Between the national flag, the sigma and the swastika: the German immigrants’dilema in Santa Catarina

Abstract

The German immigrant communities were established in Southern Brazil since the late XIX century. They maintained strong characteristics from their mother land, developing manners independent of the culture of the nation where they came were living. The political change in Brazil during the 1930’s and the aggressive international conjecture between the European Imperialists powers, especially during the II World War, disturbed the relationship between the German immigrant communities with the Brazilian Government, with its nationalization policy. In this article we will analyze the commercial relations with Germany before the War, the change of Brazilian position towards the German Government and the Nazis, and their party’s (NSDAP) Ecumenical Project on the foreign colonial nucleus and the conflicts resulting from this political project.