growing up black in Nazi Germany

I stumbled across the book Destined to Witness: Growing up Black in Nazi Germany by Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi in a cheap bookstore. I remember just scanning through the titles of autobiographies and then abruptly stopping when I saw this title. In the years I studied the rise and fall of Hitler and the atrocious acts he authorized, I had never heard of African people in equation of Nazi Germany.

“A beautifully rendered memoir — an astonishing true tale of how he came of age as a black child in Nazi Germany. The son of a prominent African and a German nurse, Hans remained behind with his mother when Hitler came to power, due to concerns about his fragile health, after his father returned to Liberia. Like other German boys, Hans went to school; like other German boys, he swiftly fell under the Fuhrer’s spell. So he was crushed to learn that, as a black child, he was ineligible for the Hitler Youth. His path to a secondary education and an eventual profession was blocked. He now lived in fear that, at any moment, he might hear the Gestapo banging on the door — or Allied bombs falling on his home. Ironic, moving, and deeply human, Massaquoi’s account of this lonely struggle for survival brims with courage and intelligence.” HarperCollins Publisher

I am so glad yet so amazed that Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi lived to tell his story. I love how Hans continued to strive. Even though people rejected him, called him names, he always seemed to turn it into something that would turn his situation around for the better. I admire his persistence. It certainly paid off. It’s captivating story! I think it should become the 101th book on the 100 books every African should read. There is even a movie about it. I am going to watch it soon – hopefully.