Description: This groundbreaking history traces the development of Germany's black community, from its origins in colonial Africa to its decimation by the Nazis during World War II. Robbie Aitken and Eve Rosenhaft follow the careers of Africans arriving from the colonies, examining why and where they settled, their working lives and their political activities, and giving unprecedented attention to gender, sexuality and the challenges of 'mixed marriage'. Addressing the networks through which individuals constituted community, Aitken and Rosenhaft explore the ways in which these relationships spread beyond ties of kinship and birthplace to constitute communities as 'black'. The study also follows a number of its protagonists to France and back to Africa, providing new insights into the roots of Francophone black consciousness and postcolonial memory. Including an in-depth account of the impact of Nazism and its aftermath, this book offers a fresh critical perspective on narratives of 'race' in German history.
Brief description: Robbie Aitken is a Senior Lecturer in Imperial History at Sheffield Hallam University.
Review Quotes: "This is a thoroughly researched book. In their efforts to trace the biographies of their subjects, the authors consulted an impressive number of archives and provide an enormous amount of detail. Their judgment is measured and careful. It is true that the Cameroonians in Germany were numerically a small group, but their history illustrates crucial aspects of the history of black people in Germany and helps to open up a different perspective on German history. Their connections with wider issues of blackness in the diaspora also offer a fascinating transnational axis of analysis."
Raffael Scheck, German History Journal