- anteontem
1933, California. The Nazi regime is seeking to establish itself in the US. Operating in the shadows, the Nazis’ spies have infiltrated Hollywood and the studios, spreading their ideology and preparing to seize power.
Leon Lewis, a jewish lawyer perceiving the growing threat stands in the way. With few ressources he sets up a spy ring to dismantle the Nazi groups and expose the plot.
Mixing archives and animation, this documentary portrays the unknown story of an ordinary hero who foresaw and corrected the fate of his country before it was too late.
Leon Lewis, a jewish lawyer perceiving the growing threat stands in the way. With few ressources he sets up a spy ring to dismantle the Nazi groups and expose the plot.
Mixing archives and animation, this documentary portrays the unknown story of an ordinary hero who foresaw and corrected the fate of his country before it was too late.
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00:00It all begins one summer morning in 1933 in Los Angeles.
00:13A man hurries down Broadway Avenue.
00:17The traffic is already heavy.
00:21With the thick air and pollution, he has trouble breathing.
00:27This Jewish lawyer, a World War I veteran, suddenly looks up at the stormy sky.
00:40Swastikas flutter among the stars and stripes on the most famous avenue in Los Angeles.
00:48The Nazi menace has crossed the Atlantic.
00:52It's here, before his eyes, in his own country.
00:57A mixture of fear and determination crosses his face.
01:02This man is Leon Lewis.
01:05And for him, a new war has only just begun.
01:09In his own country in the desert.
01:17He should that.
01:18The Nazi menace.
01:20The Nazi menace.
01:21The Nazi menace.
01:26To be continued...
01:56...the building, Leon Lewis looks out across Los Angeles, this vast city whose dark underbelly he knows all too well.
02:07He didn't grow up here, though, this kid from Wisconsin, born in 1888, this son of Jewish immigrants who fled Germany in poverty.
02:17In 1931, with his wife Ruth and two daughters, Leon Lewis left Chicago for California.
02:28Its milder climate soothes his lungs, burned by all the mustard gas he inhaled in the trenches in the Somme in 1918.
02:37Leon Lewis has never fantasized about the Californian Mirage, its laid-back, picture-postcard lifestyle, and overnight success stories.
02:55He is aware the American dream can fast become a nightmare.
02:59Leon Lewis knows what goes on behind the scenes.
03:13In the early 1930s, prohibition may have come to an end, but the mob still holds sway in Los Angeles.
03:20Crime is rife. Corruption and dubious politics have made the city paranoid.
03:27Wary of everything.
03:29What's yours, mister?
03:31And of everyone.
03:34I'll take these.
03:36There you are.
03:36Match?
03:38Yeah.
03:40Their names are Kurt Leemuth and Lester Bellet.
03:47Say, where do you get your information?
03:49Who are you?
03:52Hello?
03:53Hello?
03:55Wait a minute.
03:57They hung up.
03:58Check on those two birds.
03:59Leon Lewis is a prominent lawyer who has made the fight against anti-Semitism his lifelong mission.
04:11This former American army captain saw the hatred of Jews grow strong in Europe, in the smoldering ashes of the First World War.
04:18And for the past 20 years, he has tracked anti-Semitism in his own country and come to the aid of its victims.
04:27His employer?
04:28The Anti-Defamation League.
04:30The ADL.
04:31One of the largest American Jewish organizations, of which Lewis is the Executive National Secretary.
04:38Since its foundation in 1913, the ADL has condemned anti-Semitic stereotypes, as well as employment and housing discrimination,
04:46and fought against the segregation of Jews, particularly in the nation's Ivy League universities,
04:51where quotas limited the number of Jewish students admitted.
04:551929 found the bottom falling out of the New York Stock Exchange and the panic was on.
05:00Overnight, men of wealth were reduced to selling apples on street corners.
05:04The prosperity boom of the 20s had exploded like a giant soap bubble,
05:08and the United States tumbled down into a bottomless abyss of depression.
05:11Leon Lewis has his work cut out.
05:17The Great Depression of 1929 has fueled violent resentment.
05:22People are looking for someone to blame.
05:24And who better than the Jews?
05:27Every week, during his Sunday Mass,
05:30Father Charles Coughlin vents his hatred on the radio to an audience of millions.
05:34In Europe particularly, Jews in great numbers have been identified with the communist movement,
05:44with communist slaughter and Christian persecution.
05:48I hold no animosity towards the Jews.
05:51I distinguish most carefully between good Jews and bad Jews.
05:59Leon Lewis knows this hateful rhetoric better than most.
06:03He hears it in every sector of American society,
06:06even in the nation's movie studios.
06:14The Anti-Defamation League has made him their distinguished representative in Hollywood,
06:19a lookout who monitors movies released in the United States.
06:22The lawyer spends his days, and often the best part of his nights,
06:26in the studio's screening rooms,
06:28looking for anti-Semitic images and language.
06:33Over the months, he has become an influential lawyer in Hollywood.
06:39He knows the studio moguls,
06:41their networks, projects, and desires.
06:44Leon Lewis also keeps a close eye on the activities of the American fascist groups rife in the city.
07:02California is home to reactionary and racist forces,
07:05propelled by the white Protestants,
07:07who with the arrival of migrants fled the Midwest in droves.
07:15They dream of Los Angeles as the white spot of America,
07:19a pure Christian bastion.
07:24Members of the Ku Klux Klan,
07:26the Silver Shirts,
07:28and the American patriots.
07:29Leon Lewis sees the emergence of a new organization that he finds even more disturbing,
07:51the FNG, the Friends of New Germany.
07:53This membership card of the Friends of the New Germany bears the shield of the United States,
08:03over which has been placed the Nazi emblem.
08:07This is a direct violation of law.
08:09The arrival of Hitler in power created fertile ground in the States for a new force from Europe.
08:21Our country is overrun with outsiders.
08:24We take our homes, our bread, our very existence.
08:28We must drive these people from our country.
08:31There is no room for these people who are not of our race.
08:33The FNG was authorized by Rudolf Hess,
08:42Hitler's deputy,
08:43who would play a key role ten years later in the implementation of the final solution.
08:52For Leon Lewis,
08:54things have come to a head.
08:56Time and experience have given him a thorough knowledge of the American fascist groups.
09:00Lewis, he knows their methods,
09:03their hatred.
09:04But the swastikas on Broadway this summer morning of 1933
09:08is something he cannot accept.
09:14Lewis has to know more.
09:19But he,
09:20the Jewish lawyer of the ADL,
09:23is far too exposed to take a closer look.
09:26He needs an accomplice
09:27to be his eyes and ears
09:30wherever he cannot go.
09:35Robby,
09:36give me a couple of slugs, will you?
09:40Shut that all up, will you?
09:42This man is John Schmidt.
09:47Yeah?
09:49He's right here.
09:50John Schmidt was born in Germany,
09:57but came to America at 16 years old.
10:00He became a fervent patriot,
10:02loyal to the country that welcomed him and his parents.
10:06The former army captain fought under the American flag in the First World War.
10:12Following the Great Depression,
10:14his disability pension was suspended.
10:16Very involved with veterans,
10:21Leon Lewis helped him get it back
10:22and live decently with his wife Alice.
10:25This created a bond of trust.
10:30So when Leon Lewis asks him to spy on the FNG,
10:34John Schmidt does not hesitate for a second.
10:38He speaks German.
10:40He isn't Jewish.
10:41He has the perfect profile.
10:44Together,
10:45they will wage this war in the shadows against the Nazis.
10:47On the evening of August 17th, 1933,
11:11John Schmidt makes his way to Alt Heidelberg,
11:13the FNG's headquarters on Alvarado Street.
11:16Dozens of militants are already there.
11:23He meets their leaders
11:24and tells them he wants to join their organization.
11:28I support Hitler, too.
11:30Like you,
11:30I hate the Jews.
11:38This tall, debonair man with a slight German accent
11:41inspires confidence.
11:42No one in the FNG has the slightest inkling
11:46that John Schmidt is an undercover agent.
11:56Through his accomplice's eyes,
11:58Leon Lewis sees the tip of the iceberg.
12:00German-American men,
12:22German-American women,
12:24and American friends.
12:29John Schmidt attends the FNG's meetings,
12:32which draw ever-larger crowds.
12:33It will not let the war be defied
12:36to bring the pound-sized hate
12:38of Jewish communism in our skin.
12:42He also goes to the Aryan bookstore
12:44on Washington Boulevard
12:46where the most extreme anti-Semitic literature
12:49and information about upcoming activities
12:51are exchanged.
12:55Here may be purchased German literature
12:57and pamphlets and papers
12:58denouncing the Jews.
13:01Silver Ranger, laid paver.
13:03Free speech stopped by Jew riot.
13:05Hey, body.
13:06Silver Ranger, laid paver.
13:08Just laid paver.
13:09Thank you, sir.
13:11Within weeks,
13:12John Schmidt becomes part of the FNG's inner circle
13:15and participates in its activities
13:17alongside Herman Schwin,
13:19one of the organization's young leaders
13:21and a newly naturalized American citizen.
13:34He frequently accompanies him
13:36to the port of Los Angeles
13:37to take delivery of contraband material
13:39from Berlin.
13:44Pamphlets, flags, uniforms,
13:47as well as money,
13:49lots of money,
13:50are smuggled through the port.
13:57In his reports,
13:59Schmidt makes one thing clear.
14:01The goods are delivered in person
14:02by Gestapo officers,
14:04who then vanish into the city.
14:07Although he is an amateur,
14:11Schmidt's work exceeds Lewis's expectations.
14:18Through him,
14:19the lawyer understands
14:21that the FNG's leaders
14:22are aggressively recruiting new members
14:24with the aim of building
14:25an anti-communist, anti-Semitic army
14:28ready to embrace the Nazi revolution
14:30on American soil.
14:31The FNG exploited everyone's resentment,
14:43that of World War I veterans,
14:46whom the Depression had left
14:47without a war pension,
14:49bitter about a country
14:50that had abandoned them,
14:51and that of new arrivals from Germany,
14:54who brought with them
14:55the humiliation of defeat
14:56and a thirst for revenge.
14:58And above all,
15:04the FNG had its eye
15:05on a pool of potential sympathizers,
15:08the 23 million German-Americans
15:10the United States had at the time,
15:12one in five Americans.
15:14As proprietor of a small restaurant
15:17catering to German-Americans,
15:19Baumeier had done well,
15:21but he felt no gratitude
15:22to the country of his adoption.
15:25Like other Nazis,
15:26he considered Americans
15:27to be an inferior people.
15:33Regularly,
15:34the back room at Baumeier's
15:35was used as the Saturday night
15:37meeting place of the local Bund.
15:38But our leader
15:43has shown us the way.
15:45Why do we wait?
15:46Why do we leave
15:48even one Jew in the Fatherland?
16:00Leon Lewis
16:01has cleared a wall in his office.
16:04This is where,
16:05day after day,
16:07he pens proof
16:07of the large-scale Nazi operation
16:09and its insidious infiltration
16:11of the United States.
16:16He and John Schmidt
16:18lack the resources
16:19to monitor it properly.
16:22The lawyer has to warn
16:23the city authorities
16:24about what he knows
16:25and try to obtain
16:26their assistance.
16:31But Lewis knows
16:32it will be tough
16:33because at the head
16:35of the Los Angeles Police Department
16:37there is its chief,
16:40James Davis.
16:41I have issued orders
16:42to all members
16:42of the police department
16:43of this city
16:44to bring in
16:45every reckless driver,
16:47drunken driver,
16:48and dangerous driver
16:49that may be observed
16:49upon the streets.
16:52His nickname
16:53is Two Guns Davis,
16:55no doubt because
16:56of his tendency
16:57to draw his colts
16:58before even opening
16:59his mouth.
17:01His brutality
17:02and his links
17:03with organized crime
17:04are public knowledge.
17:06The rumor is
17:07he is even a sympathizer
17:08of the fascist
17:09and nationalist group
17:10the Silver Shirts.
17:11Lewis tells him
17:19about the F&G,
17:20the Aryan bookstore,
17:22the illegal shipments,
17:24the Gestapo at the port,
17:25and the charm offensives
17:27to lure German-Americans.
17:29But Chief Davis
17:30interrupts him.
17:31I don't see the problem
17:32with Nazis in Los Angeles,
17:34and personally,
17:35I have enough on my hands
17:36with the only real threat
17:37against America
17:37and democracy,
17:39the communists.
17:41Lewis leaves
17:45the LAPD headquarters
17:47in a rage.
17:48He has to hit harder,
17:50go higher.
17:55He contacts
17:56the secret services
17:57of the California
17:58Department of Justice.
18:01Hello?
18:03Extension 615.
18:04But once again,
18:06he is told nothing
18:07can be done,
18:08and that to launch
18:08an investigation
18:09on the West Coast,
18:11he has to take
18:11it up at federal level.
18:13To go to Washington,
18:14he needs a very strong case.
18:17This will take time.
18:18But the danger exists.
18:20It's real, imminent.
18:22Goodbye, sir.
18:25Lewis has his back
18:26to the wall.
18:27He has one option left.
18:29To have more men
18:30on the ground.
18:31To set up a network
18:32of informants
18:33tasked with monitoring
18:34and documenting
18:35and documenting
18:35the FNG's activities.
18:38And why not,
18:39if it were to prove necessary,
18:41sabotage their plans?
18:43We're all set.
18:45Farrington's the ship.
18:46It's in there.
18:47It's all fixed
18:48to go off
18:48when he wanted to.
18:49You sure he can get
18:50on that boat okay?
18:51Leave that to me.
18:52Where's the dough?
18:52To raise funds,
18:57Lewis does the rounds
18:58of the Jewish organizations.
19:00But the prevailing
19:01anti-Semitic climate
19:02means they prefer
19:03to be discreet
19:04and not officially
19:05support his network.
19:09He nevertheless
19:10raises several thousand dollars
19:12from anonymous contacts.
19:14Lewis also dips
19:16into his savings,
19:17enough to buy equipment
19:19and pay his new recruits,
19:20veterans of German heritage
19:22like John Schmidt,
19:23who love America,
19:24have a taste for adventure
19:25and enjoy taking risks.
19:39Leon Lewis directs operations
19:41from his office
19:42in the Roosevelt Building.
19:44Each spy is identified
19:46by a code.
19:47John Schmidt is 11.
19:49His wife Alice, 17.
19:52There's also
19:53Carl Sunderland,
19:55Bert Allen,
19:56C.W.,
19:57Captain Conley,
19:58the only Jew in the network,
19:59and their wives.
20:02Lewis is Agent L1.
20:05By day,
20:07he is a discreet
20:08and conscientious lawyer.
20:10By night,
20:11the diligent head
20:12of a spy network
20:13who meticulously analyzes
20:16every plan,
20:17every report,
20:19he receives.
20:23PHONE RINGS
20:23Hello?
20:27Yes?
20:27Traced him
20:28to the Hotel Olympic.
20:29The register for the last year
20:31was signed four times.
20:32Twice in December.
20:34No, not alone.
20:39One name crops up
20:41again and again
20:42and catches Lewis's eye,
20:43Dietrich Geffkin.
20:52This German
20:53is a former organizer
20:54of the SA,
20:56the Nazi Party's
20:57paramilitary wing.
20:59He participated
21:00in the 1923 Putsch
21:02in Munich,
21:03led by Hitler,
21:04and fled to the United States
21:05to avoid jail.
21:07Lewis tells his men
21:08to not let him
21:09out of their sight.
21:12Codename for Geffkin,
21:16222.
21:24During a drunken evening
21:25in September 1933,
21:27Herman Schwinn
21:28and Dietrich Geffkin
21:30reveal an alarming secret
21:31to John Schmidt,
21:32the undercover agent.
21:36Every Friday night,
21:37the FNG militia
21:39do combat training
21:40to form a fifth column,
21:42a secret army
21:43that will take up arms
21:44in due course.
21:48The operation
21:49even has a name,
21:52Der Tag,
21:53D-Day.
21:56This uprising
21:57would start in California,
21:59then sweep the nation
22:00all the way
22:00to the East Coast.
22:07For this,
22:08Geffkin has a plan.
22:10He wants to get hold
22:11of the National Guard's
22:13weapons in San Francisco,
22:14San Diego,
22:15and Los Angeles.
22:17This is why
22:18he has already volunteered
22:19for this reserve force
22:20of the United States Army.
22:22When Agent 11's report
22:24lands on his desk,
22:25Lewis is appalled.
22:27The ambitions
22:27of Los Angeles Nazis
22:29are far more terrifying
22:30than he had ever imagined.
22:32But as a good lawyer,
22:34Lewis knows a report
22:35compiled by his unofficial network
22:37will not suffice.
22:38He needs facts,
22:40proof.
22:47And so Lewis decides
22:48to mount the network's
22:50first major operation.
22:52They will set a trap
22:53for Geffkin.
23:03October 5th, 1933.
23:06Lewis has a microphone
23:07hidden under Geffkin's bed
23:09in the Hotel Barbara
23:10on 6th Street.
23:12In the next-door room,
23:14everything is recorded.
23:19Lewis's agents
23:20manage to get Geffkin
23:21to talk and reveal details
23:22about his plans.
23:25Geffkin doesn't suspect
23:26a thing.
23:27He boasts.
23:29Our men are preparing
23:30to launch violent attacks
23:32on the Jews
23:32in a series
23:33of spontaneous uprisings.
23:36We have strong allies
23:37among the National Guard,
23:38and the Silver Shirts
23:39have promised
23:40to help us out.
23:42When we get hold
23:43of the weapons,
23:44we will execute
23:45any National Guards
23:46who refuse to pledge
23:47their loyalty to Hitler.
23:48the West Coast
23:52will ignite
23:53in rebellion.
24:06Lewis has pulled it off.
24:09The recording proves
24:10how serious
24:11the situation is.
24:13He hands it
24:14to the Los Angeles
24:15Police Department.
24:16But wary of Chief Davis's men,
24:19he also warns
24:20Naval Intelligence.
24:28The Navy officers
24:29launch a secret investigation.
24:32They find out
24:33two soldiers
24:33are selling Navy weapons
24:35to the Silver Shirts.
24:36They are arrested immediately,
24:38and the units involved
24:39are dismantled.
24:41A prime suspect,
24:43Geffkin has to abandon
24:44his plans.
24:46But he now knows
24:48there are traitors
24:49in the FNG's midst.
24:54As for Leon Lewis,
24:56he has undeniable proof
24:57that the FNG
24:58is not just spreading
24:59Nazi propaganda,
25:01but planning armed acts
25:02of violence.
25:04That the organization
25:04is plotting
25:05against America.
25:08This time,
25:10the lawyer can take
25:11his case
25:11to Washington.
25:25In mid-November 1933,
25:28he leaves
25:28the sunny climes
25:29of Los Angeles
25:30for the cold
25:31of the federal capital.
25:33He has an appointment
25:34with Samuel Dickstein,
25:36a Democratic
25:37congressional representative.
25:38chairman of the Committee
25:43on Immigration
25:44and Naturalization,
25:46this Lithuanian
25:46Jewish immigrant
25:47is well aware
25:48of the substantial number
25:49of foreign agents
25:50illegally entering
25:51the U.S.,
25:52some of whom
25:53are engaging
25:54in un-American activities.
26:00But Samuel Dickstein
26:01does not give Lewis
26:02much hope.
26:04He has no room
26:05for maneuvering
26:05the Republican-controlled
26:06Congress.
26:08His Democrat friends
26:09don't even listen
26:10to him.
26:13In fact,
26:14he needs Lewis.
26:16The more solid evidence
26:17he has,
26:18the easier it will be
26:19to set up
26:20a committee of inquiry.
26:27Lewis returns
26:28to Los Angeles
26:29convinced the anti-Semitism
26:31sweeping America
26:32will not help
26:33their fight.
26:35Jewish whistleblowers
26:36are accused
26:37of paranoia.
26:39Many give up
26:40out of fear
26:41it will only fuel
26:42the hatred towards them
26:43and undermine
26:44their commitment.
26:46Every Jewish organization
26:48faces this dilemma.
26:51As does Hollywood.
26:52The timid response
27:08of the studio bosses,
27:09many of them
27:10Jewish immigrants,
27:11to Hitler's regime
27:13can be partially explained
27:14by their fear
27:15of making matters worse
27:16for Jews
27:17in the U.S.
27:17in Europe.
27:27Many Jewish artists
27:28and technicians
27:29excluded from Germany's
27:30U.S.A. film studios
27:32from March 1933 onwards
27:34have fled to Hollywood
27:36and fear reprisals
27:37against their families
27:38back home.
27:38Hitler, who fully understands
27:48the power of cinema,
27:50intends to control
27:51what is said
27:51about his regime
27:52in Hollywood.
27:53If American cinema
28:00criticizes him
28:01as it criticized
28:02Kaiser Wilhelm II
28:03during the First World War,
28:05it will harm
28:05his international ambitions.
28:08And in 1933,
28:09Hollywood produces
28:1080% of the world's films.
28:12Hitler sends a very special
28:18envoy to Los Angeles,
28:20the consul Georg Gisling.
28:27Answering directly to Goebbels,
28:29the Reich's propaganda minister,
28:32this former bobsled champion
28:34is tasked with promoting
28:36the Nazi regime
28:37in the movies
28:38and wooing audiences.
28:39starting with the 23 million
28:43German-Americans
28:44living in the United States.
28:46From now on,
28:47National Socialism
28:48in the United States
28:49must press itself
28:51in the American flag.
28:52It must appear to be
28:53a defense of Americanism.
28:55But at the same time,
28:55our aim must always be
28:57to discredit conditions
28:58there in the United States.
28:59And in this way,
29:00make life in Germany
29:01admired and wished for.
29:03Racial and religious hatred
29:04must be fostered
29:06on the basis
29:06of American alienism.
29:07Class hatreds
29:09must be encouraged
29:10in such a way
29:12that labor in the middle classes
29:13will become confused
29:14and antagonistic.
29:23Gisling quickly becomes
29:25an influential man
29:26in the movie studios
29:27and interferes
29:28in film productions.
29:30The Hays Code,
29:31which has just come into force,
29:33is a godsend
29:34for the Nazi consul.
29:35This set of industry guidelines,
29:39drawn up by Hollywood itself,
29:40bans the production
29:41of any picture
29:42that will lower
29:43the moral standards
29:44of those who see it,
29:46as well as criticism
29:47or caricature
29:48of foreign powers.
29:50In his private screening room
30:01at the consulate,
30:02Gisling combs motion pictures
30:04and scripts
30:05for unflattering portrayals
30:06of the Third Reich.
30:10This is why
30:17the mad dog of Europe
30:18got the chop.
30:21Written by the novelist
30:22Herman Mankiewicz,
30:23the script told the story
30:25of a Jewish family
30:26whose life is destroyed
30:27by Hitlerism.
30:29Gisling put pressure
30:30on the Hays office.
30:32The film was never made.
30:39Fearing economic reprisals,
30:41the studio bosses
30:42give in to all
30:43of the consul's demands.
30:45They have commercial interests
30:46on the other side
30:47of the Atlantic.
30:48They can hardly do
30:49without the German market,
30:50the biggest in Europe,
30:52after Great Britain.
30:58Very involved in the studios
31:00for the Anti-Defamation League,
31:02Leon Lewis looks on
31:03as the movie industry
31:04is brought to heel.
31:06He harbors no illusions.
31:08He knows Hollywood
31:09is not yet ready
31:10to commit to the cause.
31:15We Germans
31:16must make the United States
31:18and that America
31:19our America
31:20we are!
31:22Lewis is as determined
31:23as ever to speak out
31:24about the un-American
31:25activities of California's Nazis
31:27and the dangers
31:28his country faces.
31:30Are the police force
31:31and the authorities
31:32turning a deaf ear?
31:33All the more reason.
31:35But the lawyer
31:36is now certain
31:37of one thing.
31:38If he wants to succeed,
31:39he must fight his battle
31:41without giving the impression
31:42it is a concern
31:43of Jews alone.
31:44A blunder by the FNG
31:45will provide him
31:47with the perfect opportunity.
32:02During his many
32:03undercover conversations,
32:05John Smith,
32:06his accomplice,
32:06learns that the FNG
32:08is illegally taking control
32:09of the German-American
32:10Alliance,
32:12an apolitical organization
32:13that provides assistance
32:14and promotes cultural relations
32:16between the two countries.
32:18The FNG has its eye
32:19on the Alliance's
32:20significant funds,
32:22a windfall
32:22that could finance
32:23large-scale military operations.
32:28Leon Lewis
32:30comes up with a plan.
32:31If he manages to convince
32:34the Alliance's board members
32:36to sue the FNG,
32:37the affair will not be seen
32:39as Jewish paranoia.
32:40Those involved
32:41will be brought to justice
32:42and their activities exposed.
32:43The lawyer was right.
33:02On January 9, 1934,
33:05the Alliance trial begins
33:07in Los Angeles.
33:09Inside, the tension is palpable
33:11in the courtroom packed.
33:15Friends of New Germany militants
33:16cause repeated disturbances
33:18in an attempt to disrupt proceedings.
33:20Leon Lewis has taken his place
33:26in the public gallery,
33:28incognito.
33:30He has spent the last
33:31of his savings
33:31preparing the case for trial
33:33and put his career on hold.
33:36Most importantly,
33:37he has had to take
33:38the tough decision
33:39to have John Schmidt
33:40testify in open court,
33:42thus blowing his cover
33:43and exposing him
33:44to reprisals.
33:45Agent 11 takes the witness stand
33:51under police escort.
33:58John Schmidt calmly tells the court
34:01about the meetings
34:02at the FNG's headquarters.
34:05The Gestapo officers
34:06alighting from vessels
34:07and vanishing into the city.
34:09Geffkin's plans
34:10and the secret army
34:12preparing to overthrow
34:13the U.S. government.
34:14For days,
34:25the Los Angeles Times
34:26publishes front-page stories
34:28about the Nazi conspiracy
34:29threatening America.
34:33With other FNG leaders,
34:36Herman Schwinn
34:36is called to the stand.
34:41He denies everything.
34:43As does the German consul,
34:45Gisling,
34:46brandishing a communique
34:47refuting any relationship
34:48between Berlin
34:49and the friends of New Germany.
34:51After a month-long trial,
34:53the judge delivers the verdict.
34:55The alliance's complaint
34:56is inadmissible
34:57under some obscure article of law.
34:59This outcome leaves a bad taste
35:15in Leon Lewis's mouth.
35:17The FNG is not charged
35:19and its name
35:20has been cleared in court.
35:22But his efforts
35:23have not been in vain.
35:24The month-long trial
35:25attracts attention in Washington
35:27and is of considerable help
35:29to Samuel Dickstein.
35:31In March 1934,
35:33Congress decides
35:34to create a committee
35:35to investigate
35:36un-American activities,
35:38headed by the Democratic
35:39representatives
35:40John McCormack
35:41and Samuel Dickstein.
35:42Leon Lewis is determined
35:54to provide the committee
35:55with his assessment
35:56of the situation in California.
35:58But he blew his network's cover
36:00at the trial
36:00and lost all of his money
36:02in the fight.
36:04To provide the official
36:05parliamentary inquiry
36:06with fresh information,
36:08people have to take things
36:09to the next level
36:10and recruit
36:11counterintelligence professionals.
36:15But he cannot bear
36:16the cost of this alone.
36:19He has to go
36:20where the money is.
36:23Hollywood.
36:29Thanks to his connections
36:31in the movie business
36:32and the help of his friend,
36:33MGM's formidable lawyer,
36:35Mendel Silberberg,
36:37Leon Lewis manages
36:38to arrange a secret meeting
36:39with Hollywood's most powerful men.
36:45There could only be one venue,
36:48the very private
36:49Hillcrest Country Club,
36:51located on the west side
36:52of the city,
36:53close to Fox Studios.
36:57In Los Angeles,
36:58the African-Americans
36:59were not the only victims
37:01of segregation.
37:03The city's other country clubs
37:04did not allow Jews.
37:06Hillcrest was open
37:07so the community's wealthiest members
37:09could get together
37:10and play golf.
37:15You better head out of it, Joe.
37:21On the evening of March 13, 1934,
37:2440 guests take their places
37:26around the table.
37:27Lewis is fully prepared.
37:39To convince them
37:40to fund his secret activities,
37:42he knows he must not only appeal
37:44to their morality,
37:45but also to their self-interest.
37:47With this in mind,
37:50the lawyer has investigated
37:52at the studios.
37:58The Nazis have not just
38:00infiltrated California.
38:01They have invaded the technical crews
38:03working on film shoots,
38:05the cohorts of stagehands,
38:07lighting engineers,
38:08set builders,
38:09and drivers
38:10that make up the bulk
38:11of the troops.
38:11In these ranks,
38:17the replacements
38:17have already begun.
38:22Jewish workers
38:23can now be counted
38:24on one hand.
38:27Employees who fit
38:28the Aryan stereotype
38:29are preferred.
38:29Everyone in the room
38:41is stunned.
38:44That the Jews
38:45are once again
38:46the target of European hatred
38:48hardly surprises
38:49the Hollywood bosses.
38:51But that this threat
38:52is now in their midst,
38:54in their own studios,
38:56is totally unacceptable.
38:59After a lengthy silence,
39:02Louis B. Mayer,
39:03the legendary boss
39:04of MGM,
39:06gets to his feet
39:07looking solemn.
39:08His gravelly voice
39:10booms across
39:10the hushed room.
39:13We have to help
39:14Leon Lewis,
39:15the only man determined
39:16to fight Hitler
39:17in Hollywood.
39:20Everyone present agrees
39:22to fund the network's
39:23activities.
39:24They put $24,000
39:26on the table,
39:27$500,000
39:28in today's money.
39:30We have facts to face.
39:32Wars abroad,
39:34social and economic
39:35distress at home,
39:36threats to democracy
39:37everywhere.
39:38It is time for us
39:39to assume our responsibilities
39:41and to deal truthfully
39:43and freely
39:43with the problems
39:44which face us today.
39:49Leon Lewis breathes
39:51a sigh of relief.
39:52He feels he has been heard.
39:55And he has given
39:56the Hollywood bosses
39:57the opportunity
39:57to get involved
39:58without exposing themselves.
40:01His secret activities
40:03can continue
40:04and be scaled up.
40:08With fresh money
40:09from the studios,
40:10Lewis recruits
40:11new agents.
40:13They are more experienced
40:15and some of them
40:16are well-versed
40:17in wiretapping
40:17and tailing.
40:2014 men and women,
40:22including Neil Ness,
40:23Agent N2,
40:27Joseph Roos,
40:28and Charles Slocum.
40:32This 28-year-old
40:34native Californian
40:35is a big fellow
40:36of 6'1".
40:37These past few years,
40:40Slocum has led
40:42a double life
40:42working undercover
40:43in the Ku Klux Klan
40:44for Long Beach police.
40:46This patriotic daredevil
40:48is always short of cash.
40:51He joins the network
40:52as much for the money
40:53as for the thrill
40:54of the chase.
40:56Slocum becomes
40:57Agent C-19.
41:02Hello?
41:03I think I can get
41:04a Dutch friend to talk
41:05if you come along yourself.
41:15The work is relentless.
41:16Lewis' spies are everywhere,
41:20in the movie studios,
41:22in every Nazi group.
41:27Every potential threat
41:28is taken seriously,
41:30deciphered,
41:31analyzed,
41:32and now shared
41:32with the McCormick-Dickstein Committee.
41:38For an entire year,
41:40the committee travels
41:41the United States
41:42and conducts hearings.
41:44In Los Angeles,
41:45all those Lewis
41:46has identified
41:47as a threat to the nation
41:48are called to testify.
41:52Herman Schwinn,
41:53who now heads
41:54the California chapter
41:55of the FNG,
41:55is among them.
42:01In February 1935,
42:04the committee presents
42:05its final report
42:06to Congress
42:06and provides irrefutable proof
42:08of the promotion
42:09of Nazism
42:10in the United States
42:11in recent years.
42:13It concludes
42:14that communism,
42:16Nazism,
42:17and fascism
42:17are all equally dangerous,
42:19equally alien,
42:21and equally unacceptable
42:22to American institutions.
42:27Severely weakened
42:28by this report,
42:30the FNG
42:30is on its last legs.
42:33On Hitler's orders,
42:35Rudolf Hess
42:36tells its members
42:37to leave.
42:52In 1936,
42:53barely dissolved,
42:55the FNG rises
42:56from the ashes
42:56under a new name,
42:58the German-American Bund.
43:00Berlin,
43:05who wants to preserve
43:06the neutrality
43:07of the United States
43:08as long as possible,
43:10seeks to Americanize
43:11Nazi propaganda,
43:12hoping thereby
43:13to restore its image
43:14and broaden
43:15its support base.
43:20Fritz Kuhn
43:20is appointed
43:21as leader of the Bund.
43:23He runs operations
43:24from New York
43:25and calls himself
43:26the German Führer.
43:30He is Fritz Kuhn,
43:32former German machine gunner,
43:34the national chairman
43:35of the Hitler-inspired
43:36German-American Bund,
43:37now a naturalized
43:38American citizen
43:39who claims to have enrolled
43:41200,000 U.S. Germans
43:43under the swastika.
43:46Across the United States,
43:47Führer Kuhn
43:48has established
43:4825 summer camps
43:50and drill grounds
43:50where those German-Americans
43:52who believe
43:53in Nazi teachings
43:54can imitate Hitler's
43:55mighty military machine.
43:56German-inspired
43:58German-inspired
43:58German-inspired
43:59German-inspired
43:59German-inspired
44:00German-inspired
44:01German-inspired
44:01German-inspired
44:02German-inspired
44:03German-inspired
44:03Modelled on the
44:04Hitler-youth camps,
44:05these training camps
44:06made American teams
44:07the new targets
44:08of an internationalized
44:09fascist ideology.
44:10From 1936 on,
44:22it became increasingly clear
44:24to the world
44:24that Germany,
44:26Italy and Japan
44:27were pursuing
44:28a common pattern
44:30of aggression
44:31both in Europe
44:32and in the Far East.
44:37With the rapprochement
44:39of Germany and Japan,
44:40then the gradual
44:41establishment
44:42of the Axis forces,
44:44Los Angeles
44:44becomes a strategic location
44:46midway between
44:47Berlin and Tokyo.
44:49Many of the U.S.'s
44:54specific forces
44:55are stationed here
44:56on the West Coast.
45:00It is a major
45:01war production center,
45:02too.
45:05And it is crawling
45:06with Japanese,
45:08Italian,
45:08and German agents.
45:13But Leon Lewis' spies
45:14are watching
45:15their each
45:16and every move.
45:24The tension is so great
45:26that they cannot
45:26loosen their grip.
45:28Regularly,
45:29Lewis' informants
45:30meet up in Hindenburg Park
45:32on the northeast side
45:33of Los Angeles.
45:37All of California's
45:38Nazis gather here,
45:40from the German consul
45:42Georg Gessling
45:43to rank-and-file militants.
45:53Fritz Kuhn,
45:54the Boone's
45:54federal leader,
45:56sometimes makes
45:57the trip
45:57for these rallies
45:58organized by his
45:59protege,
45:59Herman Schwin,
46:01who now heads up
46:02the California branch.
46:09Leon Lewis knows
46:11this place is key.
46:14Among the dancing,
46:16patriotic singing,
46:17and the militia's
46:18shows of force,
46:19critical information
46:20is exchanged.
46:27Lewis' agents
46:29risk their necks
46:30taking photographs
46:31of the Boone's command
46:32and eavesdropping
46:33on everyone.
46:33At one of the gatherings
46:47in Hindenburg Park,
46:48German Day,
46:50Charles Slocum,
46:51the spy ring's
46:52agent C-19,
46:53meets a certain
46:54Leopold McLaglin,
46:56who tells him
46:57about a gruesome plan,
46:59the list.
46:59The list.
46:59The list.
47:03The names of 24
47:06prominent figures
47:07to be assassinated.
47:10Hollywood personalities
47:11such as
47:11Lewis B. Mayer,
47:12boss of MGM,
47:14the actor
47:15Eddie Cantor,
47:16Charlie Chaplin,
47:18Leon Lewis
47:19is also on the list.
47:25McLaglin has
47:26planned everything.
47:27Far-sighted,
47:29he's even found
47:30a means to finance
47:31this costly exercise
47:32by extorting
47:34$20,000
47:34from a Santa Barbara
47:36millionaire.
47:38A commando unit
47:39of 20 men
47:40is already in training
47:41to blow up
47:42the homes
47:42of these Hollywood
47:43celebrities.
47:45The explosions
47:46will be synchronized.
47:48Villas blown to pieces.
47:50Dozens of people
47:51will die.
47:52L.A.
47:53will be in the grip
47:54of terror.
47:57Slocum
48:03passes on
48:04the information
48:05to Lewis,
48:06but the lawyer
48:06knows full well
48:07that having McLaglin
48:08arrested on suspicion
48:10of attempted murder
48:11will not hold up
48:12in court.
48:16The only way
48:17to bring him down
48:18is to accuse him
48:19of extorting
48:20the millionaire.
48:20Leon Lewis meets
48:27with the public
48:27prosecutor
48:28and convinces
48:29the authorities
48:30to charge McLaglin.
48:31He is arrested,
48:33tried,
48:33and sentenced
48:34to five years
48:35imprisonment
48:35for extortion.
48:39The worst
48:40has been avoided.
48:42A massacre
48:42in Hollywood
48:43and the murder
48:44of the world's
48:45most famous
48:45actor and director,
48:47Charlie Chaplin.
48:48With all these stars,
48:57the affair
48:58has become so huge
48:59that the Los Angeles
49:00Police Department
49:01can no longer
49:02turn a deaf ear.
49:04After turning
49:04Lewis away
49:05several years
49:05previously,
49:06it now has to
49:07recognize the remarkable
49:08job done by Lewis
49:10and his agents.
49:11Police officers
49:12file into his office
49:13to go through
49:14his reports.
49:153,000 pages,
49:16five years' worth
49:18of undercover surveillance.
49:22Leon Lewis
49:23is finally listened to.
49:26He is even
49:27appointed sheriff.
49:29For the Boons Nazis,
49:31he has become
49:32the most dangerous Jew
49:33in Los Angeles.
49:34The alarming spread
49:47of Nazism in Europe
49:48is starting to
49:49seriously unnerve
49:50the United States.
49:51Little by little,
49:52the general public
49:53and American institutions
49:54wake up to the danger
49:56on their soil
49:57and decide
49:58to resist.
50:00Hollywood
50:01gets the ball rolling.
50:02On April 27, 1939,
50:09in Beverly Hills,
50:11the world premiere
50:11of Confessions
50:12of a Nazi Spy
50:14comes as a bombshell.
50:17Anatole Lidfack's film
50:19openly attacks
50:20the Bund.
50:21Produced by Warner Brothers,
50:23this thriller
50:23managed to get
50:24around the Hays Code
50:25and tells the story
50:27of a group of
50:27German spies
50:28who tried to seize power
50:30by taking over
50:30U.S. military
50:31installations.
50:36The German-American
50:37Bunds are indirectly
50:38connected through
50:39the Ministry of Propaganda
50:40with the Ministry of War
50:42and the Military-Naval
50:43Intelligence,
50:44a network of
50:45interchangeable propaganda
50:46and espionage channels.
50:48Now it's beginning
50:49to make some sense.
50:53For once,
50:55fiction is no stranger
50:56than life.
50:58Everything Leon Lewis
50:59has reported
51:00in recent years
51:01is there
51:01on the silver screen.
51:02with the war
51:17spreading in Europe,
51:18President Roosevelt
51:19fears sabotage
51:20and mass spying
51:21on American soil.
51:23He demands
51:24that all foreign agents
51:25make themselves known
51:26to the State Department
51:27and closes
51:28German embassies
51:29and consulates.
51:30Georg Gessling
51:33is sent home.
51:39The FBI
51:40sees its
51:41counterintelligence
51:42capabilities
51:42expanded.
51:44To make up
51:45for lost time,
51:46the Bureau invites
51:47Leon Lewis
51:48to join its ranks.
51:50But he refuses.
51:52He prefers to remain
51:54the unofficial branch
51:55of American intelligence.
51:56The lawyer becomes
52:05a reference,
52:06a hero decorated
52:07with the Americanism award.
52:11A distinction
52:12reserved for
52:13outstanding citizens
52:14who have helped
52:15defend the core principles
52:16of American democracy.
52:17National Broadcasting Company
52:29interrupts its program
52:30to bring you
52:30a special bulletin
52:31from the Press Radio Bureau.
52:32December 7, 1941.
52:40Everything changes.
52:42At 7.48 a.m.,
52:44the Japanese bombed
52:45the U.S. Navy base
52:46at Pearl Harbor
52:47in Hawaii.
52:48The day after the attack,
52:50the United States
52:51declares war
52:52and fears
52:53a Japanese and German
52:54invasion in Los Angeles.
52:59At the end of the day,
53:00thanks to Leon Lewis,
53:02the FBI chief,
53:03J. Edgar Hoover,
53:05gets a detailed list
53:06of all the Germans
53:07in California
53:07who pose a threat
53:08to national security.
53:18The Feds swoop
53:30on the Boone's headquarters.
53:32Its leader,
53:32its leader,
53:33Herman Schfinn,
53:33and 85 of his lieutenants
53:35are arrested on the spot
53:36and all their equipment
53:39confiscated.
53:39The American Nazis
53:52are now off the streets.
53:54After eight years
53:56of surveillance,
53:58patiently,
53:59doggedly,
54:00Leon Lewis
54:01has accomplished
54:02his mission.
54:06Have some more coffee,
54:07gents?
54:07Yes, please.
54:07Just a half a cup, please.
54:09You fellows read in the paper
54:09they sentenced
54:10those Nazi spies?
54:11Yes, we read all about it.
54:12The nerve are those Nazis
54:13sending spies to this country,
54:14running those buns in camps,
54:16trying to stir up
54:16the same kind of trouble here
54:17they're making in Europe.
54:18Hello, Bill.
54:19How are you, Tom?
54:19Well, I see those Nazis
54:20finally got what was
54:21coming to them.
54:22Yeah, we were just
54:22talking about it.
54:29The war is over.
54:32Leon Lewis disbands
54:33his network
54:33and returns to his work
54:35as a lawyer.
54:38But he never ceases
54:39to combat anti-Semitism
54:41in his country
54:41and watches in outrage
54:44as racial tensions rise.
54:50On May 21st, 1954,
54:53on his way home
54:54from his downtown office,
54:56he feels weak,
54:58pulls over,
54:59and dies of a heart attack.
55:02He is 65 years old.
55:08Until now,
55:09the general public
55:10knew nothing
55:10about his remarkable network
55:12of courageous men and women,
55:14the thousands of documents
55:16they left behind,
55:17and their war in the shadows.
55:21Nothing about this
55:23discreet Jewish lawyer
55:24who stood against
55:26the Nazi menace
55:27in the name of an ideal,
55:30that of a free
55:31and fraternal America.
55:42and through the
55:45and the other
55:47and the other
55:47people who stood
55:48in the home...
55:49...
55:52...
55:56...
55:57...
56:00...
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