Nazism in Brazil did not suddenly emerge in 1933, when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. It found fertile ground in an earlier historical context: the organized German presence in Brazil since the nineteenth century, especially in the southern regions of the country, with its schools, churches, clubs, newspapers, associations, businesses, family networks, and a strong culture of preserving the German language and identity. This foundation was not automatically Nazi. However, under certain circumstances, it provided channels through which National Socialist propaganda could circulate, win sympathizers, and establish a political presence linked to the Third Reich.

For this reason, it is essential to begin with a fundamental distinction. The history of Nazism in Brazil does not justify portraying all German immigrants, all people of German descent, or all communities of German origin as Nazis. Such a conclusion would be both false and unjust. At the same time, it would be equally false to deny that Nazism established a genuine organizational presence in Brazil, with its own party, activists, propaganda, symbols, celebrations, newspapers, youth activities, connections with Germany, and attempts to mobilize part of the so-called “Germans abroad” in support of the National Socialist project.¹

The Nazi Party officially operated in Brazil between 1928 and 1938. It was affiliated with the Auslandsorganisation der NSDAP (Foreign Organization of the Nazi Party), headquartered in Berlin. According to Ana Maria Dietrich, the Brazilian organization formed part of a network spread across 83 countries and brought together approximately 2,900 registered members, making it the largest Nazi Party branch outside Germany.²

This figure, however, does not fully capture the scale of the problem. It demonstrates the existence of an organized, disciplined, and politically connected Nazi presence linked to Hitler’s regime, but it measures only formal membership in the NSDAP. Limiting Nazism in Brazil to just over two thousand registered party members artificially reduces its social depth. Party membership represented only the organized face of the phenomenon. The return of more than 8,000 members of the German community in Brazil to the Reich, as documented by Méri Frotscher, shows that the attraction exerted by Nazi Germany extended well beyond the Party itself, reaching emotional, family, community, and transnational ties.

Before Nazism: Deutschtum, Community, and Cultural Preservation

To understand why Nazism found a receptive base in Brazil, it is necessary to look back to the period before Hitler. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, German immigration gave rise to communities that preserved the German language, maintained their own schools, published newspapers, established cultural, religious, and recreational associations, and transmitted a collective memory connected to Germany.

This cultural preservation was presented as a defense of language, family, education, faith, work, and tradition. In many cases, this genuinely reflected the lived experience of immigrant families and their descendants. Yet there was also a broader dimension: Deutschtum – that is, Germanness understood as a radicalized form of nationalism rooted in shared cultural, linguistic, ethnic, religious, historical, and blood-based identity.

Deutschtum was not, in itself, Nazism. It existed before National Socialism. However, it created a language of collective belonging that could be politicized. When Nazi Germany began presenting itself as the center of all Germans throughout the world – including those living outside German territory – part of this Germanness abroad could be reinterpreted as political loyalty to the Reich.

The problem, therefore, did not lie simply in speaking German, preserving family traditions, or maintaining the memory of immigration. The problem arose when this cultural identity was transformed into political obedience to a foreign power and, later, to a racist, antisemitic, anti-democratic, and totalitarian regime.³

Nazi Germany and the “Germans Abroad”

Before Nazism: Deutschtum, Community, and Cultural Preservation

This cultural preservation was presented as a defense of language, family, education, faith, work, and tradition. In many cases, this genuinely reflected the lived experience of immigrant families and their descendants. Yet there was also a broader dimension: Deutschtum, that is, Germanness understood as a form of cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and historical belonging.

Nazi Germany and the “Germans Abroad”

With Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, the relationship between the German state, the German diaspora, and communities of German origin changed profoundly. The National Socialist regime no longer regarded Germans abroad merely as emigrants or descendants of emigrants. Instead, it sought to incorporate them into the concept of the Volksgemeinschaft (“People’s Community”), understood in racial, ethnic, and national terms.

This vision extended beyond the borders of the German state. For Nazism, German identity depended not only on citizenship or place of residence but also on blood, ancestry, language, and culture. Consequently, Germans living in Brazil could be regarded as members of a worldwide German community that was expected to remain loyal to the Reich.

At this point, Méri Frotscher’s research becomes particularly significant. In her study of return migration from Brazil to Germany between 1938 and 1939 under National Socialism, Frotscher demonstrates that the rise of Nazism generated enthusiasm among many German emigrants abroad. While German Jews and opponents of the regime sought to flee Germany, part of the German emigrant community came to view Hitler’s Reich as a restored, powerful, and desirable homeland.⁴

This reveals an essential aspect of the historical process: Nazism did not operate solely through propaganda sent from Berlin. It also mobilized the desires, frustrations, memories, and expectations of people who lived outside Germany but remained emotionally connected to it. For some, the “return to the German homeland” represented the opportunity to reunite with a Germany perceived as renewed, disciplined, proud, and nationally restored.

Why Did Nazism Find a Basis for Growth in Brazil?

The strengthening of Nazism in Brazil resulted from the combination of several factors.

The first was the existence of communities of German origin with their own well-established institutional life. Schools, churches, clubs, newspapers, and associations facilitated the circulation of ideas coming from Germany. Wherever the German language remained widely spoken, Nazi propaganda could be understood directly, without mediation by the Brazilian press or national authorities.

The second factor was Germany’s prestige. Even before the rise of Nazism, Germany was frequently associated with discipline, science, industry, organization, education, and hard work. This positive image made it more difficult in certain circles to recognize the violent, racist, and totalitarian character of Hitler’s regime.

The third factor was German resentment after the First World War. The defeat of 1918, the Treaty of Versailles, and the crisis of the Weimar Republic were interpreted by many German nationalists as a profound national humiliation. Hitler exploited this sentiment by promising to restore Germany’s greatness. This promise also resonated among Germans living outside Germany.

The fourth factor was anti-communism. During the 1930s, fear of communism became a powerful instrument of political mobilization. Nazism presented itself as a bulwark against the “Red Threat.” In Brazil, where political tensions were also increasing, this message found a receptive audience among conservative, business, religious, and right-wing sectors of society.

The fifth factor was the Brazilian political environment of the period. The 1930s were marked by a crisis of liberalism, the rise of nationalism, fear of social revolution, and growing attraction to strong political models. The Brazilian Integralist Action (Ação Integralista Brasileira), founded in 1932, was not the Nazi Party, but it emerged within the same international climate of right-wing radicalization, the cult of authority, anti-communism, and rejection of liberal democracy.⁵

The sixth factor was the very ambiguity of German-Brazilian identity. Many people of German descent were Brazilians, born in Brazil and deeply connected to Brazilian society. Yet much of community life continued to look to Germany as its principal cultural and symbolic reference. Nazism deliberately sought to exploit this tension: being Brazilian by birth or residence, yet German through blood, language, culture, and political loyalty.

Propaganda, Youth, and Collective Emotion

Nazism understood that politics is not driven by arguments alone. It is also shaped by emotion, symbols, a sense of belonging, and public spectacle. Flags, uniforms, salutes, celebrations, ceremonies, speeches, music, and images created an atmosphere of strength and unity.

In Brazil, Nazi propaganda sought to portray Hitler as the man who had restored Germany. Germany’s crisis was presented as having been overcome through National Socialism. The country appeared as reborn, disciplined, and once again respected. This image exercised considerable influence over people who felt connected to their ancestral homeland or to the German heritage preserved within their families.

Young people constituted an especially important target. Schools, youth organizations, and cultural activities could function as spaces where identities were formed. For young people of German origin, the Nazi message could transform a family cultural heritage into a political mission. Language, ancestry, and the memory of previous generations were reinterpreted as a commitment to the Third Reich.

This process did not affect everyone in the same way. Some embraced the ideology, others remained indifferent, while still others resisted or openly opposed it. Nevertheless, Nazism occupied precisely those spaces where identity, youth, language, and collective pride converged.

“Returning to the German Homeland” and the Evidence of Transnational Connections

Méri Frotscher’s research helps us understand that Nazism in Brazil should not be viewed merely as a local political movement. It formed part of a transnational circulation of people, ideas, and loyalties between Brazil and Germany. Families, memories, documents, correspondence, travel, propaganda, and plans for return migration connected the two countries.

Frotscher’s study of return migration from Brazil to Germany under Nazism demonstrates that this movement was far from marginal. More than 8,000 members of the German community in Brazil returned to the Reich during a period in which Hitler’s Germany was presented to many emigrants as a restored, powerful, and nationally reborn homeland. This migration is historically revealing: while German Jews and opponents of the regime fled Germany, part of the German population living in Brazil regarded the Nazi Reich as a desirable destination and as a promise of renewed national belonging. It is equally revealing that, while Germany was becoming an increasingly repressive, racist, and persecutory state, it was imagined by some emigrants as a place of order, reconstruction, and national renewal.⁴

This contradiction is central to understanding the period. For Jews, political opponents, and other persecuted groups, Nazi Germany represented danger and exile. For part of the German emigrant community and their families, however, it could appear as a promise of the future. The same Germany generated flight for some while attracting others.

This also helps explain the strength of Nazism abroad. It did not spread solely through ideology imposed from above. It appealed to sentiments that already existed: nostalgia, resentment, national pride, the desire for recognition, fear of communism, the idealization of the homeland, and belief in German cultural superiority.

Support, Adherence, and Social Reach within Communities of German Origin

The communities of German origin in Brazil were not homogeneous. There were religious, social, regional, political, and generational differences. Catholics, Protestants, liberals, conservatives, Integralists, German nationalists who were not Nazis, Brazilian nationalists, and sympathizers of the Reich did not constitute a single, unified bloc. This diversity, however, should not be used to downplay the strength of Nazism in Brazil or to transform internal differences into automatic evidence of organized resistance.

The decisive point lies elsewhere. Within certain segments of the German community in Brazil, Nazism found a genuine basis of support, circulation, and legitimacy. Formal membership in the NSDAP reveals the organized face of the phenomenon, but it does not measure its full social depth. The influence of Hitler’s Germany extended through much broader channels: schools, the press, associations, clubs, business networks, relationships with German consulates, community leaders, ethnic nationalism, Deutschtum, and emotional ties to the ancestral homeland.

It is also necessary to avoid a false conclusion. To say that the German community in Brazil was not homogeneous does not mean that there existed widespread, organized, and well-documented resistance to Nazism. It simply means that not every immigrant or descendant of German immigrants can automatically be identified as a Nazi activist. What the historical sources clearly demonstrate is the existence of a formal Nazi organization, a receptive community base in certain circles, and a social attraction that extended well beyond the limits of the Party itself.

For this reason, the central historical question is not, “Were they all Nazis?” Such a question shifts the discussion toward an impossible individual generalization. The decisive question is: Why was the Nazi presence in Brazil so significant, and through which channels was it able to organize itself, circulate, and gain acceptance? This question requires us to examine the structures that sustained German community life in Brazil—language, schools, the press, churches, associations, clubs, economic networks, consulates, local leadership, ethnic nationalism, Deutschtum, and emotional ties with Germany.

Brazilian Repression and the Nationalization Campaign

Beginning in 1937, and especially after 1938, the government of Getúlio Vargas adopted increasingly strict measures against foreign organizations, foreign political propaganda, and public demonstrations of loyalty to other states. The decisive legal instrument was Decree-Law No. 383 of 18 April 1938, which prohibited foreigners from engaging in political activity in Brazil and banned organizations, clubs, symbols, uniforms, newspapers, magazines, conferences, and other forms of propaganda connected with foreign political parties.⁶ In practice, this legislation directly targeted the Nazi Party, which was linked to the Third Reich and operating within Brazilian territory.

The nationalization campaign also affected foreign schools, newspapers published in foreign languages, community associations, and the public use of languages associated with immigrant groups. Although it affected various communities—including Germans, Italians, Japanese, Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Syrian-Lebanese immigrants, Ashkenazi Jews who spoke German or Yiddish, and others—from 1942 onward the repression became particularly severe against Germans, Italians, and Japanese, who were associated with the Axis powers.⁷

In the German case, these measures had particular significance. For decades, language, schools, churches, newspapers, clubs, associations, and economic networks had sustained not only the preservation of Deutschtum in Brazil but also the ambition—present in certain German nationalist and colonial writings—of creating a kind of “New Germany” in southern Brazil. This was not merely about preserving family traditions. In some projects, the objective was to consolidate a German cultural space within Brazil, with its own language, institutions, economy, collective memory, community discipline, and identity, resistant to full integration into Brazilian society and politically vulnerable to instrumentalization by a foreign power.

These measures of repression had a clear dimension of national sovereignty. A foreign political party, linked to the Third Reich and organized within Brazilian territory, was incompatible with the sovereign authority of the Brazilian state. Brazil was not unique in this regard. Countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia likewise adopted measures of surveillance, registration, restriction, or internment directed against Nazi organizations, foreign propaganda, “enemy aliens,” and individuals considered politically connected to the Axis powers.⁸

In the Soviet Union, the reaction was even more extreme. After the German-Soviet Pact of 1939, Nazi Germany broke the agreement by launching its surprise invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, in Operation Barbarossa, with the objective of conquering territory, destroying the Soviet state, and waging a racial and ideological war of annihilation. In this context, Stalin implemented sweeping collective security measures. Among them was the mass deportation of Soviet citizens of German descent—particularly the Volga Germans—to Siberia and Central Asia.⁹

In Brazil, however, the German challenge had deeper historical roots. Since the period of the German Empire (1871–1918), sectors of German nationalism, colonial literature, and the ideology of Deutschtum had already imagined southern Brazil as an area of German cultural expansion, even referring to it as a potential “New Germany” on Brazilian soil. This idea represented more than nostalgia for the homeland or cultural preservation. In certain nationalist discourses, it projected the creation of a German territorial sphere within Brazil, sustained by its own language, schools, churches, newspapers, associations, economy, and collective identity.

With Hitler’s Rise to Power, the Idea Became a Political Reality

With Hitler’s rise to power, this legacy ceased to be merely a cultural project, a colonial fantasy, or a nationalist discourse inherited from the past. It became connected to a real political organization: the Nazi Party, linked to the Third Reich and operating within Brazil. Méri Frotscher’s research on return migration illustrates this transnational connection. Between 1938 and 1939, German-born migrants living in Brazil returned to the Nazi Reich, in some cases accompanied by children and family members who had already established roots in Brazil. According to Frotscher’s presentation of the subject, while German Jews and opponents of the regime fled Germany, the rise of National Socialism generated “worldwide enthusiasm among many German emigrants abroad.”⁴

This “new Germany,” however, was far more than a project of national reconstruction. It was a brutal state in the process of expansion: characterized by militarization, the occupation of neighboring countries, political persecution, state-sponsored racism, genocide, and escalating violence against civilians, especially Jews and Poles. The promise of German greatness was inseparable from the violent Germanization of occupied territories through subjugation, expulsion, deportation, forced labor, and the murder of populations regarded as enemies, inferior peoples, or undesirable elements within the envisioned Greater Germany.

The return of more than 8,000 members of the German community from Brazil demonstrates that the Nazi regime inspired voluntary support, expectation, and even enthusiasm among part of the German population living in Brazil. This was not simply a matter of passively receiving propaganda. For many, National Socialist Germany appeared to be a place to which they wished to return, participate, and help rebuild the German homeland. Thus, what had previously been presented as the preservation of Deutschtum was, in part, absorbed into a totalitarian ideology that transformed ancestry, language, and ethnic identity into political loyalty to the Reich.

Against this background, the Brazilian state could no longer treat the issue merely as a matter of cultural preservation. An explosive combination had emerged: highly organized communities of German origin, National Socialist propaganda, political ties with a foreign power, ethnic nationalism, world war, and, finally, German military attacks against Brazilian shipping. Between 15 and 19 August 1942, the German submarine U-507 attacked Brazilian merchant vessels off the coasts of Bahia and Sergipe, causing the deaths of hundreds of people, including civilians. At that time, Brazil had not yet declared war on Germany. German aggression preceded Brazil’s formal entry into the war. Only a few days later, on 22 August 1942, Brazil declared war on Germany and Italy.¹⁰

In these circumstances, the Brazilian government was compelled to exercise the full authority of the state. Nationalization policies, the prohibition of foreign political organizations, restrictions on propaganda in foreign languages, tighter control over associations, and the suppression of Nazi activities did not arise simply from hostility toward immigrants or their descendants. For decades Brazil had tolerated the existence of German schools, churches, newspapers, associations, and economic activities. The problem became impossible to ignore when these structures began to be contested and exploited by a foreign totalitarian, expansionist, and militarily aggressive regime.

The crucial issue was therefore no longer to distinguish, slowly and individually, between convinced Nazis, sympathizers of the Reich, people who merely preserved German culture, and those who had no connection with National Socialism. Faced with an active foreign political organization, propaganda linked to the Third Reich, a pre-existing history of projects envisioning a “New Germany” in southern Brazil, and finally German military attacks against Brazilian ships, the Brazilian state found itself compelled to act broadly and decisively in order to protect the country and its population.

The Brazilian response was necessary because the threat was real. It was not a matter of denying the contributions made by German immigrants and their descendants to Brazil, nor of equating cultural preservation with Nazism. Rather, it was a matter of preventing language, ancestry, schools, the press, associations, economic networks, and collective memory from being transformed into instruments of political loyalty to a foreign power. Whatever the form of government in Brazil at that time, national sovereignty required such a response.

The Mistake of Completely Separating Nazism from Deutschtum

One way of distorting this history is to claim that Nazism and Deutschtum had no relationship whatsoever. Such an absolute separation may be convenient, but it is not supported by the historical evidence. Nazism did not create Deutschtum; rather, it appropriated it, radicalized its ethnic, linguistic, and cultural elements, and placed them in the service of the National Socialist project. What had previously been presented as the preservation of language, schools, churches, newspapers, clubs, and German cultural memory abroad was transformed into an instrument of political loyalty to the Reich. Deutschtum thus became a foundation for propaganda, symbolic recruitment, and racial identification with Nazi Germany.

Consequently, the idea of an organized Deutschtum as a politically neutral phenomenon became untenable. Already during the period of the German Empire, cultural elements such as language, ancestry, schools, community discipline, work, voluntary associations, historical memory, and attachment to the ancestral homeland had been brought together by nationalist circles within an increasingly political conception of Germanness. This vision extended beyond cultural preservation. It could nourish ambitions of expansion, external influence, hierarchies among peoples, and the projection of German power beyond the borders of the Reich.

National Socialism carried this logic to its extreme. It did not merely make use of Deutschtum; it transformed it into an instrument of racial and political mobilization. Where the emphasis had once been on culture, language, and tradition, the regime now demanded belonging, obedience, ethnic identification, and loyalty to the Reich. For this reason, during the 1930s and the Second World War, the Brazilian state could no longer regard organized Deutschtum simply as folklore, family nostalgia, or the ordinary associational life of immigrants. It had become, at least in part, a concrete foundation for the propaganda and symbolic expansion of Nazi Germany.

Por que essa história ainda importa?

Essa história importa porque continua havendo tentativas de minimizar, romantizar ou fragmentar o passado. Quando se diz que o nazismo no Brasil foi apenas um episódio pequeno, sem raízes sociais, sem relação com estruturas comunitárias e sem ligação com o Deutschtum, cria-se uma versão confortável, porém incompleta.

O Brasil precisa conhecer essa história em sua essência. E a Alemanha atual também tem interesse nisso. A Alemanha republicana-democrática do pós-guerra não deve ter sua imagem confundida com projetos atuais de nostalgia étnica, separatismo cultural, supremacismo ou idealização de uma “Nova Alemanha” no Brasil.

O nazismo se desenvolveu no Brasil porque encontrou uma base anterior de germanidade organizada, porque explorou vínculos emocionais com a Alemanha, porque se beneficiou do prestígio cultural alemão, porque mobilizou medo do comunismo, porque atuou em um ambiente de radicalização política e porque ofereceu a alguns emigrantes e descendentes uma promessa de pertencimento a uma Alemanha supostamente renascida.

Essa é a lição histórica central: cultura não é problema quando convive com respeito, integração e lealdade ao país em que se vive. O perigo começa quando cultura vira projeto político de separação, segregação, superioridade e submissão a uma autoridade externa. Foi nesse ponto que o Deutschtum deixou de ser apenas preservação cultural e se tornou risco para a soberania brasileira.

O Brasil correu esse risco em dois momentos históricos diferentes. No período do II Império Alemão, a ameaça ainda não se apresentava como invasão militar direta, mas como projeto de influência, expansão cultural e construção de uma territorialidade alemã dentro do Brasil. Setores do nacionalismo alemão, da literatura colonial e do Deutschtumimaginaram o sul do Brasil como espaço de prolongamento da germanidade, uma espécie de “Nova Alemanha” em território brasileiro. Essa ideia reunia língua, escola, igreja, imprensa, associações, trabalho, propriedade, economia e identidade coletiva para formar um espaço alemão organizado dentro de um país soberano.

No III Reich, esse risco tornou-se muito mais perigoso. O nazismo não criou o Deutschtum, mas se apropriou dele, radicalizou seus elementos étnicos, linguísticos e culturais e os colocou a serviço do projeto nacional-socialista. Aquilo que antes podia ser apresentado como preservação da língua, da escola, da igreja, da imprensa, dos clubes e da memória alemã no exterior passou a ser mobilizado como instrumento de lealdade política ao Reich. O Deutschtum foi convertido em base de propaganda, recrutamento simbólico, identificação racial e subordinação política à Alemanha nazista.

Assim, o perigo para o Brasil não estava simplesmente na existência de imigrantes alemães ou descendentes de alemães. O perigo estava na transformação de uma comunidade culturalmente organizada em base de influência de uma potência estrangeira. No II Império, isso aparecia como projeto colonial, nacionalista e cultural de uma “Nova Alemanha”. No III Reich, apareceu como organização política real, com Partido Nazista atuando diretamente no Brasil, propaganda nacional-socialista, mobilização dos chamados alemães no exterior e, finalmente, agressão militar alemã contra navios brasileiros antes da declaração formal de guerra do Brasil.

Why Does This History Still Matter?

This history remains important because there are still attempts to minimize, romanticize, or fragment the past. When it is claimed that Nazism in Brazil was merely a minor episode, without social roots, without connections to community structures, and unrelated to Deutschtum, what emerges is a comforting – but incomplete – version of history.

Brazil needs to understand this history in its essential dimensions. Contemporary democratic Germany also has a legitimate interest in this. The democratic Federal Republic that emerged after the Second World War should not have its image confused with present-day projects of ethnic nostalgia, cultural separatism, supremacist ideologies, or the idealization of a “New Germany” in Brazil.

Nazism developed in Brazil because it encountered a pre-existing foundation of organized Germanness (Deutschtum), because it exploited emotional ties with Germany, because it benefited from Germany’s cultural prestige, because it mobilized fear of communism, because it operated within an environment of political radicalization, and because it offered some emigrants and their descendants the promise of belonging to a supposedly reborn Germany.

This is the central historical lesson: culture is not a problem when it coexists with mutual respect, integration, and loyalty to the country in which people live. The danger begins when culture is transformed into a political project of separation, segregation, superiority, and submission to an external authority. It was precisely at this point that Deutschtum ceased to be merely a form of cultural preservation and became a potential threat to Brazilian sovereignty.

Brazil faced this danger during two distinct historical periods

During the era of the German Empire (1871–1918), the threat did not yet take the form of direct military aggression but rather appeared as a project of influence, cultural expansion, and the creation of a German territorial sphere within Brazil. Certain circles of German nationalism, colonial literature, and the ideology of Deutschtum imagined southern Brazil as an extension of Germanness – a kind of “New Germany” on Brazilian soil. This vision brought together language, schools, churches, newspapers, associations, work, property, economic structures, and collective identity to establish an organized German cultural space within a sovereign nation.

Under the Third Reich, however, this danger became far more serious. Nazism did not create Deutschtum; it appropriated it, radicalized its ethnic, linguistic, and cultural elements, and placed them in the service of the National Socialist project. What had once been presented as the preservation of language, schools, churches, newspapers, clubs, and the collective memory of Germans abroad was transformed into an instrument of political loyalty to the Reich. Deutschtum became a vehicle for propaganda, symbolic recruitment, racial identification, and political subordination to Nazi Germany.

The danger to Brazil, therefore, did not lie simply in the existence of German immigrants or people of German descent. It lay in the transformation of an organized cultural community into a base of influence for a foreign power. During the period of the German Empire, this appeared as a colonial, nationalist, and cultural project envisioning a “New Germany.” Under the Third Reich, it became a concrete political reality, with the Nazi Party operating directly in Brazil, the dissemination of National Socialist propaganda, the mobilization of the so-called Germans abroad, and, ultimately, German military attacks against Brazilian ships even before Brazil had formally entered the war.

For this reason, this history must be known, studied, and remembered. It demonstrates that Brazil confronted far more than questions of immigration, language, or cultural traditions. It faced the risk that part of its social, cultural, and symbolic space could be contested by external projects of Germanness – first by nationalist-colonial ambitions and later by National Socialism. Remembering this history is essential to ensure that culture is never again used as an instrument of separation, claims of superiority, external political loyalty, or threats to national sovereignty.

Germany has developed a comprehensive program precisely for this purpose. Known as Erinnerungskultur (“culture of remembrance”), it constitutes both a state policy and an enduring social commitment to ensure that the Holocaust and the atrocities of Nazism are studied, commemorated, and remembered so that such crimes can never happen again. This project is inspired by the same principle and extends it to the shared history of Brazil and Germany, because that history, too, must never be allowed to repeat itself.

Bibliography

¹ DIETRICH, Ana Maria. Nazismo tropical? O Partido Nazista no Brasil. Tese (Doutorado em História Social) — Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2007. Disponível no Repositório de Teses da Universidade de São Paulo. See also: UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM. “The Nazi Party”. Holocaust Encyclopedia, 2025.

² DIETRICH, Ana Maria. Nazismo tropical? O Partido Nazista no Brasil. Tese (Doutorado em História Social) — Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2007. The dissertation states that the Nazi Party operated in Brazil between 1928 and 1938, formed part of a network present in 83 countries, and had approximately 2,900 registered members.

³ UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM. “The Nazi Party”. Holocaust Encyclopedia, 2025; UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM. “Nazi Racism: An Overview”. Holocaust Encyclopedia, 2025.

⁴ FROTSCHER, Méri. “Retorno à pátria alemã”: migrações de retorno do Brasil para a Alemanha sob o nazismo (1938–1939). Passo Fundo: Acervus, 2024. The study examines the return of more than 8,000 members of the German community in Brazil to the Reich under National Socialism, particularly between 1938 and 1939. It emphasizes that, while German Jews and opponents of the regime were fleeing Germany, the rise of National Socialism generated enthusiasm among many German emigrants abroad.

⁵ FUNDAÇÃO GETULIO VARGAS. Atlas Histórico do Brasil. Verbete “Integralismo”. Rio de Janeiro: FGV CPDOC, s.d. See also, for the Brazilian context of the 1930s: PANDOLFI, Dulce (org.). Repensando o Estado Novo. Rio de Janeiro: Editora FGV, 1999.

⁶ BRASIL. Decreto-Lei nº 383, de 18 de abril de 1938. “Veda a estrangeiros a atividade política no Brasil e dá outras providências”. Coleção das Leis da República dos Estados Unidos do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, v. 2, p. 53–54, 1939.

⁷ SEYFERTH, Giralda. “Os imigrantes e a campanha de nacionalização do Estado Novo”. In: PANDOLFI, Dulce (org.). Repensando o Estado Novo. Rio de Janeiro: Editora FGV, 1999, p. 199–228.

⁸ UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM. “German American Bund”. Holocaust Encyclopedia, s.d.; THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES. “Defence Regulation 18B, Advisory Committee Papers”. Kew: The National Archives, s.d.; THE CANADIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA. “War Measures Act”. Toronto: Historica Canada, s.d.; ANZAC PORTAL. “Enemy Aliens”. Canberra: Australian Government, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, s.d.

⁹ UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM. “Operation Barbarossa”. Holocaust Encyclopedia, s.d.; POLIAN, Pavel. Against Their Will: The History and Geography of Forced Migrations in the USSR. Budapest/New York: Central European University Press, 2004. For the deportation of the Volga Germans, see also the historiography concerning the Soviet decree of 28 August 1941.

¹⁰ FERREIRA, Jorge. “Mortes no mar, dor na terra: brasileiros atingidos pelo submarino alemão U-507”. Estudos Ibero-Americanos, Porto Alegre, PUCRS, 2017; BRASIL. Decreto-Lei nº 4.611, de 24 de agosto de 1942. “Manda incorporar ao patrimônio nacional os bens pertencentes a súditos alemães e italianos”; BRASIL. Decreto nº 10.358, de 31 de agosto de 1942. “Declara o estado de guerra em todo o território nacional”.

Cronologia do nazismo no Brasil, nacionalização, ataques alemães ao Brasil e derrota da Alemanha nazista

1928 – Início da atuação do Partido Nazista no Brasil

O Partido Nazista começou a atuar no Brasil em 1928. O partido no Brasil atuou entre 1928 e 1938, integrado à rede internacional da Auslandsorganisation der NSDAP, a Organização do Partido Nazista no Exterior, comandada a partir da Alemanha. O Brasil tornou-se a maior célula nazista fora da Alemanha, com cerca de 2.900 membros.¹

1933, 30 de janeiro – Hitler chega ao poder na Alemanha

Adolf Hitler foi nomeado chanceler da Alemanha em 30 de janeiro de 1933. A partir desse momento, o nacional-socialismo passou a controlar o Estado alemão. A relação com os chamados alemães no exterior ganhou novo peso político, pois emigrantes alemães e descendentes passaram a ser tratados pelo regime como campo de propaganda, mobilização e possível lealdade ao Reich.

1933–1938 – Propaganda nazista entre alemães no exterior

Entre 1933 e 1938, o regime nazista intensificou sua propaganda entre alemães emigrados e comunidades de origem alemã fora do Reich. No Brasil, essa política encontrou o Deutschtum: língua alemã, escolas comunitárias, igrejas, imprensa, clubes, associações e redes econômicas, bem como uma sede do partido nazista fundada em 1928.

1937, 10 de novembro – Vargas instaura o Estado Novo

Em 10 de novembro de 1937, Getúlio Vargas instaurou o Estado Novo. O regime fortaleceu o poder central e ampliou o controle estatal sobre política, imprensa, associações, escolas e organizações estrangeiras. A partir daí, a política de nacionalização e vigilância contra lealdades externas passou a ganhar força.

1938, 18 de abril – Decreto-Lei nº 383 proíbe atividade política de estrangeiros

O Decreto-Lei nº 383, de 18 de abril de 1938, proibiu estrangeiros no Brasil de exercer qualquer atividade política ou de se imiscuírem nos negócios públicos do país. Também vedou sociedades, clubes, fundações, jornais, revistas, conferências, desfiles, símbolos e uniformes ligados a partidos políticos estrangeiros. A medida atingia diretamente organizações como o Partido Nazista no Brasil.²

1938, 4 de maio – Decreto-Lei nº 406 reforça controle sobre estrangeiros

O Decreto-Lei nº 406, de 4 de maio de 1938, tratou da entrada, permanência e assimilação de estrangeiros. Ele se insere no conjunto de medidas de controle nacional sobre imigração, estrangeiros e integração ao Estado brasileiro.³

1938 – Nacionalização do ensino e restrições às escolas estrangeiras

A política de nacionalização atingiu fortemente escolas estrangeiras, material didático, imprensa em língua estrangeira e instituições comunitárias alemãs, italianas e japonesas. No caso alemão, isso era central porque a língua, a escola e a imprensa em alemão eram pilares do Deutschtum no Brasil. Essas instituições funcionavam não somente como preservação cultural, mas também como canais de influência política e propaganda nacional-socialista.

1938 – Repressão ao Partido Nazista no Brasil

Com a proibição da atividade política estrangeira e a política de nacionalização, o Partido Nazista no Brasil foi reprimido. A medida tinha fundamento de soberania nacional: um partido estrangeiro, ligado ao III Reich e atuando diretamente no território brasileiro, era incompatível com a autoridade do Estado brasileiro soberano.

1938–1939 – Migrações de retorno do Brasil para a Alemanha nazista

Entre 1938 e 1939 mis de oito mil membros da comunidade de alemães e seus descendentes no Brasil sairam do Brasil para viver na nova Alemanha, a Alçemanha nazista. Enquanto judeus alemães e opositores fugiam das brutalidade do regime, o mesmo provocou euforia mundial entre muitos emigrantes alemães no estrangeiro, inclusive no Brasil.⁴

1939, 1º de setembro – Alemanha invade a Polônia

Em 1º de setembro de 1939, a Alemanha nazista invadiu a Polônia. Esse ataque marcou o início da Segunda Guerra Mundial na Europa. A expansão alemã envolveu ocupação militar, terror contra civis, germanização violenta de territórios, expulsões, deportações, escravização e assassinato de populações consideradas inimigas, inferiores ou indesejáveis.

1939, Setembro – Reino Unido adota medidas de emergência

Com a guerra contra a Alemanha, o Reino Unido adotou medidas de emergência. A Defence Regulation 18B permitiu a internação de pessoas consideradas ameaça à segurança em tempo de guerra, inclusive suspeitos de simpatia nazista ou atuação contrária ao esforço de guerra. Arquivos britânicos também registram responsabilidade estatal sobre “enemy aliens” e pessoas internadas sob a Regulation 18B.⁵

1939 – Austrália adota medidas contra “enemy aliens”

A Austrália adotou medidas de controle e internação de pessoas classificadas como “enemy aliens”. O National Security Act de 1939 autorizou campos de internação. As medidas atingiram alemães, italianos, japoneses e outros grupos considerados risco de segurança; muitas pessoas foram internadas sem prova individual de culpa.⁶

1939–1940 – Canadá aplica medidas de guerra contra “enemy aliens”

O Canadá utilizou a War Measures Act para adotar medidas extraordinárias de segurança. Durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, o governo canadense internou 8.579 “enemy aliens” em 24 estações de recepção e campos de internação.⁷

1939–1941 – Estados Unidos vigiam organizações pró-nazistas

Nos Estados Unidos, o German American Bund, organização extremista, antissemita e pró-nazista, tornou-se alvo de forte atenção pública e estatal. O United States Holocaust Memorial Museum informa que o Bund buscava apoio ao nazismo entre germano-americanos, promovia comícios, jornais de propaganda e doutrinação juvenil.⁸

1941, 22 de junho – Alemanha invade a União Soviética

Em 22 de junho de 1941, a Alemanha nazista rompeu o pacto germano-soviético e invadiu a União Soviética na Operação Barbarossa. No caso soviético, a ameaça alemã era direta e existencial: conquista territorial, destruição política e guerra ideológica.

1941, Agosto – Stalin deporta soviéticos descendentes de alemães

Após a invasão alemã, Stalin adotou medidas de proteção em escala coletiva contra soviéticos descendentes de alemães, especialmente os alemães do Volga. A ameaça alemã era real: tropas nazistas já avançavam em território soviético e deixavam um rastro de destruição, ocupação e violência. Além disso, minorias oportunistas de origem alemã colaboraram com o invasor em algumas regiões, como também registram estudos e relatórios internacionais sobre colaboração em territórios ocupados.

Nesse contexto de guerra extrema, Stalin não esperou distinguir individualmente quem era colaborador, simpatizante, suspeito ou inocente. Os soviéticos descendentes de alemães foram tratados como suspeitos coletivos de possível colaboração com o invasor e deportados em massa para a Sibéria e a Ásia Central.

1941, 7 de dezembro – Japão ataca Pearl Harbor

O Japão atacou Pearl Harbor em 7 de dezembro de 1941. Poucos dias depois, a Alemanha declarou guerra aos Estados Unidos. O conflito tornou-se definitivamente uma guerra mundial em escala total.

1942, 1º de janeiro – Declaração das Nações Unidas

Em 1º de janeiro de 1942, 26 países assinaram a Declaração das Nações Unidas, comprometendo-se a combater Alemanha, Itália e Japão. Entre os signatários estavam Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, União Soviética, China, Canadá e Austrália. O Brasil ainda não assinou nessa data.⁹

1942, 28 de janeiro – Brasil permanece neutro, mas rompe relações diplomáticas com Alemanha, Itália e Japão

Em janeiro de 1942, após a Conferência do Rio de Janeiro, o Brasil rompeu relações diplomáticas com Alemanha, Itália e Japão. Isso não era ainda declaração de guerra. O Brasil aproximou-se dos Aliados, mas ainda não estava formalmente em guerra contra a Alemanha.

1942, Fevereiro a julho – Navios brasileiros são atacados pela Alemanha

Após o rompimento diplomático com o Eixo, navios brasileiros passaram a ser atacados por submarinos alemães. Esses ataques ocorreram enquanto o Brasil era neutro.

1942, 15 a 19 de agosto – O U-507 ataca navios brasileiros no litoral brasileiro

Entre 15 e 19 de agosto de 1942, o submarino alemão U-507 atacou embarcações brasileiras na costa de Sergipe e Bahia. Foram atingidos navios como Baependy, Araraquara, Aníbal Benévolo, Itagiba, Arará e Jacira. Os ataques causaram centenas de mortes, inclusive de civis, mulheres e crianças. O Brasil ainda não havia declarado guerra à Alemanha. A agressão alemã veio antes da entrada formal do Brasil na guerra.¹⁰

1942, 22 de agosto – Brasil declara guerra à Alemanha e à Itália

Somente depois dos ataques alemães contra navios brasileiros, o Brasil declarou guerra à Alemanha e à Itália, em 22 de agosto de 1942. Esse ponto é decisivo: o Brasil não declarou guerra primeiro para depois ser atacado. O Brasil foi atacado antes de entrar formalmente na guerra.¹¹

1942 em diante – Controle sobre empresas, bancos e interesses econômicos ligados ao Eixo

Com o Brasil em guerra, empresas, bancos, propriedades, redes comerciais e interesses econômicos ligados a Alemanha, Itália e Japão passaram a ser tratados como questão de segurança nacional. A economia também entrou no campo da vigilância: listas negras, restrições, intervenções e controle sobre empresas consideradas ligadas a interesses do Eixo fizeram parte desse contexto. A literatura sobre “listas negras” no Brasil durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial mostra que empresas total ou parcialmente alemãs, italianas e japonesas foram alvo de medidas e conflitos políticos.¹²

1943, 8 de fevereiro – Brasil adere formalmente à Declaração das Nações Unidas

Em 8 de fevereiro de 1943, o Brasil aderiu formalmente à Declaração das Nações Unidas, consolidando sua posição no bloco aliado contra o Eixo.

1944, 2 de julho – Primeiro contingente da FEB parte para a Europa

O primeiro contingente da FEB partiu para a Europa em 2 de julho de 1944. A tropa brasileira combateu na Campanha da Itália, tornando o Brasil o único país sul-americano a enviar forças terrestres para lutar na Europa na Segunda Guerra Mundial.

1944–1945 – FEB combate na Itália

A Força Expedicionária Brasileira combateu forças alemãs e fascistas na Itália. Entre os episódios mais lembrados estão Monte Castello, Montese e outras operações no norte da Itália.

1945, 30 de abril – Hitler se suicida em Berlim

Com Berlim cercada pelo Exército Vermelho e o regime nazista em colapso, Adolf Hitler suicidou-se em 30 de abril de 1945.

1945, 7 de maio – Rendição alemã em Reims

A rendição incondicional da Alemanha nazista foi assinada em Reims, na França, em 7 de maio de 1945, no quartel-general de Dwight D. Eisenhower.¹³

1945, 8 de maio – Ratificação da rendição em Berlim-Karlshorst

A rendição alemã foi ratificada em Berlim-Karlshorst em 8 de maio de 1945. Nos países ocidentais, essa data ficou conhecida como Victory in Europe Day, o Dia da Vitória na Europa. Na memória soviética/russa, a vitória é celebrada em 9 de maio por causa do fuso horário de Moscou.

Notas de apoio

¹ Ana Maria Dietrich, Nazismo tropical?: o Partido Nazista no Brasil, tese de doutorado, USP, 2007. A tese informa que o Partido Nazista no Brasil atuou entre 1928 e 1938, em rede internacional ligada à Organização do Partido Nazista no Exterior.

² Decreto-Lei nº 383, de 18 de abril de 1938, “Veda a estrangeiros a atividade política no Brasil e dá outras providências”. O texto proíbe estrangeiros de exercer atividade política e especifica vedações a organizações, símbolos, imprensa, reuniões e propaganda política estrangeira.

³ Decreto-Lei nº 406, de 4 de maio de 1938, sobre entrada de estrangeiros no território nacional.

⁴ Méri Frotscher, “Retorno à pátria alemã”: migrações de retorno do Brasil para a Alemanha sob o nazismo (1938–1939), Passo Fundo: Acervus, 2024. A apresentação editorial informa o recorte 1938–1939 e menciona a “euforia mundial entre muitos emigrantes alemães no estrangeiro”.

⁵ The National Archives, Reino Unido, “Defence Regulation 18B, Advisory Committee Papers” e “Home Office: Internment, General Files”.

⁶ Anzac Portal / Governo australiano, “Internment camps in Australia during World War II”; National Library of Australia, “Enemy aliens and war with Japan”.

⁷ The Canadian Encyclopedia, “War Measures Act”.

⁸ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “German American Bund”.

⁹ Avalon Project, Yale Law School, “Declaration by United Nations, January 1, 1942”.

¹⁰ Sobre os ataques do U-507: registros indicam ataques contra embarcações brasileiras em agosto de 1942 e a relação direta com a entrada do Brasil na guerra; o artigo de J. Ferreira registra 607 mortos nos afundamentos de Baependy, Araraquara, Aníbal Benévolo, Itagiba e Arará.

¹¹ A declaração brasileira de guerra à Alemanha e à Itália ocorreu em 22 de agosto de 1942, depois dos ataques aos navios brasileiros.

¹² Tania Quintaneiro, estudo sobre as “listas negras” e empresas consideradas ligadas aos países do Eixo no Brasil durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial.

¹³ National Archives, “Surrender of Germany”; Museum Berlin-Karlshorst, “The German Surrender in May 1945”.