Growing up Black in Nazi Germany - Esther Anumu Fordham
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- Опубликовано: 12 июл 2018
- Esther Fordham was a Black woman who, born October 9, 1925 in Hamburg, Germany, came of age during the Nazi era. In this December, 1995 conversation with artist Frank Fitzgerald, Esther discusses her youth, schooling and the reaction of classmates and adult Germans to her specialness. As world conditions darken and war grows to become the norm, she finds discrimination, fear, sorrow and horror, but also generosity and hope.
After the bombings cease, amid the rubble Esther meets and marries an American soldier. Giving birth in an Army hospital, she wonders why she has a whole maternity ward to herself. Later, living in America, she slowly learns about prejudice, segregation and lynchings.
Throughout all, Esther Anumu Fordham strives to see "people as human beings" and succeeds.
In 1997, after having raised a family and worked 20+ years for an airline, Esther retired and returned to Germany. At age 94 years, Esther passed away in 2019.
Family photographs courtesy of Esther Fordham and Dominique Seidler Warias.
Photos of Esther years after the interview - www.ffitz.com/EstherFordham/d...
Two 8mm "home movies" made of Esther's nursery class outings to New York's Central Park may be of interest. She can be heard and seen briefly in each -
In the Magic Machine (1985)
• In the Magic Machine (...
Steiner School Nursery Class in Snowy Central Park (1985)
• Steiner School Nursery...
Hans Massaquoi: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany
• Hans Massaquoi: Growin...
Researched report of harsher life of Blacks in Germany
AFRO-GERMANS DURING THE HOLOCAUST encyclopedia.ushmm.org/conten...
Being black in Nazi Germany www.bbc.com/news/world-africa...
Black Germans Say It’s Time to Look Inward
www.nytimes.com/2020/10/04/st...
As Esther's son, I would like to congratulate Frank on his "timely" video of my mother's life "Growing up Black in Nazi Germany." She gives a heartwarming account of her journey in the face of evil and destruction: For me, it reinforces our innate goodness and illustrates the "timely" need for all human beings to strive to develop a Universal Human consciousness that transcends being of color and stateless,-(citizen without a country) in a world polarized by good and evil!
Fascinating life she led - I didn't get too many opportunities to ask my grandmother about those times but I really enjoyed listening to Esther.
She's adorable. Fascinating story.
Well I just love your sweet mother! Are all of you in Germany now?
I'm so glad your mother was able to share her story. She went through a lot. It's seldom that the stories of black people get told, let alone black people in Nazi Germany. I'm thankful to hear her experience.
Dear Bill, your mother's Hamburg accent is particularly heartwarming. In Hamburg it is called "barmbeker missingsch". if she is still alive please send her best regards from Hamburg Wilhelmsburg.
She didn't experience color prejudice in Nazi Germany. It must have been shocking for her and her family to arrive in the US and feel color segregation.
@@cain1830 there was racism and it was because of her skin it was just done on an individual basis , they didn't have citizenship , because the population of color was so small that they did not need large scale programs.
@@shedreamsbigfunches931
Yes.
And maybe it has to do with the German rationality that the undertone in conversations of discriminating remarks are overheard.
And after a certain time the people get to know you better and nothing but kind.
Here for example Werner Herzog:
ruclips.net/video/m9P_sxaaMJE/видео.html
01:07:42
The rise of Hitler is evident of the racism that existed before he took power. He was supported by racist citizens.
@@raejae5491 Yeah, that is true, but German racism was mostly directed against jews and gypsies and gay people and other minorities that were there in larger numbers. Black people were more of a curiosity in Germany in the 1930s, akin to a unicorn or a pink elephant. Therefore, the government and most people did not have a negative view regarding black people. They simply had not much experience regarding black people. The government did not care for those few people. So it can that one country is behaving deeply racist toward one minority (like jews) while simply not caring much about other minorities. Facist Italy, for example, was less racist than Germany in the 1930s. Moussolini simply did not care that much about race; for him, being italian was a way of live instead of something you were born into...
almost all black Germans said the exact same thing, they never really experienced racism under the nazis but they got a up close and personal experience in the USA, my grandma said the exact same thing and she lived in Germany during the nazi era and she went on about her daily life without hassles
So why do the media say 1million blacks were gassed by nazis and they wanted to kill the blacks too 🤷🏽♂️
your grandma was black?
@@badnewsbrown4489 who owns the media
Plenty of Black people ended up in concentration camps so I don’t get this assumption.
And after the Nazis had exterminated the Jews, were they going to allow Black people to live in Germany "without hassles"?
At least in the United States, there was no planned genocide of Blacks or Jews.
Furthermore, you seem to be forgetting that in 1937, Hitler ordered that all of the Rhineland Blacks be sterilized as part of the nazi eugenics program. That's hardly living one's "daily life without hassles"!
German here. This an EXTREMELY interesting interview with lots of unknown details for me.
@@ShakibBaig1 yes, you have good and bad people in every society.
My mom lived in Germany (military child) in the 50's and said the only racism she faced was from the Americans stationed nearby.
Same here i lived there 5yrs and never had a problem..
Rosalyn Martin my brother is a Vietnam vet. The only time he got really hurt was when he was stationed in Germany for two years before going to Vietnam. He unknowingly went into a “segregated” bar for American soldiers and his fellow American soldiers beat him up. So, I am not surprised at her account. Fascinating.
@@mariafalade1158 yes it is fascinating. My mother almost got kicked out of Germany when another student (white girl) called her the n word and hit my mother, my mom slapped her back and the military intervened and arrested my mom (cause she was black). The German kids that witnessed the incident stood up for my mother in court and the number of witnesses were the only reason she and my family didn't get kicked out of the military and Germany. Sadly not much has changed in the last 60+ years. God bless us all
Sounds right. Heck there are more swastikas here in America and its illegal in Germany. Go figure...
@@cain1830 that was south of Hamburg I’m sure she said
I really enjoyed Esther’s life story. My 81 year old white Mother is French and she married my Black American father in France in1956, he was in the US Army & stationed in her tiny French village of Angevillers. In 1958 they arrived in the USA as a married couple with my brother (blond hair w/ green eyes & white skin) and my Mother recounted the same story that she new nothing of the racism and segregation that existed in the USA. There was no such thing in Europe.... prejudice due to race. My Black father hadn’t told her. She found out later that is why they arrived in Manhattan, NY instead moving to the tiny racist, segregated town of Wilson, North Carolina where my father was from. Young love can endure and survive anything! They are still married to this day October 2020. 63 years later
Bravo Bravo we need more of these stories Esther could my great untie, I"m togolese canadian
Love always Lydia
Linda Simmons Racism in Europe is quite strong to this day is my experience.
Yes, @Karol Kupec , I do know racism is strong in Europe currently.... I suspect it is and never will be as bad as the US. In my experience growing up and visiting Europe and my family in France and traveling in Europe as an adult I have experienced ”Nationalism” as a bias more so than racism of black -vs-white. I’m sure your experience of racism living there is much worse then mine as an educated, bi-racial, tri-lingual American woman visiting as a tourist. I just wanted to recount my Black American Father’s and White French Mother’s experience in France in the 50’s and 60’s, compared to Esther’s experience in Germany in the 40’s and 50’s as a Black German as they were recounted similarly. Many Black Jazz musicians and actors chose Paris, France as their home because they were not discriminated against and were accepted and loved contrary to living in the USA during the 1930’s onwards.
✌️✌🏻✌🏼✌🏽✌🏾✌🏿
Fantastic story
Thanks for sharing your story...good to hear that your parents are still doing well.
I have never heard of a personal account of a black person or family in Nazi Germany. I must say that this is an extraordinary account- it must be preserved for humanity eternally.
@daysRnumbered which country or region did you go to school to?
@CannonFodder what kind of narrative do you mean?
@@WoofyMcDoodle Well here in America we were taught that Nazi Germans discriminated against anyone who wasn’t Hitler’s standard of the “perfect race” meaning white with blond hair and blue eyes. So we were under the impression that blacks , as well as people from any other ethnic group, were treated with the same hatred as the Jews.
@@WoofyMcDoodle narrative surrounding National Socialism
She faced less racists prejudice in Germany than USA smh
Man that is so true
In Nazi Germany she was better off being of African descent than if she were of Jewish descent. Think about that for a minute.
@@DesmondDaddy there is no Jewish descent you effing idiot lol
FYI ruclips.net/video/pcfPVj5qR1E/видео.html
Misutasutanto the German Jews were not Jews by ethnicity?
What a witness to history this lady is. She is a treasure
YES !!!! SHE`s a TRUE treasure!
A "Fundgrube" indeed.
right.... get real
This is so interesting and fascinating. May she rest in everlasting power🙏🏾 My great grandfather was a black South African who served in the Red Cross during WW1, stationed in South West Africa (now Namibia) which was then a German colony until 1919. He eventually found himself in Germany during that time eventually returning to the South Africa before WW2 and the intensification of Apartheid in 1948. He spoke fluent German. He was born in 1895 and died at home in Soweto township, South Africa in 1992 when I was 17 years old. The story of Black Africans in Germany during the Great Wars reaches far and wide, and needs to be explored more fully. It only dawns on me now, later in my early 20s I landed up working at a German company based in South Africa, where I learned some German myself and was courted by a German expatriate who thought I was beautiful. Such serendipity.
Wow thats an interessting story, never forget your ancestors!
My Haitian Oma, whom is fluent in Deutsch, lived in Germany for several years.
She loved that country and told me she never experienced racism back then either.
People are always shocked she's speaks Deutsch..lol
🤥 liar
@@ThatJew305 Not all white people are racist!!
I grew up around mostly white kids dated white men and even married a white man.
White people are very cool🙂😊
I'm learning German as well!!
@@ThatJew305 DEUTSCHLAND IST SEHR SCHÖN!!🙂
I had the pleasure of having met this incredible woman here in Berlin years ago.We shared Thanksgiving and Chritmas ..She was an extraordinary Spirit. Regal, royal and refined a presence to behold. I'm so grateful for the this documentation of her story.Blessings and Gratitude!
Do you know if she is still alive???
@@MADNEWYORKER914
Hi,
Mrs.Fordham is no longer with us from what I was told.She has a lovely granddaughter carrying on her legacy...Her daughter's story is also really interesting too..3 generations of exceptional ladies..
@@siggydavis
She was a beautiful lady!!!
@@siggydavis May she rest in peace, love, and strength.
@@siggydavis Lived to the ripe old age of 94. What a lady.
well Jesse Owens did say that he didn't feel snubbed by Hitler, but rather his own president.
take that as you will.
@John Creighton Owens had a picture shaking hands with the German leader. He said so himself.
@John Creighton You fucking people and your endless lies, lies to me and other children in the history classrooms, lies about what government leadership stands for. Your days are numbered and not another hour will be added.
Hitler actually wrote a personal congrats to him, too.
Racism is worst in America than every in world in America 80% are racist supremacist kkk and Nazis
@OligarchySlayer i heard that hitler shook his hand BUT it was for propaganda purposes
What an intriguing story. The whole time, I was wondering why she decided to come to America, especially when her marriage didn't seem to bring her much happiness. It must have been a bit of a shock to come from a place where being black did not hold the same charge as it did here in the U.S. I am so happy to see the update, that she finally left the US and returned to her home, and now travels around the world. Wishing her all happiness. A lovely person.
It's about the numbers. One or two people from a different continent poses no threat to the native population. But when thousands show up, that's when a strife for natural resources (women, jobs) occur and racial division happens. It's very unusual for populations to tolerate foreigners of a large enough quantity to pose a threat to their own ethnic future.
@@rovhalt6650 true
are you stupid? germany is a horrible country. clearly u are slow. america is what germany wish it became
@@rovhalt6650 Thats a very fitting analysis i would say yes
@@rovhalt6650 it's just when (at least i think so) 10% of new foreigners doing crimes, than the other 90% good foreigners who just want a home and work without being a trouble to anyone are put in the same wardrobe.
10% from 100 000 are 10 000 bad foreigners and native people feel that more crimes than before the immigrants were here now happens.
I think the hate would stop very fast, when criminal foreigners/immigrants would just instantly be kicked out for crimes where they molest or assault someone.
*If you don't behave like a civilized human being you are throwing away your right for peace and a better life in this country*
Get their finger prints and kick them out for good.
When this will happen i think we would see in a year already that immigrants/foreigners are also just normal humans like us and didn't want to be an inconvenience for us. (I know there would still be some racist idiots, but who cares for them, let them be if they only trash talk)
But that's just my thoughts.
"The history is written by the victories"
I'd rather have the states write the history rather than fascist Germany. They kinda wrote it themselves by keeping good records of how many people they killed in concentration camps
I am German and grew up right after Hitler in the ruins of my city...This womans Story moves me to the Core ..God bless her
Same here. My father was born the same year as Esther and to hear her story provides me with a very different perspective. He passed away in May.
She is a treasure. PBS are you listening?
@Scott Norris Scott, things are changing rapidly. The human spirit is rising rapidly. We're waking up with the reminder that we're one race. Women are organizing all over the world!!! Trust me, you've the right idea. Love, share love. That's the key! Everyone will not appreciate it or you but trust me, More will embrace you with great appreciation then not. 👍
Ken Burns are you listening?
This story needs to be told to the world.
i understand her. As a black who grew up in rural France and my white wife, the US was weird experience. We live in Germany now but my two years in New York weird. People seem too focused on color always.
What do you mean ? You can say it in French. Je parle français
Yes I think Americans are really dumb. Maybe 🤔 it’s too much flouride in their water.
@@thermologo3451 He told you. People in the US are too focussed on colors **ALWAYS**
THIS IS BETTER THAN TV - SHE'S BLACK - SHE'S GERMAN - AND - SHE CAN TELL US LIFE SHE EXPERIENCED UNDER ADOLF HITLER... - WHAT A INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTARY
I find extremely interesting that they weren’t treated as bad as the gypsies, Jewish, and many other people. I find it very interesting that they weren’t treated worse than what she is describing.
@@teemarie5478Hitler had the same plan for black as the gypsies
There were few black people, so they weren't in the authorities' focus. Hamburg also had a more open society because it was a merchant town. The children of French African colonial soldiers who occupied the Rhineland were treated very badly.
@@gnommg those children of african colonial soldiers were black ...and there were more black people in germany at that time than gypsies for sure from ww1 alone so ...germans just were not as rabidly hateful of black people as the white people in the u.s are
the only other place like the u.s. in this respect was old south africa
the nazis DID however force some black people to be sterilized
Wayy better than TV. This is so good. The mainstream media is run by people who are
What an incredible life she has lived. Her accent is beautiful, it's not a thick German accent as I would've expected. I'm thankful she gave this interview. We hardly hear the stories of other minorities in Hitler's Germany.
Bill, I enjoyed listening to your mother and her candid experiences in Germany and America. Glad she made it back to Germany and looked happier in her nineties.
21:04 “the whole family survived”.
It is a miracle!
God bless them.
my family from Prussia was not so lucky, almost all were exterminated after 1945
Sorry but the gentleman interviewing Esther is trying hard find nothing. She did not experience racism in a way black people did in USA. Bless you Esther
I agree with you. He wanted some sort controversy. There is no need to be sorry about your comment.
Exactly..he must be surprised by it
I didn't hear any sort of 'agenda' from the interviewer; seemed to me he was just asking questions to hear her experience. Didn't try to put words in her mouth, just let her speak and tell her story.
I think he was asking based on what he knew or was told about Germany at that time and it was good that he did ask those kind of questions because it gabe her a chance to give insight to what it was really like and what the people in her world were like compared to what has been shown in movies and rumors.
@TheDay Cometh Various tribes sold prisoners of war into slavery. Just because you’re offended by the fact that Germany didn’t treat their black citizens as less than human (less than animals, really) in the way the US did, it doesn’t negate the fact that those who participated in the slave trade were selling prisoner least of war nor their own people. Oh, let’s not forget who bought them. Nice try. You can stay mad, tho. 🥳
A quite incredible woman and not the kind of story that many of us who obtain our knowledge and information in the west, have ever heard before. I am glad to know that she went back home for her final years, completing the circle of life, inspirational. Great effort Frank Fitzgerald, for bringing this to us.
This kind of story is not rare to hear in the West, especially here in Europe. May I ask from which country you are ? I wouldn’t be surprised if your answer is the USA.
The point is she is lucky born in germany than in the US back then.
Sad truth.
Is it any better today.? My friend is an English teacher in Germany. Being alive to tomorrow never comes across his thoughts. Not the same for the bruthas in the States who have fought in all amerikkkas silly wars, for what? To b 3rd class when they get back home
Even now
Nothing changes she's lucky already. The funny things In 1939 america already closing the door for jews refugee how many been killed afterward? Palestinean people accepting with warm welcomed what happens to them right now? Lol.
So true
I love this woman, I know she has passed but I wish I was her friend and could spend lots of time together. She is remarkable.
The National Socialists in Germany abolished public schools just like the Socialists in our teacher’s unions want to do here
Totally agree. I wish I could have known her. I’m more ashamed every day of our history of racism in the US.
@@jsotirakis 2
As an American Black girl in Germany (7 years as military dependents), it was the American White children from the US southern states that were prejudice. I suffered continual racial slanders and ostracizing. In 1963-1970 we lived in the aftermath of Hitlers Germany.
Did the Germans really k!ll millions of Jewish ppl?
Very interesting. So did you lived in a military base? And if yes, how much time did you spend with germans outside of the base?
Yes on base, we always encountered German people in town, playgrounds. Most adult Germans just stared at us. My mom said this is because of Hitler who tried to rid the country of any ethnic people. But the American White, dragged their hatred in their children……
Such a kind soul. I wish there were far more people like her in this world. It would be a much happier and joyful place. God bless her.
Esther Fordham is a great story teller. Her memory is sharp and she looks good for her age. Rest in power 1925-2019 ❤️
yes she looks great
Thank you Mrs. Fordham for your testimony and warnings.
Right she looked great
Wow!! She lived a long, good life❤️
Great story teller. (Rest in Peace).
The interviewer digging deep for dirt but didnt find any 😂
True🤣
How sad that you hear the trauma and the sadness in her voice of the abandonment that she had as a child. abandoned by her father 1st then abandoned in an orphanage by her mother. you could see it in her retelling of the story that the pain of that is greater the racism experienced later. our pain and trauma we carry with us to our last breath it cannot be shaken away.
Her story is to be treasured for those who take the time to listen. Thank you for this 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
It's funny how the interviewer is getting frustrated that she isn't saying bad things about German society during them days.
Germany is one of the worst for this kind of sociomasturbatory auto-flagellation that has gripped the western world.
I agree.
I watched the whole thing and I didn't see where he was frustrated. sometimes he looks a bit intrigued but that's it.
@@Victor-ly1cj It was in his voice and questions
@@blacknemsis2456 exactly, he was intrigued. is understandable why he would be confused/surprised about the reality of black germans in that period. I really don't think this documentary was made to shed a bad light on german people
Whe I was a child in the early sixties, i recall the old Black soldiers say how much they loved Germany, and only left because they were under orders, and now sorry they never did return.
I had the same experience in the early nineties with a lot of them, as well as with the Latinos that had been based there.👍
Back in 60s, Germany was the only country in Europe that welcomes asylum seeking people from Africa ,Ethiopia.
Back on those days All Ethiopian Royal police force vehicles was nothing but a German made automobiles fleets
through out Ethiopia.
@mark q awesome poor you
@mark q awesome you need help
Exactly 💯
The fact that she faced more racism in the us than in nazi germany💀
No shit Americans to this day are the most racist country that is considered civilized out there
Very surprising to me as well, so are americans more racist than nazis? Are nazis more tolerable of poc than americans? Hard to imagine america being worse for blacks than nazi germany but idk, maybe its better based on her account. Could also be indoctrination from the education and propaganda in Germany as well as in America. Would be great to get more perspectives on this including her sisters and brother in law who seemed to be as she put it 'more colorist'
Also her experience between the city vs the country folk in south Germany after the war was very tribal or as she put it 'klanish'
Americas racism, apartheit and colonialism was a great inspiration for the nazis in the first place.
@@marihanderkhan5663 so was marxism
This interviewer seems to be angry that she lived fine through this.
It is his prejudice in him he probably hates black people and cant understand why nazis could treat black people better than jews
Interesting that she never knew real racism til she came into contact with Americans.
Besides the concentration camps????
@@Juan-wh5le she never went in one...
@@Juan-wh5le what is a concentration camp? Was that where this guy, the American president Adolf Hitler concetrated Haunebus? It's all so confusing.
Did you not watch the actual interview then?
@@Juan-wh5le Labor camps. Not racist. Read a book. Every other nation also had labor camps.
Sounds like living in the USA was scarier for her than living in Germany through the war
No doubt. Which was why she "didn't ever feel comfortable here", and why she later returned to Germany. It's good to know that her mother's decendents did not suffer the demise of women in the us did
this is the reason why the rest of the world doesn't like Americans they just "pretend" when they are around
It's really interesting how you're only able to debate on who was more racist, from all the information given here.
@@decklan887 I never said that
@@kushking420 my reply wasn't referring to you. It's for the other individuals who replied.
My father was stationed in Germany before I was born. My mother befriended a German woman who was also married to a black US soldier. They both got pregnant around the same time and this German woman and her kids from a previous marriage which were full German ended up moving back to the states with us. The German woman who’s name is Rose is like my second mother. I can remember back in the 80’s going to the store with her alone and the looks we would get. I was the one black kid in the small town. She would walk with me and hold me tightly. We were in south Texas and racism was a norm. She always would tell me how handsome I was and that if we were back in her village I’d have all the women. Lol I was only 6 at the time.
Esther always saw the good in people, no matter what the circumstances were. That's why she remained, so open minded all of her life.
Very good life story.
Thank You
❤
I love ❤️ this BLACK Queen being interviewed. Smart , beautiful and thoughtful.
I could listen to her speak for hours...her voice is so soothing. Such a strong spirit bless you Esther and peaceful Journey
Riiight. Me too. She has such a sweet spirit.
Jesse Owens has nothing but good things to say about Germany
This was a touching story. I’m very grateful to have come across it. My mother grew up in Hamburg as a child during the war. I can’t help but wonder if she might have crossed paths with this lady during that time. I loved hearing her speak - she sounded just like my grandmother. It gave me a warm feeling to hear that accent again. Schlaf wohl liebe frau.
I grew up in Germany (military family) as a child and throughout all my teen years and the only racism I can recall to have experienced there were from the other Americans I went to school with.
edit: I lived off base with the exception of the last 4 years of me living there in hs. I attended a German International school prior and most of my family, friends, and baby-sitters were German for those asking. And yes, I am non mixed black American woman.
*I am speaking from my own experience. yes racism exists but I was fortunate enough to not have a negative experience with local Germans and my heart goes out to those who did.
I believe it
But the German people are supposed to be some of the most warlike and racist Europeans. But she was treated better in 1940's Germany than Blacks in the USA.
Should black solders have defected in mass to the German side?
Did any Black soldier fight for the Germans?
@@freemn the most racist europeans are by far italians and french don’t get you fooled
@@babsjob8729 I mean I’m italian but that’s fair. as the new generation we’re trying our best to become less racist but you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get rid of something that’s been shoved into your mind since you were born. I feel very ashamed of the racism my country’s known for but I swear to god we’re trying to make it better
@@freemn there were some black regiments in the wermacht but not the ss. There were also Russian French Indian regiments and even a very small British free corps they used whatever men they could.
She has such sweet voice for her age, and shes beautiful too.
Once in a while you come across angelic people. I feel I listened to one protected by her humanity and inherent goodness. An angel
thats true ..
It's mind blowing as a black woman she didn't experience racism in Nazi Germany but did in America.
They had to keep her inside at recess because the kids were pestering her because of her dark skin. Then she couldn’t go to uni or participate in sports because she was black.
That’s not racism?
@@TP-om8of thats a lie
@@yeelanma9165 OK, so you’re calling her a liar the. Maybe you have more background on the real story than I do.
@@TP-om8ofthat's racism . But I'll. Rather that kind other than slavery and being Lynched
@@TheHoodVoice2024 you’re not making any sense. The woman said she couldn’t participate in activities because of her skin colour. Her words. Is that racism. Yes.
I'm so glad she made this personal account of her youth in Germany, many people would be afraid to offer information that creates the real and conflicted image of the past. Its great to get the good and bad of history, so we can be better informed about the present
Life is usually messy involving good and bad.
Yes. This reminds me of the danger of the single story and fights against a single almost comercialized narraive and instead gives an objective personalized account of how things happened.
Excellent.
I think she realized that she was more accepted in Germany than America during this interview
Too bad the interviewer kept race bating her meanwhile the Democrats and their KKK were ruling in many States in America and had FDR for President.
@@judgedredd8876 both parties don’t give af about black people, I thought this was common knowledge by now
@@ApparationsOfGloom The Republican Party and the Negro Republican Party was formed to provide equal rights. While not perfect today the Republicans are much preferable to the Democrats especially the black Democrats who have been keeping blacks opressed so they can profit from their situation. In that sense they DO care about blacks especially single mothers their goal is the destruction of the American Family and thus America.
@@judgedredd8876 ok keep living in a fantasy
@@ApparationsOfGloom The role of Political Parties is not to adjust policies and make laws for black people. Or for white, yellow, red, etc. Why would you want to go back to that? That's discrimination. Democrats love it!
This is an great interview, I learn so much about how Africans were treated in Germany better than the USA. My wife is German and was born in Husum Germany about 2 hours north of Hamburg.Why can people live in peace, hard to understand. Still till date there is 8.2 million refugees all over the world. It is a total outrage people can't live in peace
its easy to understand , the earth is the devils dominion and a lot of people are happy to have him as master , even if they don't know it consciously . look at american schools , they took out belief in GOD and racial equality and replaced it with brainwashing for sexual perversion and hatred against whites
Hands down, riveting. It's the best story I've ever heard. I am amazed. This is a great find. I loved this lady after the first sentence.
I stumbled onto this video whilst doing some cooking.
I just placed my device on it's stand and kept on going.
So riveting.
This lady had a way of speaking.
Her accent kept me into the account.
To the videographer.
Thanks.
The ironi of the whole situation with America who stand for democracy and freedom but failed to give these liberties and justice to its own black citizenry.
This woman is a limited edition true national treasure. Don't know how I got here , but I'm Glade I did.
*glad
what a wonderful women
The RUclips rabbit hole is how you got here. 😂
me too
Absolutely!
Everything about her is amazing! Her spirit comes through the screen! Wish I could have met her in person! May she now rest in Heaven! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
being a german myself i never heard about this part of the nazi time, espeacially not in school. its really interesting and kinda nice to know that she had this experience. And the word "Fundgrube" sounded really cute.
As a kid my black family and I were stationed in Germany with the us army back in the 80’s. It was the best placed I’ve ever lived. I didn’t want to leave. They love Black people, adore diversity. They treated us so amazing. The people were the best.
I can vouch for your comment. My father was stationed there as well In the late 70s early 80s at Bitburg Air force base
@@TheBLACKMQQN I was stationed at Bitburg Germany and I had a great time. The only problem I had was with the americans not the germans
@@le7mule21 go back or stop crying
If you ever stay in Hamburg youre invited to stay at my home ❤
@@christophermattheis1998 what is your purpose?
Jesse Owen's said Hitler congratulated him while the American president turned his back on him
Yes, I've always heard the same thing.
I don’t think that’s true, I think hitler was mad Germany lost . He didn’t congratulate owens
no hitler was never scheduled to congratulate anyone but Roosevelt was and didnt
She must be in her 70s in this interview, but she has a young woman voice. Like woman in her 20s.
I agree, Esther was 70 years old at the time of her interview in 1995. Based on the information she disclosed, she was probably born around 1925,. She did sound younger than her age.
Because its fake, I live in Germany, and my grandma didn't see a black person till the US army came to the town during the war.
@@egolf5089 So, according to your statement, because your "grandma" didn't see a black person until the end of the war, there were no black people in Germany at all? Makes so much sense, lol.
@@egolf5089 just cause your grandma didn't see one didn't mean that black people lived in germany. Stop being ignorant
@@egolf5089 Your statement sounds very ignorant , just because your granny didn't see black people does not mean they're wasn't any .
God bless your lovely soul Esther Anumu Fordham.
a grand awakening is occuring.
She is totally german, the cushions she has, the clock in the backround, exactly like my grandmothers!
@Kabukichō she is German, she said at the start of the video she was born there
I suspect she was eventually granted German citizenship. Regardless of her status, she was culturally German.
@Kabukichō how does it work then? When she was born in germany, did she not gain german Citizenship?
@Kabukichō would you consider yourself african aswell then? And what does the US have to do with anything?
@Kabukichō ethnicity, is your culture and traditions. She was born and raised in germany and therefore grew up in that culture, with their traditions and way of life. So yeah she is ethnically german.
Such a lovely woman and so wise too.
Great Story and a great Human.
"Wise". Would you say that if she was white?
@@siristarburst9 Yes. Wisdom comes with age and experience not skin colour. I'm sure we all know that. Why wouldn't they say she's wise if she was white, Asian, latina, attack chopper?
@@siristarburst9 what point are you trying to make here? 🤔
@@kealebogamolo6685 i agree so much.
What a beautiful, sad and interesting story. Thank you for posting this on RUclips.
The interviewer is experiencing so much cognitive dissonance in this, it's a gold mine. He's trying so hard to dig for dirt on the Germans. Imagine, if this black woman had said she was mistreated, we'd all have heard her name by now. But no...she experienced good treatment, so no one can know.
I can imagine all the stories she is telling, is it just me? This should be a film
foreal this needs to be a film
Looking forward for it
There is a difference between imagination and historical fact.
I would love to write it
This reminds me of my great-grandfather when he told us stories about the Third Reich and WW2. He lived through all of it as a white German, who had to fight in the war and later on had black grand- and great-grandchildren.
She has such a pure heart that it gives her an aura of innocence, after all the hardships of life she still has no hate for others. I am happy she went back to a better life.
"back to a better life" among ghoulish germans? lol
"back to a better life" of ignorance/non-caring?
Not only did the ghouslish germans holocausted the jews, they ALSO 'practiced' holocausting African people in Namibia just a few short decades before!
Having "aura of innocence" and "no hate" are fine qualities; but ignorance is never fine.
"no hate" can, and should, coexist with knowledge.
I felt that too. I struggle with my response to hate, she really is an inspiration to those of us that are still working on our spirits
@@nirbija Black American by any chance?
@@ngbeat1616
Hope you are not hinting and implying that only your "Black American" can realize/recognize history and Truth when they are as plain as day?
@@ngbeat1616 they didn’t say anything wrong to be honest
Thank you for recording her experience. She is a beautiful soul. I truly enjoyed listening to her.
Hands down the most interesting, fascinating, impressive, heartbreaking hour I have ever experienced on RUclips. No Bling, just Bam. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful job, thank you.
This is underrated!
What a cool woman. Makes me proud to be human.
I like how the media always portrays that if you were black in Na#i Germany, you we're doomed. Meanwhile in reality you just lived normally
Mfw the nazis treated afro-germans normally en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_black_people_in_Nazi_Germany?wprov=sfla1
Precisely how many Black Germans died in Nazi concentration camps is not known, but estimates put the figure at between 25,000 and 50,000. The relatively low numbers of Black people in Germany, their wide dispersal across the country and the Nazis' focus on the Jews were some factors that made it possible for many Black Germans to survive the war.s the country and the Nazis' focus on the Jews were some factors that made it possible for many Black Germans to survive the war.
@@gibraltersteamboatco888 what’s up with media always victimizing black people and Jews? What about it the stories they got caught lying about?
@@gibraltersteamboatco888 can you send a link where they have pics of those gas chambers they were in
@@gibraltersteamboatco888 bro there were literally black nazis what are you talking about……
What a delightful woman. Her story is paradigm shattering. God bless her 🙏❤
I understand what she told about being rather unwelcomed in Southern Germany: "it was not about my skin colour, but about "being not from here"".
Even today, many rural bavarians are mistrusting or at least skeptic towards people from northern Germany. Saupreißn!
Agreed. Lower Saxons don't like Bavarians and vice versa. Plenty of Germans cringe when Laderhosen, Drindle and Oktoberfest is associated with German identity.
@@sztypettto You should come to Croatia. Croatia is about 5x more diverse than Germany, and when I from northern Croatia hear about how people think I live next to the sea, well, it makes me feel they aren't talking about my identity at all.
So true. Almost everybody here in North Germany despite the Bavarians. Schluchtenscheißer we call them 😁. And nobody understands them. Horrible dialect.
@@bonkisay1331 My German is really bad. I haven't practiced since college but if my translation is correct,, you call people from Bavaria "Canyons of Shit" XD
This comment is so true! Everyone who is not from there. I'm from Berlin and my friend moved there and the other people at school asked her how she was able to stand all of the foreigners in berlin! When their class came to visit Berlin they were always complaining about how dirty it is and shitty it supposedly is here. Once someone there came back with a tan from vacation they would comment that they look like a disgusting n-word. When she was about to move back to Berlin years later (naturally under these circumstances) one of her former employers there even tried to tell her that there are so many foreigners in Berlin that they were already building new concentration camps and that that was a good thing! This was 4 years ago in the Bavarian forrest and most of the family have made plans to move back as they all experienced bullying for being from Berlin
This lady has such poise. She's a beautiful soul - and an inspiration to us all.
Yes, she sure is. She is so forthright, so pure.
She was brought up with dignity because she never had radicalism rammed down her throat happy she returned to her beloved germany
@@jeanettereynolds3151
She reminds me of my now resting elders. In the nicest warmest way. Her years are many, her perspective unique and her wisdom earned through the years. We need to listen.
@@TheBatugan77 than you I am u.k and it is4 am lol. You must be America thank you.
@@renataostertag6051 ¹qq¹qqiqas
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It must have been scary , going from a friendly community, with neighbours who were nice to you, to going to America, to the south, with real hateful dangerous racism..
I really do appreciate this woman with pure heart and soul. This is an unfold, untold story. I am a Togolese but I have never knew or heard such a heartbreaking, humbling, uncluttered, unbuttoned and wholeheartedly story. I am truly blessed to come across this story. I am very stocked and this same time amazed that even then she experienced no racism and rejection in Germany as a black woman. This is contrasted story compare to black Americans who were brought here et even those that are legally born here in USA although this land has never belong to the Whites. I cannot stop listening to this story. I thought Germany was a blood thirsty against all but only white Germans. I am 66 years old man and I am speechless to hear this. This is factual in real time and moment. She must be surprised here in USA since she moved to USA. All blessings to here for sharing this wonderful and memorable story of all times, a hidden story never told anywhere. Thank you...
Both Bill and Frank , as a Catholic , I can confortable say your mother might be a saint literally!, she is an example of a human exposed to all lot of situations from her child hood to a wife with family situations and of course the Nazi experience, she taught me tolerance and forgiveness, not once did she use hate or foul words regarding people who hurt her . Her smile .... her soothing voice ..... the way she goes into memory lane and instead of hate she shows a sense of a mercy that you don’t see in 2020 , her eyes have a peace that you can’t buy or sign with a treaty , because she is a gifted human . So much love I am in tears and feel obligated to love more , because I want what she has PEACE, thank you , Blesssings! 🕊🌏🕊🌎🕊🌍🕊❤️
Her gentle and wise voice was the key to the whole interview.
Hatred just spews more hatred. I cant wait for the day to come when we all view eachother as brothers and sisters. Black, White, German, Polish, Christian, Muslim, etc. We allow evil to thrive in the world through politics and hateful people. God bless Esther. Glad you made it through.
HAHA dang brother, have you been drinking?
Lol
Humans segregate one another. It's in our DNA. On the day we all have the same skin colour and all look and sound the same... we will still find something to oppress each other over.
👐👐👐
So true Joshua
I think the most profound statement she said to me was "she looks at people as human beings, there are good and bad in all people".
That’s true, but there are also stereotypical traits of different groups.
@@rhysnichols8608 like ?
@@sharmaducatel9079
Asians have a higher average IQ, Europeans are overwhelmingly dominate in strength based sports, Africans have average higher testosterone, etc. All races are unique and have their own cultures.
This interview is among the absolute best I’ve seen since I’ve been roaming the net. This reminds me of the fact that your socialization as a child makes you who you are as an adults. Despite her color/race, this ladies life experience prior to migration was so far removed from those of us on this side of the pond. A certain sense of innocence was always there to the point of naivety. It’s fascinating to hear first hand from an actual Afro German who lived in that time about the fact that blacks in some weird way had it better than some other lighter complected groups. The flip side of that is that many of the so called liberators who were over there ostensibly to free the world of oppression and tyrany, were treating people who looked just like this lady as if the were worse than dogs. I’m happy that she actually got to a point where she understood the animus towards caucasians meted out by her American in laws. Lovely lady. May she RIP
The fact that the person is even alive already tells us a lot about both her and Germany.
Idk if shes still alive this interview was in 1995
@@shrek19yearsago78 yes but you get the point, she made it past 1945
Uh no it doesn't tell us much. Lol many Jews made it out as well
but there were probably way less black people so that she grew up in hamburg and wasnt harmed says actually a lot. its a fact america is such a racist country wtf
@@DannewK the only racists in America are black, white Americans are literally becoming a minority
I’m a black woman and I stayed in Holland for six years.And I never experienced the amount of racism that I experience here in my own country.The Dutch People seem to be more open and excepting to people of different races and different cultures.
The Dutch people are some of the most racist people in Europe.
If you're not a threat as an ethnic group to the predominant population...
Nothing stopping you from living there if you dislike the USA
Liar.
@M Reid Canadians are super racist. Sorry. You're not really from there.
Mrs. Fordham was an excellent storyteller. Great Interview.
Wow! What an interesting story and a courageous woman! This was a nice video! Listening to her story and perspective reminds me of the many talks I had with my grandmother who grew up in the South. They had it much harder and yet had a very full life and more forgiveness and understanding of human behavior than many of us do today. Thanks!
I can hear her Hamburg accent even if she speaks English as I am coming from Hamburg. A touching story, thank you!
So pretty! 31:24
Ich bin Inder, aber seit 2 jahren, studiere ich in Hamburg, and i was able to realize this as well, She speaks just like all my neighbors.
@Joe How would you put the words correctly?
@@PianistStefanBoetel Like this: _"I can hear her Hamburg accent even though she speaks English, as I am also from Hamburg."_
@@_--Reaper--_ I understand the correction but his statement is perfectly coherent.
@@cheriehawthorne9246 I know its minor but he asked how to correctly put it.
I knew Esther in the 90s from the Christian Community in NYC. We talked often after services and became friends. She was such a kind & beautiful soul, I was sad when she moved back to Germany. Good to see her again in this video and to remember her on this special Epiphany/Three Kings' Day in 2021. I grew up behind the Ironic Curtain, in what is called East Germany here in the US, under the rule of the SU.
So glad to hear she knew The Lord🙏🏼 and I will meet this beautiful person in The Lord’s presence one day.
This is the comment I was subconsciously looking for lol.
how lucky you were to know her
@@pamelaroderick6588 Indeed, one of the warmest, kindest people I ever met, our conversations were full of sunlight, elevating, yet very calm. Thank you for this reminder!
This disproves a lot of rhetoric we hear about this period.
No it doesn't, Nazi Germany had it's segregation all right it just wasn't for Esther...
Besides Black people in Germany were still subject to the Nuremberg laws.
The population was just so small that Berlin didn't see fit to adopt a coherent anti African German policy.
@@StrongandStable17Stop posting your half knowledge under every comment
@@PaulPinguin Set out how anything I said in that comment was wrong then mate.
• They were subject to the Nuremberg laws through bylaw (as evidenced by the experience of Hans Massaquoi.)
• Jews suffered segregation
And I didn't even mention the sterilisation of afro-German children in the Rheinland.
Unless you have an alternative version of history you'd like to spin?
Also under every comment? I've commented twice, you, double that.
My Grandma was German. She loved me with such power i still sense her near me.
I'm mixed race, African American and Danish/German.
What a fascinating account
This has to be a story of a black woman born in a Nazi germany.. this would at least make oscars
I want her story to get the attention it deserves but man fuck the Oscars.
My first comment was aggressive.
Now I'm thinking a movie about her would be a broadening of the perspective seen in Jojo Rabbit.
There's a lot we don't know about WWII
it would not fit their agenda
What a saintly woman I feel a better person having watched this
Agree such a lovely lady inspiration
WOW! What a treasure. I accidentally found this, or should I say this found me. Rest in Power Esther Fordham
What a wonderful story of a life well lived. Ester took what could have Easley been a tragic story and decided to look for only the good in mankind and she found it. She truly has a pure sole. We should all learn from her, to look for the good in all of mankind. 🥰
She is such sweet woman. God bless her.
*woman
Three is no god
@@SamuelLiebermann *There
An exceptional lady. Being German I have heard of another black German from Hamburg - Hans Jürgen Massaquoi - who grew up in Hamburg during the Nazi era and moved to the US after the war. Some of the things he said were similar to Esther's account. She really sounds like a very lovely person.
These people are not german or germanic. The decendants of the germanic tribes are german.
@@kristjanlektura8116 Actually I think both her parents were African and she said nothing about being mixed.
A priceless, precious interview of this remarkable, extraordinary woman and her astonishing life story! Her warm and sweet voice, her countenance, are all contrary to the horror of the words she spoke. We are all enlightened by photos we have never seen, and history we have never quite known. Thank you so much for uploading this interview. However, for the man behind the camera, he did no great service to her by his constant interruptions. And now, especially now with her passing, we will never know the answers.
I think I've seen another version without photos
What a sweet lady .
Very calm and likable
Jesse Owens stayed in the best hotel and went to bars and restaurants during the Nazi Olympics. It must have been a real eye opener compared to his life back in America!
Yeah, the same eyopener that Jefferson's mistress had when she discovered freedom in France. What a shame she let him persuade her to come back to the USA.
i have heard Owens said that Hitler shook his hand in private i
The SS had some black african members too. The nazis wear not so racist and more pragmatical. Most crazy stuff was from Himmlers Thule Cult but for Hitler and Goebbels this was silly.
@@saxogrammatikus4195 Hitler was a lot more fanatical than Himmler as far as racism goes. Himmler just had his dumb pagan beliefs that everyone made fun of him for. The only one who wasnt fully into the race science was Göring and Dönitz nevertheless they still contributed to a deeply racist system. Just because they compromised their ideology for the sake of pragmatism doesnt mean that their initial ideology has changed.
@@addiction4062 I had not say there were equals but the genocide thing was only targeted on the jews. The Holocaust was only possible with the help of the citizens of france, poland, hungary and so one. If the axis had won we had mostly the system like vichy france.
Hitler was not so powerfull at the time we like to think. His health was in decline and so his legitimity to power. If the was not the war he would have be replaced. You can see this like the Stauffenberg assassination attempt.
Good point...not recognizing she was discriminated upon, helped her survive. What a beautiful soul. She never felt they were treating her differently.
She recognized you are saying good point cause u are one of those closet racist that will say blk folk do better to over look or forget! We say *Reparations and land are Due U.S. Blk's the original Jews!
@h_grunt any form of racism is that of Monsters! Stop placating, u sound like her
I disagree it was not like in the USA but still she suffered discrimination. She was not able to go to many places.
God bless you for documenting & sharing this extraordinary story of Esther Anumu.
She seems like a lovely person and she has the most beautiful speaking voice. I would love to hear her speak German too - her Hamburg dialect comes through when she says these little things like „Tante Henny“ ❤️
What a fascinating life story. Glad I came across this video!