Josefa Boholle (Josefa van der Want after marrying her husband in 1943) sitting on the steps of a circus wagon with a bird on her shoulder. The photo was likely taken in Eisleben, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, around 1936-1937. During World War II, Josefa and her Dutch husband were imprisoned in the Stutthof concentration camp. The official reason given for their arrest was for listening to foreign radio broadcasts. However, it is likely that the couple’s resistance activities and their interracial marriage were also factors.
Josefa, the daughter of a Cameroonian man named Josef Boholle, was a gifted dancer and performer who worked in the German Africa Show (Deutsche Afrika-Schau). Though these early shows were exploitative by nature, artists originally had the ability to shape their own performances and how they were represented. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, this agency began to disappear. During the Nazi era, working in such shows was an increasingly propaganda-driven, demoralizing, and unpleasant experience. At the same time, performance work brought many Black residents of Germany together, fostering connections and cementing existing friendships.
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