German Language and Literature Commons^™

The Rhineland Bastards, Natalia Mujadzic, Louise Stoehr

Undergraduate Research Conference

"Rhineland Bastard" was a derogatory term commonly used when referring to Afro-German children. Initially the term denoted only those whose father had been an Allied soldier of African descent, more specifically children of soldiers in the French colonial troops who occupied the important industrial Rhineland. The term gained popularity during the years of the Weimar Republic 1919-1933 and eventually began being used exclusively to refer to all AfroGerman children regardless of their father's occupation or heritage. The Rhineland Bastards were victims of persecution, sterilization, and brutality.