For All or For None:
The 1978 Skokie Nazi Rally (that didn't happen)

In November of 1923, an unknown Nazi named Adolf Hitler attempted to take control of the German government. His revolution was a failure. Just ten years later, he would become the chancellor of Germany. Within twenty years he would be immersed in a World War, ruthlessly forging a policy of racial hatred. Fifty-five years after Adolf Hitler's first public appearance, another unknown Nazi would be marching through the streets of Illinois, protected by rights that his hero, Hitler, never granted the people of Germany. This is the story of Skokie, a town invaded by Nazis slightly more than 20 years after they had escaped the horrors of Europe's concentration camps.

A note on the website:

Our biggest concern was presenting a balanced perspective. To this end, where we present history, we take the greatest care to remain objective, and where we present opinion, we are careful to also provide an opposing view. We expect each viewer of this site to come to his or her own conclusions, and our goal was to provide enough information to place an informed conclusion within the reach of our visitors, without tinting their view with bias. With that in mind, enjoy.

About the authors:

Daniel Ketchell is a second year Political Science major at UCSB. His interest in the Skokie march began with a project in the seventh grade. He has developed a love of research and history that started early in life. Daniel holds membership cards at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, the National Archives, and too many public libraries. He has produced nine historical documentaries that have gained acclaim from various newspapers and university history departments(and one physics department) and in the COngressional Record. One day, he hopes to reflect his love of history in a career of writing and politics. His input on the project was very well balanced with Jon's, doing the research that you can see in his section of the bibliography, an equal portion of the historical summary, and crafting the Pro-Freedom of Speech Argument.

Jon Bertran-Harris is a second year physics major at the university of California at Santa Barbara. He and Daniel made this page for an introductory history class on the Holocaust that they are taking in their fall quarter of 2003. Jon's interest in the Skokie marches started with a project he and Daniel did in the summer of their seventh grade year and has stayed with him to this day. The importance of learning about the marches in regards to the Holocaust is that it is the story of how the events in Germany during the Second World War would linger in the minds and the lives of those who experienced them. It is the story of the survivors of the Holocaust and their reaction when faced with the same racism forty years after the fact. Jon's grandfather was a member of the Anti-Defamation League, which was a strong opposition group during the events in Skokie.