Daniel Burros

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Daniel Burros (March 5, 1937 - October 31 1965) was a Jewish member of the American Nazi Party and Ku Klux Klan. He was born to George and Esther Sunshine Burros, the children of Russian emigrants.

Childhood

Burros attended Hebrew school at Talmud Torah in Richmond Hill, New York and was bar mitzvah on March 4, 1950. He attended John Adams High School and had hopes of getting into West Point. Burros reportedly had an IQ of 154.[1] He joined the National Guard before graduating high school. It was sometime during high school he became fascinated with all things German.

Upon high school graduation in 1955 he joined the Army. Burros was not well suited for Army life and tried on several occasions to commit suicide. He was discharged from the Army as being unsuitable for character and behavioral reasons. [2]

National Socialist activities

In 1958 he worked as a printer in a Public Library. He became an admirer of Adolf Hitler and ran his own neo-nazi party out of a Post Office Box. Later in 1960, he moved to Arlington, Virginia and live at the barracks of the American Nazi Party. He was designated the party’s National Secretary and Political Education Officer. [3] During his party acitvities he was arrested four times for disorderly conduct including a May 24, 1961 arrest in New Orleans where party members protested the Freedom Riders by traveling on a "Hate Bus" thru the South.

In an interview with Paul Krassner, Rockwell indicated that he knew Burros was Jewish and said "he has given me the greatest insight as to what causes a Jew."[2] Rockwell went on to describe him as "one of the most intelligent, cleverest men here..."[3] In the interview Rockwell acknowledged that Jews were a race but not necessarily natural born villains. Rockwell thought Jews because of their arrogance and belief in being a “chosen people” were made and not necessarily born the way they are.

Burros became disillusioned with the party and left on Nov. 5, 1961. Burros joined other ex-party members including John Patler and formed the American National Party which lasted from 1962 to early 1963. They published The Free American [4] and a magazine titled Kill! Their efforts at organizing a new group largely failed; Burros later joined the National Renaissance Party based in Yorkville, New York.

On July 13, 1963, the NRP confronted Black civil rights demonstrators at a White Castle restaurant in the Bronx and a fight occurred. In May 1964 Burros was later convicted of conspiracy, riot, and firearms possession. His family bailed him out on appeal of the sentence.

Klan investigation

In early 1965 Burros view the silent film classic, The Birth of a Nation, the story of the American Civil War and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction. Burros contacted a Klan leader in Pennsylvania and arrange for his appointment as Grand Dragon for New York which consisted of two Klan units in the state known as local Klaverns.

In 1965 Congress investigated the Klan and Daniel Burros was identified as a leader of the group in New York. The New York Times reporters investigated Burros and discovered his Jewish background. After the publication of their article Burros committed suicide, shooting himself with a .32 caliber revolver.

Aftermath

Shortly after Burros' death New York Times journalists Abe Rosenthal and Arthur Gelb published their book on the incident titled One More Victim: The Life and Death of a Jewish Nazi.

In 1966 Rockwell and the ANP gained media attention with his first serious interview in Playboy magazine shortly after Burros suicide. The interview resulted in new recruits and brought Rockwell to the attention of thousands of young white men. (Text from Playboy interview [5])

In 1977 the television series Lou Grant based one of thier episodes upon the life and death of Burros. (YouTube video [6])

Notes

  1. [1]
  2. Paul Krassner's Impolite Interviews, edited by Paul Krassner, page 59
  3. Paul Krassner's Impolite Interviews, edited by Paul Krassner, page 60

See also