About book Destined To Witness: Growing Up Black In Nazi Germany (2001)
One thing I thought I would never hear being said about this book actually happened: A coworker of mine actually said this story should not be told, because it, somehow in her mind, made the Holocaust less bad. Only knowing that the author had a Liberian father and managed to survive in Nazi Germany, never see a concentration camp from the inside, via a lot of luck and help from friends, made her say this story is not a story that should be told. In my mind it would shed more light on the time, but she didn't care. It cannot be in her mind, you cannot tell this story in her mind.I was: What? So this story should not be told because in her mind it "cheapens" the Holocaust? It should not be told because this person was "just lucky?" So we should not tell the stories of other survivors of the Nazi terror when they were "just lucky? Seems like it. Well I didn't press any further since that person is highly choleric and obviously didn't want to hear my standpoint and is all in all not known to be reasonable. Plus I didn't want to waste my energy on a lost cause.However, this viewpoint, which she apparently considers right, could not be more wrong in my eyes. Just because this book does not fit the stereotypical view of a World War II survivor does not mean it makes that time any less bad (btw. what really cheapens the Holocaust is all those people from that time calling themselves survivors even though they had never been in any Nazi occupied country). Quite the contrary! It sheds more light on that time and how it was, especially since, unlike the average Jewish German this German guy here was not able to hide anything, his "stigma" during that time was plainly visible. So that this was possible during that time actually is important, especially since (based on some other reviews and sadly comments by people I know) many still cannot get it into their heads that just because you do not look like the stereotypical German you must be an outsider, a foreigner, even when they read this book, even though the author might it perfectly clear that he considered himself a German and nothing else.But apart from that there are other reasons to read this book. Due to the author's unique (well somewhat unique since he was far from the only one with a similar background during that time) background he had a look at that time, towards the Nazis and as well as the Americans from a standpoint many others of the time would not have had. He never truly forgave the British for bombing his home, the city of Hamburg, and he quickly came to realize that the USA were not this paradise of equality many claimed, and still claim, but that its racism was simply more subtle and not as obvious than in Germany. Make no mistake, several people, even Nazis, surprised him one way or another in that regard, I do not want to spoil anything for you, but you will be surprised I am sure.In addition the author's story is a good example of the power of Nazi indoctrination during that time, believe it or not, but he was affected just as much as all the other boys in his class, and we see how his director managed to do that, and desperately wanted to join the Hitler Youth and later the military, albeit the latter for more practical reasons.All in all an enjoyable book. Its only flaw might be that only half of it deals with his time in Germany, the rest is in Liberia and the USA. However, that part is no less good or anything, it simply might not be what people expect.It is too bad that so far only one TV-movie has been made out of it and sadly not a very accurate one either. A TV-series would be the perfect format for it I think.But either way, I think this is a story worth telling and not shut down simply because it doesn't fit what you like to hear about Nazi Germany.
WWII literature is something that I think most Western civilizations have pounded into them from adolescence and beyond: and for good reason. The inhumane horrors of World War II are some of the most vividly clear that we have in our history and while there are still elements of the War that are ignored or buried (Rape of Nanking being one of them), the Holocaust is meant to serve as a reminder of hatred, with a concentration on the Anti-semitism that has been rampant in our society for centuries. What makes this memoir so interesting is that it shows the anti-Aryan prejudice from a mixed-race black man, who shares, in many ways, a similar pride of being German and some of the early prejudices. Hans J. Massaquoi was the son of a prominent Liberian man and a German nurse, who, due to health reasons, stayed in Germany during his youth with his white month. Destined to Witness follows his life from childhood, through the rise of Hitler, WWII, and some of the racial aftermath of the war.Massaquoi offers some really interesting perspective. He, due to being raised in this anti-Aryan mindset, is taught to be afraid of Jewish people and even Roma. It is his mother, who stops him from falling fully prey to these racist stigmas. Same with his own blackness, which he feels shame towards because of teasing and other prejudice, but his mother stands up for him on every avenue. It is painful to watch Massaquoi being emotionally damaged by the racism amongst him and also trying to find some sense of what his blackness means in an environment where he is treated like an outside at best and an animal at worst.One of the interesting parts for me was watching Massaquoi go from someone who saw himself as German first and Black second to Black first and German second. Not by choice, but by realizing it was how the world saw him. Even though race is a social construct, those social issues create this bridge that allowed me to really related and identify with a man growing up in a completely different time period and country than myself. It is also important to show that being a minority does not mean you will automatically understand the struggles of different minorities, as we see Hans struggle with stereotypes around him, and sort of be a passive observer. Mentions of the Holocaust in this novel are sparse, which I think is for the best. I do not think Hans could give any insight into society the way many other Jewish writers have and I think, it allows the reader to be reminded that among the victims of the Holocaust and Nazi racism were: non-Aryan's in general (Roma people in particular), homosexuals, and disabled people. Before reading this book I had never read of the Rhineland Bastards, and I feel like in order for us as a society to really move forward we have to accept that these horrors, these prejudices, are not just Nazi ideals. They are something we as a society have realize is a poison that is in the fabric of our society.While it is a little slow at some points, I enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to history lovers.
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I am a WWII, Hitler & Germany buff. I don't know what my fascination is with it. So when I came across this book on the National Holocaust Museum's website I thought it was a must read since I'm an African American.The book was a striaght narrative. And maybe I expected so much more to happen to Hans but in reality I'm glad he wasn't tortured as he could've been. His early years were probably way more interesting than the later years. It was interesting to see him go from being accepted to the demise in this acceptance as the German culture changed.
—Jennifer
Great book, a really eye-opening autobiographical account about living in Germany during the uprising of the Nazi regime and World War II. Hans J. Massaquoi's story of growing up as the son of an African father and German mother in a particularly risky time period offer a first hand glimpse into the sociology of prejudice of class and racism, during ; not only in WWII Germany, but also touched upon in British colonialism in Africa and America.The premise of the book alone is enough to spark great interest, but there is also a noteworthyamount of depth to be gained from the experiences portrayed in the book, as well as a broad array of interesting characters that Massaquoi encounter in his journey which make for a riveting read.
—Daniel Millward
This is a gem and I cannot say why I read it except that I have read as much as I can about the Nazi era in an attempt to understand it. I have read about medical doctors in that time in Germany, the death hospitals in beautiful rural communities where the smoke from the chimneys had to be ignored by the populace, books by the children of the Nazi Leaders, a book by a young woman who was in the book business in a rural town, Sophie's Choice, Schindler's List, Eyewitness to history, some of Ayn Rand's writing about the era in Europe and a lot I cannot think of at this moment,but this is the only book I ever ran across about a back boy growing up in Nazi Germany. There are some interesting insights in it and interestingly enough, his being black actually may have made him less visablt to the Nazis because black boys were not on their lists. Interesting, huh?
—Juneus
