Thousands of West African soldiers fought, bled and died wearing the French uniform during the Second World War.
🇫🇷 Thousands of West African soldiers fought, bled and died wearing the French uniform during the Second World War.
When Nazi Germany defeated France in 1940, African soldiers were not treated like their white French comrades.
They were separated from European prisoners and subjected to mass executions after being captured.
Between 1,500 and 3,000 African soldiers were executed after capture during the German campaign of May–June 1940. The massacres occurred at places including Chasselay, Airaines and Clamecy.
At Chasselay, captured African soldiers were separated from European prisoners and massacred by the SS Totenkopf Division. Around 50 Senegalese prisoners were machine-gunned, and their bodies were crushed beneath tanks.
These men had bled for France.
They had fought Nazi Germany.
And their Blackness made them targets of racist executions after capture.
But the contradiction did not end with the war.
Back home, France continued to rule their countries as a colonial power. These men could be considered French enough to fight and die for France, yet were still treated as colonial subjects when they returned to Africa.
Then came Thiaroye.
On December 1, 1944, African veterans who had survived German captivity and returned to Senegal demanded payment of their outstanding wages and allowances. French forces violently suppressed the protest at Thiaroye, killing 500+ with machine guns.
Think about that.
They had fought for France.
They had survived Nazi captivity.
They had returned home expecting to receive what they were owed.
And French forces opened fire on them.
African soldiers were expected to die defending France while France continued to rule their own people as colonial subjects.
They were expected to fight for freedom in Europe while their own people remained under colonial domination in Africa.
They fought for a country that demanded their blood but denied them equality.
