397:. Upon seeing the "telltale black SS insignia of dual lightning bolts in the lapel of his civilian suit", Massaquoi expected humiliation. Instead, he was surprised when he was greeted with "a friendly wink", offered a seat and asked to present something he had made. After showing Von Vett an axe and discussing his experience working for a local blacksmith, Massaquoi was informed that he could "be of great service to Germany one day" because there would be a great demand for technically trained Germans to go to Africa to train and develop an African workforce when Germany reclaimed
415:, the intelligence branch of the SS. He was taken to the police station as he was believed to be "on the prowl for defenseless women or looking for an opportunity to steal". However, he was recognized by a police officer as living in the area and working: "This young man is an apprentice at Lindner A.G., where he works much too hard to have enough energy left to prowl the streets at night looking for trouble. I happen to know that because of the son of one of my colleagues apprentices with him." The SD officer closed the case and gave the
380:, a subdivision of Hitler Youth, and Massaquoi's teacher devised a chart on the blackboard showing who had joined and who had not. The chart was filled in after each boy joined, until Massaquoi was pointedly the sole student left out. He recalled saying, "But I am German ... my mother says I'm German just like anybody else." His later attempt to join his friends by registering at the nearest
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In 1948 Massaquoi's father, Al-Haj, secured his passage for residency in
Liberia. Massaquoi was fascinated and chagrined by Africa. While appreciative that his father made possible his escape from post-World War II Germany, he eventually grew estranged from his father, whom he considered arrogant
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Increasingly as he matured, Massaquoi came to despise Hitler and Nazism. His skin color made him a target for racist abuse, he was often targeted by Nazi employers, he was denied citizenship and subsequently excluded from serving in the armed forces, much to his frustration. This by-fact of the
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were passed in 1935, Massaquoi was officially classified as non-Aryan and barred from pursuing a course of education leading to a professional career. Instead he was forced to embark on an apprenticeship as a laborer. A few months before he completed school, Massaquoi was required to go to a
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who was in Dublin studying law and only occasionally lived with the family at the consul general's home in
Hamburg. Eventually, his grandfather Momulu, the first African posted to the diplomatic corps in Europe, was recalled to Liberia. Hans Massaquoi and his mother remained in Germany.
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Though he was barred from dating "Aryans", Massaquoi courted a white girl. They had to keep their relationship a secret, especially as her father was a member of the police and the SS. Such relationships were forbidden and classified as
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446:. The Giordanos, who managed to survive the war in hiding, helped Massaquoi and his mother to secure a nearby basement after their Hamburg neighborhood was destroyed. Giordano, a lifelong friend, became a renowned journalist as well.
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office was also met with contempt. The denial of this rite of passage reinforced his perception that he was being ostracized because he was deemed "Non-Aryan" despite his German birth and mostly traditional German upbringing.
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Massaquoi died on
January 19, 2013, his 87th birthday. At the time of his death, Massaquoi was married to Katharine Rousseve Massaquoi. He had two sons by a previous marriage, Steve and Hans Jr., who also survived him.
401:. Before Massaquoi left the interview, Von Vett invited him to shake his hand, an unusual move not in keeping with the behavior of other Nazi officials Massaquoi had encountered outside of his neighborhood.
486:, where he became managing editor. His position allowed him to interview many historical figures of the arts, politics and civil rights movement in America and Africa. He was interviewed in turn by
411:(race defilement) under the Nuremberg Laws. They met only in the evenings, when they would go for walks. As he dropped his girlfriend off at her house one night, he was stopped by a member of the
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rise to power. His autobiography provides a unique point of view: he was one of the very few German-born children of German and
African descent. He was often shunned, but escaped
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and somewhat tyrannical. However, the two reconciled just before his father's death which preceded
Massaquoi's reconnecting with his maternal family in the United States.
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Massaquoi was not aware of any other mixed race children in
Hamburg, and like most German children his age he was lured by Nazi propaganda into thinking that joining the
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Beginning in 1966, Massaquoi visited family and friends in
Germany many times, always cognizant of Germany's complex history as the country of his childhood.
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348:. This duality remained a key theme throughout his early life until he witnessed racism as practiced in colonial Africa and later in the
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Massaquoi, Hans-Jürgen. “A Journey into the Past. Parts I and II.” Ebony (February), 1966, pp. 91-99, and (March), 1966, pp.102-111.
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was an exciting adventure of fanfares and games. There was a school contest to see if a class could get a 100% membership of the
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The title references a racist rhyme with which schoolboys taunted him in 1932. The German version was adapted as a film
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Eds. Eric Ames, Marcia Klotz, and Lora
Wildenthal. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2005, pp. 227-239.
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Lindhout, Alexandra E. "Hans J. Massaquoi’s "Destined to
Witness" as an Autobiographical Act of Identity Formation.
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Massaquoi emigrated to the United States in 1950. He served two years in the army as a paratrooper in the U.S.
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Massaquoi enjoyed a relatively happy childhood with his mother, Bertha Baetz, who had arrived in
Hamburg from
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The Democratic Gap: Transcultural Confrontations of German Immigrants and the Promise of American Democracy,
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government-run job center, where his assigned vocational counselor was Herr von Vett, a member of the
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254:(January 19, 1926 – January 19, 2013) was a German-American journalist and author. He was born in
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During the period following the Allies' near-destruction of Hamburg, he befriended the family of
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Mieder, Wolfgang. 2022. “BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL” Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi’s Proverbial Autobiography
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Martin, Elaine. “Hans J. Massaquoi: Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany.”
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was published in 1999 (in English). Its German translation was published the same year, as
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Die Analyse der Sozialisation von Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi an Hand von ausgewählten Aspekten
529:"Hans Massaquoi, Former Editor Of Ebony Magazine, Who Grew Up Black In Nazi Germany Dies"
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edited by Frank Mehring, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2014, pp. 255-300.
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and earlier from Ungfrungen. His father, Al-Haj Massaquoi, was a prince of the
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Afro-German-American author noted for his experiences as Black in Nazi Germany
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until the impending birth of his first son catapulted into his career at
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663:, edited by Studs Terkel, New York: Pantheon Books, 1984, pp. 496-504.
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Massaquoi, H J: Destined to Witness, page 118-119. Fusion Press, 2002
341:
340:, Massaquoi describes his childhood and youth in Hamburg during the
306:(2006). He later published a second autobiography, only in German:
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Massaquoi, H J: Destined to Witness, page 136. Fusion Press, 2002
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Massaquoi, H J: Destined to Witness, page 119. Fusion Press, 2002
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Massaquoi, H J: Destined to Witness, page 118. Fusion Press, 2002
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Massaquoi, H J: Destined to Witness, page 80. Fusion Press, 2002
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Neger, Neger, Schornsteinfeger: Meine Kindheit in Deutschland.
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Nganang, Patrice. “Autobiographies of Blackness in Germany.”
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Massaquoi's paternal grandfather Momulu as King of the
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Hänschen klein, ging allein: Mein Weg in die Neue Welt
679:. “Afro-German-American Dissent: Hans J. Massaquoi.”
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Destined to Witness: Growing up Black in Nazi Germany
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Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies
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661:“The Good War”: An Oral History of World War Two
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659:Massaquoi, Hans-Jürgen.“Hans Massaquoi .” In
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470:helped fund his journalism degree from the
472:University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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783:Naturalized citizens of the United States
120:Learn how and when to remove this message
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748:Emigrants from Allied-occupied Germany
753:German emigrants to the United States
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58:adding citations to reliable sources
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758:German people of Liberian descent
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474:and he worked on his masters at
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45:needs additional citations for
531:. digtriad.com. Archived from
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697:. München: Grin Verlag, 2004.
768:United States Army soldiers
270:ethnicity, the grandson of
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688:Germany’s Colonial Pasts.
673:vol. 39, 2009, pp. 63-71.
653:vol. 34, 2001, pp. 91-94.
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282:in Germany at the time.
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803:Democratic socialists
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793:German anti-fascists
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399:its African colonies
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337:Destined to Witness
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643:7 (2006).
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213:Citizenship
717:Categories
559:Proverbium
539:2013-01-22
515:References
464:Korean War
450:Emigration
444:Swing Kids
388:After the
364:Vai people
360:Nordhausen
194:Journalist
188:Occupation
157:1926-01-19
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482:and then
163:Hamburg,
110:June 2021
490:for his
382:Jungvolk
350:Jim Crow
326:in 1905.
324:Gallinas
310:(2004).
242:Children
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468:GI bill
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