How Black Germans fight for recognition of Nazi-era crimes

"What I think people did not realize is that the Nazi time in Germany was only 12 years. What 12 years can do to society and what can happen, it doesn't need to be 50 years or 100 years," said Berlin-based German historian Katharina Oguntoye.The crimes, subjugation, racism, enslavement and genocide committed against Jewish, Roma, Sinti, LGBTQ+ and other communities have been well-documented. But for Germany's Black community, gaining recognition for the crimes and abuses it endured has not been easy.Historian Robbie Aitken, based at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, has studied Germany's Black communities for 20 years. He noted that there was a reluctance in German society to recognize and accept that Black people have been part of Germany since the late 1800s."We're talking about people who crossed borders, who moved a lot, and we're talking about a time period where the Nazis themselves destroyed documents so finding out information was difficult," he told DW."I think this is being kind of slept on by a lot of historians. And there's a lack of general public and academic knowledge about the period."The German Empire in Africa in the 1880s brought Germany into contact with Africans, their labor and their territories' resources.

The colonies included Cameroon, Togo, German East Africa, and Namibia, which were later lost after Germany's defeat in World War I.While exact figures are not known, several thousand people of African descent arrived in Germany from various regions of Africa, the Caribbean, South America and the United States

Nazi abuses become daily life

Germany’s Black minority was already marginalized because of the Great Depression in 1929. But the racist nature of Nazi rule that came in 1933 added to that hardship."When the Nazis come to power, anyone who wants to be a racist, anyone who agrees with their viewpoints can enthusiastically say these things in the streets, can physically, verbally abuse people. They have free rein to do so," Aitken said.This in turn made it more difficult for Black residents to be seen in public, particularly those with white wives and children.The several thousand Black people living in Germany were seen as racially inferior.

During this era from 1933 to 1945, the Nazis used racial laws and policies to restrict the economic and social opportunities of Black people in Germany."At a local level, a number of families will be effectively thrown out of their apartments to make way for Nazi supporters or members of the party," Aitken explained. "Some black Germans who have businesses are targeted explicitly."An example of this is Mandenga Diek, a successful Cameroonian trader in Germany, who lost his business and became stateless along with his family when the Nazis came to power in 1933.

From forced sterilization to propaganda films

Black people were harassed, imprisoned, sterilized or experimented on.Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator who ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945, targeted biracial children living in the Rhineland who were tracked down by the secret police, or Gestapo, and sterilized on secret order.Aitken says these actions proved there was a "genocidal intent.""This doesn't mean that all black people will be sterilized, but if you look at it in high policy level and if you look at the way in which local policing forces worked, they understood this intent," he said.The introduction of the Nuremberg Race Laws was one of the cornerstones of Nazi racial policy. Based on prototypes developed to separate white from Black people during Germany's colonial era in Africa, among other racial restrictions, the laws prohibited marriages and sexual relationships between German Jews and so-called Aryans.The term "Aryan" was used to describe a supposed superior "white" race, in opposition to Jews and other groups deemed "inferior." Wilhelm Frick, the Minister of the Interior at the time, extended them to also cover men and women considered Black."German Africa Shows," known as "Deutsche Afrika-Schau," created by Togolese-German resident Kassi Bruce, were opportunities for Black people to survive financially. However, the Nazi regime limited who could take part in the touring exhibitions.Colonial propaganda films where Black people were stereotypically cast to play the role of servants were used by the regime as part of Germany's ongoing hopes of regaining its lost colonial territories.

Using literature to tell Afro-German history

Using a selection of life stories, Katharina Oguntoye, was able to trace the experiences of Black Germans during the Nazi era.The groundbreaking anthology "Farbe bekennen," which was later published in English as "Showing Our Colors. Afro-German Women Speak Out," represented a key moment for the Afro-German community and intersectional feminism. The book, written by late poet May Ayim, combined historical analysis, interviews, personal testimonies and poetry to explore racism in Germany.Through her research she came across political singer Fasia Jansen, actor Theodor Wonja Michael and journalist Hans Massaquoi. Their stories were of resistance and courage to exist during the Nazi regime.Although Oguntoye was born 14 years after World War II to a white German mother and a Black Nigerian father, her identity created a platform to tell these stories."There [are] very few people who do this research. There's two or three more scholars who do this research on black people in the Nazi times," she told DW.For Oguntoye, the presence and contribution of the Black community in Germany is underappreciated. For many, the trailblazing Anton Wilhelm Amo, who became the first African-born scholar to receive a doctorate from a European university, only became known when a Berlin street was named after him in 2021.

Start by changing the education syllabus

Oguntoye says Afro German history should enjoy more coverage in school curricula."It's good to pass it on to people through the biographies, through the stories of people ...

because that's the easiest way to remember people," she explained.Other ways Afro-Germans are being visibly included in Germany are through commemorative plaques in Berlin.In 2022, the Theodor Wonja Michael library in Cologne was opened as a home for the stories of Black people, and fosters research on identity, race, and culture. The library's creation was inspired in part by the release of Theodor's book, "My Father was a German," a candid account of his life as a Black man in 20th-century Germany.

Moving past victimhood

But the fight for recognition and acceptance is far from over, and a new generation must contend with a German society that is shifting politically to the right.Sophie Osen Akhibi, a member of the Afro-Diasporic Academics Network (ADAN), emphasizes the importance of identifying where one can exert influence to drive structural change."It will not help to stay in the victim mode and complain rather than aim for profession and power to be included on the decision making table, or if not, build your own ones," she told DW.Through their organization, Akhibi and her colleagues strive to ensure that decision-makers understand the realities faced by migrants and minorities, and address them.Other ways younger people are also trying to educate about Germany's history is through guided city tours like Justice Mvemba with her tour operation in Berlin called deSta (Dekoloniale Stadtführung)."I want to normalize talking about colonialism from a critical way, and I know that a lot of people struggle with that. But I also am positively surprised to find that there are a lot of white people, a lot of white Germans as well who are ready to receive that critical perspective throughout," she told DW. She also hopes that there will be more visibility of Germany's colonial history.