Dr. Curry showed that the salute of the National Socialist German
Workers' Party originated from a National Socialist in America -Francis
Bellamy- who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892. http://rexcurry.net/pledgesalute.html
New discoveries expose the "swastika" of the first American National
Socialists (see image).
Francis Bellamy was the cousin of Edward Bellamy. Edward was
the head of the Nationalism movement in America at that time, the inspiration
for Nationalist Clubs worldwide, and the founder of the Nationalist Party.
Edward was also the author of the national socialist fantasy Looking
Backward (1888), an international bestseller, and in November, 1888,
Edward personally made a contract with an interpreter to translate his
book into German (see the biography by Arthur Morgan, p. 65).
In 1891, American advertisements listed German-language editions of
Bellamy's book and stated that the socialist's novel "Lays the foundation
of the Nationalist Movement." http://rexcurry.net/bellamy-charles-edward1891.pdf
The adverstisements coincide with Edward Bellamy's "Nationalist"
magazine, published by the "Nationalist Educational Association." http://rexcurry.net/nationalistmagazine.jpg
The German translation not only promoted National Socialism in
Germany, it also promoted National Socialism in America and cultivated
those Americans who later supported the USA's German-American Bund movement
that supported the National Socialist German Workers' Party. It
has been said that the Bellamys were "more Nazi than the Nazis."
Bellamy's comments in the Sprinfield Union newspaper show
his glorification of German folk life. According to the biographer Sylvia
E. Bowman, "To Bellamy, Americans had much to learn from the Germans who
enjoyed nature, had outdoor summer houses and beer gardens, and from all
of these, had found a placid contentment which contrasted to the hustle
and bustle of American life."
In 1935, Columbia University requested three people (John Dewey,
a philosopher; Charles Beard, a historian; and Edward Weeks, the editor
of Atlantic Monthly) to list the ten most influential books of
the preceding 50 years (from 1885 to 1935). On all three lists, prepared
independently, Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward appeared second
on the list, the first being Karl Marx’s Das Kapital. It is important
to remember that during this time of Bellamy's great influence, the
National Socialist German Workers’ Party had been in existence since 1920,
with electoral breakthroughs in 1930, and dictatorship in 1933. Many
writers have suggested that Bellamy was viewed as an alternative to Marx,
and that view raised his influence among German National Socialists.
According to Gail Collins, at that time "...far more American
workers read Looking Backward than ever made it through Marx..." Tomorrow
Never Knows, The Nation, Vol. 252, Issue # 2, January 21, 1991. The
book was "debated by all down to the bootblack on the corner," reported
Henry Demarest Lloyd in 1894.
The book, Edward Bellamy Abroad, by Sylvia E. Bowman, is
an amazing 543 pages of evidence that Edward Bellamy's scheme for an "industrial
army" (openly modeled after the military) was a bad influence upon WWII
and the socialist Wholecaust (of which the Holocaust was a part): the
National Socialist German Workers' Party (21 million people slaughtered);
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (62 million slaughtered); the People's
Republic of China (35 million). (Also see http://rexcurry.net/socialists.html
and http://rexcurry.net/socialists.jpg
) In Bowman's chapter on Germany alone, there are 54 pages, with
comments about the monstrous National Socialist German Workers' Party,
mentioning the similarities in Bellamy's philosophy.
Looking Backward became an international bestseller, translated
into every major language, including German, and it inspired military
socialism worldwide. The book, described by socialists as the "Bible
of Nationalism," inspired the creation of 167 “Nationalist Clubs” worldwide,
including Germany. In the USA and in Germany it inspired the "Nationalism"
movement, the "Nationalist" magazine, the "Nationalist Educational Association,"
and the "Nationalist Party." Bellamy nationalists focused on nationalism
(“my country over others”), a government takeover of schools, rabid patriotism
(e.g. Pledges of Allegiance in government schools with the original straight-arm
salute), and their interest in nationalization, or public ownership and
management of everything. The government takeover of schools
also led to segregation imposed by law and taught as official policy, and
it outlasted the National Socialist German Workers' Party by decades.
Bellamy's influence was still going strong in 1938 with the publication
of Bellamy's “Talks on Nationalism.” President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt imposed national socialism and socialist slave numbers (social
security) in 1935 as a "worker's" program for Roosevelt’s vision of the
industrial army that coincided with similar numbering programs of the National
Socialist German Workers’ Party. During that time, children in the government's
segregated schools were required by law to salute the flag with the straight-armed
salute in military formation daily on the ring of a government bell, like
Pavlov’s lapdogs of the state. Bellamy's "Talks on Nationalism"
is a terrifying look at the parallels between American National Socialists
and German National Socialists.
German National Socialism was supported by American National Socialism
via German-Americans who joined the German American Bund movement (Deutsch-Amerikanischer
Volksbund) to support national socialists in Germany before WWII. http://rexcurry.net/pledgebund.html
The Bund began as the Friends of New Germany in Chicago
in 1933. This group traced its roots to the Teutonia Society and
National Socialist Party, both active in the USA during the 1920s.
The phrase "National Socialist" was added to the original name of the party
(the German Workers' Party), and the National Socialist German Workers' Party
also partnered with the "Nationalist Party" of Franz von Papen to take power.
In March of 1933 (03-05-1933), the National Socialist German Workers
Party received 44% of the total vote. Its 288 seats combined with 52 Nationalist
Party to give German National Socialists a bare 16-seat majority (Shirer,
Rise and Fall, pp. 195-196). [The plurality of the NSDAP
in the 07/31/32 election had been 37%, making it the largest
party for the first time. However, the NSDAP lost two million
voters in the 11/05/32 election and had to partner with the
Nationalist Party to create a bare 16-seat majority]. It
gave the National Socialists and Nationalists a clear majority in the Reichstag. The
leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party became chancellor
of Germanay via deal-making with the Nationalist Party of Franz
von Papen. One breakthrough for the NSDAP came in 1929,
when the Nationalist Party solicited Hitler's help in its campaign against
the a plan for German reparations. Hitler had campaigned in the presidential
elections of 1932, losing to Paul von Hindenburg, but strengthening his position
by promising to support Chancellor Franz von Papen of the Nationalist Party,
who lifted the ban on the storm troops (June, 1932). Hindenburg, on the
urging of von Papen, called Hitler to be chancellor of a coalition cabinet
and Hitler took office on January 30, 1933. In growing difficulties, Hindenburg
eventually dismissed the government and appointed a new one under the ex-military
man Franz von Papen of the Nationalist Party, which immediately called for
new Reichstag elections. In those elections of July 1932, the National Socialist
German Workers Party had their best showing yet.
From 1868 to 1869, Edward Bellamy spent a year in
Germany, learning to speak and write German and attending lectures and
studying German socialism. Edward Bellamy even wrote A Süd
Deutsch Volklied (South German Peoples' Song) in German on the inside
cover of his notebook (dated Jan. 4, 1878, see Arthur Morgan's Edward
Bellamy from Columbia University Press 1944).
Edward's brother Frederick stated that Edward had talked and read
about socialism before Edward went to Germany. Frederick wrote that Edward's
letters to him from Germany were full of German socialism which "he had
read and studied much at home." (see Sylvia E. Bowman's 1958 book The
Year 2000).
While Bellamy was in Germany, the first German unions were founded
and the German Workers' Party (Die Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) issued its
program of socialist cliches that Bellamy repeated in his bestseller (Looking
Backward) and his other writings for the rest of his life. The
German Workers' Party was the Party that later added the very phrase
"National Socialism" to the front of its name and became the Nazis (the
National Socialist German Workers' Party or Nationalsozialistische Deutsche
Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP ). The ominous parallel of Bellamy ideas and
U.S. socialists can be seen in the 25 point program of the NSDAP.
Edward later wrote in support of socialism, "It was in the great
cities of Europe and among the hovels of the peasantry that my eyes were
first fully opened to the extent and consequences of 'man's inhumanity
to man.'" But Edward died in 1898, and did not witness the worst
of man's inhumanity to man in the socialist Wholecaust (of which the Holocaust
was a part): the National Socialist German Workers' Party (21 million);
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (62 million people slaughtered);
the People's Republic of China (35 million). The invasion of Poland
in WWII occurred in 1939, with the National Socialist German Workers’ Party
and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as allies in their scheme to
divide up Europe. It was preceded by Hitler's 1936 invasion of the
Rhineland and the Sudetenland.
By 1936, National Socialism had grown so much in the USA that Fritz
Kuhn, the head of the German-American Bund, and a few of his followers,
visited Germany that same year in Berlin for the Summer Olympics. There
was much travel between Germany and America. There was even travel by lighter-than-air
crafts, and on May 6, 1937, while the Hindenburg was attempting to land at
the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, the entire airship was consumed
by fire.
In 1888, Bellamy Clubs (Nationalist Clubs) gained the backing of
the Theosophical Society and its leader, Madam Blavatsky. Theosophists
saw in the Nationalist Movement a practical means to further their "ideal
of universal brotherhood." (see Arthur E. Morgan in his biography,
Edward Bellamy, 1948, pp. 260-75; see also The Key
to Theosophy by H. P. Blavatsky, pp. 44-5. -- K.V.M.] A symbol
for Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society includes a swastika or
hakenkreuz http://rexcurry.net/bellamy-blavatsky-brooch.gif
Blavatsky travelled extensively to Germany, India and worldwide
(The Esoteric World of Madame Blavatsky: Reminiscences and Impressions
by Those Who Knew Her by Daniel H. Caldwell: Chapter 14, Germany and
Return to India 1884-1885; Chapter 15, From India to Italy and Germany,
1885; Chapter 16, Germany 1886). After Bellamy's book Looking
Backward, Blavatsky continued to promote Theosophy and National Socialism
in Germany and worldwide.
Another mystical India-Germany promoter of National Socialism was
Savitri Devi. Known as the "Aryan Hindu prophetess," she believed that
Hitler was an avatar or god come to earth. Born Maximiani Portas,
she became a strong admirer of Hitler in the 1920s, moved to India in 1932
because of its caste segregation system, and took a Hindu name. Later, her
writings were republished, and she gained new fans in the 1970s as new interest
in National Socialism spread. Devi died in 1982, but the author boasted
that her combination of Hindu religion and Nordic racial ideology became
a bridge between National Socialism and the New Age movements.
Although the swastika was an ancient symbol, Professor Curry showed
that it was also used sometimes by German National Socialists to represent
"S" letters for their "socialism." Curry changed the way that people
view the symbol of the horrid National Socialist German Workers' Party.
Hitler altered his own signature to use the same stylized "S" letter for
"socialist" and similar alphabetic symbolism still shows on Volkswagens.
http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-swastika.html
John Toland’s biography of Hitler (p 183) discusses the swastika
and makes reference to Hans Knirsch, founder of the National Socialist
Workers' Party in Czeckoslovakia also known as the Sudetendeutsche National
Sozialistische Partei or Sudeten-German National Socialist Party. If
the swastika was a symbol of the Sudetendeutsche National Sozialistische
Partei, then it provides an additional early use of the swastika's two overlapping
"S" letters: "Südeten Socialism" or even "Süd Socialism"
or "Southern Socialism." The word "Sudeten" came to mean "Southern"
for many Germans, even though the original etymology is unclear.
In 1897, the "American swastika" appeared for the first time as
the "equality symbol" ( = ) repeated all over the cover of Edward Bellamy's
new book Equality, his sequel to Looking Backward. http://rexcurry.net/bellamy-edward-equality-swastika.jpg
While the swastika/hakenkreuz was the symbol for German National Socialists,
the "equals sign" was the "swastika" for American National Socialists.
Bellamy wrote, "Nationalism is not based on the maxim 'To each according
to his needs, from each according to his abilities.' Of course, as a matter
of conscience, every man is bound to do all he can, and the needs of others
are sacred claims upon his service; but both abilities and needs are
indeterminate, and therefore could not be made the basis of any regulation
to be enforced by society. The principle of Nationalism is: From all
equally; to all equally" (The Christian Union, Nov. 13, 1890).
The book Equality continues the story of Julian West in Bellamy's
totalitarian future of National Socialism.
In 1843, the anti-semitic Karl Marx wrote his notorious work On
the Jewish Question (published Feb.1844). In it, he intended
to libel Jewish folks when he said they were the quintessential capitalists
and worthy of total contempt. Marxists and socialists had
no interest in anyone they considered to be “the weak,” only in the loyal,
and their “language of social justice” concerned a totalitarian plan for
a new man, or more accurately a soldier ant in an ant hill.
In Edward Bellamy's own weekly publication, The New Nation,
in which Bellamy touted his National Socialism, Bellamy would sell his
weekly combined with Karl Marx's Capital as a package deal. http://rexcurry.net/edward-bellamy-karl-marx.jpg
Note that the version of Capital offered in Bellamy's New
Nation is the translation by Dr. Edward Aveling (mentioned below).
The Manifesto of the Communist Party had been written (1848)
in German by the Germans Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels as the Communist
League's programme on the instruction of its Second Congress (London, November
29-December 8, 1847). The first English translation, made by Helen
Macfarlane, was published between June and November 1850, in the Chartist
journal The Red Republican. Its editor, Julian Harney, named the
authors for the first time in the introduction to this publication. All
earlier and many subsequent editions of the Manifesto were anonymous.
Its advocates sought the overthrow of the existing economic and social
institutions and control by "the people" of all production, distribution
and industry. They sought also to abolish all idleness and all private
property except incomes and minor personal possessions.
Socialism grew in America and, according to Sylvia E. Bowan, "Aside
from the New York German Communist Club (1857), the first large, organized
society to propagate the idea of socialism was the German Gymnastic Union,
or Turnverein, which by 1850 was organized on a national basis. The
platform adopted in Philadelphia in 1850 'proclaimed the promotion of
socialism and the support of the socialistic democratic party to be its
chief purpose.' " (see Sylvia E. Bowman's 1958 book The Year 2000).
(Also see the German American Bund movement referenced above and
at http://rexcurry.net/pledgeapology.html
).
The film "Triumph of the Will" (1934), directed by Leni Riefenstahl,
shows the National Socialist German Workers' Party parading its industrial
army. In keeping with their socialist dogma, Hitler is praised as an
"epitome of altruism" and the speakers refer to each other as "comrades"
who will cause a "revolution of the people and workers" to end "class
struggle" and create "egalitarianism." http://rexcurry.net/filmrev-triumph-of-the-will.html
Karl Marx's book Das Kapital had been published in 1867,
the year before Bellamy's trip to Germany. Although it was not translated
into English until after 1886, his ideas had been promoted in newspapers
and pamphlets. Edward Bellamy learned how to speak and write in
German during his stay in Germany. While Bellamy was in Germany,
Marx fought with Bakunin and Proudhon in the First International about
their fundamentals of "social revolution." Bebel and Liebknecht took
part in the debates, also.
In 1886, Dr. Edward Aveling and his wife Eleanor -the daughter
of Karl Marx- wrote that when they toured the U.S. and preached the gospel
of socialism as far westward as Kansas, they were surprised by the prevalence
of what they termed "unconscious socialism" and that the "American people
... were waiting to hear in their own language what socialism is."
Later, Looking Backward was popular among the elite in pre-revolutionary
Russia, and Lenin’s wife was known to have read the book, because she
wrote a review of it.
In 1891, advertisements listed German-language editions of Edward
Bellamy's Looking Backward and stated "Lays the foundation of
the Nationalist Movement." http://rexcurry.net/bellamy-charles-edward1891.pdf
Bellamy exemplified the amateurism and irrationalism of National
Socialism. It is similar to the experience of Peter Drucker in a meeting
of farmers. A member of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party
had shouted to the cheering crowd: "We don't want lower bread prices,
we don't want higher bread prices, we don't want unchanged bread prices
- we want National-Socialist bread prices."
In 1867, Bellamy became a bitter military failure due to his inability
to pass the physical exam at West Point. Still, he loved Prussian
militarism and the educational system.
Bellamy's 1868-1869 stay in Germany (including Dresden) occurred
shortly after the war between Prussia and Austria. Saxony, of which
Dresden was the capital, had sided with Austria, had been conquered by
Prussia, and then had joined the North German Federation. That would
interest all who loathe the monstrous National Socialist German Workers’
Party, because Prussia led to the formation of the German empire, and
after World War I, Prussia continued to exist as the largest Land (state)
within the Weimar Republic and under the National Socialist German Workers’
Party. After World War II it was dissolved by decree of the Allied
Control Council in 1947.
At the time this was written, the Theosophical Society of America
(TSA) continued to maintain its Springfield Branch office at the Edward
Bellamy House, 93 Church Street, Chicopee, MA and also its library.
Recent lectures included "Discovering the Secrets in the Akashic Records"
and "Alchemical Art Therapy" and "Gnosis: An Ancient Path of Illumination."
****************************
About Edward Bellamy's time in Germany, the author Sylvia E. Bowman
states "Though his story 'Lost' and some unfinished stories are based
upon this European sojourn, very little was recorded by Bellamy or others
about this period of his life."
As a libertarian lawyer, Dr. Curry provides pro bono services nationwide
to educate the public about the news-making historical discoveries.
1. Dr. Curry showed that the USA's first Pledge of Allegiance
used a straight-arm salute and it was the origin of the salute of the
monstrous National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazis). Professor
Curry helped to establish that it was not an ancient Roman salute, and
that the "ancient Roman salute" is a myth. http://rexcurry.net/pledgesalute.html
3. Francis Bellamy (author of the "Pledge of Allegiance") and Edward
Bellamy (author of the novel "Looking Backward") and Charles Bellamy
(author of "A Moment of Madness") were socialists. Edward and Charles
were brothers, and Francis was their cousin. Francis and Edward were
both self-proclaimed National Socialists and they supported the "Nationalism"
movement in the USA, the "Nationalist" magazine, the "Nationalist Educational
Association," and their dogma of "military socialism," and Edward inspired
the "Nationalist Party" (in the USA) and their dogma influenced socialists
in Germany, and the Pledge was the origin of the Nazi salute. "Nazi"
means "National Socialist German Workers' Party." A mnemonic device
is the swastika. Although the swastika was an ancient symbol, Professor
Curry discovered that it was also used sometimes by German National Socialists
to represent "S" letters for their "socialism." Curry changed the
way that people view the symbol of the horrid National Socialist German
Workers' Party. Hitler altered his own signature to use the same stylized
"S" letter for "socialist" and similar alphabetic symbolism still shows
on Volkswagens. http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-swastika.html
Dr. Curry showed that many modern myths about swastikas are based
on the false belief that Nazis called their symbol a "swastika."
German National Socialists did not use the word "swastika," but called
their symbol a "Hakenkreuz." Professor Curry showed that many
modern myths rely on a false belief that Nazis called themselves "Nazis"
or used some other term (Party members referred to themselves as "National
Socialists" and did not use the term "Nazis").
edward bellamy 
francis bellamy 
rex curry 
libertarian 
pledge of allegiance 
swastika