Exile in Brazil: Nazis and Anti-Nazis

Talk by Raissa Alonso (University of São Paulo).

This talk examines Brazil as a space of exile, political dispute, and transnational mobilization during the 1930s and 1940s. While the country became home to German-speaking refugees fleeing Nazism, it also hosted individuals and organizations sympathetic to the Third Reich. Focusing on the interactions between Nazi and anti-Nazi networks, the presentation explores the ambiguities of the Vargas regime, the role of surveillance and political policing, and the activities of exiled intellectuals, artists, Jewish refugees, and antifascist activists.

Bio

Raíssa Alonso is a PhD candidate at the University of São Paulo (USP) and researcher at LEER-USP (Laboratory of Ethnicity, Racism and Discrimination Studies). She was a Fulbright Fellow  for the 2024–2025 term at the USC Center for Advanced Genocide Research. Her research focuses on German-speaking exile communities, antifascism, Jewish refugees, and transnational political networks in Latin America during the Second World War.