oa Saumyendranath Tagore and the Nazi Seizure of Power

This article examines the Nazi seizure of power from the perspective of Indian communist Saumyendranath Tagore (1901–1974). In the Weimar era, Berlin developed into a hub of transnational anti-colonial activism. After seizing power, the Nazis forcibly dismantled these networks and terrorized several leading members of the Indian diasporic community. In April 1933, Tagore was arrested for allegedly planning the assassination of Hitler. After fleeing Berlin, Tagore publicly urged progressive forces from around the world to confront the Nazi menace. Like many global anti-fascists, he argued that anti-colonialism encompassed anti-Nazism (as well as vice-versa). Hitler, Tagore argued, could not fathom the emancipation of India, nor the collapse of European imperial hegemony. He would sooner preside over a German Raj than support the self-determination of India.