Figure 1.--

Less know than the NAZI war against the Jews and gypsies is the NAZI actions against blacks. Less well publicized is the actions aginst blacks. Most readers are aware of Hitler's reaction toward American black athelete Jessie Ownens at the 1936 Olympic Games. Interestingly Jessie Owens was quite popular among the spectsators and other aththeletes. The NAZIs had a special dislike of blacks because the French had used African soldiers for occupation duty in the Saar which they occupied after World War. The result was thousands of German children with African fathers left behind when the French withdrew from the Saar. The children were despised by most Germans, not just the NAZIs, who considered them a blot on German honor. The children grew up thinking that they were Germans. Some were even moved by Hitler and his appeal. This is one of many examples of how even non-Aryan boys were moved by Hitler and NAZI pageantry. There were many examples of Jewish boys having the same feelings, testimony to the powerful affect that the NAZI movement had on German boys. Regardless of background, most German boys wanted to participate in the Hitler Youth movement, to wear the uniform and belong.

Historical Background

Germany before World War I had very people of African descent. The Kaisser like other European leaders carved out African colonies, but much more recently than countries like England and France. Thus very few of their colonial subjects or other blacks had managed to emigrate to Germany. This situation changed in the aftermath of World War I. The French used African soldiers for occupation duty in the Saar which thy occupied after World War. Many if not most Germans, who even before Hitler very race conscious, despised what they saw as a dark-skinned "invasion". There were further consequences. As in all occupations, there was fraternization between the French soldiers and German women. The difficult economic conditions aftervthe War encouraged this. Many Germans actually starved to death in 1919-20. The result was thousands of German children with African fathers left behind when the French withdrew from the Saar.

German Outrage

Most Germans, not only the NAZIs, considered these children a national disgrace. They were to as "Rhineland Bastards" or the "Black Disgrace". Hitler in Mein Kampf wrote that he would eliminate all the children born of African-German descent because he considered them an "insult" to the German nation. "The mulatto children came about through rape or the white mother was a whore," Hitler wrote. "In both cases, there is not the slightest moral duty regarding these offspring of a foreign race."

NAZI Forced Sterilizations

The NAZIs when they seized power did not set about killing the mixed race mulatto children. This was probably beause they addressed this issue before World War II and the adoption of the Final Sollution. Also an Aryan parent was involved. The NAZIs set up racial courts to deal with many aspects of the Nuremberg Laws. These courts issued mandatory sterilization orders for thousand of Germans, mostly youths. These orders were issued for large numbers of handicapped youths. Scientifuic understanding of genetics was still very limited in the 1930s and many of the handicapped indiduals sterilized were afflicted with handicaps tht were not hereditary in nature. The issue of the mullato children was of such importance to the NAZIs that it was not handled in the ordinary racial courts. The NAZIs established a secret group, Commission Number 3, to organize the sterilization of mulatto children so as to protect the purity of the Aryan race. NAZI officials in 1937 directed local authorities to submit a list of mulatto children. The children were taken from their homes or schools without parental permission and examined by commission members. The children would have been about 12-16 years old. Once a child based upon his physical appearance was decided to be of African descent, he or she was taken immediately to a hospital and sterilized. About 400 children were medically sterilized in this manner--often without their parents even knowing.

Schools

I have no information at this time as to how the mulatton children were treated in schools, both by the authorities and the other children.

Jesse Ownes

Most readers are aware of Hitler's reaction toward American black athelete Jessie Ownens at the 1936Berlin Olympic Games. It is often mentioned that Hitler refused to shake Jesse Owen's hand after Owens defeated well known German runners and won the gold medal in running. Despite NAI attitudes toward Blacks, Jesse Owens was very popular in Germany, ironically perhaps more popular than in America at the time. Leni Riefenstahl highlighted Owens in her Olympic Games documentary and Owens had no trouble in boarding public transportation or entering restaurants or bars in Berlin. These were things he could not do in many parts of the the United States. When Jesse Owens and the other black athletes returned to the United States they had to sit in the back of the bus and were forced to use water fountains and toilets with the sign: Coloreds Only.

Personal Account

Hans Massaquoi was a German boy of mixed African-German parentage. He grew up in the NAZI era. His moving account, Destined to Witness : Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany depicts the trauma of his childhood and his survival. He recounts that as a small boy how he was fascinated and even moved by Hitler. This is one of many examples of how even non-Aryan boys were moved by Hitler and NAZI pageantry. There were many examples of Jewish boys having the same feelings. This is testimony to the powerful affect that the NAZI movement had on German boys. Regardless of background, most German boys wanted to participate in the Hitler Youth movement, to wear the uniform and belong. Massaquoi admits that he was seduced by NAZI busywork and organized pageantry. Then as he grew older and began to realize that there was no place for a non-Aryan in the Third Reich, he felt betrayed.

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Created: February 16, 2002
Last updated: June 5, 2004