Transnational Repression: German Intellectuals Under Surveillance in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and the U.S.

Transnational Repression:
German Intellectuals Under Surveillance
in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and the U.S.

March 12, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Verna and Peter Dauterive Hall (VPD), Room 203
Join us in person or on Zoom

A public lecture by Raíssa Alonso (PhD candidate in Social History, University of São Paulo, Brazil)
2024-2025 Center Fulbright Visiting Scholar

Organized by the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research

(Join us in person or online on Zoom)

Between 1933 and 1945, many German intellectuals feeling the Nazi regime were forced to seek refuge on the American continent. Once in their host countries, several of them organized anti-Nazi resistance groups. These groups, centered around the idea of an “Other Germany,” published newspapers in countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and the United States. Their main goal was to counter Nazi propaganda within German communities and to eliminate the Fifth Column. As the war unfolded in Europe, their focus shifted to warning society about the dangers of fascism and encouraging participation in the war effort.

Even far from the Reich’s tyranny, the members of these groups continued experiencing political persecution. Suspected of being Nazi sympathizers, Communists, or both, each group devised their own methods to navigate the surveillance of their host countries. In this lecture, Alonso will examine how these resistance activities intersected with the dynamics of transnational repression in the nations providing refuge.

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Lunch will be served.

Raíssa Alonso is a Brazilian historian specializing in anti-Nazi resistance movements in Brazil and their international connections. She earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in History and Social History, respectively, from the University of São Paulo (USP). Currently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. in Social History at USP under the supervision of Dr. Maria Luiza Tucci Carneiro. Her doctoral research, entitled “The ‘Other Germany’ in Brazil and the United States: Intellectuals in Exile and the Fight Against Nazism (1933-1959),” examines the anti-Nazi movement in São Paulo and the connections between Latin American resistance leaders and exiled German intellectuals in Los Angeles. Her work has been supported by several fellowships, including the CAPES Fellowship, the Margee and Douglas Greenberg Research Fellowship at the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research in 2022-2023, and a Fulbright Doctoral Dissertation Research Award for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Lecture image: The Anti-Nazi Bulletin was a newspaper published by the Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights. “The Klan Rides Again” was part of an ongoing series about fascism in America.

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