Black Lives Under Nazism Making History Visible in Literature and Art

"During the Third Reich people of African descent were viewed as a threat to the health and purity of Germany. Black Europeans suffered a variety of forms of persecution including ostracism, forced sterilization, incarceration in concentration camps, medical experimentation, and execution. Blacks in occupied Europe represented a variety of backgrounds including many of whom were of dual African and European heritage; African, Caribbean and African American expatriates who traveled to Europe in search of educational and employment opportunities; and colonial and African-American troops. Among the African American emigrés were a number of jazz musicians, who chose to stay in Europe when the war broke out rather than return to the segregated American society. In Making History Visible, Sarah Phillips Casteel explores a wide range of transnational literary and artistic works that depicted the experiences of Black victims of the Third Reich.