Adolf Who?

When two members of Milwaukee's lunatic fringe Nazi Party were brought to trial for ambushing a local Jewish leader, Judge Patrick J. Madden and lawyers for both sides were determined to find a jury that would not be prejudiced against Nazis. They need not have worried. Of 23 people asked if they were aware of the bitter enmity between Nazis and Jews, none referred to World War II or any of its horrors. Declared one woman: "I've heard of Nazis, but I don't listen to the news that much." Another said that she knew Nazism "was a dictatorship," but she "really couldn't say more about it." Still another juror figured that "Nazi means Communist."

The venire's ignorance of Nazi atrocities made jury selection easy. The guilty verdict that followed plainly was rooted in the misdeeds of the men on trial, not those of the Hitler followers they would emulate. Which is as it should be. Yet quite apart from the case itself, the ability of many Americans to forget, or never to know of, such a recent and outrageous chapter in history is cause for dismay. Sighed Judge Madden: "Other than the term Nazi, they didn't know anything about it."

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