Tag Archives: Nazi

USC Nazi Tree

Text: Okay, so I heard from other people that the tree in front of that restaurant on campus, they say was donated by a Nazi.

Context:

Informant is a freshman at USC studying Aerospace Engineering, originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are sitting in a USC dining hall as she shares between bites of her pancake. She is excited and enthusiastic as she remembers her stories, using frequent hand gestures to emphasize her points.

“I heard about this from other students at USC, and I think I did kinda believe them, even though I never researched it myself. The tree they’re talking about is pretty big and noticeable. It kind of makes me feel skeptical, like I don’t really know if I belief this. It doesn’t really make sense though the more I think about it.”

Analysis: This folk narrative about there being a tree donated by a Nazi at USC is an example of a legend. This legend proves how beliefs are crafted as a social process, because of how this legend was spread through word-of-mouth, even if some like the informant are not convinced of its truth. There is definitely an aesthetic to this belief, especially since said tree is quite eye-catching and unique, so it is exciting to have this sort of legend about it. People might find this type of legend more enticing because it is more of a “friend-of-a-friend” legend as the source cited is just by fellow peers.

Nazi Origins of EVK Dining Hall at USC

Text: They say, like, EVK stands for, the name of this person who was a Nazi, but they like re-did the name to where it now says Everybody’s Kitchen.

Context:

Informant is a freshman at USC studying Aerospace Engineering, originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are sitting in a USC dining hall as she shares between bites of her pancake. She is excited and enthusiastic as she remembers her stories, using frequent hand gestures to emphasize her points.

“But people are like, it doesn’t make sense because like everybody’s kitchen. Why is the V in there? You know, like EVK, I don’t know. So like, yeah. I heard this from other people at USC, I never actually looked it up myself. I did believe it. I don’t know because they gave me like an actual name for the supposed namesake of EVK. So I was like, oh, I don’t know. It made me feel kind of funny. I was kind of like, oh, that’s so interesting. But then again, I was like, why would they keep it there if it was actually donated by a Nazi? I feel like people would find out and it would be a whole scandal because they have like that whole Jewish section of USC, you know?”

Analysis: This folk narrative is an example of a legend. It is meant to socially negotiate your beliefs, especially since there is little evidence presented to promote the belief, but just enough to make one question if this is true. There is a sort of aesthetic to this belief because it makes the day-to-day life of these college students visiting EVK dining hall a bit more interesting if they believe in this scandalous legend. It meets the requirements of legends of being plausible within this society because most USC students are aware of factual scandals and questionable history of the institution and therefore a Nazi namesake fits into the belief of this society.

USC Nazi Tree

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 2/21/2019
Primary Language: English

Context:

My informant is a 21 year old student from the University of Southern California. This conversation took place in a university dining hall one evening. The informant and I were in an open space, and the informant’s significant other was present and listening to the conversation, as well. The SO’s presence, is the most likely reason that the informant was much more dramatic and told the legend quite jokingly, as if for the purpose to get laughs out of both me and the SO.In this account, he explains an urban legend from USC. This Nazi Tree was recently mentioned in an LA Times article.  This is a transcription of our conversation.

 

Text:

“Urban legend turned truth at the University of Southern California, is that there on our premises lies a single Nazi Tree. Before you say, “What? The USC institution—gilded in white privilege—has a Nazi tree on campus?” Well, when you have Von KleinsSmid as a president for a decade, wild shit happens.

So essentially, at the 1936 Munich Olympics, there are obviously lots of USC athletes there, and, you know, in celebration and in giving thanks, the Nazi regime gave saplings to all the athletes. And so one sapling made it back to USC, and it was planted right in between the back of Bovard and the back of PED [the Physical Education Building] over by the Book Store, and so now enshrined on our campus is a gift directly from Hitler himself.”

  

Thoughts:

Though this is the first time I heard a formal telling of this USC urban legend, I did hear word of it in the first few weeks that I came to this school. The informant and I are in an organization together, Trojan Advocates for Political Progress, so discussion of this tree began again in our meetings due to the relevant name change of VKC (which is happening upon the discovery that Von KleinSmid was in support of of eugenics). Looking this up, I saw that the LA Times also mentioned “one of two [saplings] planted on the USC campus survives to this day.”

My informant proceeded to tell me that, after doing some research on Reddit, he decided to explore the campus area of where the tree is possibly located; sure enough, he found the tree, which he stated was “unmistakably the tree because there was a plaque in front of it dedicated to the 1936 Munich Olympics.” He’s not the first I’ve met one to search for this tree— this tree seems to have the same reputation as ghosts, where people hunt around to see if its existence is true. I surmise that, just like ghosts, it’s tied to our shame or guilt of our school’s racist and corrupt history. The official existence of this tree is just another factor that reinforces the notion that USC is racist, both past and present.

 

For the LA Times article mentioned above, please refer to this citation:

Crowe, Jerry. “To Protect and Preserve a Tree Rooted in Games.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times,                         20 Aug. 2007, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-20-sp-crowe20-story.html.

 

The Basement Nazi Flag

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/1/2019
Primary Language: English

Main Text

Subject: USC has like, a Nazi Germany flag in the basement somewhere. Of like, Mudd Hall or somewhere, st…stashed away. Cuz’ like…it was hanging up during World War II or whatever? In this very building…I guess?

Background Information

The interview was conducted in the Von KleinSmid Center library basement, which is the “very building” referred to by the subject in the interview. The subject is a fourth-year anthropology student at the University of Southern California. During the year of this interview, they heard this legend from an acquaintance, who heard it through word of mouth.

Context

The subject has spread the legend “once or twice […] within the same group circle” in the context of “shitting on USC.” Given the university’s recent admissions scandals, they consider sharing the legend timely, as yet another example of “all the shit that USC has been doing, and that people have been frustrated about.” They have even experienced the urge to share this legend and other similar anti-USC rumors when campus tour groups are passing by, as an “exposé” of the university to otherwise blissfully ignorant potential and incoming students. The subject considers “shitting on USC” a personally significant activity in their life, because it annoys them that people laud USC for being a great school with great resources, when people ought to be more critical of the university’s blatantly unethical actions. They don’t want USC to “get away” with its corruption, and even though sharing the legend does little to bring tangible justice, it still challenges general perceptions of the school.

However, they mention they are “a little hesitant” to present it as a confirmed fact in their pursuit of encouraging others to “shit on USC.” They juxtapose the legend with other anti-USC legends that have had more factual verification, such as Traveler being a Confederate horse and Von KleinSmid being a eugenicist.

The Basement Nazi Flag legend is also not the first Nazi-related USC legend that the subject has heard. They draw parallels between this legend, and the legend of the Nazis having donated a tree to the university. They discuss how the Nazi Tree legend is similar to the Basement Nazi Flag legend, because the truth of both legends are difficult to confirm. On the other hand, they mention that the two legends are generally shared with different intentions: the Nazi Tree legend is sensational and often restyled as a tree that was donated by Hitler, whereas the Basement Nazi Flag is symbolic and meant to directly criticize the hidden corruption at USC.

Despite the questionable factuality of these legends, the subject argues that most people do take legends such as the Basement Nazi Flag seriously, given the political gravity of the subject matter. They mention that, even among those who share similarly critical opinions of USC, the reaction to hearing these legends is usually aghastness.

Interviewer’s Analysis

This legend is an example of folklore as counter-hegemony. Briefly, hegemony is defined as the total control over the terms of a narrative. In this case, USC maintains hegemony over its public image as a prestigious, top-tier university that is desirable to attend. The Basement Nazi Flag legend subverts this hegemony by presenting a visceral example of USC’s politically damnable history. What makes this legend such a powerful attack on USC’s character, is that it not only implies that USC is condemnable for having been affiliated with Nazis in the past, but that it ought to be doubly condemned for concealing that history from present company, essentially pretending like the affiliation never happened. The fact that there are several other similar, much more factually grounded legends such as the USC mascot Traveler being a Confederate horse, and former USC President Von KleinSmid being a eugenicist, suggests that even if the Basement Nazi Flag legend is not factually true, the anti-USC sentiments motivating its spread are rooted in historical reality.

For Further Reading

Two collections of the Nazi Tree legend reference by the subject appear in the Digital Folklore Archives. They are linked below here:

The Nazi Tree

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Construction Engineer
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: 04/23/18
Primary Language: English

Main piece:

The legend goes that VKC (who was a Nazi and a eugenicist in addition to being President of the University [of Southern California]) got a donation of a tree from the Nazi party that’s still on campus today.

Some people think that it’s the Fig tree by Moreton Fig, but that’s definitely not right. If you dig around it’s supposed to be an oak tree behind Bovard.

Now, a ton of people deny this – including administrators. But I am pretty sure that it’s the one on the back corner of Bovard – closest to the old Annenburg building. I’m sure that if more people knew, they’d want to cut it down or something. But for now, we’ve got a Nazi tree on campus.

Context:

Drew is a sixth generation Trojan, and is a Trojan Knight. He is intimately familiar with USC’s history and culture.

Background:

Recently, USC’s former president Rufus B. Von KleinSmid has come under fire for his Nazi affiliations. The Nazi tree story plays into this contemporary controversy.

Analysis:

Trees are inherently monumental. That a progressive and diverse college campus like USC could have a flagrant and distasteful symbol on campus as a Nazi tree is entertaining in a sick way. It’s also a little mysterious that there is uncertainty about which tree is the Nazi tree. It adds to the drama of the story, and causes more mental nagging on the part of USC students who hear the story. Any tree could be the Nazi tree.