Posted on 10/07/2005 10:03:44 AM PDT by esarlls3
In the summer of 1936, the still-distant threat of Nazism cast an unexpected shadow across the hinterlands of Long Island.
(snip)
On Long Island, Nazism invaded Yaphank in the form of a summer retreat called Camp Siegfreid.
Located on a wooded lakefront near the mid-Suffolk village, the camp was ostensibly a summer place for youngsters and a weekend campground for adults. In reality it was more dangerous -- a project sponsored by the German-American Bund, which had been established to promote Hitlerism in this country.
(snip)
By 1937, up to 40,000 bundists would arrive on Sundays to celebrate Nazism in America, while young Siegfrieders lined up to greet them as the train pulled into Yaphank. A large contingent of Nazis also marched through the village of Lindenhurst that year.
[See source for rest of article.]
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
LI had more than a few German-towns. New Hyde Park still has a couple of dozen octogenarian Germans holding on to the houses they bought in the 40s. And, I am currently working on a script entitled "Polishtown" set in Riverhead and the Hamptons.
Still nice out there....for Long Island.
ping
You can still get a great Octoberfest meal in Lindenhurst at Georgia's restaurant.
I was off Lindenhurst last night snagging little blues in the bay with the grandson...
You have to keep this kind of stuff in perspective. In 1937 here's what German-Americans knew:
Germany had been totally screwed by the French after WWI (which they and Russia had actually instigated over Germany's alliance with the Hapsburg Empire, which was cracking down on the Serb terrorists who had assassinated their Arch-Duke) and their economy was in the toilet, as was their corrupt Weimar culture. Hitler was, at that point, merely reuniting a dismantled nation.
Hitler was an anti-semite. He was also an anti-communist. Both before and after the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, you could make the case that Hitler was much less a threat to America than Soviet Communism. There had been no holocaust in 1937.
Sure, these people (and the ralliers at Madison Square Garden who were giving the Nazi salute before a giant banner portrait of George Washington) were misguided given who Hitler turned out to be. But it doesn't say anything horrible about their character. Certainly nothing as horrible as could be said of people who should have known better regarding communism. I give you Alger Hiss, Edward R. Murrow, Dean Acheson, Franklin Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, Walter Duranty, and three whole generations of pro-soviet liberals and traitors who have NEVER been called to adequate account for their treason.
thats the bar I was talking about...only it use to be Unkle Herrmanns......
Lindenhurst cut...babylon cut....I fished them all...mostly for fluke and then went to the inlet for blues and stripers.
We went over by the cove at Hemlocks, where I spent much of the sixties surfing solo or with just a few buds.
Yeah, I still own a house in the Village of Port Jeff. It's probably where we'll retire.
I remember when there was a soda fountain/candy store by the name of the Crystal where we would cut out of class and hang out. It had a jukebox and was cool! :0) The principal would come looking for us and we would hide in the booths. He would always find us, don't know why? LOL!
I have very fond memories of PJ, and I think you are very lucky. Before we moved to Florida, my husband and I would spend a lot of time down by the harbor. The Yuppie Puppy used to be one of our favorite places. (I understand it has been closed due to Humane violations.) :0(
My oldest, now 30, graduated Vandermuellen then we moved closer to the city. We kept the house, it's walking distance to town. The place is a bit chi-chi these days but still one of the better places on the island.
Both my daughter (31) and my son (30) graduated from Patchogue-Medford and then Stonybrook University. How close to the city did you go? My husband worked in Nassau County.
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