Ex-nazi enclave changes policies
yaphank, n.y. » An enclave of former summer bungalows, where Nazi sympathizers once proudly marched near streets named for Adolf Hitler and other Third Reich figures, is being forced to end policies that limited ownership to people of German descent.
The German American Settlement League, which once welcomed tens of thousands in the 1930s to pro-nazi marches at Camp Siegfried on eastern Long Island, has settled an antidiscrimination case brought by New York state. The settlement calls for a change in the league’s leadership and adherence to all state and federal housing laws.
Many residents in the tiny community of about 40 homes that is a small part of the rural hamlet ofyaphank declined to speak on the record, but thosewho did disputed their community is tainted by discrimination.
“There’s a mixed bag; it’s not like it was,” said Fred Stern, a member of the league’s board and a 40year resident, who conceded the communitywas once primarily occupied by those of German descent. “It’s not like whatever they’re saying. If you went to every house and asked people’s nationality, it wouldn’t be any different than any other neighborhood.”
Kaitlyn Webber told a television interviewer that her “family’s always been very open. We’ve never had any issues with anyone discriminating against anyone up here.”
The homes, which stretch downa narrowstreet called Private Road and surround a large grassy ballfield along Schiller Court, are a combination of small bungalows and larger suburban-type ranches. Lawns are carefully landscaped and mailboxes — many with German surnames — sit street-side in the curbless enclave.
News accounts recall a groundswell of Nazism in the enclave in the years before the start ofworldwar II. Camp Siegfried, where the homes stand today, was sponsored by the GermanAmerican Bund to promote Hitler, although many at the time also voraciously expressed loyalty to the United States.
The league owns the land onwhich the homes are situated and leases the property to homeowners. State investigators found that the league prohibited public advertisement of properties for sale. Members seeking to sell their homes could only announce a listing at member meetings.