Abstract:
This research analyzes the cultural, educational, and religious tensions experienced
by German subjects and their descendants residing in the states of Rio Grande do
Sul and Santa Catarina during the “Estado Novo” period (1937–1945), focusing
primarily on the consequences of the nationalization campaign and the impact of the
state of war on their social organization. The study specifically focuses on the period
between 1942 and 1945, when Brazil’s severing of diplomatic relations with the Axis
powers was accompanied by intensified measures to control and repress
expressions of “Germanness”, directly affecting the daily lives, education, and
religious practices of these groups. Through documentary and bibliographic
research—employing comparative history as a methodological approach—the
investigation is grounded in the analysis of documents from the “Archivo General de
la Administración” (via Spanish Consulate records); the “Sínodo Riograndense”
records preserved in the Historical Archive of the Evangelical Church of Lutheran
Confession in Brazil (IECLB); the complete collection of the journal “Vida Policial”
(consulted at the Civil Police Library in Porto Alegre, RS); and other contemporary
sources. The aim is to understand the social, educational, and religious practices that
emerged amidst this backdrop of increasing state intervention, highlighting
restrictions on the use of the German language and the difficulties faced by
community schools and religious institutions of the German-Evangelical tradition. The
results demonstrate that nationalization policies and the wartime context generated
specific forms of repression affecting the daily lives, education, and religious
practices of these communities – particularly impacting community schools, pastors,
and other religious leaders – while simultaneously prompting various strategies of
adaptation in the face of state-imposed mandates. This research falls within the
“Religion, Theology, and Society” concentration area and is linked to the “History and
Theology” research line.
