5124.GreyKey: the story of José Carlos Grey-Molay, one of the only Black Holocaust survivors

José Carlos Grey-Molay, also known as Carlos Greykey, was a Black man from Spain who was one of the only Black Holocaust survivors. A documentary was made about his life, narrated by his daughter.

Inspired by a “nostalgia” for old family photo albums and described by its creators as a “small tribute to all the Spanish republicans who passed through the concentration camps”, Enric Ribes’ engrossing documentary 5124.GREYKEY uses retro techniques, recreated home movies and personal/archival photography to visualise a daughter’s memories of an enigmatic father. Parents are often mysterious creatures for their children, but for Muriel a series of small discoveries lead her to understand the troubled past of her father José Carlos and to finally understand why he always wore a shirt and trousers to the beach.

As one of the only Black men known to have been imprisoned at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, the life of José Carlos Grey-Molay has, for decades, been of interest to historians of the Second World War and the Holocaust. The historic archive contains two pictures of the young José Carlos dressed in formal-looking attire at the camp, as well as stories of a Black man from Barcelona – described as ‘not only handsome but also cultivated’ – who confused the prejudices of his Nazi captors, but little else was known about him.

via Aeon

(via Open Culture and Short of the Week)

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