“Hail Christians!”
According to leaders of a world wide German organization the above phrase will be as prominent in the United States within the next few years as “Heil Hitler!” is in Germany today.
“Christians”, however, will not be a term applying to the religious sect. Rather it will mean none other than George W. Christians, militant leader of the Crusader White Shirts and head of the Crusaders for Economic Liberty, an anti-Gold Standard, Fascist organization now in its third year of existence.
The religious element, however, is not absent from the movement. The insignia of the crusaders is a large red cross “denoting the religious significance of the crusade,” according to official instructions given to organizers. While the organization has not announced itself as being anti-Semitic as yet, documentary evidence tends to prove that Nazi groups have offered the organization support in consideration for its efforts to apply Hitlerite policies to this country. The Nazi group is the German Alliance with headquarters in Chicago, over which Oscar Pfaus presides.
Pfaus, chief coordinator of American Fascist organizations with German Nazi groups in this country, foresees the end of the Jews in America.
In a speech recently delivered before his group in Chicago, Pfaus called upon America to awaken to the “Jewish menace.” He declared that anti-Semitism has raised its head in all parts of the United States since the levy of the anti-German boycott.
Herr Pfaus, a German citizen and an ardent National Socialist, has been active in seeking the support of American Fascist and other political groups in his campaign to instigate racial hatred in this country.
In his speeches Pfaus points out the similarity of Jews in this country and the Jews in Germany in their “parasitical control of national affairs.”
HEADQUARTERS IN CHATTANOOGA
Headquarters of the Crusader White Shirts are at Chattanooga, Tennessee. The principal support gained by the organization lies however, in Idaho, Washington and Oregon; and under the careful nourishing of its itinerant leader, the organization is understood to be spreading rapidly throughout other states. It is also said by those close to the group that Christians has negotiated a merger with William Dudley Pelley and his Silver Shirts.
One of the functions of the organization is the dissemination of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, the frequently refuted and discredited attack upon world Jewry. The booklet is accompanied with an explanatory letter by Christians, which describes the contents of the book as being the philosophy of the Fascist movement in Italy, Germany, and elsewhere.
BOOK’S NATURE ‘REPULSIVE’
With the book goes the following letter under the letter head of the “Crusaders for Economic Liberty, Inc.”
“The accompanying booklet entitled, ‘Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion’, says the letter, “is one of many of a similar nature which are circulating freely in Europe and to a considerable extent in the United States.
“The nature of the booklet is so repulsive that many people refused to consider or even read it. Nevertheless, no intelligent person can afford to ignore it, because it presents the philosophy behind the Fascist movement in Italy, Germany and elsewhere. It is also the fundamental philosophy of the unjust persecution of the Jews throughout the ages.”
The letter goes on to explain that all sects are followers of the cult of gold, and it attributes the destruction of many civilizations to the gold standard. “This booklet describes the plan for destroying this one,” the letter states. Mr. Christians signs himself, “Yours in the Fellowship of Freedom.”
It is understood that at the time of the printing of the letter, Christians was seeking the financial support of the Jews for his movement to abolish the gold standard. This, it is learned, was not forthcoming; and it is believed that by tying his monetary policies to the racial aims of the Silver Shirts, he is in a position to procure aid from German backers.
PLAN TO TAKE OVER GOVERNMENT
Recently issued orders of the Crusader chief outline manoeuvers for the taking over of all local governments and the capital at Washington when “the day” comes.
“General Orders” recently issued to the Crusader White Shirts have been imprinted on a sheet, across the center of which a large red cross has been impressed. The orders follow:
“No unit of the Crusader White Shirts should attempt any positive action until it has been thoroughly drilled and officered and perfect discipline has been obtained, nor should it attempt to move until it is sufficiently strong to accomplish its purpose without any chance of failure.”
In simple and explicit terms Christians has laid out the plan for overcoming, first, the local and, later, the national governments. “March in military formation to and surround the government buildings,” he directs his legion. He orders that patriotic appeal be combined with sheer numbers in forcing the officials to accept and act under the direction of an economic adviser appointed by himself (Christians). Thus, with the government taken over in this amazingly simple manner, the adviser will proceed to repudiate the public debt and utilize the payments for the public welfare.
Christians warns that “dishonest officials should immediately be brought to justice,” but that “great care should be exercised so that the situation does not get out of hand, and some poor, muddle-headed but honest politicians get hung without a fair and legal trial.”
“Most politicians are unfamiliar with modern business methods,” Christians explains, “and their accounts are apt to be muddled and may be short.”
TO MARCH ON WASHINGTON
Having the local governments well in hand, the White Shirts should prepare for the crusade to Washington. The many difficulties that may be encountered in taking over the national government are foreseen by Christians, but he meets these elements of interference in admirable military style. A trustworthy and carefully instructed “X Committee” will be appointed to take care of disbursements on the long trek to the capitol.
The funds are to be gained through “donations”, which, according to marching orders, “can be obtained from most people by merely appealing to their patriotism.” With some afterthought, though, Christians writes, “However, a patriotic appeal will probably not have much effect on the people who have most of the money nowadays.” Christians warns that there will be a great temptation to “use a few pineapples to loosen up those fat pocket books.”
“But this temptation should be righteously resisted,” he righteously dictates.
Organizers require no credentials other than a set of instructions, which are being disseminated prolifically over the country at present. Each group is required to have in its possession an American and a crusader flag, the latter, enjoying a status similar to that of the swasti### in Germany, is entirely red with a white liberty torch in the center.
Crusaders are to wear “any white shirt” with a large red cross down the front. Organizers are not to undertake their work without profit for the instructions provide that “organizers can obtain from the Chattanooga Button and Badge Mfg. Co., Chattanooga, Tennessee, 3 by 5 feet Crusader flags at the cost of $3 and sets of insignia at 15 cents each, (cash must accompany order), or he may get them else-where if he cares to. It is recommended that the flags be sold for $5. It is recommended that in the new localities the insignia be sold for $1 per set at the start and that the price be reduced thereafter until finally those who have no money can be told that they can paint a red cross on any old white shirt or make their own. National Headquarters is interested in numbers only. You will find that you will be well paid for your efforts.”
LOST NOMINATION
New members are initiated in the organization by having them repeat the last paragraph of the “American Declaration of Economic Independence,” a document proclaimed and signed by “the first dedication class of the Crusaders for Economic Liberty on historic Signal Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 4, 1931.”
Christians, whose movement for the abolition of the gold standard has not been affected by America’s departure from that money standard, is a Chattanooga engineer. He sought the Democratic nomination for congress in 1932 but received little support.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
