacked under Wilson’s “Second Empire”.
Many Black veterans were mistreated, and in some cases, attacked while in uniform. Lynchings increased from 64 in 1918 to 83 in 1919. Membership in the revived Ku Klux Klan, reborn after D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film The Birth of a Nation [screened in the White House, using President Wilson’s words and promoted under President Wilson’s name], skyrocketed into the millions by the early 1920s.
I don’t think we can so neatly tie all the Nazi plans for disinformation and violent centralization of power to Wilson’s administration alone, however.
Goebbels points out at least two other Americans he was heavily influenced by…
Bernays who published a 1928 propaganda guide, related to his work in the WWI U.S. Committee on Public Information (CPI)
Ford’s anti-Semitic disinformation and hate publications
The key to this story then really becomes Americans just prior to 1934, where the ends of the spectrum collide (Wilson’s racist legacy thins as America finds itself in conflict with him/Germany in a whole new way).
Hitler created a Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda in March 1933. This was their version of Wilson’s CPI, where Bernays worked on messaging such as an official government “white knight” portrayal of American forces.
“Official U.S. War Film, released by Committee on Public Information, George Creel, Chairman” released in 1918
In case the “Knights Templar” and Crusader imagery here isn’t obvious enough, here’s the 1915 “Birth of a Nation” film poster that restarted the KKK.
We find the same propaganda today in Russian white supremacist “morale” patch stores frequented by hate group militias.
Source: Russian extreme-right militant patches store
I guess this just shows how even Bernays still ties directly back to Wilson, while also to today’s Nazis. Oh well.
Roosevelt in 1934 established an FCC (the opposite model to Wilson/Nazi centralization) to help neutralize any further Nazi military intelligence operations (e.g. tamp down pro-Hitler “America First” cells). Roosevelt was acutely aware after an insane 1933 “Business Plot” to replace US gov with Nazism.
More to the point, experts in America had warned Roosevelt to keep WWI people like Wilson’s Bernays out of the WWII information warfare efforts. This is how far America had diverged under Roosevelt, as the Nazis were doing the exact opposite by bringing the teachings from Wilson’s Bernays into full force.
Justice Felix Frankfurter, in a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, described Bernays and Ivy Lee as “professional poisoners of the public mind, exploiters of the foolishness, fanaticism and self-interest.” A sociologist, E. T. Hiller, opined that “such widespread efforts to manipulate public opinion constitute a financial burden, a perversion of intellectual candor, and a menace to political sanity.”
How about Henry Ford then?
If you read Goebbels carefully you’ll find that he says he wasn’t so antisemitic until after reading Henry Ford’s publications on the matter.
The 1921 November 21 Congressional Record tells, not just about his antisemitism, but a sad tale of corrupt conspiracy/links to Wilson’s administration:
What were the relations between Mr. Henry Ford and President Woodrow Wilson? Mr. President, as my friend from Alabama would say, this is a serious question. Did not Henry Ford give $30,000 to Wilson’s campaign fund during the last month of the struggle in 1916, and do so at the personal request of Mr. Tumulty? It is so stated in this paper published by Henry Ford’s ex-partner, and it was published in September, and now we are nearly at December, and nobody has denied it. Will anybody now deny it? It is a pretty good time to make a denial.
[…nobody denies it…]
Did that liberal gift have anything to do with keeping Henry Ford’s son out of the Army when so many hundreds of thousands of other men’s sons were in the Army, thousands of them fighting, suffering, dying in Flanders and in France, while Edsel Ford was continuing to make tin Lizzies to run against golden chariots?
[…]
Mr. President, what else did Henry Ford get out of Wilson’s honest and patriotic administration? It was reported he got $14,000,000 for the construction of Eagle boats which were either useless or not constructed; and when that fact was brought home to Henry Ford he said he was going to return the money to Uncle Sam. I was anxious to have a front seat and see Henry do that, but he never has done it.
[…]
The Ford Motor Co., according to the War Department, received from Wilson’s administration $249,000 for tools which were never delivered. I suppose Henry has them yet. He also has the money, unless he spent it on this election.
The Ford Motor Co., for tractors: Number delivered, none. Amount paid, $1,299,000. Where are those tractors? They might be converted into golden chariots, for all I know.
The Ford Motor Co., for spare parts: Number delivered, none. Amount paid, $5,517,000. that leaves out the Eagle boats.
Welp. Looks like Henry Ford also was quite the Wilson man, soaking up loads of war money and delivering nothing as a form of forcing neutrality by gaming the supply chain.
For an interesting angle on this, German military intelligence also during this time was setting up shell companies that took American taxpayer money for supplies and delivered nothing (as a means of laundering money to support Germany, but also preventing American goods from reaching Britain).
In that sense, Wilson (and Ford) not only were laying a blueprint for Nazi Germany, they were perhaps in 1919 intentionally setting a very specific stage to create the antisemitic corrupt state they had tried to force on America.
America in fact drifted away from the early precepts of Nazism (not easily, as Roosevelt in 1933 had a pitched battle to win) while Germany drifted towards it…
In 1938 (the year of Kristallnacht, a Nazi attack that shook even pro-Nazi men like Hearst into joining team America against fascism) Henry Ford accepted Nazi Germany’s Grand Cross of the German Eagle as an award for his anti-Americanism.
A year later Ford Werke was eagerly (pun not intended) delivering materials to the Nazi war machine. This even continued after America declared war on Germany, and Ford resisted Allied requests for increased production to help defeat Hitler.
American autoworkers and their children in 1941 protest Ford’s relationship with Hitler. Source: Wayne State
It does make one think that had Wilson lived longer he may have, like Ford, seen Nazi Germany being what he had envisioned for America. While both men claimed to be anti-war, the record shows they were pro-tyranny and anti-American, wielding outsized influence in killing Americans.
Today still seems strange to write these things out loud, given how some Americans don’t admit yet how horrible Wilson was to Americans. Yet, it’s a fact that Nazi Germany was a result of Wilson’s foreign as well as domestic policies in more ways than we usually talk about.
