Growing up Black in Nazi Germany - Esther Anumu Fordham

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  • Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
  • 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/...
    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.u...
    Being black in Nazi Germany www.bbc.com/ne...
    Black Germans Say It’s Time to Look Inward
    www.nytimes.co...

КОМЕНТАРІ • 10 тис.

  • @The72650
    @The72650 6 років тому +9619

    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!

    • @peteg1114
      @peteg1114 5 років тому +270

      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.

    • @nancyhicksgribble9799
      @nancyhicksgribble9799 5 років тому +211

      She's adorable. Fascinating story.

    • @earlwright9715
      @earlwright9715 4 роки тому +163

      Well I just love your sweet mother! Are all of you in Germany now?

    • @junocomm
      @junocomm 4 роки тому +240

      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.

    • @mall6224
      @mall6224 4 роки тому +106

      I'm so glad I was able to hear her story. Thank you

  • @RadicalforGod
    @RadicalforGod 3 роки тому +1938

    Esther Fordham is a great story teller. Her memory is sharp and she looks good for her age. Rest in power 1925-2019 ❤️

    • @belindaramirez-leon9226
      @belindaramirez-leon9226 3 роки тому +33

      yes she looks great

    • @Sparky75100
      @Sparky75100 3 роки тому +27

      Thank you Mrs. Fordham for your testimony and warnings.

    • @dassehmc
      @dassehmc 3 роки тому +18

      Right she looked great

    • @nikkidotts3687
      @nikkidotts3687 3 роки тому +28

      Wow!! She lived a long, good life❤️

    • @ownSystem
      @ownSystem 3 роки тому +20

      Great story teller. (Rest in Peace).

  • @kupus6622
    @kupus6622 4 роки тому +527

    What a witness to history this lady is. She is a treasure

  • @christopherbailey5163
    @christopherbailey5163 2 роки тому +1996

    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

    • @badnewsbrown4489
      @badnewsbrown4489 Рік тому

      So why do the media say 1million blacks were gassed by nazis and they wanted to kill the blacks too 🤷🏽‍♂️

    • @abdulahsan3121
      @abdulahsan3121 Рік тому +34

      your grandma was black?

    • @Panguman
      @Panguman Рік тому +33

      @@badnewsbrown4489 who owns the media

    • @cay820
      @cay820 Рік тому

      Plenty of Black people ended up in concentration camps so I don’t get this assumption.

    • @winstonwhiteside9525
      @winstonwhiteside9525 Рік тому

      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"!

  • @siggydavis
    @siggydavis 4 роки тому +746

    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!

    • @MADNEWYORKER914
      @MADNEWYORKER914 4 роки тому +4

      Do you know if she is still alive???

    • @siggydavis
      @siggydavis 4 роки тому +60

      @@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..

    • @MADNEWYORKER914
      @MADNEWYORKER914 4 роки тому +21

      @@siggydavis
      She was a beautiful lady!!!

    • @thegoddessdiana9185
      @thegoddessdiana9185 4 роки тому +18

      @@siggydavis May she rest in peace, love, and strength.

    • @misst.e.a.187
      @misst.e.a.187 4 роки тому +26

      @@siggydavis Lived to the ripe old age of 94. What a lady.

  • @ecuadorexpat8558
    @ecuadorexpat8558 4 роки тому +506

    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

    • @BrutPequ
      @BrutPequ 4 роки тому +29

      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.

    • @hershellacey9405
      @hershellacey9405 4 роки тому +16

      She is a treasure. PBS are you listening?

    • @rasheedahtalib2361
      @rasheedahtalib2361 4 роки тому +7

      @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. 👍

    • @hershellacey9405
      @hershellacey9405 4 роки тому +2

      Ken Burns are you listening?

    • @hershellacey9405
      @hershellacey9405 4 роки тому +9

      This story needs to be told to the world.

  • @cestlavie1324
    @cestlavie1324 4 роки тому +1319

    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

    • @lydiadoumon6781
      @lydiadoumon6781 4 роки тому +28

      Bravo Bravo we need more of these stories Esther could my great untie, I"m togolese canadian
      Love always Lydia

    • @karolkupec2044
      @karolkupec2044 4 роки тому +45

      Linda Simmons Racism in Europe is quite strong to this day is my experience.

    • @cestlavie1324
      @cestlavie1324 4 роки тому +67

      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.
      ✌️✌🏻✌🏼✌🏽✌🏾✌🏿

    • @ThairishTimes
      @ThairishTimes 4 роки тому +16

      Fantastic story

    • @189hosp6
      @189hosp6 4 роки тому +24

      Thanks for sharing your story...good to hear that your parents are still doing well.

  • @cmcmahon8551
    @cmcmahon8551 4 роки тому +228

    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.

    • @jsotirakis
      @jsotirakis 3 роки тому

      The National Socialists in Germany abolished public schools just like the Socialists in our teacher’s unions want to do here

    • @easydoesit62
      @easydoesit62 3 роки тому +6

      Totally agree. I wish I could have known her. I’m more ashamed every day of our history of racism in the US.

    • @cynthiarobinson-powe5465
      @cynthiarobinson-powe5465 3 роки тому

      @@jsotirakis 2

  • @lutchbizin6420
    @lutchbizin6420 4 роки тому +2220

    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.

    • @shedreamsbigfunches931
      @shedreamsbigfunches931 3 роки тому +123

      @@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.

    • @ichbinich1775
      @ichbinich1775 3 роки тому +8

      @@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:
      ua-cam.com/video/m9P_sxaaMJE/v-deo.html

    • @ichbinich1775
      @ichbinich1775 3 роки тому +10

      01:07:42

    • @raejae5491
      @raejae5491 3 роки тому +24

      The rise of Hitler is evident of the racism that existed before he took power. He was supported by racist citizens.

    • @xornxenophon3652
      @xornxenophon3652 3 роки тому +218

      @@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...

  • @corymoore1530
    @corymoore1530 4 роки тому +341

    This woman is a limited edition true national treasure. Don't know how I got here , but I'm Glade I did.

  • @timmillan6701
    @timmillan6701 Рік тому +116

    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.

    • @Philemaphobia
      @Philemaphobia Рік тому

      @daysRnumbered which country or region did you go to school to?

    • @WoofyMcDoodle
      @WoofyMcDoodle Рік тому

      @CannonFodder what kind of narrative do you mean?

    • @destinyclark4133
      @destinyclark4133 Рік тому

      @@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.

    • @lucianaromulus1408
      @lucianaromulus1408 Рік тому

      ​@@WoofyMcDoodle narrative surrounding National Socialism

  • @rosalynmartin519
    @rosalynmartin519 4 роки тому +1624

    My mom lived in Germany (military child) in the 50's and said the only racism she faced was from the Americans stationed nearby.

    • @BlancoToldYou
      @BlancoToldYou 4 роки тому +115

      Same here i lived there 5yrs and never had a problem..

    • @mariafalade1158
      @mariafalade1158 4 роки тому +178

      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.

    • @rosalynmartin519
      @rosalynmartin519 4 роки тому +183

      @@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

    • @StormGIJane
      @StormGIJane 4 роки тому +155

      Sounds right. Heck there are more swastikas here in America and its illegal in Germany. Go figure...

    • @MrGreenGreenie
      @MrGreenGreenie 4 роки тому +6

      @@cain1830 that was south of Hamburg I’m sure she said

  • @TheGothGaming
    @TheGothGaming 4 роки тому +688

    well Jesse Owens did say that he didn't feel snubbed by Hitler, but rather his own president.
    take that as you will.

    • @nagihangot6133
      @nagihangot6133 3 роки тому +40

      @John Creighton Owens had a picture shaking hands with the German leader. He said so himself.

    • @nagihangot6133
      @nagihangot6133 3 роки тому +22

      @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.

    • @misskim2058
      @misskim2058 3 роки тому +35

      Hitler actually wrote a personal congrats to him, too.

    • @cheikhtidianesow9816
      @cheikhtidianesow9816 3 роки тому +31

      Racism is worst in America than every in world in America 80% are racist supremacist kkk and Nazis

    • @Glumbus1
      @Glumbus1 3 роки тому +13

      @OligarchySlayer i heard that hitler shook his hand BUT it was for propaganda purposes

  • @NYisconstipated
    @NYisconstipated 4 роки тому +158

    I could listen to her speak for hours...her voice is so soothing. Such a strong spirit bless you Esther and peaceful Journey

    • @Mikec19
      @Mikec19 3 роки тому +3

      Riiight. Me too. She has such a sweet spirit.

  • @juanzulu1318
    @juanzulu1318 Рік тому +44

    German here. This an EXTREMELY interesting interview with lots of unknown details for me.

    • @juanzulu1318
      @juanzulu1318 5 місяців тому +1

      @@ShakibBaig1 yes, you have good and bad people in every society.

    • @kinikahau
      @kinikahau 22 дні тому

      Sadly, Germany was divided after ww2...

  • @510fitness3
    @510fitness3 4 роки тому +898

    She faced less racists prejudice in Germany than USA smh

    • @marvelluslucass3662
      @marvelluslucass3662 4 роки тому +31

      Man that is so true

    • @DesmondDaddy
      @DesmondDaddy 4 роки тому +103

      In Nazi Germany she was better off being of African descent than if she were of Jewish descent. Think about that for a minute.

    • @misutasutanto6312
      @misutasutanto6312 4 роки тому +20

      @@DesmondDaddy there is no Jewish descent you effing idiot lol

    • @raymond06
      @raymond06 4 роки тому

      FYI ua-cam.com/video/pcfPVj5qR1E/v-deo.html

    • @DesmondDaddy
      @DesmondDaddy 4 роки тому +7

      Misutasutanto the German Jews were not Jews by ethnicity?

  • @dimazandhika
    @dimazandhika 4 роки тому +567

    The point is she is lucky born in germany than in the US back then.

    • @franciskaafka2738
      @franciskaafka2738 4 роки тому +43

      Sad truth.

    • @ginolatino3555
      @ginolatino3555 4 роки тому +18

      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

    • @eugenieholmes5769
      @eugenieholmes5769 4 роки тому +1

      Even now

    • @dimazandhika
      @dimazandhika 4 роки тому +3

      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.

    • @purpledancer4914
      @purpledancer4914 4 роки тому

      So true

  • @anthovision7048
    @anthovision7048 5 років тому +257

    Being african mixed with German blood I feel some type of way
    She is such a nice person and strong lovely black queen 👑

    • @t-weezy2934
      @t-weezy2934 4 роки тому +11

      And speak fluent English too

    • @renaeholmes4348
      @renaeholmes4348 4 роки тому +2

      yes, i feel you.I am A ,G and part Cherokee

    • @t-weezy2934
      @t-weezy2934 4 роки тому +7

      @Robert Bowles how so ?

    • @Jvd1925
      @Jvd1925 4 роки тому +18

      Robert Bowles 😂 fucking loser

    • @rutituti678
      @rutituti678 4 роки тому +20

      @Robert Bowles I certainly know of one thing that's grotesque as I won't refer to you as a someone. Vile pig. Do you produce an oinking sound when you speak aloud?

  • @dancewomyn1
    @dancewomyn1 2 роки тому +324

    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.

    • @rovhalt6650
      @rovhalt6650 Рік тому +33

      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.

    • @ReadyorNot811
      @ReadyorNot811 Рік тому +6

      ​@@rovhalt6650 true

    • @benevolent2077
      @benevolent2077 Рік тому

      are you stupid? germany is a horrible country. clearly u are slow. america is what germany wish it became

    • @fahnrzsstichling9652
      @fahnrzsstichling9652 Рік тому +3

      @@rovhalt6650 Thats a very fitting analysis i would say yes

    • @TestOk-de5dj
      @TestOk-de5dj Рік тому +2

      @@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.

  • @honey77777
    @honey77777 3 роки тому +1529

    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.

    • @ReisePiece
      @ReisePiece 3 роки тому +87

      I believe it

    • @freemn
      @freemn 3 роки тому +114

      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?

    • @babsjob8729
      @babsjob8729 3 роки тому +268

      @@freemn the most racist europeans are by far italians and french don’t get you fooled

    • @chiaras6019
      @chiaras6019 3 роки тому +137

      @@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

    • @andrewc8441
      @andrewc8441 3 роки тому +43

      @@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.

  • @tobeme4054
    @tobeme4054 4 роки тому +29

    I love ❤️ this BLACK Queen being interviewed. Smart , beautiful and thoughtful.

  • @Hotcakes627
    @Hotcakes627 4 роки тому +469

    God bless Ester , she never experienced hatered till she came to
    America . That is pathetic . She was
    Such a loving person . It must have
    Been horrifieing for her .
    What a wonderful women .

    • @zootsoot2006
      @zootsoot2006 4 роки тому +14

      Yep, turns out history is far more complicated that we were taught to believe.

    • @KayInMaine
      @KayInMaine 4 роки тому +28

      She was discriminated against in Germany when she and her sisters were told they couldn't go to school or go to sports games etc.

    • @spacewalker4829
      @spacewalker4829 4 роки тому +10

      Jesse Owens wasn't snubbed by Hitler. He was by president Roosevelt however.

    • @sh393
      @sh393 4 роки тому +5

      Shhhh. You're destroying the whole White Supremacist thing.

    • @PharoahTheGoldX
      @PharoahTheGoldX 4 роки тому +1

      She experienced hatred in America as well.

  • @andrewDaMack
    @andrewDaMack 3 роки тому +25

    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.

  • @billlincoln6087
    @billlincoln6087 3 роки тому +437

    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.

    • @franzvoss4808
      @franzvoss4808 3 роки тому +22

      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.👍

    • @abbelnichola3792
      @abbelnichola3792 3 роки тому +32

      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.

    • @mant8vaei314
      @mant8vaei314 3 роки тому +2

      @mark q awesome poor you

    • @francisdietz5197
      @francisdietz5197 3 роки тому +1

      @mark q awesome you need help

    • @halcasey3461
      @halcasey3461 3 роки тому +1

      Exactly 💯

  • @KB-es5he
    @KB-es5he 4 роки тому +439

    This lady has such poise. She's a beautiful soul - and an inspiration to us all.

    • @renataostertag6051
      @renataostertag6051 3 роки тому +2

      Yes, she sure is. She is so forthright, so pure.

    • @jeanettereynolds3151
      @jeanettereynolds3151 3 роки тому +8

      She was brought up with dignity because she never had radicalism rammed down her throat happy she returned to her beloved germany

    • @TheBatugan77
      @TheBatugan77 3 роки тому +6

      @@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.

    • @jeanettereynolds3151
      @jeanettereynolds3151 3 роки тому +1

      @@TheBatugan77 than you I am u.k and it is4 am lol. You must be America thank you.

    • @mauricemond8579
      @mauricemond8579 3 роки тому

      @@renataostertag6051 ¹qq¹qqiqas
      Q
      ad
      qQ
      q¹¹aetweqqàà

  • @Emy53
    @Emy53 4 роки тому +46

    Good point...not recognizing she was discriminated upon, helped her survive. What a beautiful soul. She never felt they were treating her differently.

    • @leonidascarr2241
      @leonidascarr2241 4 роки тому

      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!

    • @leonidascarr2241
      @leonidascarr2241 4 роки тому

      @h_grunt any form of racism is that of Monsters! Stop placating, u sound like her

    • @maritzadavila-irizarry6267
      @maritzadavila-irizarry6267 3 роки тому

      I disagree it was not like in the USA but still she suffered discrimination. She was not able to go to many places.

  • @martinketteridge2710
    @martinketteridge2710 2 роки тому +43

    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.

    • @brunol-p_g8800
      @brunol-p_g8800 Рік тому +2

      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.

  • @joshuak2810
    @joshuak2810 4 роки тому +116

    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.

    • @wisguen
      @wisguen 4 роки тому +3

      HAHA dang brother, have you been drinking?

    • @staywoke3316
      @staywoke3316 4 роки тому +2

      Lol

    •  4 роки тому +3

      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.

    • @servantofthelord25
      @servantofthelord25 4 роки тому +1

      👐👐👐

    • @1963luv
      @1963luv 4 роки тому +2

      So true Joshua

  • @swoldetsadick
    @swoldetsadick Рік тому +104

    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.

    • @thermologo3451
      @thermologo3451 Рік тому +2

      What do you mean ? You can say it in French. Je parle français

    • @paulgill8073
      @paulgill8073 Рік тому

      Yes I think Americans are really dumb. Maybe 🤔 it’s too much flouride in their water.

    • @manzanasrojas6984
      @manzanasrojas6984 Рік тому +11

      @@thermologo3451 He told you. People in the US are too focussed on colors **ALWAYS**

  • @glamsky3257
    @glamsky3257 4 роки тому +576

    She must be in her 70s in this interview, but she has a young woman voice. Like woman in her 20s.

    • @sadietravels6213
      @sadietravels6213 4 роки тому +31

      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.

    • @egolf5089
      @egolf5089 4 роки тому +5

      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.

    • @CClarinet123
      @CClarinet123 4 роки тому +165

      @@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.

    • @PandaBebe
      @PandaBebe 4 роки тому +77

      @@egolf5089 just cause your grandma didn't see one didn't mean that black people lived in germany. Stop being ignorant

    • @tayloralliease8013
      @tayloralliease8013 4 роки тому +65

      @@egolf5089 Your statement sounds very ignorant , just because your granny didn't see black people does not mean they're wasn't any .

  • @zakadams762
    @zakadams762 4 роки тому +147

    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

    • @shumeister1059
      @shumeister1059 4 роки тому

      Life is usually messy involving good and bad.

    • @dootersnooter5343
      @dootersnooter5343 4 роки тому +4

      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.

    • @courtneykirk478
      @courtneykirk478 4 роки тому +2

      Excellent.

  • @d.chimambadugha4864
    @d.chimambadugha4864 Рік тому +24

    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.

  • @sarsbrooks5398
    @sarsbrooks5398 3 роки тому +227

    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

    • @teemarie5478
      @teemarie5478 Рік тому +16

      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.

    • @rollingthunder8223
      @rollingthunder8223 Рік тому

      ​@@teemarie5478Hitler had the same plan for black as the gypsies

    • @gnommg
      @gnommg Рік тому +11

      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.

    • @futuretimetraveller8677
      @futuretimetraveller8677 Рік тому

      @@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

    • @Cienfuegos_100Fires
      @Cienfuegos_100Fires Рік тому +1

      Wayy better than TV. This is so good. The mainstream media is run by people who are

  • @LaLagunz187
    @LaLagunz187 4 роки тому +304

    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.

    • @TheBLACKMQQN
      @TheBLACKMQQN 4 роки тому +18

      I can vouch for your comment. My father was stationed there as well In the late 70s early 80s at Bitburg Air force base

    • @le7mule21
      @le7mule21 4 роки тому +33

      @@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

    • @christophermattheis1998
      @christophermattheis1998 4 роки тому +5

      @@le7mule21 go back or stop crying

    • @lunalovegood6303
      @lunalovegood6303 4 роки тому +18

      If you ever stay in Hamburg youre invited to stay at my home ❤

    • @BOOMSTICK-PRODUCTIONS
      @BOOMSTICK-PRODUCTIONS 4 роки тому +38

      @@christophermattheis1998 what is your purpose?

  • @Fedmarti88
    @Fedmarti88 4 роки тому +53

    21:04 “the whole family survived”.
    It is a miracle!
    God bless them.

    • @reginakniprode246
      @reginakniprode246 3 роки тому +2

      my family from Prussia was not so lucky, almost all were exterminated after 1945

  • @lacroix6323
    @lacroix6323 3 роки тому +19

    Her story is to be treasured for those who take the time to listen. Thank you for this 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

  • @Wolfspaule
    @Wolfspaule 4 роки тому +601

    She is totally german, the cushions she has, the clock in the backround, exactly like my grandmothers!

    • @zakrowe1301
      @zakrowe1301 4 роки тому +76

      @Kabukichō she is German, she said at the start of the video she was born there

    • @DougWinfield
      @DougWinfield 4 роки тому +62

      I suspect she was eventually granted German citizenship. Regardless of her status, she was culturally German.

    • @zakrowe1301
      @zakrowe1301 4 роки тому +24

      @Kabukichō how does it work then? When she was born in germany, did she not gain german Citizenship?

    • @zakrowe1301
      @zakrowe1301 4 роки тому +6

      @Kabukichō would you consider yourself african aswell then? And what does the US have to do with anything?

    • @zakrowe1301
      @zakrowe1301 4 роки тому +40

      @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.

  • @taviaseymour
    @taviaseymour 4 роки тому +423

    I was born in Jamaica and moved to Germany in 1987, when I was 8. I had the best childhood!!

    • @frederiklauber-richter1110
      @frederiklauber-richter1110 3 роки тому +45

      how is this relevant?

    • @Glumbus1
      @Glumbus1 3 роки тому +16

      @@frederiklauber-richter1110 who cares

    • @taviaseymour
      @taviaseymour 3 роки тому +74

      @@frederiklauber-richter1110 Esther experienced more racism in the US than in Germany.

    • @ronalde.mcknightcpc5542
      @ronalde.mcknightcpc5542 3 роки тому +37

      Thanks for sharing. I find it interesting that you grew up in Germany.

    • @OSmith-yq5vb
      @OSmith-yq5vb 3 роки тому +32

      For those who dont know there were once a german community in jamaica in the parish of st James and Westmoreland to this day you can still find old german style of homes

  • @membear
    @membear 4 роки тому +114

    Such a lovely woman and so wise too.

    • @markb5478
      @markb5478 4 роки тому +1

      Great Story and a great Human.

    • @sirisongbird
      @sirisongbird 4 роки тому +1

      "Wise". Would you say that if she was white?

    • @kealebogamolo6685
      @kealebogamolo6685 4 роки тому +1

      @@sirisongbird 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?

    • @pix_d20
      @pix_d20 4 роки тому

      @@sirisongbird what point are you trying to make here? 🤔

    • @pix_d20
      @pix_d20 4 роки тому

      @@kealebogamolo6685 i agree so much.

  • @thequeenmidas
    @thequeenmidas Рік тому +31

    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.

    • @Waldgxnger
      @Waldgxnger 5 місяців тому +1

      Wow thats an interessting story, never forget your ancestors!

  • @dtapx5835
    @dtapx5835 4 роки тому +153

    Interesting that she never knew real racism til she came into contact with Americans.

    • @Juan-wh5le
      @Juan-wh5le 4 роки тому +4

      Besides the concentration camps????

    • @sully3996
      @sully3996 4 роки тому +27

      @@Juan-wh5le she never went in one...

    • @YTscheiss
      @YTscheiss 4 роки тому

      @@Juan-wh5le what is a concentration camp? Was that where this guy, the American president Adolf Hitler concetrated Haunebus? It's all so confusing.

    • @kelvyquayo
      @kelvyquayo 3 роки тому +3

      Did you not watch the actual interview then?

    • @smittywerben3895
      @smittywerben3895 3 роки тому +1

      @@Juan-wh5le Labor camps. Not racist. Read a book. Every other nation also had labor camps.

  • @jermins6441
    @jermins6441 4 роки тому +215

    As a Black Canadian living in Canada 🇨🇦 we never get to hear stories from Black People who survived Nazi Germany. This woman is a beautiful lady and her story deserves to be shared. That said I am grateful to have stumbled across this fascinating piece. God Bless her and her family. I have learned a huge piece of Black History from her.

    • @TriniCrew
      @TriniCrew 4 роки тому +1

      @Kevin Simmons BLACK HISTORY IN REGARDS TO PROSPECTIVE!

    • @omertathecode9571
      @omertathecode9571 4 роки тому +8

      My Grandfather who is Somali fought in ww2 for the Italian regiments. He got awarded the war merit cross. Somalia was part of the Italian Colony at the time.

    • @wick7201
      @wick7201 4 роки тому +2

      Kevin Simmons The only moron here is you.

    • @jermins6441
      @jermins6441 4 роки тому +1

      @Kevin Simmons, it's obvious that you lack the intelligence to understand the context of this conversation. You are welcome to spread your ignorance elsewhere eh M8. Have an amazing life my friend. Bless you and God help those whom you influence. Smh.

    • @salzb9735
      @salzb9735 3 роки тому +1

      "Never get to hear"? These stories are available for reading across the free world - as books, documentaries, online resources. People have to find the interest to know more; nothing is stopping people from learning more. She gives one story, but the full story has many darker chapters,

  • @PianistStefanBoetel
    @PianistStefanBoetel 4 роки тому +193

    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

    • @Bratwurstboy
      @Bratwurstboy 4 роки тому +7

      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.

    • @PianistStefanBoetel
      @PianistStefanBoetel 4 роки тому +1

      @Joe How would you put the words correctly?

    • @_--Reaper--_
      @_--Reaper--_ 4 роки тому +7

      @@PianistStefanBoetel Like this: _"I can hear her Hamburg accent even though she speaks English, as I am also from Hamburg."_

    • @cheriehawthorne9246
      @cheriehawthorne9246 4 роки тому +7

      @@_--Reaper--_ I understand the correction but his statement is perfectly coherent.

    • @_--Reaper--_
      @_--Reaper--_ 4 роки тому +1

      @@cheriehawthorne9246 I know its minor but he asked how to correctly put it.

  • @raesully2615
    @raesully2615 Рік тому +19

    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

    • @ThatJew305
      @ThatJew305 6 місяців тому

      🤥 liar

    • @raesully2615
      @raesully2615 6 місяців тому

      @@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!!

    • @raesully2615
      @raesully2615 6 місяців тому

      @@ThatJew305 DEUTSCHLAND IST SEHR SCHÖN!!🙂

    • @jamisontanksley112
      @jamisontanksley112 Місяць тому

      Racismus ist in jedes Land anders. Das Dinge ist, es bedeutet an wer du bist und woher du kommst aus. Ich bin in Deutschland seit einem Jahr und für mich alles ist leicht aber für Leute, die dass aus die Middle East kommen sind, haben die leider mehr rassistische Erfahrungen

  • @chesneyhawkesinofficial3742
    @chesneyhawkesinofficial3742 4 роки тому +170

    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!

    • @sztypettto
      @sztypettto 4 роки тому +25

      Agreed. Lower Saxons don't like Bavarians and vice versa. Plenty of Germans cringe when Laderhosen, Drindle and Oktoberfest is associated with German identity.

    • @DrakesdenChannel
      @DrakesdenChannel 4 роки тому +5

      @@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.

    • @bonkisay1331
      @bonkisay1331 4 роки тому +9

      So true. Almost everybody here in North Germany despite the Bavarians. Schluchtenscheißer we call them 😁. And nobody understands them. Horrible dialect.

    • @cjlooklin1914
      @cjlooklin1914 4 роки тому +1

      @@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

    • @Mawi331
      @Mawi331 4 роки тому

      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

  • @cadicorniche
    @cadicorniche 3 роки тому +179

    Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for posting this video. I am a Black man, in my mid-60s, and learning about Blacks living in Germany before, during and after the war - which I never knew, was mind altering. I praise you and Esther Fordham for opening my eyes. (Which, I assume, was the whole purpose of the video.) Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. We ALL have much to learn.

    • @paulolenski9431
      @paulolenski9431 2 роки тому +6

      You and me both, buddy. Glad I found this little gem of humanity, kindness and wisdom.

    • @princessbenson3008
      @princessbenson3008 2 роки тому +5

      This should be a book

    • @helloxonsfan
      @helloxonsfan Рік тому +9

      *Yes! This is a remarkable story & video & Esther was a remarkable person...!!! Her story really should be shared on a larger platform such as a movie, so many more people could be aware of it.* #TylerPerry, #OprahWinfrey #StevenSpielberg, #WillSmith, #EstherFordham, #NaziGermany

    • @Richelle-ss2gk
      @Richelle-ss2gk Рік тому

      So-called blacks were indigenous to every land in this world, we ain't from afrikka, do some research the info is out now.
      Negroes ruled the world

    • @CorntwallLipstickQueen
      @CorntwallLipstickQueen Рік тому

      Open your eyes to what? So you support genocide ok

  • @soulergy1soulrgy1
    @soulergy1soulrgy1 3 роки тому +398

    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.

    • @nirbija
      @nirbija Рік тому +5

      "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.

    • @myfavoritelezbo767
      @myfavoritelezbo767 Рік тому +4

      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

    • @ngbeat1616
      @ngbeat1616 Рік тому +3

      @@nirbija Black American by any chance?

    • @nirbija
      @nirbija Рік тому +2

      @@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?

    • @ayhamshaheed7740
      @ayhamshaheed7740 Рік тому +1

      @@ngbeat1616 they didn’t say anything wrong to be honest

  • @joaquincapiro8919
    @joaquincapiro8919 Рік тому +11

    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.

  • @kushking420
    @kushking420 3 роки тому +2082

    Sounds like living in the USA was scarier for her than living in Germany through the war

    • @rednil2943
      @rednil2943 3 роки тому +277

      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

    • @Death.Died0
      @Death.Died0 3 роки тому +79

      this is the reason why the rest of the world doesn't like Americans they just "pretend" when they are around

    • @decklan887
      @decklan887 3 роки тому +93

      It's really interesting how you're only able to debate on who was more racist, from all the information given here.

    • @kushking420
      @kushking420 3 роки тому +24

      @@decklan887 I never said that

    • @decklan887
      @decklan887 3 роки тому +6

      @@kushking420 my reply wasn't referring to you. It's for the other individuals who replied.

  • @arlenetaylor2888
    @arlenetaylor2888 3 роки тому +438

    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!

    • @halcasey3461
      @halcasey3461 3 роки тому +47

      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.

    • @kenhankin5073
      @kenhankin5073 3 роки тому +37

      i have heard Owens said that Hitler shook his hand in private i

    • @saxogrammatikus4195
      @saxogrammatikus4195 3 роки тому +31

      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.

    • @addiction4062
      @addiction4062 3 роки тому +14

      @@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.

    • @saxogrammatikus4195
      @saxogrammatikus4195 3 роки тому +3

      @@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.

  • @zb7293
    @zb7293 4 роки тому +96

    She is such sweet woman. God bless her.

  • @peskycat
    @peskycat 3 роки тому +43

    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.

  • @nocturnalwolf7559
    @nocturnalwolf7559 4 роки тому +61

    The interviewer digging deep for dirt but didnt find any 😂

  • @RegalNG
    @RegalNG 4 роки тому +37

    She has such sweet voice for her age, and shes beautiful too.

  • @rosestewart8879
    @rosestewart8879 4 роки тому +334

    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.

    • @thearmed1z
      @thearmed1z 4 роки тому +32

      The Dutch people are some of the most racist people in Europe.

    • @stucker1214
      @stucker1214 4 роки тому +27

      If you're not a threat as an ethnic group to the predominant population...

    • @rickyt43515
      @rickyt43515 4 роки тому +4

      Nothing stopping you from living there if you dislike the USA

    • @isorokudono
      @isorokudono 4 роки тому +5

      Liar.

    • @isorokudono
      @isorokudono 4 роки тому +7

      @M Reid Canadians are super racist. Sorry. You're not really from there.

  • @Fortwelly
    @Fortwelly 7 місяців тому +3

    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

  • @blacknemsis2456
    @blacknemsis2456 4 роки тому +565

    It's funny how the interviewer is getting frustrated that she isn't saying bad things about German society during them days.

    •  4 роки тому +19

      Germany is one of the worst for this kind of sociomasturbatory auto-flagellation that has gripped the western world.

    • @eman2382
      @eman2382 4 роки тому +20

      I agree.

    • @Victor-ly1cj
      @Victor-ly1cj 4 роки тому +52

      I watched the whole thing and I didn't see where he was frustrated. sometimes he looks a bit intrigued but that's it.

    • @blacknemsis2456
      @blacknemsis2456 4 роки тому +45

      @@Victor-ly1cj It was in his voice and questions

    • @Victor-ly1cj
      @Victor-ly1cj 4 роки тому +53

      @@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

  • @gracecallowayable
    @gracecallowayable 3 роки тому +492

    I was treated like royalty when I lived in Germany...I loved living there...coming back to the USA was very scary to me...My black skin was my blessing in Germany...not so much in the USA...🧡

    • @tkammon2211
      @tkammon2211 3 роки тому +30

      You are free to return. This lovely lady mentions how much of a blessing the Americans were. So many Jewish people were tortured starved and killed during that time, and managed to move past the past- not letting it encompass their entire existence. Many moved to other countries, got jobs, went to school, and flourished. Interesting how different reactions can bring different outcomes.

    • @franzvoss4808
      @franzvoss4808 3 роки тому +51

      @@tkammon2211 free to be to broke to travel is more like it. And yes there were people being tortured, starved and .... to death in Germany. Problem is , there are people being tortured, starved and ... to death still today in the US, and abroad by the US. Are you unaware of that? I have worked many years in the Middle East for the military and do know first hand.👍
      BTW, congrats on that death penalty of yours. It is the US , North Korea, Russia, China and Saudi Arabia along with a few more developing countries still keeping that old tradition. Federal executions on the rise with Trump‘s initiative, while the others are actually throttling back on them. Where have you been wandering all your life, Trisha? Do you smoke pot by chance?

    • @tkammon2211
      @tkammon2211 3 роки тому +12

      @@franzvoss4808 1. I do not smoke pot. 2. Not a huge death penalty proponent. Some crimes are too big to simply receive a nice injection, and be on ones way to the afterlife. Wasting away in a cell may be preferable. No, I am not too broke to travel, but I have been in the past. Grew up poor. Do you have something against that? I am just a believer in personal accountability. Guess I spent too much time around people who would rather sit and blame everyone else for their situation than they would get up and do something about it. 🤷

    • @franzvoss4808
      @franzvoss4808 3 роки тому +16

      @@tkammon2211 yes I have. As a child with 8 siblings ,born and raised on a farm, I worked and then at the age of 16 joined the military to get a good start. Just wondering, while you have a first of all, second of all, there is no response at all to me citing recent time torture and killings. You were quick to point out past activities of that nature. As for your condemned, in a weak and prehistoric justice system, it is best to go for hard labor camps. Gives the innocent a chance to live after further forensic methods have been applied to establish their innocence, as been seen before. Remember, just one innocent on the gurney is one to many.

    • @tkammon2211
      @tkammon2211 3 роки тому +9

      @@franzvoss4808 yes you have....what? Something against poor? Well, I was a child and could not control it at the time. Since then I have worked my way through college and climbed into the middle class. Joining the military is another good option for people like us. As far as the people being tortured and starved here in the States, well, I guess I'd have to see proof of that to believe it. Anything's possible, and the US govt has often shown itself to be an ugly machine. It is sadly full of selfish, greedy individuals, that are out for their own gain. My point was, we have one life. One can see the beauty or the ugly in things. If a person doesn't like it where they are, perhaps it's time to change the circumstances, or the venue.

  • @amandathamage4883
    @amandathamage4883 4 роки тому +727

    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

    • @zackerythomas3675
      @zackerythomas3675 4 роки тому +59

      I agree with you. He wanted some sort controversy. There is no need to be sorry about your comment.

    • @lucknowtroop
      @lucknowtroop 4 роки тому +22

      Exactly..he must be surprised by it

    • @Kj16V
      @Kj16V 4 роки тому +38

      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.

    • @aaronblaylock2092
      @aaronblaylock2092 4 роки тому +35

      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.

    • @rangerrick7729
      @rangerrick7729 4 роки тому +26

      @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. 🥳

  • @LukeLovesRose
    @LukeLovesRose 3 роки тому +47

    Jesse Owens has nothing but good things to say about Germany

  • @wilhelmhesse1348
    @wilhelmhesse1348 5 років тому +78

    Wow the magic of UA-cam! This is one of the most amazing videos I've ever seen on UA-cam. The best videos always have the fewest views. A real rare gem. Thanks so much for uploading this video, a lot of very useful information here!

  • @swaggerjagg22
    @swaggerjagg22 4 роки тому +341

    I can imagine all the stories she is telling, is it just me? This should be a film

    • @vxllzbeatz
      @vxllzbeatz 4 роки тому +10

      foreal this needs to be a film

    • @awaliabaroroh8865
      @awaliabaroroh8865 4 роки тому +5

      Looking forward for it

    • @endangerdenglish
      @endangerdenglish 4 роки тому +1

      There is a difference between imagination and historical fact.

    • @stacythunes1
      @stacythunes1 4 роки тому +3

      I would love to write it

    • @LEbackstage
      @LEbackstage 4 роки тому +5

      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.

  • @anagomez9620
    @anagomez9620 3 роки тому +54

    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! 🕊🌏🕊🌎🕊🌍🕊❤️

    • @paulolenski9431
      @paulolenski9431 2 роки тому +5

      Her gentle and wise voice was the key to the whole interview.

  • @jjjmac2003
    @jjjmac2003 2 роки тому +12

    What a beautiful, sad and interesting story. Thank you for posting this on UA-cam.

  • @mynewyork165
    @mynewyork165 3 роки тому +85

    Wow! What an amazing woman! And she only learned about racism after coming to America! Amazing!

    • @alicegoodman4544
      @alicegoodman4544 3 роки тому +1

      There is so much sadness in her voice

    • @mynewyork165
      @mynewyork165 3 роки тому +5

      @@alicegoodman4544 I didn't hear sadness. I heard love & acceptance.

    • @kelvyquayo
      @kelvyquayo 3 роки тому +2

      “Life goes on. I’m not going to get mad”
      Yeah such sadness...

  • @reddevilparatrooper
    @reddevilparatrooper 4 роки тому +285

    She is a very wonderful woman. She is right that we are all human beings no matter what color we are.

    • @mzs5454
      @mzs5454 4 роки тому +7

      Still doesn’t nullify the existence of race

    • @reddevilparatrooper
      @reddevilparatrooper 4 роки тому +11

      @@Petropolis-cr7cd It's because of people like you is the reason why the world is so messed up. Why are you angry at my comment? You must be a very vile person both inside and out. God help you.

    • @GhostCell47
      @GhostCell47 4 роки тому

      @@mzs5454 Sure doesn't.

    • @emmanlovelife
      @emmanlovelife 4 роки тому

      I will uiuu

    • @teemadarif8243
      @teemadarif8243 4 роки тому

      Right. Too bad everyone doesn't realize that.

  • @sunilshah0
    @sunilshah0 4 роки тому +49

    What a saintly woman I feel a better person having watched this

    • @hunkhk
      @hunkhk 4 роки тому +1

      Agree such a lovely lady inspiration

  • @JoannA-sweetly
    @JoannA-sweetly Рік тому +13

    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.

    • @TheHoodVoice2024
      @TheHoodVoice2024 Рік тому

      Did the Germans really k!ll millions of Jewish ppl?

    • @AllesssKlar
      @AllesssKlar Рік тому +2

      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?

    • @JoannA-sweetly
      @JoannA-sweetly Рік тому

      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……

    • @MarianaCarvalho-gu8zx
      @MarianaCarvalho-gu8zx 8 днів тому

      ​@@AllesssKlar they would be living in the divided Germany period in 1963-70....

  • @stevencarter1115
    @stevencarter1115 4 роки тому +291

    This history is priceless! so much information from her lips, through her eyes, from her heart! I'm a black man, this story is not about racism, it's about her life in germany and transistion to America. Get knowledge from this interview, not hatred!!

    • @salingstuff8085
      @salingstuff8085 3 роки тому +4

      Most our ancestors come from euro countries like Germany, Ireland, dutchland

    • @halcasey3461
      @halcasey3461 3 роки тому

      Exactly 💯

    • @ahgavlive4517
      @ahgavlive4517 3 роки тому

      @Powerful Oprah
      Every persom comes from africs lmao.
      I think the person meant grandpa's etc who were born and raised in europe you know?

    • @ahgavlive4517
      @ahgavlive4517 3 роки тому +2

      @Powerful Oprah
      Please learn the term white supremacY before commenting

    • @trizahmacharia2939
      @trizahmacharia2939 3 роки тому

      yaahh...this is her biography

  • @Omnatten9
    @Omnatten9 4 роки тому +204

    The fact that the person is even alive already tells us a lot about both her and Germany.

    • @shrek19yearsago78
      @shrek19yearsago78 4 роки тому +5

      Idk if shes still alive this interview was in 1995

    • @Omnatten9
      @Omnatten9 4 роки тому +17

      @@shrek19yearsago78 yes but you get the point, she made it past 1945

    • @Peterblack12
      @Peterblack12 4 роки тому +23

      Uh no it doesn't tell us much. Lol many Jews made it out as well

    • @DannewK
      @DannewK 4 роки тому +1

      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

    • @Omnatten9
      @Omnatten9 4 роки тому +4

      @@DannewK the only racists in America are black, white Americans are literally becoming a minority

  • @tlv6666
    @tlv6666 4 роки тому +265

    When jesse Owens went to Germany he was treated better there than at any time in USA. Read his own words if you doubt it. When he went back to America he arrived at the hotel to pick his medals up and had to go in the service elevator because he wasn't allowed in the guests lift . Watch the greatest story never told instead of Hollywood if you want to learn something

    • @jordanon95
      @jordanon95 4 роки тому +10

      I was going to say this...... You beat me to it because I was at work all day today!!!! I watched tgsnt on UA-cam before they took it off but brought it for £40 so I can show my children that we are being lied to!

    • @obwhankanobee1923
      @obwhankanobee1923 4 роки тому +3

      Yeah ok....the Nazi's treated Jesse so great ....I dont think so.......for sure many Black people were not treated well in their own land, however, the Nazi's were never, ever "fair or nice people" and their policies were evil.....pure and simple.....

    • @batorsagandszerelem4474
      @batorsagandszerelem4474 4 роки тому +4

      USA was a fucked up country. Still is, now that I come to think of it...

    • @murdamooch
      @murdamooch 4 роки тому

      Good thing he wasn't also Jewish I guess

    • @johnbog1143
      @johnbog1143 4 роки тому +6

      @@obwhankanobee1923 They let him stay in a Hotel in the center of Berlin, he admitted he was treated better in Germany than in the U.S

  • @el_loote
    @el_loote Рік тому +6

    Hands down the most interesting, fascinating, impressive, heartbreaking hour I have ever experienced on UA-cam. No Bling, just Bam. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful job, thank you.

  • @cbowd
    @cbowd 4 роки тому +77

    Wow, what an absolute treasure. So glad this was recorded.

  • @EngelinZivilBO
    @EngelinZivilBO 5 років тому +63

    This is underrated!

  • @thornalas4385
    @thornalas4385 3 роки тому +61

    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.

    • @kelvyquayo
      @kelvyquayo 3 роки тому +5

      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.

    • @pamelaroderick6588
      @pamelaroderick6588 Рік тому

      how lucky you were to know her

    • @thornalas4385
      @thornalas4385 Рік тому

      @@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!

  • @ardevenuta37
    @ardevenuta37 Рік тому +24

    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.

    • @cedricfreeman6458
      @cedricfreeman6458 Рік тому +1

      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.

  • @brontestefanuk5012
    @brontestefanuk5012 4 роки тому +44

    What a cool woman. Makes me proud to be human.

  • @ReisePiece
    @ReisePiece 3 роки тому +114

    I think she realized that she was more accepted in Germany than America during this interview

    • @judgedredd8876
      @judgedredd8876 3 роки тому +12

      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.

    • @ApparationsOfGloom
      @ApparationsOfGloom 3 роки тому +13

      @@judgedredd8876 both parties don’t give af about black people, I thought this was common knowledge by now

    • @judgedredd8876
      @judgedredd8876 3 роки тому +1

      @@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.

    • @ApparationsOfGloom
      @ApparationsOfGloom 3 роки тому +1

      @@judgedredd8876 ok keep living in a fantasy

    • @judgedredd8876
      @judgedredd8876 3 роки тому +2

      @@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!

  • @psalm91podcast
    @psalm91podcast 3 роки тому +96

    This is the story I always wanted to produce. During my studies, I went to Frankfurt and tried to find books on the subject matter but was unsuccessful. Thank God someone made this project! Thank you for sharing your story Ms. Esther Fordham.

  • @robertgignac6715
    @robertgignac6715 Рік тому +7

    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

  • @lindcobbs4615
    @lindcobbs4615 5 років тому +216

    It's amazing how much we can learn from UA-cam. This is true history that our young folks won't find in the white washed, one sided history books in school. Thank you for this informative documentary.

    • @user-xd7bm4hg5i
      @user-xd7bm4hg5i 4 роки тому +4

      Yes you very right 😎

    • @tommeredith7079
      @tommeredith7079 4 роки тому +8

      You couldn't be more right about our lame history books in the United states that lightly touch on the facts that should be more forthcoming.

    • @respjames590
      @respjames590 4 роки тому +3

      Well said mate

    • @tommeredith7079
      @tommeredith7079 4 роки тому

      @@respjames590 Thank you

    • @brandondrew739
      @brandondrew739 4 роки тому

      White washed!

  • @dollynina8992
    @dollynina8992 3 роки тому +37

    Such a gentle soul, you can tell by the way she speaks.
    Bless you and rest in peace Esther Anumu Fordham.

  • @nubiandoll7
    @nubiandoll7 4 роки тому +271

    What they don’t teach you in school

    • @franzvoss4808
      @franzvoss4808 3 роки тому +6

      He was talking in past tense. He was not told (reported) in school about the treatment of colored people in German society. Apparently the woman in question was treated well. I cannot say that about the majority of my black friends living in the US

    • @TheBatugan77
      @TheBatugan77 3 роки тому +1

      @@franzvoss4808
      Maybe your friends are thugs and deviants.

    • @heyitsalannaluv
      @heyitsalannaluv 3 роки тому +7

      @@TheBatugan77 are you serious right now..clearly you dont know history to know how many other countries treat blacks better..Russia is actually one of them. I'm black and am not a thug as you claim just becauseI have faced many inequities and racism in the us that my non poc friends have faced...if you dont understand systemical racism i suggest you look it up. And I also suggest you educate yourself on how even after the war blacks moved to Europe because we were getting hanged here and couldn't even have nothing of our own. I bet you dont even know about the Tulsa massacre that happened in the us...

    • @franzvoss4808
      @franzvoss4808 3 роки тому

      @@TheBatugan77 r u a phillipinoo?

    • @acisos1598
      @acisos1598 3 роки тому +1

      If Germany won i am certain she would have been treated like jews in a few years

  • @jessiweintz7881
    @jessiweintz7881 2 роки тому +3

    Thank you for recording her experience. She is a beautiful soul. I truly enjoyed listening to her.

  • @TheMundusvultdecipi
    @TheMundusvultdecipi 4 роки тому +44

    Wow so she passed away in 2019. Incredible life story!

  • @RETROGEMS
    @RETROGEMS 4 роки тому +87

    This was a phenomenal interview. I'm sitting here amazed at the gentle, sweet spirit of this beautiful lady. She's truly beautiful on the inside and out. And I think I understand why so many people here in the comments are amazed at her story. She possesses little to none of the pain and trauma that so many people of African descent have because of the brutality of racism. It's funny. We are born more than 60 years apart, I am of mixed-race, African-American heritage through my mother's side, and I grew up in the American South during the 1990s. Although we are decades removed, I think I and my family of color may actually have more sad, ugly and angering stories of prejudice ranging from nasty experiences with retail workers to medical professionals to random White strangers than Esther had...all because of a perception of our racial background. It almost seems as if Esther inadvertently held up a mirror to American society with personal accounts like hers and the reflection is ugly as hell...if she had more freedom and received more respect in Nazi freaking Germany than her Black American counterparts during that same time-frame, then what does that say about the sordid and truly terrifying legacy of white supremacy in our nation and the vast amount of damage it's done to Black and Biracial Americans? Esther kept her innocence, she kept her love and warmth for humankind, no matter color and race. That trauma that's touched the lives of so many people of color didn't really touch her own life and I think that's priceless. That's what all Black and part Black people deserve.

    • @arcang2102
      @arcang2102 4 роки тому +3

      Awesome point.Gets kinda murky when u mention if Germany incomparison to American experiences wasn't as bad.She had better ones back home,regardless of the fact that her immediate family of Black German dissent,were all Bomb Victim Survivors.And she still feels today, she was treated alot better in Germany than the U.S. bcs Europe understands the true origin of things, unlike the different wild,yet standard ideals of the states.The west is more interested in moving forward;Or less than Historical Antiquity that Europe is Ultimatly sitting on.Versus Americas fresher newer more progressive ideals on things.To bad the dirt of racism is rooted in such a great country.It doesn't matter to most humanitarians,but to most sub-humane cretins of segregation,being so called mixxed is sometimes a multi-cultural issue.Bcs being Part Black is all black & they can't wrap their puny sense of humanity & anti-social pea brains around that fact.But overall your comment rocked!God Bless.

    • @teemadarif8243
      @teemadarif8243 4 роки тому +2

      And yet they call us the angry black women. The irony of it

    • @chaneldiane8611
      @chaneldiane8611 4 роки тому +3

      Yeah am coloured lady and I live in Germany happily as long as you re a good guest you don’t have problems. I have never been to America.But on tv programs you can see the trauma racism can put in persons.It’s truly sad.

    • @kentagent6343
      @kentagent6343 Рік тому +1

      She's an incredibly strong woman though. Just the story of her cycling to her family's bombed store seeing all of the houses on fire and dead bodies littering the street all while it was dark as if it were night, was crazy.
      It doesn't seem like there's much that would get in her way. She'd power through it all.

  • @starchild7370
    @starchild7370 3 роки тому +254

    I love this story because they do not teach this in school. It's just amazing for so many reasons.

    • @juniorchavesopicassodeyahu988
      @juniorchavesopicassodeyahu988 Рік тому +1

      Michael Jackson was right, the history books are lying to us

    • @fy4370
      @fy4370 Рік тому +12

      thats the thing victors write the history

    • @Harrock
      @Harrock Рік тому +5

      What ? So nazis can say „Not everything was bad“ ? 😂😂😂

    • @berk1569
      @berk1569 Рік тому

      ​@@Harrock nope this means bad people won the WW2.

    • @deeznutz8320
      @deeznutz8320 Рік тому

      ​@@HarrockThey were the good guys if you really aware yes

  • @krmccarrell
    @krmccarrell 3 роки тому +8

    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.

    • @thequeenmidas
      @thequeenmidas Рік тому

      I think I've seen another version without photos

  • @JGarcia77
    @JGarcia77 4 роки тому +51

    As a history teacher I found this video to be fascinating. I never knew very much about Black Germans during the Nazi era.
    Great documentary.

    • @MADNEWYORKER914
      @MADNEWYORKER914 4 роки тому +6

      Because the education system in the U S. teaches a lot of lies and half @$$ history lessons, especially when it comes to true black history!!!

    • @donnachatham1335
      @donnachatham1335 4 роки тому +1

      drained You are corny as hell!!! Please stop with that silly as so called slang talk that nobody is talking.

    • @yaminhaniyah2979
      @yaminhaniyah2979 4 роки тому +1

      I agree. I have always wanted to know if there were any blacks in Germany during WWII and what happened to them. How many in population. A total count and did any of them died.

  • @BlancoToldYou
    @BlancoToldYou 4 роки тому +220

    I miss living in germany it was the best time of my life I was so depressed moving back to the states after having 5yrs of peace

    • @thomasblaine3193
      @thomasblaine3193 3 роки тому +16

      I think james baldwin felt the same about his time in Paris.

    • @BlancoToldYou
      @BlancoToldYou 3 роки тому +6

      @@thomasblaine3193 I bet ..

    • @tkammon2211
      @tkammon2211 3 роки тому +5

      Well, then move back!

    • @BlancoToldYou
      @BlancoToldYou 3 роки тому +38

      @@tkammon2211 lol between Covid/ being a wife and a mother/ and having relatives who wouldn't want me to go its not gonna happen until our two sons turn 18 lol

    • @Herr2Cents
      @Herr2Cents 3 роки тому +2

      Where do you live in the states? I've lived in Boston my whole life and have seen many good changes.

  • @beverlywilson7342
    @beverlywilson7342 4 роки тому +59

    This is movie making material! Someone should tell this woman's story! Never experienced racism until she came to America! Wow!

    • @medusa1340
      @medusa1340 4 роки тому +2

      As a mixed race woman yes totally! I found this documentary amazing despite the history perception.

    • @medusa1340
      @medusa1340 4 роки тому +1

      @diggs19 I have meet a few white Jamaicans individual in the past. for example I used to work in health care.
      A lovely lady ( white) was telling me a story. about when she was a child and her family moved to the Uk in the 50 and 60s.
      Her and her friend went to the corner shop .The shop keeper refused to sell her friend anything? Who was black..
      The lady explain at the time she couldn't understand why? because this was not how things were in Jamaica from a black and white perspective.

    • @wisguen
      @wisguen 4 роки тому +1

      so can't go to school or participate in games is not racism.

    • @medusa1340
      @medusa1340 4 роки тому

      @Anime 4Lyfe the racism /hatred during this period towards the Jewish community was clearly documented through Holocaust. ( Yes I am aware there were many different nationalities) however it was rare that you hear of black individuals pre or after the war of their life in Germany. As the only documentary I watched was Asian/Indian British female Spies. I just remembered thinking How? Could these ladies be spy's? But my heart broke to their fate.

  • @gustavovega9921
    @gustavovega9921 3 роки тому +14

    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

    • @mr.x5495
      @mr.x5495 3 роки тому

      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

  • @EB2therescue
    @EB2therescue 3 роки тому +60

    Esther is a pure heart, thank you for this fabulous interview💖.

  • @MrRagnar123456
    @MrRagnar123456 4 роки тому +31

    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.

    • @callummason6589
      @callummason6589 4 роки тому

      These people are not german or germanic. The decendants of the germanic tribes are german.

    • @charlottekey8856
      @charlottekey8856 4 роки тому

      @@kristjanlektura8116 Actually I think both her parents were African and she said nothing about being mixed.

  • @moomoochacoo
    @moomoochacoo 4 роки тому +34

    I was stationed in Germany for 4 years, and I never experienced racism. All I can think of now is how to return.

    • @doctorbigsmiles
      @doctorbigsmiles 4 роки тому

      Airplanes. Boats. Bon voyage!

    • @merlinhamsters668
      @merlinhamsters668 4 роки тому +6

      @Melani Efrain Bindang Germans aren't racist, there are SOME germans racist and won't show it, but most Europeans aren't racist actually. There are just some people that are like everywhere

    • @mercedesbenzcee6738
      @mercedesbenzcee6738 4 роки тому +1

      My wife lived in germany.her dad was in the army says it was the best nothing like USA

    • @barefootprofessor3455
      @barefootprofessor3455 4 роки тому

      I beg to differ

    • @lenab.m.3708
      @lenab.m.3708 3 роки тому

      if you are Afro-American you can not speak for us Africans in Germany..they treat english speaking ppl better in general

  • @demusmorgan9622
    @demusmorgan9622 8 місяців тому +1

    What a delightful woman. Her story is paradigm shattering. God bless her 🙏❤

  • @KingofAloha808
    @KingofAloha808 4 роки тому +67

    “Did you date a number of Americans?” WTF?? Disrespectful AF. The interviewer was a weirdo. I could not sit and have a conversation with anyone like that.

    • @ngonsainti
      @ngonsainti 3 роки тому +4

      If the interviewer hadn't interviewed, you would never have had the opportunity to listen to her story. What is wrong with people criticizing every other thing and not being open to other people not being PERFECT. Are you perfect? PLUS, the interviewee's SON has written an appreciative comment of the document. What IS YOUR problem is the question.

    • @tjcogger1974
      @tjcogger1974 3 роки тому +3

      Wow you're a true professional victim. Gotta find something to be offended by, right?

    • @MarianaCarvalho-gu8zx
      @MarianaCarvalho-gu8zx 8 днів тому

      That kind of question sounds awful. If he wanted to know whether or not she had dated someone who's American, though I think he was reaching for the "Ah, but you settled with Americans, no? Aren't they better?" or something, he should've formulated the question in a different way.

  • @plumbingguy4u
    @plumbingguy4u 4 роки тому +27

    This woman was so humble. I hope her family is following in her footsteps. She was a great person. rest in peace, my lady.

  • @ghuxlhexxalot_
    @ghuxlhexxalot_ 4 роки тому +104

    This has to be a story of a black woman born in a Nazi germany.. this would at least make oscars

    • @3rdWorldMiss
      @3rdWorldMiss 3 роки тому +1

      I want her story to get the attention it deserves but man fuck the Oscars.

    • @3rdWorldMiss
      @3rdWorldMiss 3 роки тому

      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

    • @khole15
      @khole15 3 роки тому +1

      it would not fit their agenda

  • @andrewjosephdotson87
    @andrewjosephdotson87 5 років тому +37

    This is truly an amazing story! Fascinating to learn from this amazing lady!!!