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[EARLY COLD WAR ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA] Americká legie, ohnisko fašismu v USA [i.e. The Inside Story of the Legion]

Gray, J.

Item #2742

Prague: Mladá fronta, 1951. 179 pp.: frontispiece. 20,9x14,7 cm. In original publisher’s illustrated wrappers. Edges slightly worn, but otherwise near fine.

Scarce. First Czech edition. English original published in 1948. Translated from English by Vladimir Bernášek. Forward by George Wheeler. The book cover by Jan Brychta shows a grimacing, caricature-like Legionnaire in a garrison cap. His exaggerated features are designed to portray the “reactionary” leadership of the Legion, set against a backdrop of looming skyscrapers representing the “Wall Street oligarchy.”
Very rare Czech imprint and an important piece of Communist Cold-War propaganda, exposing the fascist nature of the American Legion by its former member Justin Gray.
The edition came out in Prague in 1951, at the height of the Cold War and the total “Stalinization” of the Czechoslovak Republic. The country, having fallen under absolute communist control following the 1948 coup, functioned as a primary Soviet satellite state where the publishing industry was strictly utilized for state interests. In this environment, the government sanctioned the translation of Justin Gray’s work as an ideological tool to illustrate the “fascist” nature of American democracy and to prepare the Eastern Bloc for a “total war” against the West.
The author, Justin Gray, was a young veteran who saw combat as a ranger in Europe and served as a Yank correspondent in the Pacific during World War II. A doctoral student before the war, Gray returned to join the American Legion and eventually worked at its National Headquarters in Indianapolis. During his tenure, he served as the Assistant Director of the National Americanism Commission, where he was tasked with investigating “subversive” activities. However, Gray’s career with the organization ended abruptly when he was dismissed after clashing with superiors over the expulsion of the Duncan-Paris Post (a New York unit he helped found) at the personal order of Paul Griffith.
The text offers a first-hand expose of what Gray characterizes as a “rigid oligarchy” controlled by a “few business-minded leaders”. The author draws on Congressional Records, Legion directives, and his own observations as an insider, arguing that the organization’s policies are dictates of industrial associations and Wall Street. Gray specifically cites the influence of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and meticulously documents how the Legion’s early activities were financed by big business interests (including Thomas E. Wilson of Swift & Company and James B. Forgan of the First National Bank of Chicago) to offset post-WWI political radicalism. He covers specific examples of the organization’s anti-labor line, including strike-breaking, espionage within union ranks, and the sabotage of public housing legislation. The author further contends that under the slogan of “Americanism,” the Legion served to suppress freedom of thought, organize the oppression of Black Americans, and propagate fascist ideologies.
The edition features a frontispiece with a remarkable black-and-white political caricature, depicting a stylized figure with a money-bag torso and a swastika head labeled “American Legion Inc.”
American Legion was founded in 1919 by U.S. veterans returning from World War I, following a caucus in Paris and formal establishment in the United States. It became one of the largest veterans’ organizations, advocating for benefits, healthcare, and support for service members and their families. The Legion played a key role in shaping the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, which expanded education and housing opportunities for millions of veterans, and has remained active in community service, youth programs, and patriotic initiatives ever since.
Overall, an interesting evidence of early Cold War communist propaganda.

Worldcat shows 1 copy of the edition at the National Library of the Czech Republic.

Price: $750.00

Status: On Hold