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Being black in Nazi Germany

1K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  Clyde 
#1 ·
#2 ·
Now that reminds me of one of the incidents George McDonald Fraser memorialized in the MacAuslan Trilogy. In the immediate post-War years he was a subaltern in the Gordon Highlanders, and it seems the Pipe Major went to the Colonel about a (talented) piper from Glasgow. A ***** ("Black Glaswegian" he was called), his inclusion in the Regimental Pipes presented a dilemma - for no matter how talented, "he wilna match". The colonel decided talent over-matched appearance, and ordered him to remain part of the Pipes.
 
#3 ·
Interesting! I read the BBC Article referenced. Yet... Also to conjure being Black in America; particularly the South even in the early sixties as I was a young adult. The necessity for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide certain Federal Jurisdiction as the FBI was given a 'kick-start' in its and the wider Justice Department Civil Rights Divisions existent today! As Poli-Sci undergrad major, I spent a bit of time with Weimar Republic and rise of the NSDAP. Always feeling like Margret Meade viewing a anthropologically alien culture to avoid dwelling on inhumane ethnic cleansing horror.
Here in America different. My own nation. Not genocide, but ethnically pointed violence hatred still, "containing the Black race in their place". Thank God we've moved many steps away from those days. The "Clan" one of the last remnants of old morphing to a sad version super right-wing extremists. That and the new forms in such as ethnic Gangs, though usually as convenient adjunct to criminal enterprises.
Again an interesting article. Where it touches home for me, as conjuring our own "ethnic suppression".
God Bless us all in His equality.
Best & Keep Safe!
John
 
#4 ·
The BBC article touches upon one issue with which I was previously familiar.

The Germans felt that the French garrisoning African troops in the Rhineland during occupation was an intentional insult. I wouldn't put it past them.

Whether it was or not, the Germans added this to their list of grievances against France and wrote often of the "barbarous" behavior of the colonial troops.
 
#5 ·
#2 - black musicians featured in many British military bands from the late 18th century on, often freed slaves.
In 1765 on it's return from the West Indies, the 38th Regiment had 3 in their band.
Early 19th century elite regiments had black musicians who were in vogue.
+ 1 - MacAuslan for ever :thumbsup:.
 
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