Gerald Burton Winrod

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Gerald Burton Winrod

Winrod circa 1940-1950
Born March 7, 1900(1900-03-07)
Flag of the United States Wichita, Kansas
Died November 11, 1957 (aged 57)
Flag of the United States U.S.
Occupation Evangelist
Children Gordon Winrod
Parents Mable E. (1881-?) and John W. Winrod (1873-?)

Gerald Burton Winrod (March 7, 1900 – November 11, 1957) was an evangelist, author, and political activist.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Winrod was the son of Mable E. (1881-?) of Illinois, and John W. Winrod (1873-?) of Missouri. [1] His father was a former Wichita, Kansas bartender whose saloon was attacked by Carry Nation.[2] In 1918 he was the chief clerk at the Kansas Gas and Electric Company in El Dorado, Kansas.[3] By 1925 he formed the Defenders of the Christian Faith, a nondenominational Adamist organization that opposed teaching evolution in public schools and supported Prohibition and racial segregation.[4]

Winrod professed strongly anti-Semitic views, earning him the nickname "The Jayhawk Nazi" (Jayhawk is a nickname for a Kansan). Winrod offered the following defense of his views in his introduction to his book "The Truth About the Protocols": "After observing the title of this book, some will accuse me of being anti-Semitic. If by this they mean that I am opposed to the Jews as a race or as a religion, I deny the allegation. But if they mean that I am opposed to a coterie of international Jewish bankers ruling the Gentile world by the power of gold, if they mean that I am opposed to international Jewish Communism, then I plead guilty to the charge." [5] Winrod believed the United States to be the chosen land of God and, when the Great Depression struck, publicly stated that it was the work of Satan. He believed Franklin D. Roosevelt was a "devil" linked with the Jewish-Communist conspiracy and that Hitler would save Europe from Communism.[6] Winrod spread these views through his newspaper, The Defender, which by 1937, achieved a 100,000 monthly circulation.[7] He ran for a U.S. Senate seat from Kansas in 1938 but was defeated in the Republican primary when a popular former governor, Clyde M. Reed, was lured out of retirement by the party establishment to run against him. With 21.4% of the vote, Winrod was a distant third after Reed and Dallas Knapp of Coffeyville, Kansas.[8]

Winrod developed a strong following among German-speaking Kansas Mennonites who identified with his religious, anti-WWII, and pro-Germany views. The Defender was published by Mennonite-owned Herald Publishing Company of Newton, Kansas from 1931 to 1942.[9] Winrod found support in Bethel College and Tabor College[10] and from editors of local Mennonite papers, and some Mennonite precincts voted predominantly for Winrod in the 1938 Senate primary.[11]

In 1940 Winrod's wife sued for divorce. In 1942 the federal government indicted Winrod for sedition, alleging conspiracy against the U.S. government.[12] Winrod's son Gordon Winrod is a Christian Identity minister and convicted felon.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ 1910 US Census; Wichita, Kansas
  2. ^ Juhnke, p. 137.
  3. ^ World War I draft registration; September 12, 1918
  4. ^ American Jewish Yearbook which covers the period from July 1, 1938 to June 30, 1939, page 216
  5. ^ Winrod, Gerald B., (ca. 1933?) The Truth About the Protocols.
  6. ^ Juhnke, p. 138.
  7. ^ Juhnke, p. 139.
  8. ^ Juhnke, p. 140.
  9. ^ Juhnke, p. 139.
  10. ^ Juhnke, p. 138.
  11. ^ Juhnke, p. 140.
  12. ^ Juhnke, p. 140.

[edit] References

  • Juhnke, James C. (1975), A People of Two Kingdoms: the Political Acculturation of the Kansas Mennonites, Faith and Life Press. ISBN 0-87303-662-X

[edit] External links