view raw text
GERMAN-AMERICANS THREAT Bund Alleged to Have Warned of Reprisals of Relations in Germany Startling Testimony WASHINGTON, D. C, Nov. 9. German-American Bunds have frequently threatened and tried to intimidate German-Americans who oppose Nazi propaganda in this country, the Dies Committee investigating un-American activities was told Saturday. Bernhard Hoffman of Milwaukee, president of the Wisconsin Federation of German-American Societies, told the committee that Bund followers have warned their critics of reprisals against relatives living in Germany. Hoffman, brought before the committee by Investigator John C. Metcalfe, said 99 per cent of the Germans in Wisconsin were opposed to the Bunds and that these organizations have been able to enlist only 400 members in the state. KEEP NAMES SECRET. "I have had many German-Americans call me on the telephone and say they have been told that their relatives in Germany will suffer if they criticize the Bund," Hoffman said. "Many of these people begged me not to make their names public." The witness accused George Froboese, Mid-West Bund leader, of having tried to intimidate him, but did not go into details. He read a number of extracts from letters which he termed of a threatening character. Froboese, he said, had written in a newspaper that the German consul refused him Hoffman a permit to go to Germany because of his attitude. Hoffman said that he never sought a German visa during a recent trip abroad, because he did not have time to visit his country. Leroy Schulz, vice-president of the Protective League, and Investigator Metcalfe were scheduled to testify later in the day. Some of the testimony was expected to concern activities of the German Alliance of Milwaukee, recently involved in a near riot at the Municipal Auditorium.
