Camp Wille und Macht

Introducing Nazi iconography to American children was central to the mission of the camp (Associated Press photos, August 1934)

Camp Wille und Macht ("Camp Will and Might") was an American Nazi summer camp for approximately 200 German-American boys that was operated by the Friends of New Germany along the Delaware and Raritan Canal in the Griggstown section of Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, in 1934.

Campers were between ages eight and 16 and came from New York, Brooklyn, Buffalo, and Philadelphia. The Associated Press distributed several photos of the camp in 1934 with the caption: "As much conversation as possible is carried on in German, the 200 students wear brown shirts and drill in 'goose-step', and fly the Nazi flag alongside the Stars and Stripes. The leader, H. Haas, is shown drilling the boys." Haas denied that the brown color of the camp uniform had anything to do with the Brown Shirts. Haas also stated, "We are not Nazis in the accepted sense of the word. We are exactly what our name implies, friends of a new-found order in the Fatherland. Nazism is only part of that new order. We teach these boys the spirit and principles of true citizenship, self-reliance, and obedience. We teach them to speak the language of their mother country and to sing the songs their fathers loved to sing in their youth."

Rep. Samuel Dickstein of the House Un-American Activities Committee opened an investigation and summoned Harry Haas and Gregory Lochner, administrators of the camp, for questioning. He found that the campers were mostly ages six to 12 and most of the camp counselors were foreign nationals. He described it as "an out-and-out Hitler camp" and was also concerned about the quantity of poison ivy on the campgrounds.

The camp opened around July 7, 1934, and closed on August 27, 1934. On August 8, 1934, the camp held a memorial service for Paul von Hindenburg.

See also

• New Jersey Minutemen – Mob-organized pre-WWII anti-fascist, anti- nazi supporter group