{"id":28431,"date":"2026-07-17T11:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/?p=28431"},"modified":"2026-08-06T14:29:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T21:29:34","slug":"secret-war-waged-by-ordinary-americans-against-hate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/secret-war-waged-by-ordinary-americans-against-hate\/","title":{"rendered":"The secret war waged by ordinary Americans against hate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                          \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/ross-secret-war-top-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/ross-secret-war-top-1920x1080.jpg 1920w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/ross-secret-war-top-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/ross-secret-war-top-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"Screenshot from video shows men in Nazi uniforms gathered around a van adorned with hate slogans\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Fascist groups continued in the United States after World War II, including American Nazis like those shown here with their \u201cHate Bus\u201d in 1961. (Photos: Courtesy of Steve Ross.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=faculty\">Faculty<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>The secret war waged by ordinary Americans against hate<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  In his new book, USC Dornsife historian Steve Ross uncovers the forgotten story of civilian spies who infiltrated postwar Nazi and white supremacist groups \u2014 and risked their lives to stop them.\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">USC Dornsife News<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">July 17, 2026<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 4.0350275 0 1.5167124.60096154 2.9475732 1.68841575 4.0350274 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xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m8.14285714 9.42857143c-.17142857 0-.34285714 0-.51428571.08571428l7.28571427 6.34285719c.3428572.2571428.6857143.2571428.9428572 0l7.2857142-6.34285719c-.0857142-.08571428-.2571428-.08571428-.4285714-.08571428zm-1.28571428 1.11428567v.1714286 8.5714286c0 .6857143.6 1.2857143 1.28571428 1.2857143h14.57142856c.6857143 0 1.2857143-.6 1.2857143-1.2857143v-8.5714286c0-.0857143 0-.0857143 0-.1714286l-7.2 6.3428572c-.7714286.6857143-1.8857143.6857143-2.6571429 0z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -9)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>The end of World War II is often remembered as the beginning of a more peaceful and tolerant era in the United States. But <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/steve-ross\/\">Steve<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/steve-ross\/\">Ross<\/a>, a historian at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, documents a darker reality: Antisemitism and racism increased after the war, and the number of organized hate groups more than doubled between 1940 and 1946.<\/p>\n<p>In his latest book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/secret-war-against-hate-9781635578003\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Antisemitism and White Supremacy<\/em><\/a>, Ross tells the story of the ordinary Americans who decided to fight back. Working through clandestine networks, these civilian operatives infiltrated Nazi and white supremacist organizations, gathered intelligence and helped thwart plots to bomb churches and synagogues.<\/p>\n<p>Among them was Emmanuel Trujillo, who rose to become a leading figure in the postwar American Nazi movement while secretly communicating with antifascist organizations and tracking extremist leaders in the U.S. and abroad.<\/p>\n<p>Ross, Distinguished Professor and Dean\u2019s Professor of History and Myron and Marian Casden Director of the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life at USC Dornsife, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his previous book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/hitler-in-los-angeles-9781620405642\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America<\/em><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/hitler-in-los-angeles-9781620405642\/\">.<\/a> Researching his latest book, he says, gave him the opportunity to write his own spy story \u2014 \u201conly unlike the fiction I read, this stuff is true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In this video interview with USC Dornsife News, Ross discusses the operatives who put themselves in danger, the attacks they prevented and what their courage can teach us today about resisting hate and defending democracy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RteqZcYLr2Y?si=gjlvw5PiEsI1HAlW\" title=\"The Secret American Spies Who Stopped a Post-WWII Civil War\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  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library: A treasure trove of self-directed learning opportunities<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/how-ordinary-jews-fought-nazi-persecution\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >How individual, ordinary Jews fought Nazi persecution \u2212 a new view of history<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In his new book, USC Dornsife historian Steve Ross uncovers the forgotten story of civilian spies who infiltrated postwar Nazi and white supremacist groups \u2014 and risked their lives to stop them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":28433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,10],"tags":[55,71,60],"class_list":["post-28431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-faculty","tag-books","tag-history","tag-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The secret war waged by ordinary Americans against hate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"USC Dornsife historian Steve Ross uncovers the forgotten story of civilian spies who fought postwar Nazi and white supremacist groups\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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