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
everyday 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.