Hitler's Black Victims: The Historical Experiences of Afro-Germans, European Blacks, Africans, and African Americans During the Nazi Era

Drawing on interviews with the black survivors of Nazi concentration camps and archival research in North America, Europe, and Africa, this book documents and analyzes the meaning of Nazism's racial policies towards people of African descent, specifically those born in Germany, England, France, the United States, and Africa, and the impact of that legacy on contemporary race relations in Germany, and more generally, in Europe. The book also specifically addresses the concerns of those surviving Afro-Germans who were victims of Nazism, but have not generally been included in or benefited from the compensation agreements that have been developed in recent years. The Nazi era in Germany and all of its accompanying atrocities is one of the most documented periods in history. However, this documentation is incomplete in one important area: the history and experiences of people of African descent in Nazi Germany. Did Afro-Germans and other blacks suffer under Nazism? The answer to this question, to the degree it has been asked at all, remains vague even for those scholars and researchers familiar with the Nazi era and the Holocaust in particular. Drawing on interviews with the Black survivors of Nazi concentration camps and archival research in North America, Europe, and Africa, this book documents and analyzes the meaning of Nazism's racial policies towards people of African descent, specifically those born in Germany, France, England, the United States or Africa, and the impact of that legacy on contemporary race relations in Germany, and more generally, in Europe. The book also specifically addresses the concerns of those surviving Afro-Germans who were victims of Nazism, but have not generally been included in or benefited from the compensation agreements that have been developed in recent years. -- Publishers description

The Nazi era in Germany and all of its accompanying atrocities is one of the most documented periods in history. However, this documentation is incomplete in one important area: the history and experiences of people of African descent in Nazi Germany. Did Afro-Germans and other blacks suffer under Nazism? The answer to this question, to the degree it has been asked at all, remains vague even for those scholars and researchers familiar with the Nazi era and the Holocaust in particular.
Drawing on interviews with the Black survivors of Nazi concentration camps and archival research in North America, Europe, and Africa, this book documents and analyzes the meaning of Nazism's racial policies towards people of African descent, specifically those born in Germany, France, England, the United States or Africa, and the impact of that legacy on contemporary race relations in Germany, and more generally, in Europe. The book also specifically addresses the concerns of those surviving Afro-Germans who were victims of Nazism, but have not generally been included in or benefited from the compensation agreements that have been developed in recent years.

Did Afro-Germans and other blacks suffer under Nazism? The answer to this question remains vague even for those scholars and researchers familiar with the Nazi era and the Holocaust in particular. Hitler's Black Victims seeks to document the little-known history of people of African descent in Nazi Germany. Drawing on interviews with the few remaining black survivors of Nazi concentration camps and extensive archival research in North America, Europe, and Africa, Lusane breaks new ground with his examination of how blacks were treated under the Nazi regime. Some of the topics Lusane explores are the treatment blacks received in concentration camps, the portrayal of blacks in Nazi propaganda films and the Afro-German resistance movement. Lusane frames this unique investigation in the context of the history of international relations between Germany and Africa -- a history that produced a significant black population in Germany by the end of the 19th century -- to offer a broader commentary on the legacy of Nazi-era black politics and its effect on the state of race relations in Germany today. Book Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 2 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgements......Page 9 Part I Beyond a White German Past......Page 11 Introduction Black in Germany during the Nazi Era......Page 12 1 “Look, a Negro!”......Page 28 Part II Blackness before Hitler......Page 47 2 Negrophobia and Nationalism......Page 48 3 Soldiers of Misfortune, Children of Misfortune......Page 72 Part III “The Worst That You Can Imagine”......Page 95 4 Hitler’s Black Dilemmas......Page 96 5 Made in America, Perfected in Germany......Page 128 6 Behind the Wire......Page 143 7 Imagining Blackness......Page 174 8 “Nigger Music Must Disappear”......Page 189 9 Punched Out and Overrun......Page 207 10 Blacks in the Resistance Movement......Page 223 Part IV Black Skins, German Masks......Page 236 12 Breathing while Black......Page 248 Appendices......Page 256 Notes......Page 260 Bibliography......Page 287 Index......Page 301 The time: five months after Adolf Hitler has become chancellor of Germany's Third Reich.