Once upon a time, the Holocaust mattered to Africans. While Germans rampaged through North Africa, African newspaper editors saw Nazi atrocities as yet another argument against the so-called civilizing benefits of Western colonialism. African nations tried to prevent their Jewish residents from being hauled off to camps, some of which became synonymous in the native language with the word for hell.
Then came the struggles of African independence and the 1967 Six-Day War, after which many African nations broke off relations with Israel, and interest in the Holocaust all but disappeared.
But last week, a new generation of African scholars did something extraordinary: They held a conference to talk about the Holocaust again.
Top 10 Lesser-known Nazis Found Long After WWII Ended listverse.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from listverse.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Edward B Westermann theconversation.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theconversation.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ted Deutch got his start in politics as a college student at the University of Michigan, fighting for the rights of
refuseniks and the liberation of Soviet Jews. Now, he’s leading a bipartisan effort in Congress to expedite the process for Uyghur refugees seeking asylum in the United States.
“I think we have an opportunity to come together and do something significant that respects the role the U.S. has historically played in throwing open its doors to those who are fleeing oppression,” said Deutch, the Democrat representing Florida’s 22nd district. “As Jews, we’ve seen what happens in the past when we refuse.”