Fighting Hitler in Southbury (Ep. 2)

In the 1930s, bigotry was alive and well in the United States – a perfect setting for supporters of the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany to establish a U.S.-based support system. As part of that effort, Hitler’s German-American supporters bought land in various strategic locations around the country, including in New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey – and Southbury, Connecticut (on land now known as the Fox Hollow Preserve, off Sleepy Hill Road). At these sites, they developed camps – for adults and youth – to raise the flag of the swastika and to march and sing the songs of the Third Reich. Listen as Southbury Town Historian John Dwyer recounts the fight between the 2,500-strong community (in those days) and the Bund as the organization was called.