1941 Charles Lindbergh appeasement speech at Hollywood Bowl

Below is a excerpt from a Charles Lindbergh speech at the Hollywood Bowl in 1941.

In 1938, Charles Lindbergh was invited to dinner in Germany by the American Ambassador along with Hermann Göring. On behalf of Adolf Hitler, Lindbergh was given the Commander Cross of the Order of the German Eagle Medal. Henry Ford had also previously received this award. Lindbergh declined to return the medal, later stating that "it seems to me that the returning of decorations, which were given in times of peace and as a gesture of friendship, can have no constructive effect. If I were to return the German medal, it seems to me that it would be an unnecessary insult. Even if war develops between us, I can see no gain in indulging in a spitting contest before that war begins."

Franklin D. Roosevelt once told a close member of his cabinet, "If I should die tomorrow, I want you to know this.", "I am absolutely convinced that Lindbergh is a Nazi."(1)

Tension rose to fevered pitch last week in Los Angeles, when the vast majority of its citizens pledged support to President Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy, while a small minority shouted themselves hoarse in approval of Charles A. Lindbergh’s plea for appeasement.

On Friday evening, June 20th, 20,000 people jammed the famous, Hollywood Bowl. They cheered Lindbergh, they booed and hissed England -- but there was not a single boo for Germany and her Axis partners. There was much critical talk of british propagandists, but no mention of German propaganda nor of the Fifth Column. Many curiosity-seeking attendants were disappointed, and deplored the lack of honest patriotism while others in the audience -— well known for their past subversive activities -- were jubilant over the "success of the meeting". They listened to an ominous warning by the Lone Eagle -- reminiscent of the statement made by Adolf Eitler when, in 1924, he was tried for treason by the highest German court -- that, to quote the American flyer verbatim:

"Some day, in the not distant future, the men who are responsible for this (the deliberate attnpt to misinform and confuse our people) will be called to account by an aroused and enlightened nation. The attempt to involve our country in war by subterfuge and propaganda is not a crime to be passed over lightly."

(1) Saving the Jews: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Holocaust - Robert N. Rosen - p.166