ASC Seminar: Hostages of Empire: The daily life of African prisoners of war interned in Vichy France

When France went to war in 1939, it mobilized the empire as it had done in the previous world war. Colonial subjects and citizens from diverse French territories in Africa, Indochina, Madagascar, and the French West Indies were again called to arms. After France’s defeat after only six weeks of fighting, some 85,000 of these colonial soldiers were among the 1.8 million prisoners of war captured by the German army. Unlike their French counterparts who, upon capture, were brought to Germany, the colonial prisoners of war (or CPOWs) were interned in camps throughout Occupied France, called Frontstalags. Speaker: Sarah Ann Frank, University of the Free State, South Africa. Please register

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