Blacks During the Holocaust
The fate of black people from 1933 to 1945 in Nazi Germany and in German-occupied territories ranged from isolation, and in few cases to persecution. After World War I, the Allies stripped Germany of its African colonies. The German military stationed in Africa (Schutztruppen), as well as missionaries, colonial bureaucrats, and settlers, returned to Germany and took with them their racist attitudes. Separation of whites and blacks was mandated by the Reichstag (German parliament), which enacted a law against mixed marriages in the African colonies.
Following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the victorious Allies occupied the Rhineland in western Germany. The use of French colonial troops, some of whom were black, in these occupation forces exacerbated anti-black racism in Germany. Racist propaganda against black soldiers depicted them as rapists of German women and carriers of venereal and other diseases. The children of black soldiers and German women were called "Rhineland Bastards." The Nazis, at the time a small political movement, viewed them as a threat to the purity of the Germanic race. In Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler charged that "the Jews had brought the Negroes into the Rhineland with the clear aim of ruining the hated white race by the necessarily-resulting bastardization."
African German mulatto children were marginalized in German society, isolated socially and economically, and not allowed to attend university. Racial discrimination prohibited them from seeking most jobs, including service in the military. With the Nazi rise to power they became a target of racial and population policy. By 1937, the Gestapo (German secret state police) had secretly rounded up and forcibly sterilized many of them. Some were subjected to medical experiments; others mysteriously disappeared.
The racist nature of Adolf Hitler's regime was disguised briefly during the Olympic Games in Berlin in August 1936, when Hitler appeared to allow 18 African American athletes to compete for the U.S. team. However, actual permission to compete was granted by the International Olympic Committee and not by the host country. Adult African Germans were also victims. Both before and after World War I, many Africans came to Germany as students, artisans, entertainers, former soldiers, or low-level colonial officials, such as tax collectors, who had worked for the imperial colonial government. Hilarius Gilges, a dancer by profession, was murdered by the SS in 1933, probably because he was black. Gilges' German wife later received restitution from a postwar German government for his murder by the Nazis.
Blacks along with Jews and many others have suffered much at the hands of people who committed hateful crimes against those who were not like them. Hate and evil still exist today. Those of different races still suffer persecution from those who still carry these hateful habits. Why do people hate others the way they do, is the question so many ask. But hate is still among us, even amongst each other, so much crime towards one another, allows hate to try to be sovereign in our streets. Hate is horrible and it leads people to do inhumane things towards others, but it can be conquered. What is this conquering power that wipes out hatred, that power is love!
Loving your enemies, is not easy. As crazy as it may seem, to love people who have hurt you, oppressed you, walked out on you, robbed you, cursed you, abandoned you, the Lord has commanded us to love them. Even Blacks and Jews who have suffered genocide and extreme cruelty at the hands of hateful men, must love them. Jesus our greatest example showed His love even to those who were crucifying Him as He died on the cross. He asked the Father to forgive them, for they know not what they do. He died for those that were killing Him!
I know it is not that simple to walk up to an enemy and say that we love them. But God can give us the grace to exhibit an attitude of love towards our enemies in life. People can be really cruel and say and do some very hellish things. Do good to those who hate you, pray for their happiness and love the hell right out of them. We overcome evil, with Love!
God is all up in my mind this morning. Funny how God uses this blog to minster to us. Besides the conviction, I had no idea that Blacks were in Germany during the reign of Hitler. Thanks for sharing our unique history with us Pastor. Great Post!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen we talk about the persecution and oppression of the blacks, we often only yhink of slavery in America. I have never heard of blacks during the holocaust. This blog was so powerful to me, although I am a very forgiving person(sometimes too forgiving)and don't seem to allow hatred to grow, I don't think that I have love for those people who have violated and treated me wrongly. I just forgive and move past the hurt and many times resolve the relationship and give no second thought to the person. But is that true forgiveness???? Thanks Pastor....
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