Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Hitler in Los Angeles

How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
A 2018 FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE

"[Hitler in Los Angeles] is part thriller and all chiller, about how close the California Reich came to succeeding" (Los Angeles Times).

No American city was more important to the Nazis than Los Angeles, home to Hollywood, the greatest propaganda machine in the world. The Nazis plotted to kill the city's Jews and to sabotage the nation's military installations: Plans existed for murdering twenty-four prominent Hollywood figures, such as Al Jolson, Charlie Chaplin, and Louis B. Mayer; for driving through Boyle Heights and machine-gunning as many Jews as possible; and for blowing up defense installations and seizing munitions from National Guard armories along the Pacific Coast.
U.S. law enforcement agencies were not paying close attention—preferring to monitor Reds rather than Nazis—and only attorney Leon Lewis and his daring ring of spies stood in the way. From 1933 until the end of World War II, Lewis, the man Nazis would come to call "the most dangerous Jew in Los Angeles," ran a spy operation comprised of military veterans and their wives who infiltrated every Nazi and fascist group in Los Angeles. Often rising to leadership positions, they uncovered and foiled the Nazi's disturbing plans for death and destruction.
Featuring a large cast of Nazis, undercover agents, and colorful supporting players, the Los Angeles Times­ bestselling Hitler in Los Angeles, by acclaimed historian Steven J. Ross, tells the story of Lewis's daring spy network in a time when hate groups had moved from the margins to the mainstream.
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      September 15, 2017

      Winston Churchill said of World War II that, "This is a war of the unknown warriors." Nowhere was this truer than in the little-known story of attorney Leon Lewis and others who thwarted internal and external threats to the security of America during this era. Ross (history, Univ. of Southern California; Working Class Hollywood) brings his knowledge of both history and Hollywood to weave information from the considerable archives of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles. From 1933 until the end of the war in 1945, Lewis and his fellow agents risked their lives to counter Nazi and homegrown nationalist forces plotting sabotage and mass murder. Little has been written about Lewis and his network, despite that they helped the FBI capture and contain these forces. Because state and federal law enforcement were more focused on anti-Communist efforts, several plots came quite close to fruition. VERDICT This rich, academic tome lends an important aspect to the typical look at Hollywood studio acquiescence to Germany, such as Thomas Doherty's Hollywood and Hitler, and provides a counterpoint to Ben Urwand's The Collaboration. Readers interested in a detailed look at this spy operation can have confidence in this well-sourced account.--Maria Bagshaw, Elgin Community Coll. Lib., IL

      Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      August 1, 2017
      During World War II, American Nazis planned to overthrow the U.S. government and eradicate Jews.The director of the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life and an award-winning film historian, Ross (History/Univ. of Southern California; Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics, 2011, etc.) tells a shocking story of Nazi efforts to infiltrate America. He focuses on Leon L. Lewis, a Los Angeles attorney who created a spy ring to infiltrate and undermine Nazi groups and faced widespread anti-Semitism throughout the country and in government. Nazis set their sights on the film industry, which they saw as dominated by Jews. Their plans included killing prominent entertainers, including Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Charlie Chaplin, and movie heads Louis B. Mayer and Jack Warner. They proposed public executions of Jews and a plan to drop cyanide into an acid solution that would be blown into Jewish homes and synagogues to exterminate Jews--"like rats, that is the way to get rid of them," announced a Nazi leader. When Lewis solicited government support and funding for his operation, he was met with a mixed response: anti-Semites abounded there, too, and the FBI and newly created House Un-American Activities Committee were concerned more with routing out communists than in dealing with the Nazi threat. Movie executives contributed to Lewis' efforts but at the same time wanted to ensure that Germany would remain a strong outlet for their films. "However much they may have hated the German consul and the Hitler regime," Ross writes, "the movie moguls had to cooperate with both if they wished to remain in the German market." To halt production of one movie he deemed "detrimental to German prestige," the consul summoned German actors and threatened them with harm to family members living in Germany if they appeared in it. Ross puts his experience in film history to good use, and he creates lively portraits of the men and women whom Lewis recruited as spies and who succeeded in putting some dangerous Nazis behind bars. A vivid history of homegrown resistance.

      COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Loading