Triumph of the Will Then and Now
You have seen the images. A man stands elevated at a podium in the midst of a vast field. An enormous crowd packed into the field roars with one voice and salutes in unison — “Heil, Hitler!” Soldiers in knee-length black leather boots goose-step through the streets. Those pictures from the 1930s and 1940s are very familiar to me and other baby boomers who grew up in America in the 1950s and 1960s just after Hitler’s defeat by the Allies in WWII. Back then, the Nazis represented the worst evil imaginable.
What I did not know back then was that we came close to having fascism in America at the same time Hitler was preparing to invade Poland. The date was February 20, 1939. The place was Madison Square Garden. The film below was made of actual footage taken of the event and was nominated for an academy award in 2019 after having been discovered in 2017.
When America entered the war December 7, 1941, the American Nazi party was no longer strong. The leader who spoke at the 1939 German American Bund rally above, Gerhard Wilhelm Kunze, was indicted for embezzlement and deported. But the fact that 20,000 starry-eyed, brown shirted Americans attended this rally two years earlier and used the Nazi salute the same way Germans did illustrates that fascist ideas — white supremacy, a distorted view of American history and American heroes, and fascination with a single leader — can grow in American soil.
I was aware of this history when Stuart and I visited Nuremberg, Germany, last August. We visited Zeppelin Field, named for the landing of a Zeppelin in 1909 and used as a sports arena until the National Socialists took “the meadow” over for rallies in 1934-1936. Using the plan by Albert Speers, the Nazis built a huge grandstand featuring the “Fuhrer’s Rostrum.” Mass events staged here attracted up to 200,000 people.
The “Fuhrer’s Rostrum” stands in the middle of this complex today. Not quite a ruin, and yet not nearly as imposing as it was in the 1930s.
Photo of one of the rallies.
From the Fuhrer’s perspective.
Standing on Zeppelin Field was an emotional experience for me. If I had been born in Germany in the 1920s, would I have been part of the adoring crowd? It would have taken great courage, and deep wisdom, to withstand the irresistible force of Nazi propaganda. In 1934 a Nazi Party Congress was held in Nuremberg, much of it on Zeppelin Field. The primary purpose of this congress was to give director Leni Riefenstahl a canvas on which to paint a film, Triumph of the Will. When we came home from our trip, we watched the film and saw how skillfully the evil of a totalitarian regime can be disguised as good, aided by the desire to submit to an all-powerful leader.
I highly recommend watching the short video below if you have an interest in how propaganda works.
What about today? I think every American should learn as much about fascism as possible. Two historians I trust on this subject are Heather Cox Richardson and Timothy Snyder.
The greatest defenses against fascism are faith, hope, and love.
And the greatest of these is love.
In a time of increased polarization, what are you doing to regulate your fears? Where do you find hope? What words do you have faith in? How do you express your love?
Thanks, Shirley for this blog post. People who have not lived through the horrors of WWI and WWII cannot realize the effect someone with a desire for power and control has on people, because they haven’t experienced it. These dictators are popping up again, and people are mesmerized! Our democracy is in grave danger! We need to be vigilant and do everything in our power to stop this evil!
Thank you, Elfrieda, for sharing your deep convictions. I would love to hear about how your family’s experiences before, during, and after WWII give you a perspective on what’s happening now. What kinds of things are within our power?
Shirley, I just have to think of people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who realized the immense danger of a Hitler regime and gave up his life trying to stop it. We cannot afford to throw up our hands and do nothing when our democracy is threatened! Our family and loved ones were refugees for four years, then spent another five years in wilderness conditions in Paraguay as a result of anarchy. This is happening today in Ukraine as well. People do not seem to realize how quickly this can happen! God have mercy!
God have mercy, indeed. I am glad you mentioned Bonhoeffer. His family and historians who have studied his life and works are quite concerned that Bonhoeffer’s biography has been distorted by author Eric Metaxas. Angel Studios has produced a new movie about Bonhoeffer based on the the Metaxas argument. I have not yet familiarized myself with how he distorts, but I do know that it fits the framework of Christian nationalism, a term Metaxas rejects.
Bonhoeffer joins George Washington (In the first video above), William Penn (a hero to Christian nationalist Abby Abildness for distorted historical reasons) and probably a host of others as examples of how the most important facts about a person’s courageous life can be used to argue for the very ideas they would no doubt find reprehensible today.
I describe how William Penn’s legacy is being appropriated in this essay: https://shirleyshowalter.com/separation-of-church-and-state/
Beautiful, Shirley. What times, then and now.
I’m praying, voting, and re-reading Annie Dillard. But the most important of these is voting!
I’m praying and voting too, Richard. And right now Stuart and I are about to spend Saturday morning #5 knocking on doors in our town. I love the idea of rereading Annie Dillard as an anti-depressant too.
Shirley, I have lived through many election cycles and have voted always. And after the choice is made, I have prayed for the leader elected, whether Democrat or Republican. Lately it was Biden, but I will pray for whoever comes next. I do believe social media has contributed to the increased polarization and frenzy we notice these days.
You ask, “What words do you have faith in?” The words of Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” And these hopeful words also: “And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity.”
Marian, you have an admirable ability to support our duly elected leaders with your prayers. I try to do the same. I admit it is sometimes harder to do than others. I find courage in your favorite scriptures also. They lift our vision above the next terrible headline. I have two verses on my computer right now. Romans 8:28 (N.T. Wright translation) “God works all thing toward ultimate good with and through those who love him.” And Colossians 1:16-17. “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things and in him all things hold together.”
Shirley — Len and I made our voices heard by voting in person on the first day it was available in our state. We’re also committed to being intentional beacons, radiating positive, uplifting, constructive, and healing energy, and cultivating peace, love, joy, and calm—grace.
Wonderful, Laurie. Glad you have voted. We did too. By mail for the first time. I am sure that both of you to radiate positivity and constructive calm. I have seen it online and in person! Bless you.
Interesting how fear and fascism feed each other.
Thank you for this timely post Shirley.
Yes. And fear is an emotion that affects both followers and dissenters in a totalitarian state — in different ways. In the film Triumph of the Will, Riefenstahl took great care to depict “ordinary” people with nearly ecstatically happy expressions on their faces as they watched the soldiers parade or gazed up at their fuhrer. So joining the movement was a way to find meaning and set fear aside. On the other hand, if you were part of the resistance, you had to be eternally vigilant, knowing that death was the penalty you were risking.
So frightening! Hopefully this will not come to pass here if we all can unite behind Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump.
I hope for the same, Martha. But, as I suspected The MAGA rally in NYC last night was just as chilling as the one in 1939. Do you read Heather Cox Richardson? Here’s her post today. Lord have mercy. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-27-2024?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=20533&post_id=150828783&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1l4qz&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Not to beat around the bush on this topic, Heather Cox Richardson, American Historian, writer of “Letters from an American,” has made a direct connection between Trump’s “fascist rally” (her words) in Madison Square Gardens and the same location for a Nazi rally Feb. 20, 1939 in her post today. I just dropped off my ballot today. We need to do whatever we can to prevent a takeover by a narcissistic fascist, whose Supreme Court justices picks have condemned several women to death already (with many more to come or who will never be able to bear children again) with their decision to overturn Roe v Wade.
We are truly teetering on the brink. Please vote asap.
Yes, everyone, vote! And subscribe to Heater Cox Richardson’s newsletter. Link in the text above.
I voted several weeks ago, Linda, here in this crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. And I’ve been knocking on doors since mid October..
When I read that Trump was going to Madison Square Garden, I knew that there would be direct and indirect connections between the event in 1939 and the event last night. I am sickened, and, yes, this is fascism.
Thank you for your wise words, Shirley. I watched only snippets of yesterday’s rally at MSG, and I have felt sick of spirit ever since. I didn’t think I could still be surprised by anything Trump and his followers could do, but those snippets surprised me in a horrifying way, I am worried and stressed about this election and the aftermath. I voted early last week 💙 and have encouraged young people in my small orbit to vote. I have donated, shared news, and plan to do text banking this week. My Harris sign was stolen from our yard last week, but I put out another one yesterday. I’m not going to be silent about the dangers to our democracy and freedoms. I want our country to be one where we ALL have the opportunity to thrive and no one is left behind. I’m looking for ways to calm down my anxiety and anger, but it is hard.
Oh, and I can’t tell you how very comforting and inspiring Heather Cox Richardson has been for me these last several years.
I’m so glad you have found Heather Cox Richardson, Tina. She is so wise and level-headed and totally steeped in the history of our country. Thank you for all you have done to show your love for your country and democracy,
We will hold each other no matter what happens in the next week.
Thank you.
Thank you too, Maren.
Thank you for this reminder, Shirley and agree with your observations. I’ve visited Nuremberg and have watched Riefenstahl’s work. Quite some years ago I was on a Anne Morrow Lindbergh “kick” and read her books of diaries and letters. I recall sensing an underlying un-ease in her in that period when her husband was so active in the America First movement (can’t recall if he was involved with the 1939 MSG event), how she tried to support and explain, etc., almost against her better judgment it seemed. Not sure what I’m trying to say, except that it can be hard to stand against the opinions of those around us. Praying for courage for the American electorate, as we in Canada watch.
Thanks for these observations, Dora. I remember reading Gift From the Sea many years ago and even used this quote as the theme for the continuing education program I instituted at Goshen College soon after I arrived: “The patterns of our lives are essentially circular.” That idea, of course, is even more true in my life now than it was then. I have often wondered how a writer as spiritually focused as AML could stand by as her husband led others to such extreme ideas and actions.