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Revision as of 02:44, 8 August 2015 editIdeloctober (talk | contribs)108 edits Read the sources more clearly, please. If articleso n JFK, MLK, and others include conspiracy theories of their intended assassinations, why can't Rockwell's? Two university books mention that theories exist for his assassination.← Previous edit Latest revision as of 01:39, 4 December 2024 edit undoPa1mtop (talk | contribs)5 editsm I changed the inflation conversion to be more up to date.Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit 
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{{Short description|American Neo-Nazi politician (1918–1967)}}
{{Infobox Politician
{{Use American English|date=March 2022}}
|name = George Lincoln Rockwell

|image = GeorgeLincolnRockwell.jpg
{{Infobox officeholder
|caption =
| image = George Lincoln Rockwell in 1963 (cropped).jpg
|alma_mater =
| alt =
|birthname = George Lincoln Rockwell
| office = 1st Commander of the ]
|birth_date = {{birth date|1918|3|9|mf=y}}
| term_start = March 1959
|birth_place = ], ], ]
| term_end = August 25, 1967
|death_date = {{death date and age|1967|8|25|1918|3|9}}
| predecessor = ''Position established''
|death_place = ], ], ]
| death_cause = ] | successor = ]
| office2 = 1st Leader of the ]
|office = ]
| term_start2 = 1962
|term_start = March, 1958
|term_end = August 25, 1967 (9 years) | term_end2 = August 25, 1967
|predecessor = Position established | predecessor2 = ''Position established''
|successor = ] | successor2 = ]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1918|3|9|mf=y}}
|office2 = ]
| birth_place = ], U.S.
|term_start2 = 1962
| death_date = {{death date and age|1967|8|25|1918|3|9}}
|term_end2 = August 25, 1967 (5 years)
| death_place = ], U.S.
|predecessor2 = Position established
| party = ]
|successor2 = ]
| spouse = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Judy Aultman|1943|1953|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|]|1953|1961|end=divorced}}}}
|residence =
| signature =
|party = ]
| signature_alt =
|occupation = Sailor, politician, activist
| children = 7
|spouse = Judy Aultman (1943-1953) <br> ] (1953-1961)
| death_cause = ]
|signature =
| allegiance = United States
|children =
|allegiance={{Flagicon|United States}} ] | rank = ]
|rank=] ] | branch = ]
| serviceyears = 1941–1960
|branch=] ]
| battles = {{tree list}}
|serviceyears=1941–1960
|battles=]<br>] * ]
** ]
|awards=*]
** ]
*] (w/1 service star)
{{tree list/end}}
*] (w/3 service stars)
| mawards = {{plainlist|
*] (w/1 ])
*] * ] (with "A" device)
*] * ] (w/1 service star)
*] * ] (w/4 service stars)
*] (w/2 service stars) * ] (w/2 ])
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] (w/2 service stars)
}}
| caption = George Lincoln Rockwell, at a hearing of the ], 1963
}} }}
{{Antisemitism sidebar}}


'''George Lincoln Rockwell''' (March 9, 1918 – August 25, 1967) was the founder of the ].<ref name="BBC-Killed"/> He was a major figure in the ] movement in the United States, and his beliefs and writings have continued to be influential among ] and neo-Nazis. '''George Lincoln Rockwell''' (March 9, 1918 – August 25, 1967) was an American Neo-Nazi activist. Rockwell founded the ] in 1959 and became the self-styled leader of ] in the United States.<ref name=BlackSun>{{cite book | author1=Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke | title=Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity | publisher=NYU Press | isbn=9780814731550 | date=2003 |pages=7–8}}</ref>


His beliefs, strategies, and writings have continued to influence many ]s and Neo-Nazis. Born in ], Rockwell briefly studied philosophy at ] before dropping out to join the ]. He trained as a pilot and served in ] and the ] in non-combat roles, achieving the rank of Commander. Rockwell's politics grew more radical and vocal in the 1950s, and he was honorably discharged due to his views in 1960.
On August 25, 1967, Rockwell was killed by gunshots while leaving a shopping center in ].<ref name="BBC-Killed"/> ], a former member of Rockwell's group, was arrested, convicted of the murder, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.<ref name="lance-star">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0M1NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RooDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7336,1559677&dq=john-patler+mauser+-wikipedia&hl=en|title=Patler convicted, faces 20 years|date=16 December 1967|work=Free Lance-Star|accessdate=12 August 2011}}</ref> Patler was paroled in 1975, after serving eight years.<ref name="st joseph">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=d0tkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9nQNAAAAIBAJ&pg=862,4544453&dq=john-patler+stormtrooper+-wikipedia&hl=en|title=Killer of American Nazi Chief Paroled|date=23 August 1975|work=St Joseph News-Press|accessdate=12 August 2011}}</ref> Theories persisted for decades afterward that the ] had been involved with the assassination, or had been considerably more lenient to Patler in comparison to other historical assassination convictions.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hadding|title=On the Murder of George Lincoln Rockwell|url=http://noncounterproductive.blogspot.com/2011/01/on-murder-of-george-lincoln-rockwell.html|website=noncounterproductive|publisher=Blogspot|accessdate=4 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=James Simonelli|first1=Frederick|title=American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party|date=1 January 1999|publisher=University of Illinois Press|pages=232|edition=1st|accessdate=6 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=H. Schmaltz|first1=William|title=When George Lincoln Rockwell, Elijah Muhammad, and Malcolm X Shared the Same Stage|url=http://www.anthonyflood.com/rockwellelijah.htm|website=www.anthonyflood.com|publisher=Excerpt posted on blog from Hate: George Lincoln Rockwell & the American Nazi Party, by W. H. Schmaltz|accessdate=7 August 2015}}</ref>


In politics, he regularly praised ], referring to him as the "White Savior of the twentieth century".{{R|Goodrick|p=10}} He ] and believed that ] was a tool for ] desiring to rule the white community. He blamed the ] on Jews, and viewed most of them as traitors.<ref name=Goodrick/> He viewed black people as a primitive, lethargic race who desired only simple pleasures and a life of irresponsibility, and supported the ] to be funded by the U.S. government.<ref name=Goodrick/> As a supporter of ] and ], he agreed with and quoted many leaders of the ] movement such as ] and early ].<ref name=portable/><ref>{{Cite web |title=When Malcolm X Met the Nazis |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/dpwamv/when-malcolm-x-met-the-nazis-0000620-v22n4 |access-date=2022-05-13 |website=www.vice.com |date=April 16, 2015 |language=en}}</ref> In his later years, Rockwell became increasingly aligned with other Neo-Nazi groups, leading the ].
==Early life==
Rockwell was born in ], the first of three children of ] and Claire (Schade) Rockwell. His father was born in ], and was of ] and ] ancestry. His mother was the daughter of Augustus Schade, a ] immigrant, and Corrine Boudreau, who was of ] ] ancestry. Both parents were ] ]s and ]s; and his father's acquaintances included ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name=Playboy> by ] in '']'' (April 1966)</ref><ref name="holocaustsurvivors.org"> by Lawrence N. Powell in '']'' (85.4, 1997, pp.&nbsp;393–419)</ref> His parents divorced when Rockwell was six years old,; and he divided his youth between his mother in ], ], and his father in ], ].<ref name=Playboy/>


On August 25, 1967, Rockwell was shot and killed in ] by ], a former party member expelled by Rockwell for alleged "Bolshevik leanings".<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 23, 1975 |title=Killer of American Nazi Chief Paroled| newspaper=St. Joseph News-Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=d0tkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9nQNAAAAIBAJ&dq=john-patler%20stormtrooper%20-wikipedia&pg=862%2C4544453 |access-date=December 3, 2021}}</ref>
Rockwell attended ] in Atlantic City, and applied to ] when he was 17 years old. However, he was denied admission. One year later, his father enrolled him at ] in ].<ref name="DETMoM">{{cite journal |last=Beem |first=Engar Allen |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=August 2008 |title=Rogues, Rascals, & Villains |journal=Down East: the Magazine of Maine |volume= |issue= |pages=117–118 |url= http://www.downeast.com/magazine/2008/august/rogues-rascals-villains |accessdate= }}</ref> He became an avid reader of ] and socially significant novels, leading him to re-examine the topic of religion. He had initially perceived himself as a devout ]; but, after reading the ] numerous times, he perceived religion as a necessary pillar to civilization rather than literally true. He promoted the ] ] in the 1960s. {{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}


== Early life ==
In August 1938, Rockwell enrolled at ] in ] as a philosophy major.<ref name=Playboy/> In his ] courses, he rejected equality and the idea that man was made by his environment and all human beings had the same potential in life. He debated with fellow students over topics such as social themes in popular novels.
Rockwell was born in ], the first of three children of ] and Claire (Schade) Rockwell. His father was born in ], and was of English and Scottish ancestry. His mother was the daughter of Augustus Schade, a ], and Corrine Boudreau, who was of ] French ancestry. Both parents were ] ]s and actors. His parents divorced when Rockwell was six years old, and for the rest of his youth he divided his time between his mother in ], and his father in ].<ref name=Playboy>{{cite interview|url=https://alexhaley.com/2019/09/10/alex-haley-interviews-george-lincoln-rockwell/|title=Interview with George Lincoln Rockwell|first=George Lincoln|last=Rockwell|interviewer=Alex Haley|publisher=Playboy|date=April 1966}}</ref>


Rockwell attended ] in Atlantic City, and applied to ] when he was 17 years old. However, he was denied admission. One year later, his father enrolled him at ] in ].<ref name=grandfather>{{cite news|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2017/09/03/for-years-the-so-called-grandfather-of-neo-nazis-called-maine-his-home/|first=Colin|last=Woodard|title=For years, the so-called 'grandfather' of neo-Nazis called Maine his home|work=]|date=September 3, 2017|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==Military service and marriages==
]
Rockwell had a successful Naval career, both on active duty and in the Naval Reserve. A veteran of ], he was a naval aviator and served a follow-on tour during the ]. He would transfer to the naval reserve.


In his sophomore year, Rockwell dropped out of Brown University and accepted a commission in the ].<ref name=Playboy/> He appreciated the order and discipline of the Navy, and attended ]s in ] and ] in 1940. In August 1938, Rockwell enrolled at ] in Providence, Rhode Island, as a philosophy major.<ref name=Playboy/> In his sophomore year, Rockwell dropped out of Brown and accepted a commission in the ].<ref name=Playboy/>


== Military service ==
On April 24, 1943, Rockwell married Judy Aultman, whom he had met while attending Brown University. Aultman was a student at ], which was the female section of the university. The couple had three daughters: Bonnie, Nancy, and Phoebe Jean. At the time, Rockwell was studying at the Navy's ] school in South Florida. When he completed his training, he served in the ] and ] theatres of World War II. He served aboard the ], ], ] and ], primarily in support, photo reconnaissance, transport and training functions.<ref name="simonelli">Simonelli, Frederick James (1999), ''American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party'', ISBN 0252022858, pp. 18-19</ref> Though he never actually flew in combat, he was considered a good pilot and an efficient officer.<ref name="simonelli"/>
Rockwell appreciated the order and discipline of the Navy, and attended flight schools in Massachusetts and Florida in 1940. When he completed his training, he served in the ] and the ] in ]. He served aboard the ], ], ] and ], primarily in support, photo reconnaissance, transport and training functions.<ref name=simonelli>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/americanfuehrerg00fred | url-access=registration | title=American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party | first=Frederick James | last=Simonelli | publisher=] | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-252-02285-2}}</ref> Though he never actually flew in combat, he was considered a good pilot and an efficient officer.<ref name=simonelli/>


On April 24, 1943, Rockwell married Judith Aultman, whom he had met while attending Brown University.<ref name=simonelli/> Aultman was a student at ], which was the coordinate women's college of the university. The couple had three daughters: Bonnie, Nancy, and Phoebe Jean. Rockwell did not get along with his in-laws; he blamed them for not raising Judith to be "docile and compliant", his image of the perfect wife. His marriage was marred with violent arguments and on at least one occasion, he struck his wife.<ref name=simonelli/>
Rockwell was recalled to duty as a ] at the beginning of the ]. He moved to ], with his wife and two children, where he trained Navy and ] pilots.<ref name=Playboy/>


After the war ended, Rockwell worked as a sign painter out of a small shop on land owned by his father in ].<ref name=simonelli/> In 1946, he entered the ] program at the ] in ].<ref name=Playboy/> He and his wife Judith moved to New York City so he could study at Pratt. He did well at Pratt, winning the $1,000 first prize for an advertisement he did for the ].<ref name=Playboy/><ref name=thistime/> However, he left Pratt before finishing his final year, and moved to Maine to found his own advertising agency.<ref name=simonelli/>
In 1952, Rockwell was ordered to report to ], where he was notified by a superior officer that he would be transferred to ].<ref name=Playboy/> Since families were not permitted to be with American service personnel stationed there, his wife and children stayed with her mother in ]. Due to the separation, his wife filed for divorce the following year. Several months after his return to Iceland, Rockwell attended a diplomatic party in the capital city of ]. He met ] there, and they were married on October 3, 1953 in the ] by Þóra's uncle, the ]. They spent their ] in ], ], where Hitler once owned the ] mountain retreat in the ]. Together they would have three children: Hallgrímur, Margrét, and Bentína.


In 1950, Rockwell was recalled to duty as a ] at the beginning of the ]. He moved to ] with his wife and three children, where he trained pilots in the ] and ].<ref name=Playboy/>
Rockwell told Þóra about his political beliefs, and she replied that he would either be a "bum or a great man".<ref>This Time The World, Rockwell. Chapter 8</ref> She divorced him on October 15, 1961.<ref></ref>
]
Privately, during his time in San Diego, Rockwell became an advocate of ] and a supporter of ].<ref name=Goodrick>{{cite book | last=Goodrick-Clarke | first=Nicholas | author-link=Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xaiaM77s6N4C | title=Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity | date=July 31, 2003 | publisher=] | isbn=978-0814731550}}</ref> He was influenced by Senator ]'s stance against communism, carmaker ]'s hatred of Jews, and aviator ]'s stance on race.<ref>Berlet, Chip. "Rockwell, George Lincoln (1918–1967)." ''Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices'', edited by Roger Chapman, and James Ciment, Routledge, 2nd edition, 2013. ''Credo Reference'', <nowiki>http://ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sharpecw/rockwell_george_lincoln_1918_1967/0?institutionId=4864</nowiki>. Accessed September 7, 2022.</ref> Rockwell supported General ]'s candidacy for president of the United States. He adopted the ], following MacArthur's example.<ref name=shadow/> In 1951, he read the '']'' and Hitler's manifesto '']''.<ref name=Goodrick/>


In November 1952, Rockwell was transferred to ], where he became a ] pilot and attained the rank of ].<ref name=Goodrick/><ref name=Playboy/> Because families were not permitted to be with American service personnel stationed there, his wife and children stayed with her mother in ]. His wife filed for divorce the following year. Rockwell attended a diplomatic party in ] where he met ], the niece of Iceland's ambassador to the United States;<ref name=Goodrick/> they were married on October 3, 1953, by Þóra's uncle, the ]. They spent their honeymoon in ], Germany, where Hitler once owned the ] mountain retreat in the Bavarian Alps. They made a "pilgrimage" to Hitler's ].<ref name=Goodrick/> Together they had three children: Hallgrímur, Margrét, and Evelyn Bentína. In 1957, Hallgrímsson's father went to the U.S. to take his daughter back to Iceland because he had learned that Rockwell was "one of the most active racists in the United States."<ref name=thistime>{{cite book | first=George Lincoln | last=Rockwell | url=http://www.americannaziparty.com/thistimetheworld.pdf | title=This Time the World | publisher=] | isbn=9781593640149| date=March 2004}}</ref> She subsequently divorced Rockwell and remarried in 1963.<ref name=thistime/>
In his nineteen years of service, Rockwell had obtained the rank of ] and was commanding officer of several aviation reserve units. In 1960, as a result of his political and racist activities, the United States Navy discharged Rockwell one year short of retirement, since he was regarded as "not deployable" due to his political views. The proceedings to dismiss him were an extremely public affair, and Rockwell widely advertised the results, saying he "had basically been thrown out of the Navy", though he was still given an honorable discharge.<ref>], "Separation and Discharge Proceedings of Commander George Lincoln Rockwell", February 1, 1960</ref>


In September 1955 in Washington, D.C., he launched '']'', a magazine for United States servicemen's wives. The magazine incorporated Rockwell's political causes{{dubious|date=September 2024}}: his opposition to both ] and ]. The publication had financial problems and he sold the magazine. However, he still aspired to pursue a career in publishing.
==Civilian career==
{{Nazism sidebar|expanded=People}}
When the Korean War ended, Rockwell decided to become a graphic designer. He was accepted into the art program at the prestigious ] in ].<ref name=Playboy/> He and his wife Þóra moved to ] so he could study at Pratt. Rockwell was introduced to the ] art concept, something he considered to be a corporate form of trendy ] mixed with ] marketing. He viewed ] New Yorkers as the main promoters of this simplified yet marketable movement, and felt even more contempt towards Jews.


{{quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=When I was in the advertising game, we used to use ]. Now I use the swastika and storm troopers. You use what brings them in. | salign=right | source=—George Lincoln Rockwell<ref name=simonelli/>}}
In 1948, Rockwell won the $1,000 first prize for an advertisement he did for the ].<ref name=Playboy/><ref></ref> The contest was sponsored by the National Society of Illustrators in New York. He left Pratt before finishing his final year, and founded his own advertising agency in Maine.


== Early political activities ==
Rockwell saw a business opportunity in publishing a magazine for United States servicemen's wives. In September 1955, he launched the '']''. After presenting the idea to the generals and admirals who headed public relations departments of the military services, Rockwell began publishing in ] The new enterprise also incorporated Rockwell's political causes: his opposition to both ] and ]. He financed the operation through stock sales and subscriptions. With a staff of thirty workers, Rockwell could only promise to pay his employees before the launch of the first issue. The publication continued to have financial problems, and he sold the magazine. However, he still aspired to pursue a career in publishing.
After his move to Washington, D.C., in 1955, he gradually became radicalised until, in the words of his biographer, he was "on the farthest fringe of the right wing."<ref name=Goodrick/> In 1957–1958, Rockwell had a series of dreams that ended with him meeting Hitler.<ref name=Goodrick/>


In 1958, Rockwell met Harold Noel Arrowsmith Jr., a wealthy heir and antisemite who provided Rockwell with a house and printing equipment. They formed the National Committee to Free America from Jewish Domination.<ref>Simonelli ''American Fuehrer'', pp. 26–27.</ref>
==Political activism==
It was during his time in ] that Rockwell became a supporter of ] and ].<ref name=Goodrick>{{cite book|last1=Goodrick-Clarke|first1=Nicholas|title=Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity|date=31 July 2003|edition=Reissue|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-0814731550|page=10}}</ref> He was influenced by Senator ]'s stance against communism. Rockwell supported General ]'s candidacy for ]. He adopted the ], following MacArthur's example. Rockwell attended a ] rally in ], and read ]'s ''Common Sense'', a political newspaper that introduced him to ] and ]. He then read Hitler's ] ] '']'' and the Russian propaganda pamphlet '']''. Privately, he adopted their beliefs. He published an '']''-type parody, ''The Fable of the Ducks and the Hens.'' This was Rockwell's interpretation of ]ish power in the United States in the 20th century.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} In 1952, Rockwell began working with anti-semitic and ] groups.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}}


On July 29, 1958, Rockwell demonstrated in front of the White House in an anti-war protest against President ]'s decision to send ] troops to the ], known as ]. Rockwell and his supporters specifically protested what they supposed was Jewish control of the government.<ref>Goodrick-Clarke ''Black Sun'', p. 11</ref> In October 1958, following the ], Rockwell's home was raided by the police.<ref>{{cite book|last=Morris|first=Travis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g-LXDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA78|title=Dark Ideas: How Neo-Nazi and Violent Jihadi Ideologues Shaped Modern Terrorism|location=Lanham, MD & London, UK|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2017|page=78|isbn=9780739191057}}</ref>
That year, he attended the American Nationalist Conference, which was organized by Conde McGinley’s Christian Educational Association.


Rockwell gained notoriety after ] wrote an article describing how Rockwell and his followers dressed in uniforms, armed themselves with guns, and paraded at his home in ].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/crime-history-american-nazi-leader-killed-near-arlington-home | title=CRIME HISTORY - American Nazi leader killed near Arlington home | first=Scott | last=McCabe | work=] | date=August 24, 2009}}</ref>
After his move to Washington DC in 1955 he became more and more conservative until, in the words of his biographer, he was "on the farthest fringe of the right wing."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Goodrick-Clarke|first1=Nicholas|title=Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity|date=31 July 2003|edition=Reissue|publisher=New York University|isbn=978-0814731550|pages=24–25}}</ref> In July 1958, Rockwell demonstrated in front of the ] in an anti-war protest against President ]'s decision to ] to the ]. One day he received a large package from a supporter; it contained an 18-foot-long ] flag. He placed the flag on the wall of his home and made a shrine with Hitler's photo in the center, three lighted candles in front. In his autobiography, Rockwell claimed to have had a religious experience and swore allegiance to his leader, saluting "Heil Hitler!" Rockwell and a few supporters had uniforms. They armed themselves with ]s and revolvers, and paraded about his home in ]. The window to his home was left open, so that others could see the huge Swastika flag. ] wrote a news column about Rockwell, giving him his first publicity. In the ], Rockwell ran as a ], receiving 212 votes.<ref></ref> He ran unsuccessfully for governor of ] in 1965 as an independent, this time polling 5,730 votes, or 1.02 percent of the total, finishing last among the four candidates.<ref></ref>


===American Nazi Party=== == American Nazi Party ==
]
In March 1959, Rockwell founded the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists (WUFENS), a name selected to denote opposition to ] of property. In December 1959, the organization was renamed the ] (later the National Socialist White People's Party, NSWPP), and its headquarters was relocated to 928 North Randolph Street in Arlington, which also became Rockwell's home.<ref name=simonelli/>


In 1959, he published an '']''-type parody, the long-form poem and children's book ''The Fable of the Ducks and the Hens.''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/TheFableOfTheDucksAndTheHensADramaticSagaOfIntriguePropagandaAndSubversion1959GeorgeLincolnRockwell | title=The Fable of the Ducks and the Hens: A Dramatic Saga of Intrigue, Propaganda and Subversion (1959) - George Lincoln Rockwell | publisher=] | date=1959}}</ref>
In March 1959, Rockwell founded the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists (WUFENS), a name selected to denote opposition to ] of property. In December, the name was changed to the ], and the headquarters relocated to 928 North Randolph Street in ].


In order to attract media attention, Rockwell held a rally April 3, 1960, on the ] of ], where Rockwell addressed the crowd with a two-hour long speech. The second rally was to be held at ] in ]. Mayor ] refused to grant him a permit to speak, and he appealed that decision to the ]. Jewish war veterans and Holocaust survivors gathered to oppose his appeal and, during a court recess, when Rockwell emerged into the court Rotunda he was surrounded by a crowd of television reporters. One of the reporters, ], asked Rockwell how he would treat Jews if he came to power in the United States. Rockwell replied he would treat Jews just as he treated any other American citizens. If they were loyal Americans, everything would be fine; if they were traitors, they would be executed. When Schonfeld asked what percentage of Jews Rockwell perceived as traitors, Rockwell replied, "Ninety percent."<ref>''Ted and Me Against the World'', by Reese Schonfeld (p 26)</ref> The Jewish war veterans and Holocaust survivors rioted and began beating Rockwell and the reporter with their umbrellas, and Rockwell was escorted out of the Courthouse Rotunda in the midst of a police convoy. Rockwell, with the aid of the ACLU, eventually won his permit, but it was long after the date of the planned event.<ref>{{Cite court|litigants = Matter of Rockwell v. Morris |vol = 10 |opinion = 721 |court = NY 2d |date = June 9, 1961}}</ref> In 1960, as a result of his political activities, the Navy discharged Rockwell one year short of retirement because he was regarded as "not deployable" due to his political views. The proceedings to dismiss him were an extremely public affair. Even though he received an ], Rockwell claimed he "had basically been thrown out of the Navy", for which he blamed the Jews.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F4-dAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA478 | title=Famous Assassinations in World History: An Encyclopedia | first=Michael | last=Newton | publisher=] | date=April 17, 2014| isbn=9781610692861 }}</ref> In order to attract media attention, Rockwell held a rally on April 3, 1960, on the ], where he addressed the crowd with a two-hour speech. A second rally was planned for ] in New York City. Mayor ] refused to grant him a permit to speak, and he appealed that decision to the ]. When Rockwell emerged in the courthouse rotunda, he was surrounded by a crowd of television reporters. One of the reporters, ], interviewed Rockwell, and after Rockwell made antisemitic comments, a melee broke out, requiring a police convoy to escort Rockwell from the courthouse. Rockwell, with the aid of the ], eventually won a permit, but it was long after the date of the planned event.<ref>{{Cite court | litigants=Matter of Rockwell v. Morris | vol=10 | opinion=721 | court=] |date=June 9, 1961}}</ref> Another rally was set for July 4, 1960, again on the National Mall. Rockwell and his men were confronted by a mob and a riot ensued. The police arrested Rockwell and eight party members. Rockwell demanded a trial, and instead, was committed to a psychiatric hospital for thirty days. In less than two weeks, he was released and found mentally competent to stand trial. He published a pamphlet inspired by this experience titled ''How to Get Out or Stay Out of the Insane Asylum''.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cxO4ngEACAAJ | title=How to Get Out Or Stay Out of the Insane Asylum | first=George Lincoln | last=Rockwell | publisher=Sons of Liberty | date=1960}}</ref>


On January 15, 1961, Rockwell and a fellow Nazi Party member attempted to ] the local premiere of the film '']'' at the ] in ] on ] while staying at the ]. After ] ] declined to deny Rockwell the right to picket, members of the local Jewish community organized a counterdemonstration of 2,000 protestors in response on the corner of Tremont and ]s on the day of the premiere, which forced police to converge on the theater and force Rockwell into a ] that took him to ] where Rockwell was then boarded onto a flight to ]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Levine|first1=Hillel|last2=Harmon|first2=Lawrence|title=The Death of an American Jewish Community: A Tragedy of Good Intentions|year=1992|place=New York|publisher=]|pages=260–266|isbn=978-0029138656}}</ref> In early 1962, Rockwell planned a rally to celebrate Hitler's birthday on April 20. In the summer, he attended a camp organized by British Neo-Nazi ] in ] where they organized the ]. In September, he awarded one of his members a medal for punching ] in the face.<ref name=Goodrick/>
The third rally was set for July 4, 1960, again held on the Mall. Rockwell and his men were confronted by a mob and a riot ensued. The police arrested Rockwell and eight party members. Rockwell demanded a trial, however was instead committed to a psychiatric hospital for thirty days. In less than two weeks, he was released and found capable of standing trial. He published a pamphlet on this experience titled ''How to Get Out or Stay Out of the Insane Asylum''.


In the ], Rockwell ran as a ], receiving 212 votes.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=1941 | title=Our Campaigns - US President National Vote Race - Nov 03, 1964 | website=ourcampaigns.com}}{{user-generated source|date=February 2023}}</ref> He ran as an independent in the ], receiving 5,730 votes, or 1.02% of the total, finishing last among the four candidates.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?&httpsredir=1&article=1350&context=masters-theses | title=Linwood Holton's long quest for the governorship of Virginia and its impact on the growth of the Republican Party | first=Jack R. | last=Hunter | publisher=] | date=Spring 1972}}</ref> In the summer of 1966, Rockwell led a counter-demonstration against King's attempt to bring an end to ''de facto'' segregation in the white Chicago suburb of ]. He believed that King was a tool for Jewish Communists who wanted to integrate America.<ref>{{cite web | title=White Power | last=Rockwell | first=George Lincoln | url=https://archive.org/stream/WhitePower1967-GeorgeLincolnRockwellPDF-BookAudiobook/White%20Power%20%281967%29%20-%20George%20Lincoln%20Rockwell_djvu.txt | publisher=]}}</ref> Rockwell believed that integration was a Jewish plot to rule the white community.<ref name=Playboy/> Rockwell led the American Nazi Party in assisting the ] and similar organizations during the ], in attempts to counter the ] and the ]. But he soon came to believe that the Klan was stuck in the past and ineffective in helping him wage a modern racial struggle.{{citation needed||date=June 2024}}
In summer 1966, Rockwell led a counter-demonstration to ]'s attempt to bring an end to de facto segregation in the white ] suburb of ]. He believed King was a tool for Jewish Communists to integrate America.<ref>White Power, Rockwell. Chapter 4</ref> Rockwell believed integration to be a Jewish plot rule the white community.<ref>https://archive.org/stream/1966PlayboyInterview/MicrosoftWord-Document1#page/n9/mode/2up</ref>


In 1966, after hearing the slogan "]" during a debate with ] leader ], Rockwell altered the phrase and started a call for "]".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.salon.com/1999/07/19/simonelli/ | title=American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party | first=Katharine | last=Whittemore | publisher=Salon website | date=July 19, 1999}}</ref> In the spring of 1966, the party began publication of several pamphlets and books, including ''National Socialist World'' edited by ],<ref name=Goodrick/> writings by Rockwell, the periodical '']'' (originally ''National Socialist Bulletin''), and a propaganda comic book, ''Here Comes Whiteman!'', where the title superhero character battles enemies modeled after racist stereotypes.{{citation needed||date=June 2024}} In November 1966, the ] once again represented Rockwell, defending his right to stage marches or parades in Jewish neighborhoods during ].<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.jta.org/1966/11/03/archive/civil-liberties-union-to-represent-rockwell-in-u-s-district-court | title=Civil Liberties Union to Represent Rockwell in U.S. District Court | work=] | date=November 3, 1966}}</ref>
Rockwell led the American Nazi Party in assisting the ] and similar groups during the ], in attempts to counter the ]rs and the ]. But he soon came to believe that the Klan was stuck in the past and ineffective in helping him wage a modern race struggle. After hearing the slogan "]" during a debate in 1966 with ] ], Rockwell altered the phrase and started a call for "]".<ref></ref> ''White Power'' later became the name of the party's newspaper and the title of a book authored by Rockwell.


===Offices===
Rockwell's principal message was racial separation. He attempted to form friendly associations with the ]. He praised ] as the "Black people's Hitler," and admired him for doing the best job in promoting integrity and pride among his people. There were even reports that he and Muhammad had met privately. In 1961, Rockwell and ten of his followers showed up at a major Nation of Islam rally in Washington D.C. wearing their Nazi uniforms, and were given seats near the center stage. When the audience was asked for donations, Rockwell contributed $20.<ref> on ]</ref> Rockwell also admired ], seeing him as the next true leader for Black America. Despite this, in 1965 Malcolm X sent Rockwell a ] while Rockwell was on his "Hate Bus" tour of the South, threatening Rockwell with "maximum physical retaliation from those of us who are not hand-cuffed by the disarming philosophy of nonviolence" should Martin Luther King, Jr. or "any other black Americans who are only attempting to enjoy their rights as free human beings" be harmed.<ref> from ], 1965.</ref>
Rockwell established his "Stormtrooper Barracks" in a two-story farmhouse at 6150 Wilson Boulevard in the ]. It was there that ] interviewed Rockwell for '']''. The house has since been razed, and the property has been incorporated into ]. A small pavilion with picnic tables marks the house's former location.


The site of the party headquarters, 928 North Randolph Street in ], is now a hotel and office building. After Rockwell's death, his successor ] relocated the headquarters to 2507 North Franklin Road in ].<ref>{{cite web | last=Barrett | first=H. Michael | title=Pierce, Koehl and the National Socialist White People's Party Internal Split of 1970 | url=http://www.heretical.com/miscella/hbarrett.html | publisher=The Heretical Press}}</ref> The small building, often misidentified today as Rockwell's former headquarters, is now the Sweet Science Coffee shop,<ref> website</ref> formerly The Java Shack.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/05/AR2008020502676.html | last=Weingarten | first=Gene | title=It's Just Nazi Same Place | newspaper=] | date=February 10, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/top-shelf/2014/12/java-shack-owner-to-say-goodbye-after-nearly-two.html | title=Java Shack owner to say goodbye after nearly two decades | first=Rebecca | last=Cooper | work=] | date=December 30, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://blogs.weta.org/boundarystones/2013/01/02/nazis-arlington-george-rockwell-and-anp | title=Nazis in Arlington: George Rockwell and the ANP | first=Mark | last=Jones | work=] | date=January 2, 2013}}</ref> Koehl moved the headquarters to ], in the mid-1980s.
Rockwell was a ].<ref name=Playboy/> In an April 1966 interview with '']'' journalist ], Rockwell stated, "I don't believe for one minute that any 6,000,000 Jews were exterminated by Hitler. It never happened."<ref name=Playboy/> When asked in a 1965 interview with the ] if the ] were true, Rockwell replied by claiming he had "incontrovertible documentary proof that that's not true."<ref> at YouTube</ref>


== Record label ==
The two-story farm house Rockwell established as his "Stormtrooper Barracks" was located at 6150 Wilson Boulevard, in the Dominion Hills district of Arlington. It was there that the interview with Alex Haley occurred. Situated on the tallest hill in Arlington County, the house has long since been razed and the property incorporated into the Upton Hill Regional Park. A small picnic table pavilion marks the house's former location. The site of the party headquarters, 928 North Randolph Street in the Ballston area of Arlington, is now a massive hotel and office building complex. Rockwell's successor, Matt Koehl, relocated the headquarters after Rockwell's death to 2507 North Franklin Road in the Clarendon area.<ref>{{cite web | last = Barrett| first = H. Michael| title = Pierce, Koehl and the National Socialist White People's Party Internal Split of 1970| work = heretical.com | publisher = The Heretical Press|url = http://www.heretical.com/miscella/hbarrett.html| accessdate = 26 October 2009}}</ref> It would become the last physical address of the party before Koehl moved it to New Berlin, Wisconsin in the mid-1980s. The small red brick building, often misidentified today as Rockwell's former headquarters, is now a coffee shop called "The Java Shack."<ref>{{Cite news| last = Weingarten| first = Gene| title = It's Just Nazi Same Place| newspaper = Washington Post| date = 10 February 2008| url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/05/AR2008020502676.html| accessdate = 26 October 2009| postscript = <!--None-->}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| last = Cooper| first = Rebecca A.| title = Java Shack glimpses its past as Nazi headquarters| newspaper = TDB.com| date = 8 March 2011| url = http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-neighborhoods/2011/03/java-shack-glimpses-its-past-as-nazi-headquarters-9269.html| accessdate = 31 July 2011| postscript = <!--None-->}}</ref>
In the 1960s, Rockwell attempted to draw attention to his cause by starting a ], named Hatenanny Records. The name was based on the word "]", a term given to ] performances. The label released several singles promoting racist and white supremacist beliefs by such bands as Odis Cochran and the Three Bigots and the Coon Hunters. These songs were sold mostly through mail order and at party rallies.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hatenanny Records Advertisement |url=https://images.socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/items/show/263 |publisher=Virginia Commonwealth University}}</ref>


== Hate bus ==
===World Union of National Socialists===
When the ] drove their campaign for the ] of bus stations in the ], Rockwell secured a Volkswagen van and decorated it with slogans supporting ], dubbing it the "Hate Bus" and driving it to speaking engagements and party rallies.<ref name=hatetotown>{{citation |title=When Hate Came to Town: New Orleans' Jews and George Lincoln Rockwell |first=Lawrence N. |last=Powell |journal=] |volume=85 |number=4 |year=1997 |pages=393–419|jstor = 23885627|doi = 10.1353/ajh.1997.0034|s2cid=161205862 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.messynessychic.com/2014/03/25/hate-bus-came-town/ |title= Riding the Hate Bus, 1961| website=Messynessychic.com | date=March 25, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/freedomriders1960000arse | url-access=registration | page= | title=Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice | first=Raymond | last=Arsenault | publisher=] | date=January 15, 2006 | isbn=9780199755813 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QReZh6r_iFkC&pg=PA93 | title=We Shall Overcome with 2 Audio CDs: The History of the Civil Rights Movement | first=Herb | last=Boyd | publisher=] | date=2004 | isbn=9781402202131}}</ref> On May 24, 1961, Rockwell and nine others were arrested on charges of ] in ] after trying to picket the movie '']''. They went on a hunger strike in jail. Rockwell was only able to raise enough bond money for himself so he could be released five days later.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-20 |title=Rockwell Released on Bond; His Nine Followers Remain in Jail |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/rockwell-released-on-bond-his-nine-followers-remain-in-jail |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref> In June 1961, all ten men were found guilty, receiving sentences ranging from 30 to 60 days and fines ranging from $50 to $100.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1961-06-14 |title=The Monroe News-Star from Monroe, Louisiana |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/89292589/ |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Once more, Rockwell paid his bond, but left his followers in jail. In 1962, the convictions were overturned on appeal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-20 |title=Louisiana Court of Appeals Reverses Conviction of Rockwell and Aids |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/louisiana-court-of-appeals-reverses-conviction-of-rockwell-and-aids |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref> Several years later, the ] ruled that Louisiana's statute on "breach of the peace" was unconstitutional. Ironically, the ruling mainly benefited black civil rights activists.
In August 1962 Rockwell travelled secretly to ] through ]. In the ], he co-founded the ] with ]'s British organization the ], before being deported back to the States. In 1966, the international group published ''National Socialist World'', edited by former physics professor ]. {{citation needed|date=March 2015}}


== Black separatism ==
===National Socialist White People's Party===
Rockwell worked with ] leaders who shared his goal of ], such as ] and ].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.anthonyflood.com/rockwellelijah.htm | title=When George Lincoln Rockwell, Elijah Muhammad, and Malcolm X Shared the Same Stage}}</ref> In January 1962, Rockwell wrote to his followers that Elijah Muhammad:<ref name=portable>{{cite book | title=The Portable Malcolm X Reader | first=Manning | last=Marable | publisher=Penguin Books | date=2013 | isbn=9780143106944 }}</ref>{{blockquote|has gathered millions of the dirty, immoral, drunken, filthy-mouthed, lazy and repulsive people sneeringly called 'niggers' and inspired them to the point where they are clean, sober, honest, hard working, dignified, dedicated and admirable human beings in spite of their color ... Muhammad knows that mixing is a Jewish fraud and leads only to aggravation of the problems that it is supposed to solve ... I have talked to the Muslim leaders and am certain that a workable plan for separation of the races could be effected to the satisfaction of all concerned—except the Communist-Jew agitators.}} He also said of Elijah Muhammad "I am fully in concert with their program, and I have the highest respect for Elijah Muhammad." He referred to Muhammad as "The Black People's Hitler" and donated $20 (worth about $212 in 2024) to the Nation of Islam at their "Freedom Rally" event on June 25, 1961, at ] in Washington where he and ten ANP members attended a speech by Malcolm X.<ref name=viceNOI>{{cite web | url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/dpwamv/when-malcolm-x-met-the-nazis-0000620-v22n4 | title=When Malcolm X Met the Nazis | first=Sam | last=McPheeters | work=] | date=April 16, 2015}}</ref> Rockwell gave a speech to a crowd of 12,000 at a Black Muslim event in the ] in Chicago, with Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X, on February 25, 1962.<ref name=Goodrick /><ref name=viceNOI />
From June 9 to 11, 1963, the party held its national conference in Arlington, aimed at reorganizing its leadership and "charting a new course of professionalism".{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} In July 1963, the party's publication ''The Stormtrooper'' magazine was replaced with the newspaper ''White Power'' bearing the swastika in the center of the paper. Some within the NSWPP{{who|date=February 2012}} opposed this new ideological direction.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}


Inspired by Black Muslims' use of religion to mobilize people, Rockwell sought to collaborate with ] groups. On June 10, 1964, he met and formed an alliance with Identity minister ]. Rockwell used religious imagery, depicting himself as a Christ-like martyr who was fighting against the Jews. Nazis found a welcome home in Swift's church and church members found a political outlet in the American Nazi Party.<ref name=simonelli/>
On January 1, 1967, Rockwell announced the party's next stage of development. He officially changed the name of the American Nazi Party to the ] (NSWPP). Its new slogan would be "White Power", replacing the inflammatory "]". The new strategy would be to capitalize on growing support in the wake of the Chicago rallies and to focus the organization's commitment to a universal white nationalism. An internal party newsletter, the "National Socialist Bulletin", was started to help direct these new efforts.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}


== Holocaust denial ==
===Hatenanny Records and the Hate Bus===
Rockwell was a ]. In an April 1966 interview for ''Playboy'' conducted by journalist ], Rockwell stated, "I don't believe for one minute that any 6,000,000 Jews were exterminated by Hitler. It never happened."<ref name=Playboy/> When asked in a 1965 interview with the ] if the Holocaust were true, Rockwell replied by claiming he had "incontrovertible documentary proof that that's not true."<ref name=race>{{cite book | title=For Race And Nation: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party | year=2013 | first=William H. | last=Schmaltz | publisher=}}</ref>
In the 1960s, Rockwell attempted to draw attention to his cause by starting a small ], named Hatenanny Records. The name was based on the word "]", a term given to ] performances. The label released several ] of music with openly racist lyrics, and were sold mostly through ] and at party rallies. When the ] drove their campaign to ] bus stations in the ], Rockwell secured a ] van and decorated it with ] slogans, dubbing it the "Hate Bus" and personally driving it to speaking engagements and party rallies.<ref></ref> <ref name="holocaustsurvivors.org"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AeU-m7YHL6oC&pg=PA276&lpg=PA276&dq=%22George+Lincoln+Rockwell%22+%2B+%22Hate+Bus%22&source=web&ots=bEAkW_CP2H&sig=CoiaF9xPyHRxSaT68Zj8owmoPeQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result |title=Freedom Riders:1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice: 1961 and the ... - Raymond Arsenault - Google Books |publisher=Books.google.com |date=2006-01-15 |accessdate=2012-12-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QReZh6r_iFkC&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=%22George+Lincoln+Rockwell%22+%2B+%22Hate+Bus%22&source=web&ots=yrDvykXowa&sig=Ox1zC0C8Msu-2Tk-twAbpxLOad8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result |title=We Shall Overcome with 2 Audio CDs: The History of the Civil Rights Movement ... - Herb Boyd - Google Books |publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2012-12-26}}</ref> According to an FBI report on the American Nazi Party, the van was repossessed after a loan default.<ref>''American Nazi Party Monograph'' - Federal Bureau of Investigation, June 1965, pg 50</ref>


==Assassination== == Assassination and trial ==
On August 25, 1967, Rockwell was shot and killed while leaving a ] in Arlington, Virginia, only a few yards from where he lived.<ref name=BBC-Killed>{{cite news | title=1967: 'American Hitler' shot dead | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/25/newsid_3031000/3031928.stm | work=] | date=August 25, 1967}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=Charles S. | last=Clark | url=https://www.northernvirginiamag.com/culture/news/2010/12/30/death-of-an-arlington-nazi/ | title=Death of an Arlington Nazi | work=] | date=December 30, 2010}}</ref><ref name=Graham>{{cite news | last=Graham | first=Fred P. | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/26/archives/rockwell-us-nazi-slain-exaide-is-held-as-sniper-rockwell-slain.html | title=Rockwell, U.S. Nazi, Slain; Ex-Aide Is Held as Sniper | work=] | date= August 26, 1967 | url-access=subscription}}</ref> ], who had been expelled by Rockwell from his party in March 1967 for repeated attempts to inject ] ideas into party publications,<ref name=Graham/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Nn1JAAAAIBAJ&pg=3018,6198338&dq=cole&hl=en | title=Rockwell Aide Charge in Slaying | work=] | date=August 26, 1967 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> was convicted of the murder in December 1967, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He spent eight years in prison, and later another six years following a parole violation. Hearing of his son's death, Rockwell's 78-year-old father said: "I am not surprised at all. I've expected it for quite some time."<ref name=grandfather/><ref name=BBC-Killed/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0M1NAAAAIBAJ&pg=7336,1559677 | title=Patler convicted, faces 20 years | work=] | date=December 16, 1967}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=d0tkAAAAIBAJ&pg=862,4544453 | title=Killer of American Nazi Chief Paroled | work=] | date=August 23, 1975}}</ref>
On August 25, 1967, Rockwell was killed by gunshots while leaving the Econowash laundromat at the Dominion Hills Shopping Center in the 6000 block of Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, Virginia.<ref name="BBC-Killed"/> Two bullets, from what would later be found to be a ],<ref>Charles S. Clark. . Northern Virginia Magazine, 30 December 2010</ref> passed through his 1958 Chevrolet's windshield, and it slowly rolled backwards to a stop. Rockwell staggered out of the front passenger side door of the car, pointed towards the shopping center roof, and then collapsed face up on the pavement.


], the second in command at NSWPP, moved to establish control over Rockwell's body and the assets of the NSWPP, which at the time had some 300 active members and 3,000 financial supporters. Rockwell's parents wanted a private burial in Maine, but declined to fight with the Nazis. On August 27, an NSWPP spokesman reported that federal officials had approved a military burial at ], Rockwell being an honorably discharged veteran.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jta.org/1967/08/30/archive/army-cancels-approval-for-burial-of-rockwell-at-national-cemetery-3-nazis-arrested | title=Army Cancels Approval for Burial of Rockwell at National Cemetery; 3 Nazis Arrested | publisher=] | date=August 30, 1967}}</ref> The cemetery specified that no Nazi insignia could be displayed, and when the 50 mourners violated these conditions, the entrance to the cemetery was blocked in a five-hour standoff, during which the hearse, which had been stopped on railroad tracks near the cemetery, was nearly struck by an approaching train. The next day, Rockwell's body was secretly cremated.<ref name=shadow>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/08/21/the-shadow-of-an-assassinated-american-nazi-commander-hangs-over-charlottesville/ | title=The shadow of an assassinated American Nazi commander hangs over Charlottesville | first=Michael E. | last=Miller | newspaper=] | date=August 21, 2017}}</ref>{{cn|date=May 2024|reason=Cited Washington Post source doesn't support many of these details, but does mention the existence of other coverage of these events in the same paper.}}
The gunman ran along the shopping center roof and jumped to the ground in the rear. A shop owner and a customer briefly gave chase, but were unable to get a clear look at the fleeing figure. Other customers called the Arlington County police and checked Rockwell for a pulse. He had none; the one bullet that struck him had ripped through several major arteries just above his heart. The internal bleeding was so heavy that Rockwell died in two minutes.<ref name="Graham, Fred P. 1967, pages 1, 14">Graham, Fred P., "Rockwell, U.S. Nazi, Slain; Ex-Aide is Held as Sniper", ''New York Times'', Saturday, 26 August 1967, pages 1, 14.</ref>

A half hour later, at a bus stop about a half-mile (800 m) away,<ref>"" ''The News and Courier'' (Charleston, S.C.), August 26, 1967</ref> ], a former member of Rockwell's group, was arrested as the suspected murderer by a passing patrolman familiar with the Arlington Nazis.<ref name="Graham, Fred P. 1967, pages 1, 14"/> Later that day, after hearing of his son’s death, Rockwell's 78-year-old father was curt: "I am not surprised at all. I've expected it for quite some time."<ref name="DETMoM"/> Patler was later convicted of the murder, and served eight years in prison.

], the number two man in the NSWPP, moved to establish legal control over Rockwell’s body and all NSWPP assets. At the time of his death, the NSWPP had approximately 300 active members nationwide, and perhaps 3,000 financial supporters. Although Rockwell’s parents wanted a private burial in Maine, they did not feel up to a public fight with the Nazis for his body. On August 27, an NSWPP spokesman reported that Federal officials had given verbal approval to a planned military burial of Rockwell at ], as an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces.<ref>*Uncredited, "Rockwell Burial Causes A Dispute", ''New York Times'', Sunday, 27 August 1967, page 28.</ref> The Cemetery and local law enforcement said they would allow the funeral as long as no Nazi insignias or uniforms were present. When the 50 mourners disobeyed these conditions, their entrance to the cemetery was blocked by local law enforcement and Virginia State Police in a standoff which lasted about five hours. During the standoff, the hearse had been stopped on railroad tracks near the cemetery entrance and was nearly struck by an approaching train after a hurried move of several vehicles in the procession. The day after the aborted funeral service (August 30, 1967), his body was cremated.<ref>Bill Yowell-witness</ref>


==Legacy== ==Legacy==
Rockwell was a source of inspiration for ], who openly espoused neo-Nazi sentiments when he was young. As a student in high school, when he learned that Rockwell was murdered, Duke reportedly said "The greatest American who ever lived has been shot down and killed."<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X2WD3EnAVvEC&pg=PA13 | title=The Rise of David Duke | first=Tyler | last=Bridges | publisher=] | year=2004| isbn=9780878056842 }}</ref> ] is another admirer of Rockwell.<ref>, 2017, ]</ref>
Rockwell proposed an American government based upon principles of ], traditional ], and ]. He supported ideas of ] and ], as well as the political ideas of ]. Though a proponent of ], Rockwell dismissed claims that he was ] or ], stating that he believed in ] and White ], and that his spoken disregard for Jews only pertained to ] Jews.<ref>{{cite book|last1=James Simonelli|first1=Frederick|title=American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party|date=1 January 1999|publisher=University of Illinois Press|pages=232|edition=1st|accessdate=6 August 2015}}</ref> A supporter of ], he sympathized with his anti-Communist views and nationalistic ideas, and was in turn supported by Malcolm X. Rockwell was and is often called "The Commander" or "Commander Rockwell" by his supporters, and his ideology remains the foundation of the American Nazi Party.<ref>{{cite web|last1=H. Schmaltz|first1=William|title=When George Lincoln Rockwell, Elijah Muhammad, and Malcolm X Shared the Same Stage|url=http://www.anthonyflood.com/rockwellelijah.htm|website=www.anthonyflood.com|publisher=Excerpt posted on blog from Hate: George Lincoln Rockwell & the American Nazi Party, by W. H. Schmaltz|accessdate=7 August 2015}}</ref>


] said that Rockwell was "one of the most gifted orators of the 20th century", and Rockwell's writings and speeches were "the things that worked to bring me to National Socialism".<ref>, 2017, ]</ref>
Given the epithet of the "American Hitler" by the ],<ref name="BBC-Killed">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/25/newsid_3031000/3031928.stm |title=1967: 'American Hitler' shot dead|publisher=BBC |year= 2007 |first= |last= |accessdate =2007-08-22 | date=August 25, 1967}}</ref> Rockwell was a source of inspiration for ] politician ]. As a student in high school, when Duke learned of Rockwell's assassination, he reportedly said "The greatest American who ever lived has been shot down and killed".<ref>Elinor Langer, "A Hundred Little Hitlers," (Picador, New York, 2004), p. 131</ref> In the mid-1960s, Rockwell had a strategy to develop his Nazi political philosophy within the ] religious movement. Previously, Christian Identity had antisemitic and ] views, but not a ] orientation. The Christian Identity group ] started to use various Nazi flags in its services, and its security personnel started wearing uniforms similar to those worn by Rockwell's ]s.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} Two of Rockwell's associates, ] and ], formed their own organizations. Koehl, who was Rockwell's successor, renamed the NSWPP to ] in 1983 and relocated it to ] shortly thereafter. Pierce founded the ].


Two of Rockwell's associates, ] and ], formed their own organizations. Koehl, who was Rockwell's successor, renamed the National Socialist White Peoples Party (NSWPP) the New Order in 1983 and shortly thereafter, he relocated its national headquarters to ]. Pierce founded the ] and he also wrote the racist dystopian novel '']'', which inspired numerous acts of ] in the United States and elsewhere, like the assassination of ], the ] or the ].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Ware |first1=Jacob |date=2020-03-17 |title=Testament to Murder: The Violent Far Right's Increasing Use of Terrorist Manifestos |url=https://www.icct.nl/publication/testament-murder-violent-far-rights-increasing-use-terrorist-manifestos |access-date=4 November 2023 |website=] |publication-place=The Hague}}</ref> Several other neo-Nazi groups were formed in the years since Rockwell's death, some of them were formed by his followers and other groups were formed by newer generations of white supremacists. Some of them are currently defunct.
George Lincoln Rockwell was also mentioned in the lyrics to the ] song "]". In the lyrics to the song, the narrator parodies ] and ] as being ], and claims that the only "true American" is George Lincoln Rockwell. Quoting the lyrics, "I know for a fact that he hates Commies, 'cause he picketed the movie '']''."<ref name="lyrics">{{cite web|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/talkin-john-birch-paranoid-blues|title=Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues|accessdate=June 21, 2012}}</ref>


==In popular culture==
In the television miniseries '']'', ] portrayed Rockwell and won a ] for his performance.


In the lyrics to the ] song "]", the narrator parodies ] and ] as being Communists, and he also claims that the only "true American" is George Lincoln Rockwell. Quoting the lyrics: "I know for a fact that he hates Commies, 'cause he picketed the movie '']''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/talkin-john-birch-paranoid-blues/|title=Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues|publisher=]|access-date=October 16, 2022}}</ref>
Rockwell appears as a minor character in Tim Parise's alternate history novel ''The Bettor'', where he survives until 1967 before being killed during a riot in Washington, DC after having greatly expanded the size and influence of the American Nazi Party.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Bettor|last=Parise|first=Tim|date=2014|publisher=The Maui Company|pages=417–419|accessdate=2014-07-03}}</ref>


For its 1972 album '']'', ] created a fictional presidential candidate, George Papoon, running on the equally fictional ticket, the Natural Surrealist Light Peoples Party, the name taken as an apparent parody of Rockwell's own group, the National Socialist White Peoples Party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firesigntheatre.com/papoon/|title=FiresignTheatre.com – Join the Papoon Bandwagon!|publisher=]|access-date=October 16, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021031612/http://www.firesigntheatre.com/papoon/|archivedate=October 21, 2021|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Summary of military career==


] portrayed Rockwell in the television miniseries '']'' and he won a ] for his performance.<ref name=time>{{cite magazine |title=Television: A Super Sequel to Haley's Comet |first=Frank|last=Rich |magazine=] |date=February 18, 1979 |access-date= 2010-02-26|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912386,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070905115342/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912386,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 5, 2007 }}</ref>{{Rp|p=2}}
'''Service dates'''
* 15 March 1941: Enlisted U.S. Naval Reserve
* 17 March 1941: Called to Active Duty
* 12 June 1941: Appointed Aviation Cadet, U.S. Naval Reserve
* 16 October 1941: Commissioned ]
* 22 November 1945: Released from Active Duty as a ]
* 21 September 1950: Recalled to Active Duty
* 20 October 1954: Released from Active Duty as a ]
* 5 February 1960: Discharged from the Naval Reserve<ref>] release, ] of George Lincoln Rockwell, ], 2008</ref>


In the third season of the post-World War II ] television show ], ] portrayed Rockwell as the {{Lang|de|]}} of North America. Nazi-ruled New York City's main airport was named Lincoln Rockwell Airport.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/27/17909642/man-in-the-high-castle-review-season-3-amazon-prime-video|title=Season 3 of The Man in the High Castle doubles down on science fiction — and stumbles|first=Samantha|last=Nelson|work=]|date=September 27, 2018|access-date=October 16, 2022}}</ref>
'''Dates of rank'''


In the 2021 British drama series '']'', Rockwell is portrayed by actor ].<ref>{{cite web|last=Wrath|first=Tom|date=October 23, 2021|title=Review: Ridley Road - A Chilling Portrait of Fascism in Post-War Britain|url=https://www.thecourieronline.co.uk/review-ridley-road-a-chilling-portrait-of-fascism-in-post-war-britain/|access-date=October 16, 2022|website=The Courier Online|language=en-GB}}</ref>
*]: 15 March 41
* Aviation Cadet: 2 June 41
* Ensign: 16 October 41
*]: 1 October 42
* Lieutenant: 1 October 43
*]: 3 October 45
* Commander: 1 February 54


==Publications==
'''Awards'''
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2021}}
]
* ''How to Get Out or Stay Out of the Insane Asylum'' (1960)
*]
* ''In Hoc Signo Vinces'' (1960)
*] (w/1 service star)
* ''Rockwell Report'' (1961)
*] (w/3 service stars)
* ''This Time the World'' (1961)
*] (w/1 ])
* ''White Self-Hate: Master-Stroke of the Enemy'' (1962)
*]
* ''White Power'' (1967)
*]
*]
*] (w/2 service stars)


==Works== ==Albums==
* ''Nazi Rockwell: A Portrait in Sound'' (1973, posthumous)
*''In Hoc Signo Vinces'', a political ] (World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists, 1960)<ref>, ]</ref>
* ''Speech at Brown University, 1966'' (1966)
*''How to Get Out or Stay Out of the Insane Asylum'', recounts his experience of being sentenced to thirty days observation (American Nazi Party, 1960)
* ''Speech in the Armory, Lynchburg, Virginia, August 20, 1963'' (1963)
*''The Fable of the Ducks and the Hens'', a long-form poem that uses various sub-species of birds to illustrate Rockwell's own views of the racial problems in America and the world.
*'''', his autobiography (written 1960; First Published by Parliament House 1961; Reprinted by White Power Publications, 1979; and later Liberty Bell Publications, 2004, ISBN 1-59364-014-5).
*'''' (written 1967; John McLaughlin, 1996, ISBN 0-9656492-8-8)

===Pamphlets===
*''From Ivory Tower To Privy Wall: On The Art Of Propaganda'' (1960)
*''How Can the Liberals Be So Stupid?''
*''How To Get Out or Stay Out of the Insane Asylum'' (1960)
*''In Hoc Signo Vinces'' (1960)
*''Legal, Political and Psychological Warfare''
*''The Terrible Power of Money''
*''What We Stand For: Goals and Objectives of the NSWPP''
*''White Self-Hate: Master-Stroke Of The Enemy''
*''Who's a Hate-Monger?'' (1958)


==See also== ==See also==
*]
{{portal|World War II}}
*]
*] *]


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}} {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* ''American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party'' by Frederick James Simonelli, (], 1999, ISBN 0-252-02285-8).
* ''Hate: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party'' by William H. Schmaltz, (Brasseys, Inc., 2001, ISBN 1-57488-262-7).
* ''The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds'' by Robert S. Griffin, (1st Books Library, 2001, ISBN 0-7596-0933-0), pages 87–115.
*''Siege: The Collected Writings of James Mason'' by ] (Appendix III contains Mason's "George Lincoln Rockwell: A Sketch of His Life and Career"; introduced by Ryan Schuster, Black Sun Publications, ISBN 0-9724408-0-1)
*''"Rockwell, U.S. Nazi, Slain; Ex-Aide is Held as Sniper"'', Graham, Fred P., ''New York Times'', Saturday, 26 August 1967, pages 1, 14.
*''"Rockwell Burial Causes A Dispute"'', uncredited, ''New York Times'', Sunday, 27 August 1967, page 28.

==External links==
* by Frederick J. Simonelli
*
*
*, including photos.
* by Katharine Whittemore at ].
*, a commentary and review of ''Hate'' by Myrna Estep, Ph.D.
* by David Maurer in ''Daily Progress'', August 24, 2003
*{{IMDb name|0734339}}
* - Includes background information on George Lincoln Rockwell
*George Lincoln Rockwell's ] files, obtained under the ] and hosted at the ]:
**
**
**

{{White nationalism}}


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{{Authority control}} {{Authority control}}


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| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American politician
| DATE OF BIRTH = March 9, 1918
| PLACE OF BIRTH = ], ], ]
| DATE OF DEATH = August 25, 1967
| PLACE OF DEATH = ], ], ]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockwell, George Lincoln}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Rockwell, George Lincoln}}
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Latest revision as of 01:39, 4 December 2024

American Neo-Nazi politician (1918–1967)

George Lincoln Rockwell
George Lincoln Rockwell, at a hearing of the House Un-American Activities Committee, 1963
1st Commander of the American Nazi Party
In office
March 1959 – August 25, 1967
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMatthias Koehl
1st Leader of the World Union of National Socialists
In office
1962 – August 25, 1967
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMatthias Koehl
Personal details
Born(1918-03-09)March 9, 1918
Bloomington, Illinois, U.S.
DiedAugust 25, 1967(1967-08-25) (aged 49)
Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Manner of deathAssassination by gunshot
Political partyAmerican Nazi Party
Spouses
Children7
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Navy
Years of service1941–1960
RankCommander
Battles/wars
Awards
Part of a series on
Antisemitism
Definitions
Geography
Manifestations
Antisemitic tropes
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Category

George Lincoln Rockwell (March 9, 1918 – August 25, 1967) was an American Neo-Nazi activist. Rockwell founded the American Nazi Party in 1959 and became the self-styled leader of Neo-Nazism in the United States.

His beliefs, strategies, and writings have continued to influence many white supremacists and Neo-Nazis. Born in Bloomington, Illinois, Rockwell briefly studied philosophy at Brown University before dropping out to join the Navy. He trained as a pilot and served in World War II and the Korean War in non-combat roles, achieving the rank of Commander. Rockwell's politics grew more radical and vocal in the 1950s, and he was honorably discharged due to his views in 1960.

In politics, he regularly praised Adolf Hitler, referring to him as the "White Savior of the twentieth century". He denied the Holocaust and believed that Martin Luther King Jr. was a tool for Jewish communists desiring to rule the white community. He blamed the civil rights movement on Jews, and viewed most of them as traitors. He viewed black people as a primitive, lethargic race who desired only simple pleasures and a life of irresponsibility, and supported the resettlement of all African Americans in a new African state to be funded by the U.S. government. As a supporter of racial segregation and white separatism, he agreed with and quoted many leaders of the Black separatism movement such as Elijah Muhammad and early Malcolm X. In his later years, Rockwell became increasingly aligned with other Neo-Nazi groups, leading the World Union of National Socialists.

On August 25, 1967, Rockwell was shot and killed in Arlington by John Patler, a former party member expelled by Rockwell for alleged "Bolshevik leanings".

Early life

Rockwell was born in Bloomington, Illinois, the first of three children of George Lovejoy Rockwell and Claire (Schade) Rockwell. His father was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and was of English and Scottish ancestry. His mother was the daughter of Augustus Schade, a German immigrant, and Corrine Boudreau, who was of Acadian French ancestry. Both parents were vaudeville comedians and actors. His parents divorced when Rockwell was six years old, and for the rest of his youth he divided his time between his mother in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and his father in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

Rockwell attended Atlantic City High School in Atlantic City, and applied to Harvard University when he was 17 years old. However, he was denied admission. One year later, his father enrolled him at Hebron Academy in Hebron, Maine.

In August 1938, Rockwell enrolled at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, as a philosophy major. In his sophomore year, Rockwell dropped out of Brown and accepted a commission in the United States Navy.

Military service

Rockwell appreciated the order and discipline of the Navy, and attended flight schools in Massachusetts and Florida in 1940. When he completed his training, he served in the Battle of the Atlantic and the Pacific War in World War II. He served aboard the USS Omaha, USS Pastores, USS Wasp and USS Mobile, primarily in support, photo reconnaissance, transport and training functions. Though he never actually flew in combat, he was considered a good pilot and an efficient officer.

On April 24, 1943, Rockwell married Judith Aultman, whom he had met while attending Brown University. Aultman was a student at Pembroke College, which was the coordinate women's college of the university. The couple had three daughters: Bonnie, Nancy, and Phoebe Jean. Rockwell did not get along with his in-laws; he blamed them for not raising Judith to be "docile and compliant", his image of the perfect wife. His marriage was marred with violent arguments and on at least one occasion, he struck his wife.

After the war ended, Rockwell worked as a sign painter out of a small shop on land owned by his father in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. In 1946, he entered the commercial art program at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He and his wife Judith moved to New York City so he could study at Pratt. He did well at Pratt, winning the $1,000 first prize for an advertisement he did for the American Cancer Society. However, he left Pratt before finishing his final year, and moved to Maine to found his own advertising agency.

In 1950, Rockwell was recalled to duty as a lieutenant commander at the beginning of the Korean War. He moved to San Diego with his wife and three children, where he trained pilots in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps.

Rockwell during his time in the Navy

Privately, during his time in San Diego, Rockwell became an advocate of Adolf Hitler and a supporter of Nazism. He was influenced by Senator Joseph McCarthy's stance against communism, carmaker Henry Ford's hatred of Jews, and aviator Charles Lindbergh's stance on race. Rockwell supported General Douglas MacArthur's candidacy for president of the United States. He adopted the corncob pipe, following MacArthur's example. In 1951, he read the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Hitler's manifesto Mein Kampf.

In November 1952, Rockwell was transferred to Iceland, where he became a Grumman F8F Bearcat pilot and attained the rank of commander. Because families were not permitted to be with American service personnel stationed there, his wife and children stayed with her mother in Barrington, Rhode Island. His wife filed for divorce the following year. Rockwell attended a diplomatic party in Reykjavík where he met Margrét Þóra Hallgrímsson, the niece of Iceland's ambassador to the United States; they were married on October 3, 1953, by Þóra's uncle, the Bishop of Iceland. They spent their honeymoon in Berchtesgaden, Germany, where Hitler once owned the Berghof mountain retreat in the Bavarian Alps. They made a "pilgrimage" to Hitler's Adlerhorst. Together they had three children: Hallgrímur, Margrét, and Evelyn Bentína. In 1957, Hallgrímsson's father went to the U.S. to take his daughter back to Iceland because he had learned that Rockwell was "one of the most active racists in the United States." She subsequently divorced Rockwell and remarried in 1963.

In September 1955 in Washington, D.C., he launched U.S. Lady, a magazine for United States servicemen's wives. The magazine incorporated Rockwell's political causes: his opposition to both racial integration and communism. The publication had financial problems and he sold the magazine. However, he still aspired to pursue a career in publishing.

When I was in the advertising game, we used to use nude women. Now I use the swastika and storm troopers. You use what brings them in.

—George Lincoln Rockwell

Early political activities

After his move to Washington, D.C., in 1955, he gradually became radicalised until, in the words of his biographer, he was "on the farthest fringe of the right wing." In 1957–1958, Rockwell had a series of dreams that ended with him meeting Hitler.

In 1958, Rockwell met Harold Noel Arrowsmith Jr., a wealthy heir and antisemite who provided Rockwell with a house and printing equipment. They formed the National Committee to Free America from Jewish Domination.

On July 29, 1958, Rockwell demonstrated in front of the White House in an anti-war protest against President Dwight D. Eisenhower's decision to send peacekeeping troops to the Middle East, known as Operation Blue Bat. Rockwell and his supporters specifically protested what they supposed was Jewish control of the government. In October 1958, following the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple bombing, Rockwell's home was raided by the police.

Rockwell gained notoriety after Drew Pearson wrote an article describing how Rockwell and his followers dressed in uniforms, armed themselves with guns, and paraded at his home in Arlington County, Virginia.

American Nazi Party

Rockwell standing close to the camera at a three-quarters view with a swastika armband visible
Rockwell (foreground, with swastika armband) at a rally in 1967

In March 1959, Rockwell founded the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists (WUFENS), a name selected to denote opposition to state ownership of property. In December 1959, the organization was renamed the American Nazi Party (later the National Socialist White People's Party, NSWPP), and its headquarters was relocated to 928 North Randolph Street in Arlington, which also became Rockwell's home.

In 1959, he published an Animal Farm-type parody, the long-form poem and children's book The Fable of the Ducks and the Hens.

In 1960, as a result of his political activities, the Navy discharged Rockwell one year short of retirement because he was regarded as "not deployable" due to his political views. The proceedings to dismiss him were an extremely public affair. Even though he received an honorable discharge, Rockwell claimed he "had basically been thrown out of the Navy", for which he blamed the Jews. In order to attract media attention, Rockwell held a rally on April 3, 1960, on the National Mall, where he addressed the crowd with a two-hour speech. A second rally was planned for Union Square in New York City. Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. refused to grant him a permit to speak, and he appealed that decision to the New York Supreme Court. When Rockwell emerged in the courthouse rotunda, he was surrounded by a crowd of television reporters. One of the reporters, Reese Schonfeld, interviewed Rockwell, and after Rockwell made antisemitic comments, a melee broke out, requiring a police convoy to escort Rockwell from the courthouse. Rockwell, with the aid of the American Civil Liberties Union, eventually won a permit, but it was long after the date of the planned event. Another rally was set for July 4, 1960, again on the National Mall. Rockwell and his men were confronted by a mob and a riot ensued. The police arrested Rockwell and eight party members. Rockwell demanded a trial, and instead, was committed to a psychiatric hospital for thirty days. In less than two weeks, he was released and found mentally competent to stand trial. He published a pamphlet inspired by this experience titled How to Get Out or Stay Out of the Insane Asylum.

On January 15, 1961, Rockwell and a fellow Nazi Party member attempted to picket the local premiere of the film Exodus at the Saxon Theatre in Downtown Boston on Tremont Street while staying at the Hotel Touraine. After Boston Mayor John F. Collins declined to deny Rockwell the right to picket, members of the local Jewish community organized a counterdemonstration of 2,000 protestors in response on the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets on the day of the premiere, which forced police to converge on the theater and force Rockwell into a police cruiser that took him to Logan International Airport where Rockwell was then boarded onto a flight to Washington, D.C. In early 1962, Rockwell planned a rally to celebrate Hitler's birthday on April 20. In the summer, he attended a camp organized by British Neo-Nazi Colin Jordan in Gloucestershire where they organized the World Union of National Socialists. In September, he awarded one of his members a medal for punching Martin Luther King Jr. in the face.

In the 1964 United States presidential election, Rockwell ran as a write-in candidate, receiving 212 votes. He ran as an independent in the 1965 Virginia gubernatorial election, receiving 5,730 votes, or 1.02% of the total, finishing last among the four candidates. In the summer of 1966, Rockwell led a counter-demonstration against King's attempt to bring an end to de facto segregation in the white Chicago suburb of Cicero, Illinois. He believed that King was a tool for Jewish Communists who wanted to integrate America. Rockwell believed that integration was a Jewish plot to rule the white community. Rockwell led the American Nazi Party in assisting the Ku Klux Klan and similar organizations during the civil rights movement, in attempts to counter the Freedom Riders and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. But he soon came to believe that the Klan was stuck in the past and ineffective in helping him wage a modern racial struggle.

In 1966, after hearing the slogan "Black Power" during a debate with Black Panther Party leader Stokely Carmichael, Rockwell altered the phrase and started a call for "White Power". In the spring of 1966, the party began publication of several pamphlets and books, including National Socialist World edited by William Luther Pierce, writings by Rockwell, the periodical Stormtrooper Magazine (originally National Socialist Bulletin), and a propaganda comic book, Here Comes Whiteman!, where the title superhero character battles enemies modeled after racist stereotypes. In November 1966, the American Civil Liberties Union once again represented Rockwell, defending his right to stage marches or parades in Jewish neighborhoods during Jewish holidays.

Offices

Rockwell established his "Stormtrooper Barracks" in a two-story farmhouse at 6150 Wilson Boulevard in the Dominion Hills Historic District. It was there that Alex Haley interviewed Rockwell for Playboy. The house has since been razed, and the property has been incorporated into Upton Hill Regional Park. A small pavilion with picnic tables marks the house's former location.

The site of the party headquarters, 928 North Randolph Street in Ballston, Virginia, is now a hotel and office building. After Rockwell's death, his successor Matthias Koehl relocated the headquarters to 2507 North Franklin Road in Clarendon, Arlington, Virginia. The small building, often misidentified today as Rockwell's former headquarters, is now the Sweet Science Coffee shop, formerly The Java Shack. Koehl moved the headquarters to New Berlin, Wisconsin, in the mid-1980s.

Record label

In the 1960s, Rockwell attempted to draw attention to his cause by starting a record label, named Hatenanny Records. The name was based on the word "hootenanny", a term given to folk music performances. The label released several singles promoting racist and white supremacist beliefs by such bands as Odis Cochran and the Three Bigots and the Coon Hunters. These songs were sold mostly through mail order and at party rallies.

Hate bus

When the Freedom Riders drove their campaign for the desegregation of bus stations in the Deep South, Rockwell secured a Volkswagen van and decorated it with slogans supporting white supremacy, dubbing it the "Hate Bus" and driving it to speaking engagements and party rallies. On May 24, 1961, Rockwell and nine others were arrested on charges of disturbing the peace in New Orleans after trying to picket the movie Exodus. They went on a hunger strike in jail. Rockwell was only able to raise enough bond money for himself so he could be released five days later. In June 1961, all ten men were found guilty, receiving sentences ranging from 30 to 60 days and fines ranging from $50 to $100. Once more, Rockwell paid his bond, but left his followers in jail. In 1962, the convictions were overturned on appeal. Several years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana's statute on "breach of the peace" was unconstitutional. Ironically, the ruling mainly benefited black civil rights activists.

Black separatism

Rockwell worked with Black separatist leaders who shared his goal of racial segregation, such as Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X. In January 1962, Rockwell wrote to his followers that Elijah Muhammad:

has gathered millions of the dirty, immoral, drunken, filthy-mouthed, lazy and repulsive people sneeringly called 'niggers' and inspired them to the point where they are clean, sober, honest, hard working, dignified, dedicated and admirable human beings in spite of their color ... Muhammad knows that mixing is a Jewish fraud and leads only to aggravation of the problems that it is supposed to solve ... I have talked to the Muslim leaders and am certain that a workable plan for separation of the races could be effected to the satisfaction of all concerned—except the Communist-Jew agitators.

He also said of Elijah Muhammad "I am fully in concert with their program, and I have the highest respect for Elijah Muhammad." He referred to Muhammad as "The Black People's Hitler" and donated $20 (worth about $212 in 2024) to the Nation of Islam at their "Freedom Rally" event on June 25, 1961, at Uline Arena in Washington where he and ten ANP members attended a speech by Malcolm X. Rockwell gave a speech to a crowd of 12,000 at a Black Muslim event in the International Amphitheater in Chicago, with Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X, on February 25, 1962.

Inspired by Black Muslims' use of religion to mobilize people, Rockwell sought to collaborate with Christian Identity groups. On June 10, 1964, he met and formed an alliance with Identity minister Wesley A. Swift. Rockwell used religious imagery, depicting himself as a Christ-like martyr who was fighting against the Jews. Nazis found a welcome home in Swift's church and church members found a political outlet in the American Nazi Party.

Holocaust denial

Rockwell was a Holocaust denier. In an April 1966 interview for Playboy conducted by journalist Alex Haley, Rockwell stated, "I don't believe for one minute that any 6,000,000 Jews were exterminated by Hitler. It never happened." When asked in a 1965 interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation if the Holocaust were true, Rockwell replied by claiming he had "incontrovertible documentary proof that that's not true."

Assassination and trial

On August 25, 1967, Rockwell was shot and killed while leaving a laundromat in Arlington, Virginia, only a few yards from where he lived. John Patler, who had been expelled by Rockwell from his party in March 1967 for repeated attempts to inject Marxist ideas into party publications, was convicted of the murder in December 1967, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He spent eight years in prison, and later another six years following a parole violation. Hearing of his son's death, Rockwell's 78-year-old father said: "I am not surprised at all. I've expected it for quite some time."

Matthias Koehl, the second in command at NSWPP, moved to establish control over Rockwell's body and the assets of the NSWPP, which at the time had some 300 active members and 3,000 financial supporters. Rockwell's parents wanted a private burial in Maine, but declined to fight with the Nazis. On August 27, an NSWPP spokesman reported that federal officials had approved a military burial at Culpeper National Cemetery, Rockwell being an honorably discharged veteran. The cemetery specified that no Nazi insignia could be displayed, and when the 50 mourners violated these conditions, the entrance to the cemetery was blocked in a five-hour standoff, during which the hearse, which had been stopped on railroad tracks near the cemetery, was nearly struck by an approaching train. The next day, Rockwell's body was secretly cremated.

Legacy

Rockwell was a source of inspiration for David Duke, who openly espoused neo-Nazi sentiments when he was young. As a student in high school, when he learned that Rockwell was murdered, Duke reportedly said "The greatest American who ever lived has been shot down and killed." Richard B. Spencer is another admirer of Rockwell.

Matthew Heimbach said that Rockwell was "one of the most gifted orators of the 20th century", and Rockwell's writings and speeches were "the things that worked to bring me to National Socialism".

Two of Rockwell's associates, Matthias Koehl and William Luther Pierce, formed their own organizations. Koehl, who was Rockwell's successor, renamed the National Socialist White Peoples Party (NSWPP) the New Order in 1983 and shortly thereafter, he relocated its national headquarters to Wisconsin. Pierce founded the National Alliance and he also wrote the racist dystopian novel The Turner Diaries, which inspired numerous acts of far-right terrorism in the United States and elsewhere, like the assassination of Alan Berg, the Oklahoma bombing or the 1999 London nail bombings. Several other neo-Nazi groups were formed in the years since Rockwell's death, some of them were formed by his followers and other groups were formed by newer generations of white supremacists. Some of them are currently defunct.

In popular culture

In the lyrics to the Bob Dylan song "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues", the narrator parodies Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson as being Communists, and he also claims that the only "true American" is George Lincoln Rockwell. Quoting the lyrics: "I know for a fact that he hates Commies, 'cause he picketed the movie Exodus."

For its 1972 album Not Insane or Anything You Want To, The Firesign Theatre created a fictional presidential candidate, George Papoon, running on the equally fictional ticket, the Natural Surrealist Light Peoples Party, the name taken as an apparent parody of Rockwell's own group, the National Socialist White Peoples Party.

Marlon Brando portrayed Rockwell in the television miniseries Roots: The Next Generations and he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance.

In the third season of the post-World War II alternate history television show The Man in the High Castle, David Furr portrayed Rockwell as the Reichsmarschall of North America. Nazi-ruled New York City's main airport was named Lincoln Rockwell Airport.

In the 2021 British drama series Ridley Road, Rockwell is portrayed by actor Stephen Hogan.

Publications

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  • How to Get Out or Stay Out of the Insane Asylum (1960)
  • In Hoc Signo Vinces (1960)
  • Rockwell Report (1961)
  • This Time the World (1961)
  • White Self-Hate: Master-Stroke of the Enemy (1962)
  • White Power (1967)

Albums

  • Nazi Rockwell: A Portrait in Sound (1973, posthumous)
  • Speech at Brown University, 1966 (1966)
  • Speech in the Armory, Lynchburg, Virginia, August 20, 1963 (1963)

See also

References

  1. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (2003). Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity. NYU Press. pp. 7–8. ISBN 9780814731550.
  2. ^ Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (July 31, 2003). Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity. New York University Press. ISBN 978-0814731550.
  3. ^ Marable, Manning (2013). The Portable Malcolm X Reader. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780143106944.
  4. "When Malcolm X Met the Nazis". www.vice.com. April 16, 2015. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  5. "Killer of American Nazi Chief Paroled". St. Joseph News-Press. August 23, 1975. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  6. ^ Rockwell, George Lincoln (April 1966). "Interview with George Lincoln Rockwell" (Interview). Interviewed by Alex Haley. Playboy.
  7. ^ Woodard, Colin (September 3, 2017). "For years, the so-called 'grandfather' of neo-Nazis called Maine his home". Portland Press Herald.
  8. ^ Simonelli, Frederick James (1999). American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-02285-2.
  9. ^ Rockwell, George Lincoln (March 2004). This Time the World (PDF). American Nazi Party. ISBN 9781593640149.
  10. Berlet, Chip. "Rockwell, George Lincoln (1918–1967)." Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices, edited by Roger Chapman, and James Ciment, Routledge, 2nd edition, 2013. Credo Reference, http://ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sharpecw/rockwell_george_lincoln_1918_1967/0?institutionId=4864. Accessed September 7, 2022.
  11. ^ Miller, Michael E. (August 21, 2017). "The shadow of an assassinated American Nazi commander hangs over Charlottesville". The Washington Post.
  12. Simonelli American Fuehrer, pp. 26–27.
  13. Goodrick-Clarke Black Sun, p. 11
  14. Morris, Travis (2017). Dark Ideas: How Neo-Nazi and Violent Jihadi Ideologues Shaped Modern Terrorism. Lanham, MD & London, UK: Lexington Books. p. 78. ISBN 9780739191057.
  15. McCabe, Scott (August 24, 2009). "CRIME HISTORY - American Nazi leader killed near Arlington home". Washington Examiner.
  16. "The Fable of the Ducks and the Hens: A Dramatic Saga of Intrigue, Propaganda and Subversion (1959) - George Lincoln Rockwell". Internet Archive. 1959.
  17. Newton, Michael (April 17, 2014). Famous Assassinations in World History: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781610692861.
  18. Matter of Rockwell v. Morris, 10 721 (New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division June 9, 1961).
  19. Rockwell, George Lincoln (1960). How to Get Out Or Stay Out of the Insane Asylum. Sons of Liberty.
  20. Levine, Hillel; Harmon, Lawrence (1992). The Death of an American Jewish Community: A Tragedy of Good Intentions. New York: Free Press. pp. 260–266. ISBN 978-0029138656.
  21. "Our Campaigns - US President National Vote Race - Nov 03, 1964". ourcampaigns.com.
  22. Hunter, Jack R. (Spring 1972). "Linwood Holton's long quest for the governorship of Virginia and its impact on the growth of the Republican Party". University of Richmond.
  23. Rockwell, George Lincoln. "White Power". Internet Archive.
  24. Whittemore, Katharine (July 19, 1999). "American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party". Salon website.
  25. "Civil Liberties Union to Represent Rockwell in U.S. District Court". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. November 3, 1966.
  26. Barrett, H. Michael. "Pierce, Koehl and the National Socialist White People's Party Internal Split of 1970". The Heretical Press.
  27. Sweet Science Coffee website
  28. Weingarten, Gene (February 10, 2008). "It's Just Nazi Same Place". The Washington Post.
  29. Cooper, Rebecca (December 30, 2014). "Java Shack owner to say goodbye after nearly two decades". American City Business Journals.
  30. Jones, Mark (January 2, 2013). "Nazis in Arlington: George Rockwell and the ANP". WETA.
  31. "Hatenanny Records Advertisement [American Nazi Party handbill]". Virginia Commonwealth University.
  32. Powell, Lawrence N. (1997), "When Hate Came to Town: New Orleans' Jews and George Lincoln Rockwell", American Jewish History, 85 (4): 393–419, doi:10.1353/ajh.1997.0034, JSTOR 23885627, S2CID 161205862
  33. "Riding the Hate Bus, 1961". Messynessychic.com. March 25, 2014.
  34. Arsenault, Raymond (January 15, 2006). Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. Oxford University Press. p. 276. ISBN 9780199755813.
  35. Boyd, Herb (2004). We Shall Overcome with 2 Audio CDs: The History of the Civil Rights Movement. Sourcebooks. ISBN 9781402202131.
  36. "Rockwell Released on Bond; His Nine Followers Remain in Jail". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  37. "The Monroe News-Star from Monroe, Louisiana". Newspapers.com. 1961-06-14. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  38. "Louisiana Court of Appeals Reverses Conviction of Rockwell and Aids". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  39. "When George Lincoln Rockwell, Elijah Muhammad, and Malcolm X Shared the Same Stage".
  40. ^ McPheeters, Sam (April 16, 2015). "When Malcolm X Met the Nazis". Vice.
  41. Schmaltz, William H. (2013). For Race And Nation: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party.
  42. ^ "1967: 'American Hitler' shot dead". BBC News. August 25, 1967.
  43. Clark, Charles S. (December 30, 2010). "Death of an Arlington Nazi". Northern Virginia Magazine.
  44. ^ Graham, Fred P. (August 26, 1967). "Rockwell, U.S. Nazi, Slain; Ex-Aide Is Held as Sniper". The New York Times.
  45. "Rockwell Aide Charge in Slaying". The Post and Courier. August 26, 1967.
  46. "Patler convicted, faces 20 years". The Free Lance–Star. December 16, 1967.
  47. "Killer of American Nazi Chief Paroled". St. Joseph News-Press. August 23, 1975.
  48. "Army Cancels Approval for Burial of Rockwell at National Cemetery; 3 Nazis Arrested". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. August 30, 1967.
  49. Bridges, Tyler (2004). The Rise of David Duke. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9780878056842.
  50. The shadow of an assassinated American Nazi commander hangs over Charlottesville, 2017, Washington Post
  51. George Lincoln Rockwell, father of American Nazis, still in vogue for some, 2017, The Guardian
  52. Ware, Jacob (2020-03-17). "Testament to Murder: The Violent Far Right's Increasing Use of Terrorist Manifestos". International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. The Hague. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  53. "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues". Bob Dylan. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  54. "FiresignTheatre.com – Join the Papoon Bandwagon!". The Firesign Theatre. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  55. Rich, Frank (February 18, 1979). "Television: A Super Sequel to Haley's Comet". Time. Archived from the original on September 5, 2007. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
  56. Nelson, Samantha (September 27, 2018). "Season 3 of The Man in the High Castle doubles down on science fiction — and stumbles". The Verge. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  57. Wrath, Tom (October 23, 2021). "Review: Ridley Road - A Chilling Portrait of Fascism in Post-War Britain". The Courier Online. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
Party political offices
New office 0Commander of the American Nazi Party0
1958–1967
Succeeded byMatthias Koehl
0Leader of the World Union of National Socialists0
1962–1967
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