The Agitator
William Bailey and the First American Uprising against Nazism
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
This story of an anti-fascist's dramatic and remarkable victory against Nazism in 1935 is an inspiration to anyone compelled to resist when signs of oppression are on the horizon
By 1935, Hitler had suppressed all internal opposition and established himself as Germany's unchallenged dictator. Yet many Americans remained largely indifferent as he turned his dangerous ambitions abroad. Not William Bailey.
Just days after violent anti-Semitic riots had broken out in Berlin, the SS Bremen, the flagship of Hitler's commercial armada, was welcomed into New York Harbor. Bailey led a small group that slipped past security and cut down the Nazi flag from the boat in the middle of a lavish party. A brawl ensued, followed by a media circus and a trial, in which Bailey and his team were stunningly acquitted. The political victory ultimately exposed Hitler's narcissism and violent aggression for all of America to see.
The Agitator is the captivating story of Bailey's courage and vision in the Bremen incident, the pinnacle of a life spent battling against fascism. Bailey's story is full of drama and heart--and it's an inspiration to anyone who seeks to resist tyranny.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this well-told history, journalist Duffy (Double Agent) recounts a little-known incident of American protest against the Third Reich. In July 1935, a small group of Communist Party members and fellow travelers, led by a young merchant seaman named Bill Bailey, crashed a huge reception on the German luxury liner SS Bremen, berthed at a New York dock. They tore down its swastika flag and tossed it into New York Harbor to protest the Third Reich's violence against Jews and dissidents. Duffy profiles Bailey in depth: a "slum kid from a destitute Irish family, a reformed juvenile delinquent with a Hell's Kitchen twang who developed a political conscience" who went on to be an actor and to defy the House Un-American Activities Committee. Duffy places the event in context (including the summer 1935 Berlin pogrom against Jews known as the Kurf rstandamn riots) and recounts how Bailey and his comrades (the Bremen Six) were acquitted of charges of violence and unlawful assembly thanks to popular support, a skilled defense team headed by the communist congressman Vito Marcantonio, and a sympathetic judge, Louis Brodsky. Duffy also contrasts their action with the diplomatic diffidence of the State Department, which apologized to Berlin three times for the incident. The Bremen protest was a fascinating event, and Duffy's account of it is pleasaing and brisk.
