How Idris Elba’s Doc Opened His Eyes to ‘Traumatic’ Racism Black WWII ‘Heroes’ Felt When They Returned to U.S. (Exclusive)

"There are so many stories that we couldn't tell," says the actor, who narrates "Erased: WW2's Heroes of Color"

Idris Elba's work on a new docuseries about World War II was emotional and educational: He tells PEOPLE the struggles that Black soldiers faced in that time "never really hit home" for him until he began the project.

The English actor, who narrates and executive produced National Geographic's Erased: WW2's Heroes of Color, which premiered this week, says his involvement in the series spurred a recognition of "how traumatic it must have been" for Black soldiers who had defended their country overseas to return home to American society that, at the time, was still heavily segregated — and often saw violent episodes of discrimination.

While enlisted, Black soldiers were "fighting in essentially an organism that was void of race and division in that way," Elba says. Their chief concern was survival and success on the battlefield.

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In Erased, Elba and director Shianne Brown call attention to the stories of Black soldiers who served their respective countries during World War II, with highlights on major battles that link each episode's featured soldiers together.

"Of course, there were Black soldiers, white soldiers, but you were all one and you moved as one organism and within that setting, you were called a soldier," Elba says, noting how everything changed for those service members upon leaving battle.

The Luther star explains, "The moment you stepped back into the country that you were fighting for, you weren't called a soldier anymore. You were called something much worse, and [it was] accepted."

Brown echoes that.

"We get to go into people's worlds and they tell us their stories and it's such a privilege and we get to document that, but for them, those stories will live on in their families forever," the director says, singling out Cpl. Waverly Woodson Jr., who served in D-Day but had not received the same recognition as some other veterans.

"That story in particular really hit a nerve with me because it felt like the injustice is still alive and they're still fighting that," Brown says.

Elba's understanding of "these accounts" made him realize, to an extent, "how that must have felt, that it really hit home how significant these stories are — how traumatic it must have been for ... these young people, actually men, women as well."

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Imagine, he says: Black American soldiers "going and finding themselves in Europe where they were hailed as heroes, but then to go back to their hometowns and literally weren't allowed to walk into the same shops as anyone else."

The lack of representation regarding Black stories from World War II not only drove Elba's interest in Erased: WW2's Heroes of Color, it has also led him to hope others continue to explore the topic in the creative realm, he says.

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"Someone asked this question earlier, ‘Would you consider a fiction version of this?’ " Elba says. "And [that] made me think about that a little bit, about the big films that we've seen, from Dunkirk to Saving Private Ryan" — major war films that do not focus on non-white soldiers.

"These stories haven't been really told," Elba says, adding, "I'm hoping perhaps it does open up a little bit of a highway to seeing some stories told in the film boat."

Although Elba and Brown shined a light on the sacrifices Black soldiers made during the war, Elba says "there are so many stories that we couldn't tell, didn't tell. There were so many. And it really makes me wonder about it more."

Erased: WW2's Heroes of Color is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu now.

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