I'm An American -- William Schlamm

On July 13, 1941 William Schlamm spoke with William H. Marshall, Assistant District Director of Immigration at Ellis Island, about what democracy looks like to a refugee from a dictatorship. Schlamm reveals his first English words, ‘‘I want to be an American," were published in an American Magazine two months after he arrived. He explains how the country was different than he expected. Schlamm suggests Americans should talk about accomplishments and achievements like dictators, because it could change the opinion of fascists and the world. The two men discuss how official statements made by totalitarian nations can tell the true state of affairs. Schlamm confesses to a loss of nostalgia for Europe even if the region recovers from the Nazism. He shares how he felt abandoning allegiance to his homeland. Although American democracy is not perfect, the Austrian-born journalist, believes it will be more successful than totalitarianism. William Schlamm (b. William Siegmund Schlamm) was born on June 10, 1904 in Przemyśl, Galicia, Austria to a Jewish family. He was a communist in his teens but abandoned the political ideology at 25. He joined the left-wing magazine "Die Weitbuhne." The Austrian journalist fled to the United States after Hitler came to power. Schlamm joined the staff of Fortune magazine in 1941 and became a foreign policy advisor to the publisher, Henry Luce. He became a naturalized citizen in 1944. He went on to edit numerous magazines and publications. He is credited with encouraging William F. Buckley Jr. to create the conservative magazine National Review. Schlamm emigrated back to Germany in 1957 and later founded the own monthly journal Die Zeitbuhne. He coined the phrase, “The trouble with socialism is socialism. The trouble with capitalism is capitalism.”