Fritz Julius Kuhn Fritz Julius Kuhn ( May 15 , 1896 – December 14 , 1951 ) was a controversial leader of the German American Bund , prior to World War II . He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1934 , but his citizenship was cancelled in 1943 and he was deported in 1945 . He was an American supporter of the German Nazi government led by Adolf Hitler . Biography . Kuhn was born in Munich , Germany on May 15 , 1896 , the son of Georg Kuhn and Julia Justyna Beuth . During World War I , Kuhn earned an Iron Cross as a German infantry lieutenant . After the war , he graduated from the Technical University of Munich with a Master ' s Degree in chemical engineering . In the 1920s , Kuhn moved to Mexico . In 1928 , he moved to the United States and , in 1934 , he became a naturalized citizen of the United States . After a Congressional committee headed by Samuel Dickstein , concluded that the Friends of New Germany organization supported a branch of German dictator Adolf Hitler ' s Nazi Party in America , the Friends disbanded . However , in March 1936 , the German American Bund was established in Buffalo , New York as a follow - up organization for the Friends . The Bund elected the German - born American citizen Kuhn as its leader ( " bundesführer " ) . Kuhn was initially effective as a leader and was able to unite the organization and expand its membership but came to be seen simply as an incompetent swindler and liar . Kuhn , while describing the Bund as " sympathetic to the Hitler government , " denied that the organization received money or took orders from the government of Germany . Kuhn also denied that the Bund had any agenda of introducing fascism to the United States . Kuhn enlisted thousands of Americans to join using what would be criticized as antisemitic , anticommunist , and pro - German propaganda . One of his first tasks was to plan a trip to Germany with 50 of his American followers . The purpose was to be in the presence of Hitler and to witness personally National - Socialism in practice . At this time , Germany was preparing to host the 1936 Olympics . Kuhn anticipated a warm welcome from Hitler , but the encounter was a disappointment . This did not stop Kuhn from elaborating more propaganda to his followers once he returned to the United States about how Hitler acknowledged him as the " American Führer " . As his popularity grew , so did the tension against him . Not only Jewish - Americans , but also German - Americans who did not want to be associated with Nazis , protested against the Bund . These protests were occasionally violent , making the Bund front page news in America . In response to the outrage of Jewish war veterans , Congress in 1938 passed the Foreign Agents Registration Act requiring foreign agents to register with the State Department . The negative attention to the American Nazis was not to Hitler ' s liking , who wanted the Nazi Party in America to be strong , but stealthy . Hitler wanted the U . S . to stay neutral throughout the war . Any American resentment towards the Nazi Party was too dangerous . On the other hand , Kuhn was only looking to stir more attention from the media . On 1 March 1938 , the Nazi government decreed that no German national ( " " Reichsdeutsche " " ) could be a member of the Bund , and that no Nazi emblems were to be used by the organization . Undaunted , on 20 February 1939 , Kuhn held the largest and most publicized rally in the Bund ' s history at Madison Square Garden in New York City . Some 20 , 000 people attended and heard Kuhn criticize President Roosevelt by repeatedly referring to him as " Frank D . Rosenfeld " , calling his New Deal the " Jew Deal " and denouncing what he believed to be Bolshevik - Jewish American leadership . Kuhn also stated : " The Bund is fighting shoulder to shoulder with patriotic Americans to protect America from a race that is not the American race , that is not even a white race . . . The Jews are enemies of the United States . " Most shocking to American sensibilities was the outbreak of violence between protesters and Bund storm troopers . During his speech , a protester rushed the stage and had to be hauled off by security . Downfall . In 1939 , seeking to cripple the Bund , New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia ordered the city investigate the Bund ' s taxes . It found that Kuhn had embezzled over $ 14 , 000 from the Bund , spending part of that money on a mistress . District Attorney Thomas E . Dewey issued an indictment and won a conviction against Kuhn . On 5 December 1939 , Kuhn was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison for tax evasion and embezzlement . Despite his criminal conviction for embezzlement , followers of the Bund continued to hold Kuhn in high regard , in line with the principle of " fuhrerprinzip " common to all Nazis that the leader has absolute power . While in prison , Kuhn ' s citizenship was canceled on 1 June 1943 . Upon his release after 43 months in State prison , Kuhn was re - arrested on 21 June 1943 as an enemy agent and interned by the federal government at a camp in Crystal City , Texas . After the War , Kuhn was sent to Ellis Island and deported to Germany after September 1945 . On arriving in West Germany , he was imprisoned but was released shortly before his death in 1951 . After being deported , Kuhn wanted to return to the United States . He died on December 14 , 1951 , in Munich , Germany . The " New York Times " noted he died " a poor and obscure chemist , unheralded and unsung . " 2010 dispute . On March 11 , 2010 , Glenn Beck made comments on his TV show regarding social justice . Beck , in a warning to his audience against people like Kuhn , quoted Kuhn ' s 1939 speech where Kuhn called for a " socially just white gentile ruled United States " . Beck called for Christians to leave their churches if they heard preaching about social or economic justice , saying they were code words for Communism and Nazism . This prompted outrage from many prominent Christians such as the Rev . Jim Wallis , and new controversy over the legacy of Kuhn and his organization .