Growing Up as a Black Kid in Nazi Germany
In 1933, little Hans J. Massaquoi stood in a schoolyard in Hamburg, wearing a swastika patch on his sweater, surrounded by a load of fair-haired, blue-eyed kids, in the photo you see above.
Young Hans, the son of a German nurse and a Liberian diplomat, managed to survive under Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. "I survived because of a loophole in racial laws. We weren't such a significant number so as to be noticed by the Nazis," wrote Massaquoi in his autobiography Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany.
Germany's black population during the Nazi period was negligible – a few hundred, maybe a few thousand at most, among 65million people. Massaquoi was the grandson of the Liberian Consul in Germany, so his family was granted immunity, and he could live among Aryan children while anyone else considered by the Nazis to belong to an "inferior race" began to suffer the effects of Hitler's repressive, xenophobic policies.
However, Massaquoi's life began to change in the summer of 1934. "When I came to school one beautiful summer morning in 1934, our third grade teacher informed the class that the principal had given instructions for all the students and teachers to gather at the schoolyard," he wrote. "Right there, dressed in the brown Nazi uniform I used to wear for special occasions, the principal announced that 'the most splendorous moment of our young lives' was about to come, that destiny had chosen us to be among the fortunate ones who would contemplate 'our beloved Führer' with their own eyes. That was a privilege, he assured us, that our yet to be born children, and our children's children, would envy in times to come. I was eight by then, and I didn't notice that, from the almost 600 kids gathered in that schoolyard, I was the only one Herr Wriede was not talking to."
Massaquoi's schoolmates were so taken in by the Nazi leader's charisma that, after his visit, they all signed up to the Hitler Youth. Massaquoi didn't want to be left out, so he also applied to become a member. He was not accepted.
A couple of years later, the changes in German society became even more noticeable. After African-American athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, Hitler and the rest of the National Socialist fanatics ramped up their rejection of black people. Soon after, Hans' paternal family had to flee the country, though he stayed in Germany with his mother.
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/black-nazi-brais-iglesias-castro-929
In 1933, little Hans J. Massaquoi stood in a schoolyard in Hamburg, wearing a swastika patch on his sweater, surrounded by a load of fair-haired, blue-eyed kids, in the photo you see above.
Young Hans, the son of a German nurse and a Liberian diplomat, managed to survive under Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. "I survived because of a loophole in racial laws. We weren't such a significant number so as to be noticed by the Nazis," wrote Massaquoi in his autobiography Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany.
Germany's black population during the Nazi period was negligible – a few hundred, maybe a few thousand at most, among 65million people. Massaquoi was the grandson of the Liberian Consul in Germany, so his family was granted immunity, and he could live among Aryan children while anyone else considered by the Nazis to belong to an "inferior race" began to suffer the effects of Hitler's repressive, xenophobic policies.
However, Massaquoi's life began to change in the summer of 1934. "When I came to school one beautiful summer morning in 1934, our third grade teacher informed the class that the principal had given instructions for all the students and teachers to gather at the schoolyard," he wrote. "Right there, dressed in the brown Nazi uniform I used to wear for special occasions, the principal announced that 'the most splendorous moment of our young lives' was about to come, that destiny had chosen us to be among the fortunate ones who would contemplate 'our beloved Führer' with their own eyes. That was a privilege, he assured us, that our yet to be born children, and our children's children, would envy in times to come. I was eight by then, and I didn't notice that, from the almost 600 kids gathered in that schoolyard, I was the only one Herr Wriede was not talking to."
Massaquoi's schoolmates were so taken in by the Nazi leader's charisma that, after his visit, they all signed up to the Hitler Youth. Massaquoi didn't want to be left out, so he also applied to become a member. He was not accepted.
A couple of years later, the changes in German society became even more noticeable. After African-American athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, Hitler and the rest of the National Socialist fanatics ramped up their rejection of black people. Soon after, Hans' paternal family had to flee the country, though he stayed in Germany with his mother.
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/black-nazi-brais-iglesias-castro-929