On this day, Feb 21, 1939: 100,000 mill about hall as bund jeers Jews, F.R. [View all]

[Behind the Aegis]

This story was originally published on Feb 21, 1939. The content has not been edited, in order to preserve the historical record.

An Americanization meeting of the pro-Nazi German-American bund, attended by 18,000 persons and featured by tributes to George Washington and denunciations of Jews, ended shortly before midnight last night with salutes to swastikas and the singing of the Nazi anthem, "Horst Wessel."

Outside Madison Square Garden policemen had had a six-hour struggle with throngs of anti-Nazis who repeatedly charged their lines to fight their way inside.

Although there were numerous individual fights, none was seriously injured. Thirteen were arrested, including Isidore Greenbaum, 23, a sanitary engineer, who rushed the speaking platform in an attempt to attack Fritz Kuhn, national bund leader, and was severely beaten by bund storm troopers. Greenbaum's trousers were torn off.

100,000 Gather

Traffic was halted completely in a six-block area most of the night and it was estimated at one time that a crowd of 100,000 was in the neighborhood.

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