Quiz - Nazis of Copley Square Flashcards
WWI in June 1940
UK/British Commonwealth alone facing Germany, Italy, and Japan
–> France surrenders; USSR still in non-aggression pact with Germany
Herbert Scholz during the war
German embassy, consulates closed by FDR in summer of 1941
–> Scholz reassigned to legation in Hungary, then to Northern Italy
–> interrogated after war by US Army Counter Intelligence Corps, then US Justice Department official; stuck to cover story of diplomat role and was believed
–> outplayed Captain James Jesus Angleton (would later be CIA’s counterintelligence chief); lived in Argentina, then West Germany
–> received German diplomatic pension in 1958
ultimate downfall of Christian Front
Pearl Harbor & entrance into war; Moran drafted, death of Sweeney, and dissolution of the group
Charles R. Gallagher
author of The Nazis of Copley Square
–> associate professor of history at Boston College
–> first scholar to document role of Nazi intelligence in Boston
FBI informant in Christian Front
codename T-1; worked in Charlestown Naval Base, fluent in German
–> apparent penetration into Christian Front, but was too scared to ever taken the stand against Moran in trial
Heinrich Bruning
former German chancellor (1930-1932); in exile at Harvard during onset of WWI
–> spouting anti-Nazi sentiments; target of Scholz’s attempts to silence
isolationism
movement in America pre-WWI and WWII
–> ask to stay out of European war
–> supported heavily by Irish Americans (& Irish Catholics)
–> huge especially before Pearl Harbor
relationship between Moran and Scholz
Moran recruited because of ability to speak German; supposed to promote Nazi propaganda, espionage
–> provided with direction and funds during speaking tours across East Coast
Boston College during Christian Front
Jesuit university; at least intellectually supportive of movement
German consulate in Boston
39 Chestnut Street, Beacon Hill
–> held first meeting between Moran and Scholz in June 1940
–> supposedly lined with lead on first floor, so FBI could not listen in
was US aware of MI6 influence on Christian Front?
General Donovan had a very close relationship with William Stephenson, chief of MI6…very likely
–> Donovan had been FDR’s emissary on trips to UK, where he had met “Intrepid”
–> Donovan probably would have supported anti-isolationism (e.g. Lend-Lease Act)
Christian Front in Boston
–> support among high Irish Catholic, working-class population
–> headquarters on second floor of Copley Square Hotel (same place where Babe Ruth lived during time on Red Sox)
Spanish Civil War
Republicans (support of USSR) vs. Franco & followers (support of Germany, Italy)
–> Church has major institutional power in Spain; Republicans kill about 10% of all priests
–> Italians provide most aid to Franco; Germans provide technology, including planes that help practice blitzkrieg style for WWII
–> Franco wins, has party in power until 1975
surveillance of Christian Front
performed by law enforcement –> FBI, army and navy intelligence, Boston police, OSS; also done on German consulate
–> never tied Moran to Nazis or understand Scholz’s purpose in Boston
where is Copley Square?
Back Bay neighborhood of Boston; near Boylston and Clarendon Streets
Dr. Herbert Scholz
German consulate in Boston (1938-1941); operations officer for Moran, orchestrator of isolationist-encouraging plans; elite Schutzstaffel officer
–> supposedly “demoted” to Boston from embassy in D.C., “blotting his copy book”
–> tasked with handling/reining in Heinrich Bruning
–> too young to join military in WWI; joined Freikorps (paramilitary quasi-Nazis), then Brownshirts; PhD at University of Leipzig in Nazi philosophy; headquarters aide in the SS
Father Charles Coughlin
“founding father of hate radio”
–> active in 1930s; drew tens of millions of listeners
–> strong supporter of isolationism, anti-Semitism
how did British intelligence find out about Christian Front?
unknown…maybe through similar wiretapping as to Zimmerman telegram?
title of book
The Nazis of Copley Square: The Forgotten Story of the Christian Front
who was MI6’s cutout?
unknown –> had to be trusted by MI6 and Frances Sweeney
–> Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.? had studied at U. of Cambridge and would have ideologically been anti-Nazi
Gallagher’s influence to write book
undergrad student receiving training in semi-automatic weaponry (intending to join police)
–> recognized men in a photograph as members of Christian Front; they attempted to overthrow US gov’t in 1940, charged with seditious conspiracy, then exonerated
British intelligence
MI5: internal (BSS)
MI6: external (SIS)
why did Irish Catholics support U.S. isolationism?
distaste for British after inadequate response to potato famine; unwillingness to ally with a past enemy
Arnold Lunn
British scholar, journalist; Catholic convert in 1930s
–> spurned by atrocities committed against Catholic clergy in Spanish Civil War
–> believed Christians needed to join forces to oppose communism
America First Committee
founded in 1940; included several members of Congress, Charles Lindbergh
Christian Front
established in US in 1939, in part by Coughlin
–> inspired by Arnold Lunn; opposition to communism, as well as anti-Semitism (“Judeo-Bolshevism”)
–> about 100,000 members along East Coast, primarily in Boston, NYC, and Philadelphia; mostly white men
Catholic doctrines believed by Christian Front
–> “mystical body of Christ”: all Catholics part of one body, so injury to one = injury to all
–> “Catholic action”: doing good works in the world = church’s work, deserving of institutional recognition
Francis Moran
Irish-American leader of Boston’s Christian Front (from Dorchester)
–> “ideal spy and agent of influence”
–> devout Catholic, articulate public speaker, educated by German priests & fluent in German
–> wartime: was drafted into “troublemakers” unit of US Army, then worked as reference librarian in Boston
–> MICE: ideology, money, some ego
Frances Sweeney
journalist, Irish-American Catholic; staunch opponent of racism, fascism, and anti-Semitism
–> self-published “Boston City Reporter”
–> founded Irish-American Defense Association
–> supposedly unaware of British intelligence connection to her funding (thought money came from disgusted Americans)
–> died June 19, 1944 (age 36) from heart failure
–> MICE: ideology, some money (?)
British intelligence vs. Christian Front
“largely successfully covert action to counter the Christian Front in Boston”
–> funding through cut-out to Frances Sweeney
January 1942
Sweeney’s probes led Boston police to raid Christian Front
–> thousands of books, pamphlets seized
–> Moran threatened with arrest for selling unpatriotic publications
