Black Germany : the making and unmaking of a diaspora community, 1884-1960

"This groundbreaking history traces the development of Germany's black community, from its origins in colonial Africa to its decimation by the Nazis during World War II. Robbie Aitken and Eve Rosenhaft follow the careers of Africans arriving from the colonies, examining why and where they settled, their working lives and their political activities, and giving unprecedented attention to gender, sexuality and the challenges of 'mixed marriage'. Addressing the networks through which individuals constituted community, Aitken and Rosenhaft explore the ways in which these relationships spread beyond ties of kinship and birthplace to constitute communities as 'black'. The study also follows a number of its protagonists to France and back to Africa, providing new insights into the roots of Francophone black consciousness and postcolonial memory. Including an in-depth account of the impact of Nazism and its aftermath, this book offers a fresh critical perspective on narratives of 'race' in German history."--Publisher's Web site Contents 9 Illustrations 10 Maps 12 Acknowledgements 13 Abbreviations 16 Introduction 21 1 The first generation: from presence to community 42 Education and migration 43 Alfred Bell 44 Schoolchildren and apprentices 50 Returning migrants and travel restrictions 57 Mission-sponsored travel 63 The Baptist Mission 64 The Basel Mission 68 Catholic missions 72 Völkerschauen and the Berlin Colonial Exhibition 1896 73 Abandoned servants and new travel restrictions 80 The beginnings of community 83 2 Should I stay and can I go? Status and mobility in the institutional net 87 Staying I: subjects and citizens 90 Staying II: documentation regimes 95 Being in two places at the same time: 'protected persons' 98 Leaving: repatriation 100 3 Settling down: marriage and family 108 Meeting and courtship 109 Delaying marriage: institutional obstacles and the cost of statelessness 114 Staying married: challenges 122 The 'white wife problem' 127 Popular racism 131 Internal tensions 134 4 Surviving in Germany: work, welfare and community 139 Centres of settlement 142 The African Welfare Association 149 The search for work 151 Language assistants 152 Colonial businessmen 153 Economic dependency and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Eingeborenenkunde 157 Performing blackness 165 Crime as a survival strategy 175 5 Problem men and exemplary women? Gender, class and 'race' 181 Problem men? Misreading sex 182 Positive self-images: dandy, soldier, prince, paterfamilias 188 Exemplary women? 197 The Bilé women 199 Katharina Atangana 202 Maria Mandessi Bell 206 6 Practising diaspora - politics 1918-1933 214 A politics of petition 215 Organising in the metropole 223 Practising diaspora: Joseph Bilé and the dilemmas of black internationalism 228 Back to Africa? 243 7 Under the shadow of National Socialism 251 Troubled times 254 Policies of exclusion: challenges to civil status 256 The reluctant guardian: Cameroonians and the French mandate authorities 261 Employment 264 Colonial paternalism 267 The Deutsche Afrika-Schau, colonial films and a ban on black performers 270 Growing up in the 'Third Reich' 279 The assault on families: sterilisation and Rassenschande 284 Wartime and radicalisation 291 8 Refuge France? 299 Reconstituting networks 300 Ni heimatlos ni étranger - the politics of refuge 311 Refuge in peril: war and occupation 322 Epilogue 336 Bibliography 349 Archival sources 349 Austria 349 Belgium 349 Cameroon 349 France 349 Germany 349 Netherlands 350 Poland 350 Russia 350 Switzerland 350 United Kingdom 351 United States 351 Interviews 351 Film 351 Radio broadcasts 351 Published sources 351 Periodicals 351 Official publications 352 Other primary texts 353 Published sources: secondary literature 356 Index 374 This groundbreaking history traces the development of Germany's black community, from its origins in colonial Africa to its decimation by the Nazis during World War II. Robbie Aitken and Eve Rosenhaft follow the careers of Africans arriving from the colonies, examining why and where they settled, their working lives and their political activities, and giving unprecedented attention to gender, sexuality and the challenges of 'mixed marriage'. Addressing the networks through which individuals constituted community, Aitken and Rosenhaft explore the ways in which these relationships spread beyond ties of kinship and birthplace to constitute communities as 'black'. The study also follows a number of its protagonists to France and back to Africa, providing new insights into the roots of Francophone black consciousness and postcolonial memory. Including an in-depth account of the impact of Nazism and its aftermath, this book offers a fresh critical perspective on narratives of 'race' in German history. --Google Books This rich and detailed account traces the development of Germany's black community, from its origins in colonial Africa to its decimation by the Nazis during World War II. Robbie Aitken and Eve Rosenhaft draw on meticulous research to offer exciting new perspectives on transnational German history.