Europeans of African descent are often forgotten in discussions about "Africa and the Diaspora," however they trace their presence in Europe to well before the Middle Ages.
The stories of Africans who went to Europe before the Trans Atlantic Slave trade, those who have immigrated to the land(s) of their former colonial masters, and those who are the offspring of inter-racial relationships are now well-documented on the WEB, and will be discussed, with a special emphasis on the Afro-German experience.
Though Hitler's racial policies toward Jews, Sinti, and Roma, have been well documented, researchers have given less attention to actions against Blacks. This racial minority, though not systematically eliminated like the other groups, faced persecution that ranged from isolation to murder.
Individuals of African descent living in Germany were socially and economically ostracized. They could not attend university; they lost their jobs; they sometimes lost their citizenship. Mixed race marriages were forbidden, and doctors illegally and secretly sterilized between 385 and 500 biracial children, most of them offspring of French Black soldiers and German women, children derisively referred to as the "Rhineland bastards."
Blacks, including African Americans, were also imprisoned or sent to internment or concentration camps. There, they were often treated more harshly and subjected to medical experiments or extreme brutality. The SS and Gestapo commonly mistreated Black prisoners of war, working them to death in concentration camps or killing them immediately rather than imprisoning them.
Some African American members of the United States Army were liberators and witnesses to Nazi atrocities. The 761st Tank Battalion, an all-African American tank unit, participated in the liberation of Gunskirchen, a subcamp of the Mauthausen concentration camp, in May 1945.
Burleigh, Michael, and Wolfgang Wippermann.The Racial State: Germany, 1933-1945.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. (DD 256.5 .B93 1991) Examines in detail the origins of Nazi racial ideology and demonstrates the thoroughness with which it was translated into official policy. Discusses the Nazis' pursuit of racial purity and the resulting persecution of Jews, Sinti and Roma, and other racial or ethnic minorities, including Blacks, as well as the mentally handicapped, homosexuals, and those deemed "asocial." Reviews the government's response to the "Rhineland bastards" on pages 128-130. Includes a lengthy bibliographical essay.
Proctor, Robert N.Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis.Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988. (RA 418 .G3 P76 1988) Traces the involvement of the scientific community in the development and implementation of the National Socialist racial policies. Examines the political motivation behind the seemingly scientific initiatives, and describes the active role scientists and doctors played in the Nazi sterilization, castration, and euthanasia programs. Reviews the forced sterilization of the offspring of Black French soldiers and native Germans on pages 112-114.
Kesting, Robert W."Forgotten Victims: Blacks in the Holocaust."Journal of Negro History77, no. 1 (1992):30-36. (Subject File) Summarizes Hitler's attitude toward Blacks and the Nazi policies enacted to maintain racial purity, including the sterilization of the biracial Rhineland children. Also describes multiple cases of the murder of Black prisoners of war and other Blacks imprisoned in labor or concentration camps.
Kesting, Robert W."Blacks Under the Swastika: A Research Note."Journal of Negro History83, no. 1 (1998):84-99. (Subject File) Reviews the many faces of anti-Black racism in Imperial, Weimar, and Nazi Germany. Particularly outlines the discrimination and persecution of Blacks under the Third Reich, from barriers to citizenship to forced sterilization and imprisonment. Cites particular cases of the victimization of Blacks, including serving as subjects in Nazi medical experiments, their incarceration in Nazi prisons and camps, and the mistreatment or murder of prisoners of war.
Der Stürmer.(Microfilm) A Nazi weekly newspaper founded by Julius Streicher and noted for its antisemitic content. Featured many examples of anti-Black racist illustrations, including the following: January 13, 1936 (p.1); July 4, 1940 (p.8); September 19, 1940 (p.6 & p.9); September 26, 1940 (p.39).
Potter, Lou, William Miles, and Nina Rosenblum.Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II.New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992. (D 769.306 761st .P68 1992) A companion book tothe documentaryof the same name detailing the involvement of the 761st Tank Battalion in the Second World War, the first African-American armored unit to see combat. Asserts that the 761st liberated Dachau, Buchenwald, and Lambach, and provides first-person accounts by members of the battalion recalling their views of the camps. Also details the battalion's training and battle experiences interspersed with stories of the racial discrimination they faced. Opens with a history of Blacks in the United States military from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars through World War II.
Stern, Kenneth S.Liberators: A Background Report.New York: American Jewish Committee, 1993. (D 769.306 761st .S74 1993) Explores the historical accuracy of the documentary Liberators, challenging some factual elements in the film and offering evidence that the 761st Tank Battalion was not actually involved in the liberation of Dachau or Buchenwald, as the film declares, but did help liberate Gunskirchen, a sub-camp of Mauthausen. Based on conversations with survivors, archival experts, members of the units in question, and the producers of the film.
Exhibitions: Josef Nassy: Images of Internment http://www.ushmm.org/nassy/ Online exhibit by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum about Josef Nassy (1904-1976), an American citizen and Black expatriate artist of Jewish descent who was confined in German internment camps at Laufen and Tittmoning during World War II. Features many of the more than two hundred paintings and drawings Nassy created during this time depicting daily life in the camps.
Holocaust Encyclopedia: Blacks during
the Holocaust http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?
lang=en&ModuleId=10005479 Reviews the persecution and marginalization Blacks experienced due to the Third Reich's restrictive racial policies. Describes the forced sterilization program of the so-called "Rhineland Bastards" and the imprisonment of Blacks in internment and POW camps. Also touches upon the role some African Americans played in liberating Gunskirchen. Includes numerous photographs and links to related sites. Special Focus: 2002 Black History Month http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/
focus/bhistory_02/ Briefly summarizes the Nazis' treatment of Blacks during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and later, during the Holocaust. Includes an interview with John Woodruff, a participant in the 1936 Olympics, in both audio and text formats. Also provides links to additional sources of information on Blacks in the Holocaust within the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Web site.
Liberators: 761st Tank Battalion http://members.aol.com/dignews/l-promo.htm Companion Web site to thedocumentary filmandbookLiberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II, which chronicles African American units that helped liberate concentration camps, particularly the 761st Tank Battalion. Documents some of the historical controversy and debate surrounding the film and book, and provides links to additional resources.
