“Maus brasileiros e súditos do Eixo” na Segunda Guerra Mundial: a hostilização aos germânicos em Juiz de Fora (1942-1945)

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the impact of the estadonovista discourse against German immigrants in conjunction with Brazil's entry into World War II on Juiz Fora's society. Through the reading of major newspapers of the time, this paper seeks to understand how the arrival of immigrants coming from the axis countries was depicted from 1942 onward when Brazil officially joined the Allied Forces. Alongside sources from the DOPS-MG, the Criminal Process of the Lutheran pastor Viktor Schwaner and his wife, Annelise Schwaner, and with the legislation of the period we seek to reconstruct the scenario by verifying the legitimate harassment endured by the German immigrants. From that, we expect to understand how the unfolding of the war affected the lives of Juiz de Fora’s population between 1942 and 1945, and the impacts of this period on the lives of German immigrants. The gradual decrease of news on the Germans since 1943 and the diminishing dimension of the German threat from 1945 onward evoke a new scenario in society. Because of this, the German-Brazilian community had to reinvent itself after the armed conflict, rebuilding its identity memories and rewriting the history of Germans in the city of Juiz de Fora