by Melinda Elliott (Author)
The residents of a small town in Connecticut were surprised to learn a Pro-Nazi organization was building a Hitler-styled youth camp in their midst. The German-American Bund secretly purchased 178 acres of land just south of the main road. Their goal was to host 1,000 campers each week, with at least 10,000 visitors for weekends and special occasions at Camp General von Steuben. Southbury residents needed to come to terms with the situation quickly and decide if they wanted Nazi philosophies to clash with their stanch New England values. A number of determined every-day heroes emerged who felt the need to do something, while the First Selectman was quietly trying to find legal means to stop the camp. Some people wrote letters or resolutions, while the pastors warned against the evil of Nazis. In spite of their differences in background or politics, the townspeople decided to establish a zoning commission to "keep Southbury much as it always was." In the process, the Bund land would be zoned as residential in the hopes of preventing Camp General von Steuben from being built.