Neger, Neger, Schornsteinfeger! by Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi is my second book for #GermanLitMonth — sort of. I was reading it for Black History Month in October, before things got in the way, but it fits into the rulebreakers week of this year’s GLM: Massaquoi was German, at least during the time he writes about, but wrote this memoir in English after settling in the US.
Massaquoi was the grandson of the Liberian consul in Hamburg, left alone in the city with his German mother when his father departed. Massaquoi was a child whem Hitler came to power in the ’30s, and the bulk of the book consists of his reminiscences of the period. These are often extraordinary: in the pre-Nazi days, he was taken to the zoo and found there an “African village,” whose inhabitants were on display and recognised Massaquoi as a “brother”. Later he was himself caught up in the enthusiasm surrounding him and a desire to belong, persuading his nanny to sew a swastika on his jumper.
The later chapters, relating his experiences in Liberia and the US, are not of such great interest, tending to illustrate how brave, resourceful and spirited he was. The book has other defects as literature: the short chapters give it a choppy feel, and the prose is rich in platitudes and cliches. Despite eventually becoming a journalist, Massaquoi wasn’t really much of a writer. Nevertheless, for the insider’s view of being a Black German in this period, I highly recommend the book.