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People gather for a counterdemonstration in the predominantly Jewish community of Skokie against a march planned by the National Socialist Party of America for 3o'clock in the afternoon on April 30, 1977. Skokie police stopped the small group of Nazis as itleft the Edens Expressway via Touhy Avenue, served participantswith an injunction and sent them south on the freeway after searching their cars. Hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators waited outside the Skokie City Hall until 4 p.m.
Karen Engstrom / Chicago Tribune
People gather for a counterdemonstration in the predominantly Jewish community of Skokie against a march planned by the National Socialist Party of America for 3o’clock in the afternoon on April 30, 1977. Skokie police stopped the small group of Nazis as itleft the Edens Expressway via Touhy Avenue, served participantswith an injunction and sent them south on the freeway after searching their cars. Hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators waited outside the Skokie City Hall until 4 p.m.

Chicago-area neo-Nazis and the ‘Skokie swastika war’

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National Socialist Party of America leader Frank Collin, second from right, and group members holda rally at Marquette Park in Chicago on Aug. 27, 1972. The park was a symbolic site of rallies for the group in an apparent attempt to capitalize on anxiety over nearby black neighborhoods.
National Socialist Party of America leader Frank Collin, second from right, and group members holda rally at Marquette Park in Chicago on Aug. 27, 1972. The park was a symbolic site of rallies for the group in an apparent attempt to capitalize on anxiety over nearby black neighborhoods.
Frank Collin, center, of the National Socialist Party of America, is arrested during a peace march Aug. 9, 1969, in Chicago. Sixteen people were arrested for disrupting the Chicago Peace Council’s Hiroshima Day Parade, which proceeded down State Street to Grant Park, where a rally was held to commemorate the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and to protest U.S. defense spending. The Tribune wrote, “At 116 N. State St., firecrackers were thrown into the columns of marchers. Police moved in and arrested four persons, some of them wearing Nazi armbands.” Frank Collin, 25, was charged with disorderly conduct and interference with a parade.
While police hold back onlookers, 12 members of the National Socialist Party of America protest the continued imprisonment of Rudolph Hess, a deputy under Adolf Hitler, on May 9, 1977. The demonstrators carried signs reading, “Free Hess,” “Hess hero of the white race” and “Hess victim of Jew hate,” outside the German Consulate on MichiganAvenue in Chicago.
Frank Collin, center, pulls the shirt of a Jewish Defense League member during a Nazi Party demonstration at Berwyn City Hall on July 8, 1972. The Tribune wrote, “Members of the American Nazi Party and the Jewish Defense League had a brief but lively fist fight in front of the Berwyn Municipal Building yesterday before being separated by police garbed in riot gear. Frank Collin, head of the Nazi group, emerged from the fight with blood trickling down his neck, and two others of his band nursed bruises.” The demonstration was to protest Berwyn’s refusal to permit the neo-Nazi group to hold a public meeting in the suburb.
Frank Collin, leader of the National Socialist Party of America, holds a rally in Marquette Park at 71st Street and Sacramento Avenue on Aug. 27, 1972, in Chicago. The Tribune reported Collin telling the crowd of 300, “The black revolution has taken over in all of the large cities in this country except Chicago and it’s up to the white, Aryan people of this city to keep white ethnic neighborhoods like this one together!”
Frank Collin, leader of the National Socialist Party of America, hostsa newsconference April 23, 1970, at the neo-Nazi group's headquarters at 2519 W. 71st St.in Chicago. Collin speaks near a photo of Adolf Hitler.
Frank Collin, leader of the National Socialist Party of America, hostsa newsconference April 23, 1970, at the neo-Nazi group’s headquarters at 2519 W. 71st St.in Chicago. Collin speaks near a photo of Adolf Hitler.
Frank Collin, third from left, leader of the National Socialist Party of America, is placed under arrest by a Triton Junior College police officer Nov. 14, 1977, in River Grove. Collin and two other men were arrested after a fight that left one of Collin’s aides bloodied. The neo-Nazis were picketing a speech at the college by Simon Wiesenthal, a “hunter” of Nazis from World War II, when a brawl erupted with an anti-Nazi group.
Neo-Nazi supporters, Nazi protesters and Triton Junior College police fight during an event at the college on Nov. 14, 1977. The neo-Nazis were picketing a speech at the college by Simon Wiesenthal, a “hunter” of World War II Nazis, when a brawl erupted with anti-Nazi organizers. Frank Collin, head of the local neo-Nazi party, and two other men were arrested after the fight, which left one of Collin’s aides bloodied.
Frank Collin, local head of the National Socialist Party of America, shouts for his followers to keep marching as Chicago police officers in riot gear arrest him on suspicionof mob action two blocks from Marquette Park on Oct. 12, 1975. The neo-Nazi participantswere not permitted to enter a black neighborhood down 71st Street, but youngsters at the rally later ran down a side street and threw rocks at a black man's home.
Frank Collin, local head of the National Socialist Party of America, shouts for his followers to keep marching as Chicago police officers in riot gear arrest him on suspicionof mob action two blocks from Marquette Park on Oct. 12, 1975. The neo-Nazi participantswere not permitted to enter a black neighborhood down 71st Street, but youngsters at the rally later ran down a side street and threw rocks at a black man’s home.
Halting a brief melee at Daley Plaza, a police officer shouts at members of the National Socialist Party of America on March 18, 1977. The neo-Nazis were rallying when leader Frank Collin began to denounce the Jewish people and announced a planned march into Skokie. At that point, hecklers interrupted him and fistfights broke out. More than 15 police officers quickly rushed onto the plaza and separated the combatants.
Halting a brief melee at Daley Plaza, a police officer shouts at members of the National Socialist Party of America on March 18, 1977. The neo-Nazis were rallying when leader Frank Collin began to denounce the Jewish people and announced a planned march into Skokie. At that point, hecklers interrupted him and fistfights broke out. More than 15 police officers quickly rushed onto the plaza and separated the combatants.
Members of the National Socialist Party of America attack a heckler March 18, 1977, after a melee broke out while local neo-Nazi group leader Frank Collin was deliveringa speech atDaley Plaza. Local neo-Nazis were staging a noon rally when Collin began to denounce the Jewish people and announced a planned march into Skokie. At that point, hecklers interrupted him and fistfights broke out. More than 15 policeofficers quickly rushed onto the plaza and separated the combatants. No arrests were made.
Members of the National Socialist Party of America attack a heckler March 18, 1977, after a melee broke out while local neo-Nazi group leader Frank Collin was deliveringa speech atDaley Plaza. Local neo-Nazis were staging a noon rally when Collin began to denounce the Jewish people and announced a planned march into Skokie. At that point, hecklers interrupted him and fistfights broke out. More than 15 policeofficers quickly rushed onto the plaza and separated the combatants. No arrests were made.
People gather for a demonstration in the predominantly Jewish community of Skokie against a march planned by the National Socialist Party of America, a neo-Nazi organization, for 3o'clock in the afternoon on April 30, 1977. Skokie police stopped the small group of neo-Nazis as itleft the Edens Expressway via Touhy Avenue, served the participants with an injunction and sent them south on the freeway after searching their cars. Hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators waited outside Skokie City Hall until 4 p.m., many of them survivors of the Holocaust who still bore concentration-camp registration tattoos on their arms.
People gather for a demonstration in the predominantly Jewish community of Skokie against a march planned by the National Socialist Party of America, a neo-Nazi organization, for 3o’clock in the afternoon on April 30, 1977. Skokie police stopped the small group of neo-Nazis as itleft the Edens Expressway via Touhy Avenue, served the participants with an injunction and sent them south on the freeway after searching their cars. Hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators waited outside Skokie City Hall until 4 p.m., many of them survivors of the Holocaust who still bore concentration-camp registration tattoos on their arms.
A police officer escorts National Socialist Party in America leader Frank Collin and his helmeted troopers into Federal Plaza for a neo-Nazi rally on June 24, 1978.
A police officer escorts National Socialist Party in America leader Frank Collin and his helmeted troopers into Federal Plaza for a neo-Nazi rally on June 24, 1978.
People gather for a demonstration in the predominantly Jewish community of Skokie against a march planned by the National Socialist Party of America, a neo-Nazi organization, for April 30, 1977. Skokie police stopped the small group of neo-Nazis as itleft the Edens Expressway via Touhy Avenue, served participantswith an injunction and sent them south on the freeway after searching their cars. Hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators waited outside Skokie City Hall until 4 p.m., many of them Holocaust survivors.
People gather for a demonstration in the predominantly Jewish community of Skokie against a march planned by the National Socialist Party of America, a neo-Nazi organization, for April 30, 1977. Skokie police stopped the small group of neo-Nazis as itleft the Edens Expressway via Touhy Avenue, served participantswith an injunction and sent them south on the freeway after searching their cars. Hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators waited outside Skokie City Hall until 4 p.m., many of them Holocaust survivors.
An egg strikes the shield of a neo-Nazi as local neo-Nazi leader Frank Collin speaks through a megaphone at Federal Plaza in Chicago on June 24, 1978. The National Socialist Party of America held a forum at the plaza the day before a planned march through Skokie, a heavily Jewish suburb of Chicago.
An egg strikes the shield of a neo-Nazi as local neo-Nazi leader Frank Collin speaks through a megaphone at Federal Plaza in Chicago on June 24, 1978. The National Socialist Party of America held a forum at the plaza the day before a planned march through Skokie, a heavily Jewish suburb of Chicago.
People gather for a counterdemonstration in the predominantly Jewish community of Skokie against a march planned by the National Socialist Party of America for 3o'clock in the afternoon on April 30, 1977. Skokie police stopped the small group of Nazis as itleft the Edens Expressway via Touhy Avenue, served participantswith an injunction and sent them south on the freeway after searching their cars. Hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators waited outside the Skokie City Hall until 4 p.m.
People gather for a counterdemonstration in the predominantly Jewish community of Skokie against a march planned by the National Socialist Party of America for 3o’clock in the afternoon on April 30, 1977. Skokie police stopped the small group of Nazis as itleft the Edens Expressway via Touhy Avenue, served participantswith an injunction and sent them south on the freeway after searching their cars. Hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators waited outside the Skokie City Hall until 4 p.m.
Local National Socialist Party of America leader Frank Collin holds a news conference officially announcing the cancellation of the group's march in Skokie on June 22, 1978. Collin held the conference at his neo-Nazi group's headquarters at 2519 W. 71st St.in Chicago.
Local National Socialist Party of America leader Frank Collin holds a news conference officially announcing the cancellation of the group’s march in Skokie on June 22, 1978. Collin held the conference at his neo-Nazi group’s headquarters at 2519 W. 71st St.in Chicago.

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