The Third World in World War II

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The Third World in World War II is a traveling exhibition on the history of the Third World in World War II , which has been shown in Berlin , Tübingen and Wuppertal since September 2009 . From September 16, 2010 to January 16, 2011 she was a guest in Cologne . The next stops were Lucerne (February 26 to March 27, 2011) and Göttingen (April 2 to May 8, 2011). It was on view at the Historical Museum in Frankfurt from September 27, 2012 to April 7, 2013. In Berlin it was originally supposed to be shown in the rooms of the “ Werkstatt der Kulturen ” in Berlin-Neukölln , about which at the last moment there was a rift between exhibition organizers and operators that met with wide media coverage.

Conception of the exhibition

The exhibition developed by the group “ recherche international ” from Cologne and the journalist Karl Rössel from the Rheinisches Journalistinnen Büro is based on the book Our victims don't count - The Third World in World War II , published in 2005 . It explains the history of the countries of the so-called “Third World” during the Second World War with photos and texts, audio stations and videos.

The exhibition shows the fate of the inhabitants of the colonies of the warring countries who volunteered or were forced to do military and labor services. The participation in the success of the Allies against National Socialism , European fascism and the Japanese great power politics is emphasized . The exhibition refers to acts of war that began before the outbreak of war in 1939, such as the international war for Ethiopia in 1935 and the Japanese attack on China in 1937 . The book and the exhibition deal with the course and consequences of the world war in Latin America, North Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and Oceania. The focus is on the proportion of the colonized population in resistance to National Socialism and in recruitment, as well as the perception and handling of black soldiers. The collaboration with National Socialism using the example of some Arab politicians and elites is a special topic .

The exhibition was originally scheduled to start on September 1, 2009 with a speech by the Cameroonian historian Alexandre Kum'a Ndumbe III. will be opened in the “Workshop of Cultures”, presented by the association AfricAvenir International e. V.

confrontation

Karl Rössel accused the management of the “Workshop of Cultures” of wanting to remove three plaques relating to the Middle East , regarding the Palestinian Mohammed Amin al-Husseini's collaborative attitude towards National Socialism.

In the autumn of 2008, Karl Rössel had already accused the Zentrum Moderner Orient in a radio broadcast of playing down the Arab collaboration with National Socialism.

Two weeks before the vernissage, the managing director of the “Werkstatt der Kulturen”, Philippa Ebéné, removed exhibition contents that she thought had not been agreed. The journalist and curator Rössel then accused the management of “ censorship ” in a press release . He claimed that the management of the "Workshop of Cultures" "went down on their knees before the Arabs"; the exhibition had been rejected because of three panels showing the collaboration between Mohammed Amin al-Husseini and Adolf Hitler . When asked by the daily taz , however, he said that he did not know this specifically. Instead, the exhibition was shown in the " Uferhallen " in Berlin-Gesundbrunnen .

After the exhibition opened on September 3, 2009, the management of the “Werkstatt der Kulturen” made it clear that Ebéné had already rejected the content of the exhibition in March because the colonial staging of the exhibition was based on racist peoples' shows and colonial films with “good natives” and “bad ones” Natives ”.

Ms. Ebéné stated that the exhibition concept had not been discussed with her. She expected a "tribute to the fallen POCs ( People of Color ) who liberated Germany from fascism". She raised the charge of racism against the exhibition organizers because they wanted to show a people show based on the motto “good savage, bad savage”. At commemorative events, such as for Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg , it is also not customary to discuss the role of collaborators.

The management received support from the then Berlin integration officer Günter Piening , who, according to the Berliner Tagesspiegel , said: “In a neighborhood like Neukölln we need a differentiated presentation of the involvement of the Arab world in World War II.” However, Pienig denied this statement to the Jerusalem Post and gave it alleged that it was taken out of context.

According to Piening, the participation of the Arabs in the resistance against fascism is not sufficiently recognized in the exhibition.

The spokeswoman for the Berlin Jewish community Maya Zehden accused Ebéné of intolerance and the inability to act democratically. Zehden asked the Berlin Senate to look into Ebéné's dismissal. Zehden described the statement attributed to Pienig as an attempt to appease in order to ignore the fact that there was no official resistance of the Arab world to the persecution of the Jews during World War II . Zehden accused Pienig of a false tolerance towards the German-Arabs in the neighborhood in order to avoid disturbances.

The rejection of the exhibition was also criticized by Neukölln's District Mayor Heinz Buschkowsky , who said: “The workshop [of cultures] in particular claims to be a place of freedom and culture. You have to be able to endure history ”. Buschkowsky interpreted the cancellation of the exhibition as a sign of anticipatory obedience in order to avoid possible problems.

A meeting between representatives of the Werkstatt der Kulturen and the curators was arranged for August 28, 2009, mediated by Piening. He then announced that a copy of the exhibition would now be shown in the “Workshop of Cultures”. Ebéné, who did not take part in the conversation, continues to reject the exhibition. The sponsoring association of the “Werkstatt der Kulturen” has nevertheless decided to show a copy of the exhibition in its premises from September 3, 2009.

The Initiative Black People in Germany (ISD) has criticized this approach of the sponsoring association towards Ebéné as typical for dealing with the sensitivities of black people and instead calls on those responsible to deal with the arguments of the exhibition critics. The ISD also questions the use of the term “Third World” in the title of the exhibition as stigmatizing, because it remains unclear whether old images and prejudices should be corrected or rather codified.

Opening and reception

The exhibition in the Uferhallen opened on September 1, 2009 with great public interest. About 50 journalists were present.

At a press conference on September 2, 2009 at the Amadeu Antonio Foundation in Berlin , the English scholar Susan Arndt supported Ebénés' rejection of references to collaborators with Germany in the exhibition. Arndt recognizes in such an "objectification" the attempt by the Germans to put their own guilt into perspective and to exonerate themselves by mentioning the collaboration between al-Husseini and Hitler. In this respect, the cancellation of the exhibition is “not about censorship, but about resistance by a woman of color”.

On the other hand, at the same press conference , the historian Götz Aly criticized the exhibition as “anti-enlightenment”, despite the parts about collaboration with the Axis powers , because it was kept secret that z. B.  Mahatma Gandhi was a great friend of Nazi Germany during the Indian independence movement against the colonial rule of England because of the common enemy. Aly accuses Ebéné of cultivating an image of the “ noble savage ” for her part. Aly further emphasized that the troops of black soldiers in the service of the British and French did not voluntarily take part in the liberation of Germany and that rape by black occupiers had frequently occurred in southwest Germany. The chairwoman of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, Anetta Kahane , explained that there are different levels of confrontation with colonialism and its effects on the present.

literature

  • Rhenish Journalist Office: Our victims do not count. The Third World in World War II , Association A, Berlin 2005 ( download of the book pdf, 27 MB !, from the website of the exhibition)
  • Research International e. V. (Ed.): The Third World in the Second World War. Teaching materials on a forgotten chapter of history , 2nd amended and corrected edition, Cologne 2015. ( Download of the materials pdf, 15 MB, from the exhibition website)
    • Review by Rosa Fava of the first edition from 2008

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Review of the Frankfurt Historical Museum
  2. ↑ Overview of the locations and dates of the traveling exhibition on the exhibition website
  3. ↑ a b [1] Memento on archive.org of the original website of afrika-bildung.de from August 18, 2009, original program
  4. ↑ Radio SWR2 Wissen November 7, 2008 at 8:30 am, brief announcement Rössel accused the Center of Moderner Orient of playing down Arab collaboration
  5. ^ "Hard fronts in memory" Taz-online, by Alke Wierth, September 4, 2009.
  6. ↑ http://blog.derbraunemob.info/2009/08/30/diskussion-um-ausstellung-in-werkstatt-der-kulturen-oeffentliches-statement-von-der-braune-mob-ev/ “Good natives - bad ones Natives "
  7. ↑ [2]
  8. ↑ a b "History of Neukölln Art" , Tagesspiegel-online, by Philipp Lichterbeck, August 27, 2009
  9. ↑ a b c "Hiding the truth about Husseini" , Jerusalem Post, by Benjamin Weinthal, 28. August 2009
  10. ^ "Criticism of Arabs undesirable" , Tagesspiegel-online, by Sigrid Kneis, August 26, 2009
  11. ↑ Thomas Loy: Dispute about World War II: Consciously controversial. The initiators defend the concept of the exhibition “The Third World in World War II”, which the Werkstatt der Kulturen did not want to show. Today the conflicting parties sit with the integration officer Günter Piening. Der Tagesspiegel , August 28, 2009, accessed December 19, 2010 .
  12. ^ "Dispute over exhibition escalated" , Taz-online, by Alke Wierth, August 28, 2009
  13. ↑ a b “Hard fronts in memory” , Taz-online, by Alke Wierth, September 1, 2009
  14. ↑ "World War Show Opens in Wedding" , Tagesspiegel-online, by Ferda Ataman , September 2, 2009
  15. ^ "Everywhere collaborators" , Welt-online, by Alan Posener, September 3, 2009
  16. ↑ Critical about this: Telegraph.uk: Mahatma Gandhi 'was one of Nazis' greatest friends' German historian claims , September 4, 2009
  17. ↑ Controversy about the exhibition “The Third World in World War II”: The debate on racism required ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , on amadeu-antonio-stiftung.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.amadeu-antonio-stiftung.de