White Montford Point Marines Officers and Letter of Information 421

I watched as the spry elderly White gentlemen entered the reception room of Montford Point Marines. He was the only White person among the group of African American men.  Who was this man, I wondered aloud. The man with the thick silver hair interacted with the Montford Point Marines with ease. I knew it was not a politician seeking a photo op.

 For several days, my father and other Montford Marines were greeted warmly by members of Congress;  speaker of the House John Boehner was even moved to tears in his speech. Although suited up, the White octogenarian clearly was not a legislator.

"He is a Montford Point Marine. He was one of the officers," the person sitting next to me announced. It then dawned on me-- White Officers were used to train Montford Point Marine recruits. When the boot camp was established in 1942, obviously there were no Black Officers.  They had to be found from the Army or Navy or quickly trained by current officers. So Montford Point Marines also includes White Americans, a fact that I have omitted in my posts. It is important to include all Montford Point Marines and not exclude any from the history.

Source: uncw.edu
An Officer inspects a rifle.

According to "The Right to Fight: African Americans in the Marines," Colonel Samuel Woods was selected to command Camp Montford Point. Colonel Woods had to "start from scratch with no cadre of experienced African Americans except for a handful with prior service in the Army or Navy." Below is a list of ten facts about Camp Montford Point from "The Right to Fight."

Ten Facts About Camp Montford Point

1.  Colonel Samuel Woods was in charge of Montford Point, New River, North Carolina
2.  Woods also commanded, the 51st Defense Battalion Composite, the first World War II African  American Combat Unit
3.  Lieutenant Colonel Theodore A Holdahn was in charge of recruit training.
4.  Montford Point included two dozen White Officers.
5.  90 White Enlisted Marines were known as the Special Enlisted Staff. They included clerks, typists and drill instructors.
6. Special Enlisted Staff were vetted to exclude anyone opposed to the presence of Blacks in the ranks.
7. The Marines were to replace the Special Enlisted Staff with Black non-commissioned officers as  soon as possible. This was done by testing and personal observation.
8.  First Promotions to Private First Class took place in November 1942 for Blacks.
9.  Secretary of the Navy Knox authorized a Marine Messman Branch and the first of 63 combat  support companies (Depot/Ammunition).
10.  52 Defense Battalion established.

Source: montfordpointmarineassociation.com
Drill Instructor Elmer Bowen
He received positive reviews from recruits.

Over 20,000 African American men trained to become Marines at Montford Point. The segregated training facility was located in New River, North Carolina. A road separated their boot camp from Camp Lejeune and African American Marines were not permitted to venture into Camp Lejeune unless accompanied by a White Officer. Black Montford Point Marines "could not eat unless their White counterparts were finished with their meal."* Apparently, Southern conventions and military protocols still maintained the separation of races.


Also, it is vital to note that:

General Holcomb in March 1943 issued Letter of Information 421, which declared it "essential that in no case shall there be colored noncommissioned officers senior to white men in the same unit, and desirable that few, if any, be of the same rank." LOI 421 was a classified document and did not become public during the war. (The Right To Fight)

Moreover, White Officers, in charge of training Black recruits were selected based on previous military experience in working with Asians or Latinos in previous military campaigns. "The Right to Fight" reports that White officers could not harbor any resentment towards Blacks serving in the Corps. This would have been detrimental for cohesiveness as a unit and undermine the program. Under direction from Colonel Samuel Woods, White Officers and Special Enlisted Staff  insured that Montford Point Marines received optimal instruction. The White Officers were then replaced by Black non-commissioned officers. Therefore, when speaking of the Montford Point Marines, White Officers and Special Enlisted Staff must be included. Their stories need to be told as well.

Were you aware of the story of the White Officers and Special Enlisted Staff? What about classified document LOI 421?

 Don't forget to share and become a follower!

Source: uncw.edu
An officer assists a member of the 51st

Sources:
*al.com
The Right to Fight
uncw.edu

A Matter of Public Discussion and Images

The beauty of social media is having an audience of people who support you. From far flung places such as Macao and Mauritius, to people in my father's town, the interest is there.

In the meantime, other stakeholders have become involved. More individuals have decided to help tell my father's story of the Montford Point Marines and the 51st Defense Battalion. I am very grateful for Kevin Sullivan of the Wilson Branch Public Library in Windsor, Connecticut for allowing the talk on the Montford Point Marines and the 51st Defense Battalion to happen. The branch is located fifty yards from my father's residence.

The following week while I was outside of the library on a bench, a teen aged female approached me. She was one of the attendees at my father's event that took place at 4 pm on April 10, 2014. It was early morning and I wondered why wasn't she in school.  I then realized that she was on spring break from school. She inquired about my dad;  I thanked the young lady for her concern and told her I would let him know that she asked about him. 

I couldn't help but notice that there was a group of teen-aged boys that were at the library during the presentation. A librarian had wanted them to join us but they refused. She apologized but I understood-- I taught high school before. For some young people of color, World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, and general history, is too far removed from their day to day reality. Yet in fact it is relevant because many issues that African American youths face today are similar to what was faced generations ago.

If the young males were present, they would of learned that my dad came to Connecticut by himself about the same age that they were. He ventured north because that's where so many jobs were at the time. As soon as my father descended the stairs from the bus back in the 1940s, he was accosted by people desperately looking for job seekers. Living in New England was not always the promised land. But rather than bemoan the young males lack of interest, I revisited marketing and presentation. I developed a creative idea which I will detail next month. 

Montford Point Marine John Phoenix
He fought in Korea and Vietnam. He is now 83 years old.
Source: dailymail.co.uk

The above photo was the image that was on my father's poster for his talk at the library. I chose this particular image because it is a photo of a Montford Point Marine that is rarely shown. His name is John Phoenix. I also selected this picture because of the rifle and the bulging bicep. While the person is a Montford Marine it is not a World War II era photo. Clearly the Office of War Information would not have approved of this picture.

Nonetheless, powerful.

"Easter Eggs for Hitler"
Source: National Archives

The above photo was the original image for my father's event. It was the famous "Easter Egg for Hitler" photo. A strong and timely message since Easter was the following week. But I immediately knew that the soldiers were from the Army and served in the European Theater. I pointed it out and the pictures were swapped out of the program. My father would insist that they be Montford Marines.


The story behind the photo comes from Eisenhower National Park Service Museum*:

Technical Sergeant William E. Thomas and Private First Class Joseph Jackson prepared a gift of Special "Easter Eggs" for Adolph Hitler and the German Army. Scrawling such messages on artillery shells in World War II was one way in which artillery soldiers could humorously express their dislike of the enemy.

By March, 1945 many more U.S. combat units of African-Americans were on the front. Lieutenant Colonel Chet Hansen, aide to 12th Army Group commander Omar Bradley, noted in his diary on April 8, 1945, that Negroes are now being used in volunteer (combat platoons with our divisions) and according to Bradley they are doing well.

In summary, the talk on my father's experience as a Montford Point Marine at our local library is a beginning. Photos used conveyed the spirit of African American men finally allowed to participate in combat. The brave soldiers also performed well which later led to significant socio-economic gains for African Americans as a result. 


Moreover, the next objective is to educate young people about the Montford Point Marines. Young people need to learn about the sacrifices made and not take advancement for granted. As noted in present day times from our continuous news cycle, discrimination is not going away.

 Knowing history helps young people master their future.


Finally, in the interest of transparency, there is a long-term oversight that I need to address concerning Montford Point Marines and Honor Blog. What do you think the glaring omission is that requires at least two posts? Don't forget to share this post and become a follower! 



Sources:

dailymail.co.uk
mcclatchydc.com
nps.gov*



See Also:
African American Migration: Dad Chooses Connecticut
My Father's Story on the Montford Point Marines and the 51st Defense Battalion
Roger Smith Captured Iconic Images of Montford Point Marines

William Scott: African American Photographer of the Holocaust

My last post discussed the Office of War Information and how photographer Roger Smith captured iconic images of Montford Point Marines. His pictures displayed young, agile African American men training at boot camp at Montford Point, New River, NC. The pictures were groundbreaking because the United States Marine Corps finally permitted Negros to join their ranks. The two century long ban was lifted.

There was no mention of discrimination or any of the difficulties the enlistees might have endured. The propaganda policy of the Office of War made sure of that. I recently showed my father some Montford Point Marines pictures on the Internet. "You never told me you went to chapel," I teased. "Maybe I'm in some of those pictures, " he offered. "I'll see if I can print them out for you." I announced.

An article from the Detroit Free Press depicted members of the Montford Point Marines Association with actual prints from a special exhibit of Roger Smith photos. The elderly gentlemen were excited about seeing the images, and talked about marching around the Montford Point tower in the hot North Carolina sun. They jokingly shared how mean drill instructor Sargent Major Gilbert "Hashmark" Johnson was and how he had to be tough in order to make men out of them.

Roger Smith's photographs of valiant Montford Point Marines undoubtedly inspired young African American men to enlist and fight for the cause. Of course, as many Montford Point Marines can attest, some racists resented them in Marine uniforms. One Black Marine was even arrested for impersonating a Marine, according to Military.com.* Roger Smith's photos proudly represented the Montford Point Marines at their best. 

 Smith had a contemporary by the name of William Alexander Scott III. William Scott also took photographs during World War II and happened to be African American. His family owned the Atlanta Daily World, an African American newspaper. Scott was drafted into the Army while a student at Morehouse College. William Scott is famous for shooting photographs of liberators of concentration camps and Holocaust victims.

William Scott was an African American Photographer of the Holocaust

The irony of the situation can not be overstated. Scott was a member of an oppressed group from the United States covering the Holocaust at a concentration camp. According to Professor Jerry Legge in The Dade County Sentinel, some of the laws that lead to the mass genocide of Jews began with the following:

 In the 1930s Hitler’s laws began to limit or revoke their “Germanhood.” Jews were kicked out of civil service jobs, Jewish doctors were forbidden to practice, and Jewish professors were fired from German universities.Then the Nuremberg laws of September 1935 spelled out with neat German precision what rights the Jews must forfeit. They couldn’t go to the same parks, pools or schools as “regular” Germans, and there must be no intermarriage between Jews and the Master Race. In 1939 Jews were forced into segregated ghettos. (Excerpt from speech given by Dr. Jerry Legge)

Do any of these discriminatory laws seem familiar? Note the parallels with Jim Crow laws and Nuremberg laws. William Scott's segregated Black Army unit marched with General Patton's 3rd Army. He was one of the first soldiers to enter Buchenwald. I think the best way to convey the enormity of William Scott's arrival is to read it in his own poignant words:

I took out my camera and began to take some photos, but that only lasted for a few pictures. As the scenes became more gruesome, I put my camera in its case and walked in a daze with the survivors as we viewed all forms of dismemberment of the human body. We learned that 31,000 of the 51,000 persons there had been killed in a two-week period prior to our arrival. An SS trooper had remained until the day of our arrival; survivors had captured him. As he tried to flee over a fence, he was taken into a building, and two men from my unit followed. They said he was trampled to death by the survivors.I began to realize why few, if any, people would believe the atrocities I had seen. HOLOCAUST was the word used to describe it, but one has to witness it to even begin to believe it. And finally, after going through several buildings with various displays — lampshades of human skin, incinerators choked with human bones, dissected heads and bodies, testes in labeled bottles, so that they could be seen by the victims on a shelf by the door as they went in and out of the barracks (after two weeks of this procedure, they would be killed, but we arrived before this ritual could be continued) — my mind closed the door on this horror.- Atlanta Daily World, April 22, 2013

Photos below: USHMM.org**

USHMM.org
Deceased bodies of Holocaust victims.

Roger Smith and William Scott were two notable World War II photographers who documented World War II and left an indelible impression on viewers. Smith was a civilian employed by the Office of War Information. His pictures provided permanent visuals of the patriotism and the inclusion of all Americans.

 William Scott served in the Army and his first hand account showed us the horrors and the inhumanity of a war machine gone mad. Scott's Holocaust images are stark reminders that genocide and discrimination must not exist. Both photographers gave us a close look at the military and war in ways that the world will never forget.

 Source:  Augusta Chronicle
Witness to the Holocaust Exhibit, Georgia

What are your feelings when you see some of these photos? 


Please share! Follow the Montford Point Marines and Honor Blogspot on Pinterest for more photos!

Sources: Augusta Chronicle
Atlanta Daily World
Chess Drum
Dade County Sentinel
Detroit Free Press
 Military.com*
USHMM.org
Witness to the Holocaust



Notes:** "American troops, including African American soldiers from the Headquarters and Service Company of the 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 8th Corps, US 3rd Army, view corpses stacked behind the crematorium during an inspection tour of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Among those pictured is Leon Bass (the soldier third from left). Buchenwald, Germany, April 17, 1945."  From United States Holocaust Memorial Museum




See Also:

Alfred Masters Becomes The First Black Marine Inducted Into The Armed Service
Photographer Roger Smith Captured Iconic Images of Montford Point Marines




Video:
Oral History Interview with William Scott

Photographer Roger Smith Captured Iconic Images of Montford Point Marines

Happy Friday Readers! Things are moving along at Montford Point Marines and Honor Blogspot. Additional people are committed in helping me spread the news about these remarkable men and my dad's story. I will explain that in detail soon. 

In today's world we have the Internet, where information can be transmitted with the touch of a button. However, in the 1940s, there was no Internet. Televisions were years away from being a permanent fixture in Americans homes. As a result, the primary way to get visual images out to the masses was print media.  

Magazines and newspapers contained photos to get Americans behind the war effort. These images were well conceived and powerful. Who was responsible for creating these images that motivated people to enlist in the armed forces? 

The Office of War Information was established six months after Pearl Harbor on June 13, 1942. The goal was to drum up support for the military and document members of the armed forces. It used propaganda to "inspire patriotic fervor in the American public." The OWI also covered social change such as women in the work force and the inclusion of African Americans in the military.

 In the case of the Montford Point Marines, Office of War Information photographer Roger Smith was responsible for many of the photos during World War II. You have seen these iconic images in most of the Montford Point Marines stories in the media. The photos have been continuously posted here on this blog.

Now you know the name of the man behind the lens. Here are some of Smith's images below:

Montford Point Marines in front of Barracks at Boot Camp
Source: archives.gov

Montford Point Marines leaving chapel on the base.
Source: uncw.edu




\

Source: uncw.edu
Montford Point Marines in training.
51st Defense Battalion

Source: uncw.edu
Montford Marines in formation.

 Thousands of Smith's photographs can be found on the Internet today. Others are physically stored in archives such as the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Roger Smith captured some of the most enduring images of African Americans during the war. His works have been displayed in exhibits and reproduced in books and other Montford Point Marines materials. He is clearly a photographer that I will explore in the future.

 So if you run across a photograph of a Montford Point Marine during World War II, it is more than likely taken by Office of War Information photographer Roger Smith. Now I am off to show my father pictures of his boot camp.

 Would any of these photos inspire you to join the war effort? Have you heard of Roger Smith before? What about the Office of War Information?

Please don't forget to share!


Sources:

americaslibrary.gov
uncw.edu

Josephine Baker Aided the French and Received Medal of Honor

Continuing with the theme of Women's History Month, what better person to discuss than Josephine Baker? She was an international icon who rose from poverty in St. Louis, Missouri to the lavish lifestyle of Paris, France. Baker had a slew of nicknames: "Creole Goddess,"  "Black Venus" and "Black Pearl." She was renown for her beauty and her innovative and flamboyant dances. According to Biography.com, Baker had a pet cheetah and adopted 12 children from various ethnicities called the "Rainbow Tribe." But do we know the story behind Baker providing intelligence to the Allies during World War II? Josephine Baker received a Medal of Honor for aiding the French Resistance during WWII. 

Josephine's rags to riches story was very similar to many Negro entertainers in the early 1900s. She was born Freda Josephine McDonald in 1906. Baker worked at an early age as a domestic and waitress to help her impoverished family. She married at age thirteen but did not remain in the union for long. (Baker later wed several more times) Young Baker then started dancing professionally. Considered too dark and skinny in America, the New York Times once referred to her as "The Negro Wench." (Source: The Official Josephine Baker Site)

Josephine Baker during WWII
Source: Biography.com

Undeterred, Josephine Baker left the United States for Paris where she became a huge sensation in the 1920s. Baker was praised for her looks; Ammomag.com describes women emulating Baker's cropped do, tanned skin, and fashion. Josephine Baker was the toast of the town and her films solidified her status. She also took voice lessons and evolved into a captivating singer. (huffingtonpost)

 She became the highest grossing entertainer in Europe according to Biography.com. Baker infatuated legions of fans with her famous  "Banana Dance," "Shadow Dance" and the "Original Charleston."  A long line of modern day performers have cited Baker as a major influence. Baker incorporated comedy, visual appeal and high energy in her scene stealing performances.

Josephine Baker
Source: mentalfloss.com

Furthermore, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, and F. Scott Fitzgerald greatly admired the "Black Venus."** She embodied the Jazz Age and the accompanying Art Deco movement. Baker attempted to make a return to America in the late 30s with the show Ziegfeld Follies but faced audience rejection. She renounced her American citizenship and became a French citizen in 1937. By this time Baker was among the top photographed female stars. France embraced her. (huffingtonpost)



From the Official Josephine Baker site:

Admirers bestowed a plethora of gifts, including diamonds and cars, and she received approximately 1,500 marriage proposals.

Which is why Josephine Baker was the perfect candidate to smuggle information for the French Resistance during World War II. 




The Vichy Government and The French Resistance



Via historylearning.com.uk

The surrender of France in June 1940, was a major blow to many French people in terms of their pride. Many believed that the government had let the people down. The creation of a Nazi-approved Vichy government, primarily in the centre and south of the country, was, in the minds of many, further proof that politicians had let down France. The resistance movement developed to provide the Allies with intelligence, attack the Germans when possible and to assist the escape of Allied airmen.

Additionally:

In the immediate aftermath of the June 1940 surrender, France went into a period of shock. The public had been assured that the French army, along with the Maginot Line, was more than strong enough to resist a German attack. The speed and severity of Blitzkrieg had shocked the French people. The non-occupied region of France, known as Vichy France, was set up by the Germans and governed by Marshall Pétain. 

Meanwhile, French President Charles de Gaulle on June 18th, 1940 told the French people from London to keep fighting the Germans. The Vichy government, collaborated with the Germans and internal conflict began.

.
  Baker had a castle in Southern France. She provided housing for Resistance members. 
Source: jewishvirtualibrary.org

Josephine Baker, Free France Spy


Prior to the surrender of France to the Germans in 1940, Baker was made an "honorary correspondent" by a French official. Baker gathered information on German troops from various embassy and ministry personnel at parties. Baker passed the intel on to the French government. Her femme fatale persona allowed her access to confidential military information.(biography.com)


Baker housed French Resistance friends at her Southern France castle and procured travel visas. She traveled throughout neutral Europe and South America collecting information about German troop movement, airfields and harbors. As a spy, once again she obtained some of the information by her "beguiling smile" and sensuous charm. The intelligence would then be written on invisible ink on Josephine's sheet music. On some occasions the info would be pinned on her underwear. An entertainer of Baker's cache would not be subject to a strip search. (biography.com)


Baker's other WWII activities included a stint as a sub-lieutenant for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. She also provided performances for French troops free of charge, boosting their morale. For her brave and commendable efforts Baker was the first American-born woman to be awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Rosette de la Résistance and to be made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. (womenwhochangedamerica.org)

Image via: queensofvintage.com
Josephine Baker with her pet cheetah

American Civil Rights Proponent 

Josephine Baker figured prominently in the American Civil Rights Movement. She was invited to speak during the 1963 March On Washington* and was one of the few women that spoke before thousands of protesters. After the assignation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. his wife Coretta selected Baker to be the face of the movement but she declined. 

Baker refused to perform in front of segregated audiences and challenged the social mores of the day, winning accolades from the NAACP. Her actions resulted in death threats from the Klu Klux Klan but she remained steadfast with her convictions.

One of the most famous entertainers of the twentieth century pushed the envelope with her stage persona and private life. Her songs are timeless standards covered by many. The "Black Pearl" reaped the benefits of her amazing popularity and enjoyed a posh lifestyle. 

Josephine Baker's status allowed her to be the perfect spy for the French Resistance in WWII. Additionally, she was a pivotal player during the American Civil Rights Movement. Baker lived life on her terms and did not let rejection in the United States limit her. Josephine Baker died in 1975 of a cerebral hemorrhage.  Baker was buried with military honors and over 20,000 people attended her funeral. (biography.com)


What entertainer today does Baker remind you of? Can you think of anyone else that was involved in military and social causes?


Don't forget to share this post!

Josephine Baker was the only woman who spoke at the March on Washington in 1963.
 She is pictured with Lena Horne, another activist entertainer.
image via: pinterest.com

                                                       






Sources:
Ammomag.com Biography.com
Encyclopedia Brittanica
*historychicks.com-March on Washington Speech
historylearning.com.uk
huffingtonpost.com
Official Site of Josephine Baker
**wikipedia.com
womenwhochangedamerica.org






*Vichy-  France was divided into two zones. Petain set up his government in the unoccupied zone at the spa town of Vichy. The large number of hotels housed all the ministries.

Valaida Snow: African American Woman in a Nazi Concentration Camp?

With March being Women's History Month, I wanted to feature Women for this month's posts.   The following person had a lot of queries after I shared a photo and a brief description elsewhere. I chose this World War II themed individual because of her unique story and to answer some questions that were raised...

What if you left your native born country because you wanted to pursue and sustain your career as an incredibly talented artist? You hailed from a large family that was musically gifted and you were also gorgeous. You were a fashionista and all your sensational marriages made the tabloids. There were other progeny that performed but you were the one that reached a different level of stardom, first in America and then internationally. The music that you transcribed and sang launched you into the stratosphere.

I am referring to the incomparable Valaida Snow, a multi-hyphenated phenom. She was a vaudeville performer, jazz vocalist and a dancer. Snow was also was a preeminent trumpet player. Her trumpet playing was so outstanding, that she was dubbed "Little Louie," a complimentary nickname after Louis Armstrong. Armstrong stated that Snow was "The second best trumpet player after himself." (memorylanecom.uk)



But another distinction that musician Valaida Snow has is this shocking claim: 
That she was a African American Woman in a Nazi Concentration Camp during World War II.

www.storie.it
Valaida Snow, Queen of Trumpet

The Artistry of Valaida Snow

Jazzitalita.net reports that Valaida Snow grow up in a musical family in Chattanooga, TN. Dates of her birth are listed between 1903-1907. Her mother taught Valaida to play the following instruments: cello, bass, violin, banjo, accordion, saxophone and trumpet. Pianist Mary Williams compared her trumpet's High C notes as similar to those of Louis Armstrong. The "Queen of the Trumpet" could also sing and dance. Her father was white, and had music industry connections. Her father's connections enabled her at an early age to be part of the vaudeville act called Snow's Gold Dust Twins.

Valaida's mixed race appearance was appealing for female Broadway and nightclub acts. She was cast in Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake's Chocolate Dandies in 1924. Chocolate Dandies toured for six months and made it to Broadway. Lena Horne and Josephine Baker were among the chorus girls for this exciting production. Snow performed in concerts in the states, Europe and Asia. (memorylane.com.uk)

songbook1wordpress.com

Valaida's heyday was in the 1930s, when she was a celebrity in London and Paris. Her signature hit song "High Hat, Trumpet, and Rhythm" was recorded during this time. Snow was in Rhapsody in Black with Ethel Waters in New York. She even appeared in films and her popularity showed no signs of diminishing. A successful run at the Apollo Theater in New York and a high profile marriage to Ananias Berry, one of the dancing Berry Brothers, did not hurt either. (jazz.com)


Indeed, Valaida Snow had an impressive discography of music and appearances. She made significant contributions in the male dominated music industry as a Black female. Snow traveled to all the major cosmopolitan cities by the time she was twenty five and conducted orchestras at age thirty, according to Mark Miller*. The Queen of the Trumpet also led all female jazz bands, proving that she could pack dance halls and auditoriums. Yes, she was more than just a pretty colored chorus girl doing the latest dance craze in a Harlem nightclub. 

24mediatumblr.com
Valaida Snow conducting in Blackbirds

Was African American Jazz Artist Valaida Snow in A Nazi Concentration Camp During World War II?

Snow returned to Europe for additional tour dates and to hold court as a scenester. Jazz was the top selling genre of the era and she was enthralling. However, World War II began in Europe in 1939 and Hitler's Third Reich was determined to expand its aggression in country after country. Friend Josephine Baker advised Snow to return to the States. The singer happened to be in Denmark, which became occupied by Nazi Germany.

The Nazis viewed Non-Aryans as an inferior people. Nazis hatred were primarily targeted towards Jews. Concentration camps were set up to exterminate Jews and other people considered undesirable as Hitler's "Final Solution." Nazis performed unethical medical experiments on the small number of Blacks in Germany and forced sterilization. Propaganda against Blacks warned Aryans not to socialize with them. (USHMM.org )

Valaida did return to the states. She traveled to New York and underwent a press campaign that included " a story of internment in a Nazi concentration camp, of starvation, torture, and frequent whippings."  Amsterdam News on April 10, 1943, reports Snow as  "the only colored woman entertainer on record to have been interned in a Nazi concentration camp." Author Jayna Brown argued the "Amsterdam News article was designed by Snow's manager to garner attention for her comeback show. Nothing more." (Babylon Girls: Black Girl Performers and the Shaping of Modern)

Jazzcom. references Mark Miller's research on Snow. He interviewed people that knew the singer and analyzed her itinerary around the time of her internment. He concluded that:

Snow was addicted to the opiate painkiller oxycodone, and was taken into custody by Danish authorities in March 1942, possibly for her own protection. She shuttled between a prison and a hospital in Copenhagen until safe passage to New York was arranged for her via neutral Sweden two months later.

Valaida Snow was not interned in a Nazi concentration camp. This is an important distinction. She was taken into Danish custody, because of alleged drug possession and theft. There were no concentration or death camps in Denmark. (concentration camps were to the east)  The Nazi concentration camp story was a ploy for publicity. With Hitler's views on Blacks widely known, it only enhanced the horror of Snow's confinement. Even today, this fabrication is circulated on the Internet as truth.
(NPR)

songbook1wordpress.com
Conductor Valaida Snow

Her unmatched musicianship in the early part of the twentieth century in the field of vaudeville, jazz and film cannot be denied. The "Queen of Trumpet" excelled in a male dominated arena. She was a jazz performer who was in Denmark at the time of Nazi occupation during WWII. Valaida Snow's shocking claim of being in a Nazi concentration camp and her life as an entertainer warrants a closer look. Snow died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1956.




What are your thoughts about Valaida Snow? Are you curious to learn more about her?

Don't forget to share this post and subscribe.
.

The Afro American
Babylon Girls: Black Girl Performers and the Shaping of the Modern
*High Hat, Trumpet and Rhythm: The Life of Valaida Snow- Considered the most comprehensive research on Snow's life and debunks the concentration camp myth.
jazz.com/encyclopedia
jazzitalia.net.
memorylane.org.uk
lineout.com
NPR Audio Review of Mark Miller Biography on Valaida Snow
Take the A Train
Roots, Rhyme and Rhythm

See Also:

Montford Point Marines and Lena Horne: Trailblazers