NPR’s Celebration of German Public Memory: A Study in Colonial Amnesia

In a November 2022 segment on NPR’s Morning Edition, host Rachel Martin spoke with author Clint Smith about how the remembrance of slavery in the United States compares to that of the Holocaust. While Smith critiqued the US’s public memory, he praised Germany as “one place in particular [that] kept coming up as an exemplar of being honest about its past harms.” 

Quickly, however, it became clear that the conversation would only address and acknowledge one of Germany’s “past harms,” ironically perpetuating Germany’s collective denial of the other violent aspects of its history.

Victims of the Holocaust

When discussing Germany’s public memory, Smith identifies the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, situated in Berlin, and the Stolpersteine, or “stumbling stones,” which are located in various towns and cities throughout the country. These stones identify the former homes of victims of the Holocaust. By replacing an area of a street or sidewalk with a small, inscribed brass brick, the Stolpersteine act as what Smith calls “a constant set of reminders.” Both of these memorials are powerful, public ways to remember the violence and horror of the Holocaust.

Importantly, while the NPR article foregrounds the six million Jewish victims who were murdered during the Holocaust, it fails to acknowledge the millions of others who were targeted and annihilated by the Nazis during this time. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, these include seven million Soviet civilians, three million Soviet prisoners of war, 1.8 million non-Jewish Polish citizens, 312,000 Serbians, 250,000 people with disabilities, between 250,000 and 500,000 Roma, 1,900 Jehovah’s Witnesses, hundreds of thousands of homosexuals, and many others. Yet, despite the massive numbers, these non-Jewish victims receive far less remembrance in Germany.

For instance, a significant number of Black individuals, both German and American, were also targeted by the Nazis. In alignment with Nazi ideology, this group was treated violently, subjected to medical abuse, and worked to death in concentration camps. Despite this, these victims are seldom remembered or memorialized. As Jennifer Neal notes, only four Stolpersteine for Black victims of the Holocaust have been laid in Germany. Two of these stones were implemented in 2021, well after the first stones were created in the 1990s. 

By acknowledging only the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, Martin and Smith’s conversation actually illustrates the failure of Germany to be “honest about its past harms.” For example, there is an urgent need to overcome the collective denial surrounding Germany’s history of colonization and genocide.

Violent Colonial Histories

Between 1884 and 1918, Germany, like many other European countries, conquered and forcefully obtained multiple colonies in Africa and Asia. After the 1884 Berlin Conference, Germany officially acquired Southwest Africa, Togo, Cameroon, and German East Africa in Africa; part of Samoa, northeastern New Guinea, and the Bismarck, Marshall, Caroline, and Mariana Islands in the Pacific; and Kiaochow in China. Although all these colonies were lost after World War I through the Treaty of Versailles, the violence which occurred in these places at the hands of their German colonizers must not be forgotten or dismissed. 

In particular, the Namibian Genocide, which occurred between 1904 and 1908 in Southwest Africa, led to the extermination of an estimated “80 percent of the Herero and half of the Nama people” living there. After rebelling against colonial rule, these groups were forced into labor and concentration camps by German troops. At the same time, in German East Africa, Germany’s violent suppression of the Maji-Maji uprising resulted in the deaths of approximately 75,000 Maji Maji warriors. Both of these brutal acts are seldom remembered in Germany.

Display case in the Alte Feste/Old Fort (now a museum commemorating Namibian independence) showing historical photos of Ovaherero and Nama prisoners of war in concentration camps as well as prisoners' chains. ("The Forgotten Genocide" by Raymond June is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.)

Where are the memorials and Stolpersteine dedicated to these victims? Why are these genocides and acts of mass violence not remembered in the same way the Holocaust is? Only in May 2021 did Germany officially recognize its actions in Namibia as a genocide. This occurred after several years of bilateral collaboration which failed to include the direct descendants of the targeted Herero and Nama people. Meanwhile, the Maji-Maji uprising has received even less coverage and recognition within Germany.

Germany’s Failure to Remember

While I was in Germany, I only came across one memorial dedicated to the country’s colonial history (Fig.1). It was a small plaque, in the shape of Namibia, located in the cemetery of a Berlin suburb. Unlike the centralized and highly-visited Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, or the plentiful Stolpersteine, this plaque was hidden and difficult to find. 

The new memorial plaque for the victims of German colonial rule in Namibia at the cemetery on Columbiadamm, Berlin-Neukölln. (Photo: Madison Boyer, 8 June 2022)

The brief historical description on the plaque indicates that it is dedicated to “the victims of German colonial rule in Namibia 1884 - 1914, in particular the colonial war from 1904 - 1907.” Such a vague description, which makes no direct reference to the Herero, Nama, or Germany’s genocidal actions, is strikingly insufficient. Yet, it's one of the only reminders of this colonial history that Germany has.

There is no question that the genocidal violence committed against Jews during the Holocaust deserves to be remembered, memorialized, and discussed. This is all the more true today as we see frequent reports of anti-Jewish violence in many countries, including the US. But it is highly problematic to praise Germany’s public memory culture without acknowledging its failure to come to terms with the country’s many other historical atrocities.

Furthermore, connecting the suffering of European Jews to that of Black Americans is meaningful, but it fails to include Black Germans or Africans in conversations about violence and slavery. This represents a significant missed opportunity to promote transnational solidarity based on common experiences grounded in colonialism and white supremacy. 

The NPR story exhibits this deficiency: in its celebration of Germany’s remembrance, it is complicit in the ongoing process of forgetting the country’s diverse and complicated history. Only until Germany takes larger steps towards remembering the other victims of the Holocaust, and especially its colonial-era violence, can it truly be described as “an exemplar of being honest about its past harms.”