in 1978, black interviewed the american civil liberties union lawyer who represented members of the american nazi party, which had marched provocatively through the predominantly jewish chicago suburb of skokie. in preparing himself for that interview, black's interest was piqued in the hidden history of relations between the government of adolf hitler and german-jewish zionists during the first years of the nazi regime. five years of research followed, ending in the 1984 publication of his first book, "".