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

318 Pages·2002·2.23 MB·English

by  Clarence Lusane

Hitler’s Black Victims
Crosscurrents in African American History

Graham Russell Hodges and Margaret Washington
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Hitler’s Black Victims
The Historical Experiences of Afro-Germans, European Blacks,
Africans, and African Americans in the Nazi Era
CLARENCE LUSANE

Routledge
New York London
Published in 2003 by Routledge 29 West 35th Street New York, NY 10001
Published in Great Britain by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lusane, Clarence, 1953– Hitler’s black victims: the historical experiences of Afro-Germans,
European Blacks, Africans, and African Americans in the Nazi era/Clarence Lusane. p. cm.—
(Crosscurrents in African American history) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN
0-415-93121-5 ISBN 0-415-93295-5 (pbk.) 1. World War, 1939–1945—Blacks—Germany. 2.
World War, 1939–1945—Blacks. 3. World War, 1939–1945—African Americans. 4. Germany—
Ethnic relations. 5. Race discrimination—Germany. I. Title. II. Series. D810.N4 L87 2002
940.53'18'08996–dc21 2001041860
ISBN 0-203-01810-9 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-415-93295-5 (Print Edition)
Contents

Acknowledgments viii

1
Part 1. Beyond a White German Past

Introduction 2
Black in Germany during the Nazi Era:
The Undiscovered Country
1. “Look, a Negro!”. 18

The Structuring of Black Marginality in Nazi Germany

37
Part 2. Blackness before Hitler

2. Negrophobia and Nationalism: 38

An Epigrammatic History of African-German Encounters
3. Soldiers of Misfortune, Children of Misfortune: 62

Black Troops and the Race Question in Pre-Nazi Germany

85
Part 3. “The Worst That You Can Imagine:”
Blacks and Nazism

4. Hitler’s Black Dilemmas: 86

The Face and Fact of Blackness under Nazism
5. Made in America, Perfected in Germany: 118

The Nazi Sterilization Program against Blacks
6. Behind the Wire: 133

Black Captives of Nazism
7. Imagining Blackness: 164
Negrophobia andtheNaziPropagandaMachine
8. “Nigger Music Must Disappear”: 179

Jazz and the Disruption of Cultural Purity
9. Punched Out and Overrun: 197

Black Athleticism Meets Nazi Racism
10. Blacks in the Resistance Movement 213

226
Part 4. Black Skins, German Masks:
Blackness in Contemporary Germany

11. European (Dis)union: 227

Racism and Antiracism in Contemporary Europe
12. Breathing while Black: 238

Linking the German Racial Past with the Present

Appendices 246
Notes 250
Bibliography 277
Index 291
Acknowledgments

It is three months since turning in the manuscript and I am trying to remember everyone
over the last five years or so who has had his or her fingerprints on this project. I am
checking e-mails, scraps of paper (lots of scraps of paper), phone records, letters, the wall
next to my computer, behind the trash can that I never empty, all the while recalling how
boldly I thought “I will remember X gave me this absolutely essential information.”
Another self-delusion exposed. OK, here is my best shot and apologies way in advance to
anyone I forgot.
I received critical support and comments from faculty colleagues, staffers, and
students at American University, especially in the School of International Service, where
I gave presentations on the research over the past few years. This includes Professors
Mohammad Abu-Nimer, Phillip Brenner, Betty Dickerson, Carol Gallagher, Lou
Goodman, Nanette Levinson, Linda Lubrano, Cathy Schneider, Stephen Silva, Gary
Weaver, and Quansheng “John” Zhao. I was also fortunate to have some very talented
and resourceful students work with me doing research and readings, including Helen
McClure, Chris Campos, Titus Chin, and Marilyn Coucou.
Research institutions that provided not only invaluable data but friendly faces include
National Archives, Moreland-Spingarn Research Center, Schomburg Center, U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum, Museum of Tolerance, Black Wax Museum, Library of
Congress, Berlin Central Library, British Museum, School of African and Oriental
Studies, and other research institutions in many other places.
As usual, there was the endless array of friends and associates who diverted me when
necessary, gave criticism when needed, and did everything they could to make me and
this book better. Hey to Shirikiana Aina, Jewel Andrews, Karen Bass, Jelani Cobb,
Derrick Cogburn, Cecelie Counts, James Early, Anita English, Haili Gerima, Charles
Green, Cheryl Hanna, Mark Harrison, Sylvia Hill, Karen Jefferson, Keith Jennings, Mae
King, Melvin Lewis, Carolyn Mathews, Joseph McCormick, Ife Modupe, Lorenzo
Morris, Julie Mostov (and her students at Drexel), Brother Mutota, Alain Patrice
Nganang, Deborah Robinson, Jocelyn Sargent, Mike Simmons, James Steele, Lisa
Sullivan, Nkechi Taifa, Nathalie Thandiwe, Makani Themba, Veena Vasista, Carline
Watson, Walter Watson, and Joy Zarembka. A special appreciation to Hugh McCann for
delivering to a stranger a most valuable asset.
Thanks also to American Friends Service Committee, Black Professionals in
International Affairs International Possibilities Unlimited, Institute for Policy Studies,
and the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.
The “G8” always had my back as well as insightful perspectives. Deep love and
friendship to Robin T., Robin L., Tara, Kim, Chris, and, of course, Camille.
In Europe, an endless array of friends and scholars gave and gave and gave. This
includes Brima Conteh, Donna St. Hill, Makeda Coaston, Etienne Bryan (and the whole
crew), Josephine Ocloo, Kwame Dixon, Lou Kushnick, and Sameera Anwar. Thanks for
the bagels, beer, and brains.
There have been so many Afro-Germans, both inside and outside Germany, who gave
me answers to questions and queries that it is impossible to mention everyone. Some of
the key folks that I must acknowledge and to whom I will always be grateful include
Theodor Michael, Hans Massaquoi, Eke, Judy, ADEFRA, ISD, Eleanore, Dimitria,
Nancy Scott, Paulette Reed Anderson, John Kantara, and Katherina Oguntoye.
I also want to express my gratitude to Harry Belafonte, one of the world’s most
valuable treasures. Our discussions about the book and the historic and contemporary
situation of black folks were fresh and discerning. I felt honored and blessed to have his
worldly perspective at my disposal on more occasions than I could have imagined.
I want to also thank the editors and staffers at Routledge. I feel a great deal of pride in
having a book published by one of the most respected scholarly presses publishing today.
To Karen Wolny, Vikram Mukhija, Farideh Kamali, series editor Graham Hodges, and
the rest, thanks.
A very special thanks to Dr. Randolph Persaud. Though he may not know it, Randy
continues to be as much a mentor as a dear friend. I am the better for each discussion and
encounter that we share. I look forward to many years of shared discoveries, brilliant
insights, profound understandings, and chilling time.
Finally, my very first exposure to the story and ideas that formed this book happened
more than a dozen years ago when I first met some black Germans at a conference in
London. One of those individuals was Nicola Laure al Samari. Originally from the
former East Germany, she has become one of the people in my life whose presence is
indispensable. She is a thinker of the first order and an unyielding advocate for human
rights, women’s rights, and cultural rights, and it is safe to say that without Nicola there
would have been no book. More important, much more important, she plays a strong and
determined role in the forging of the black German community.