2023-08-18 09:20:00
There is not a single empty seat in the hall: the spectators stand leaning against the walls and in the aisles between the rows. All attention is focused on Abenaa Adomako, who, using the example of her family, is trying to convey a clear message to the audience: black Germans have been forced to fight for their rights since the era of colonialism. They became victims of persecution by the National Socialists, were invisible in post-war Germany and feel confident in today’s Berlin. The question inevitably arises: how could it happen that the descendants of the Diek family lived in Germany for 130 years and are still forced to fight for recognition?
“We all have one flaw, whether we are white or black. We all start from scratch. We investigated the history of our black ancestors, and this brought us closer,” says Abenaa Adomako. Together with her brother Roy and the curators of Berlin’s Schöneberg Museum, she conceived the display of an exhibition dedicated to the history of her family. The exhibition “In the footsteps of the Dick family. Stories of black people in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg area is so popular that the organizers decided to extend it.
First generation: migrants from the German colonies
“When I talk about how our grandmother used to cook us Koenigsberg bugs and eggs with mustard, it still amazes me,” Abenaa Adomako says calmly. She has long been accustomed to this – to explain her origin, not trying to justify herself. Her family has been living in Germany for the fifth generation.
Abenaa AdomakoPhoto: Nadine Wojcik/DW
The history of the Dick family begins with Mandenga. The young man came to Germany from Cameroon in 1891 to train as a shoemaker. Blacks in the era of colonialism were considered “exotic”, so the teacher decides to put his apprentice in a window display – for all to see. Mandenga Dick breaks his employment contract and becomes a merchant.
He leaves for Danzig (today Gdansk, a city in northern Poland. – Ord.) remarries an East Prussian native, Emilia, and opens a shop selling colonial goods. Among his clients is the Kaiser’s court. Mandenga becomes a respected and famous person in the city. His daughters Erica and Doris go to a private school. And then the Nazis come to power in Germany.
Second generation: Afro-Germans during National Socialism
According to Nazi racial doctrine, in force during the days of National Socialism, Dick’s daughters were forbidden to attend school. The family is abused by neighbors. Girls are not allowed to play with the neighborhood children. Dikov’s passports are taken away – the family continues to live in Germany, officially becoming stateless. “The children suffered a lot from this. My grandmother wanted to become a doctor, but all her dreams were destroyed,” says Abenaa Adomako.
Mandenga Dick is deprived of a prosperous business, all his property is expropriated. The family struggles to make ends meet, and the father dies prematurely of a heart attack. The eldest daughter Erica manages to get a job as an accountant. She is “tolerated” while she works not in plain sight, but in the back room. For her sister, fate was less favorable. Doris is taken to work on the docks at a shipyard in Danzig. She miraculously manages to avoid forced sterilization – the girl is saved by a policeman.
The entertainment industry becomes a salvation
Temperamental Erica falls in love with film actor Louis Brody. They get married, their daughter Beryl is born, and the young family moves to Berlin. Louis Brody, like Erica’s father, came to Germany from Cameroon. He is one of the few black actors in the film industry. He starred in almost 60 films – mostly in extras, and only in three films did he get more significant roles – one main, and two – the second plan. Abenaa Adomako only knows his grandfather from movies.
The film industry is a relatively safe place, the entertainment industry offers one of the latest earning opportunities. But in 1933-1945, Brody had no other choice – he was forced to act in colonial propaganda films. Again and again he has to play the “savage”, portray the “primitive African”. In case of refusal or doubts, he is threatened with a ban on the profession or a concentration camp.
The Dick family relies on women. Emilia Dick loved her husband faithfully and devotedly all her life and raised her daughters. Erika and Doris survived the times of National Socialism and became moral support for the family in the post-war period, while maintaining an unshakable love for life. For Abenaa Adomako, her grandmother was an important support. “She often had guests, and her apartment was very busy. She always had a red manicure and high heels. In the area where her grandmother lived, she was known by a lot,” recalls Abenaa.
Strong women of the Dick family: Emily Dick (left), Erica (second second) Doris (second from right), Beryl (center) Photo: Privatbesitz Adomako
Third generation: vacuum in the post-war period
Beryl’s childhood – the daughter of Erica and Louis and the mother of Abenai – falls on the post-war period. The girl grows up in a social vacuum. “Many black people in Germany were killed. The rest had to flee the country. A painful void has formed in the place where the black German community lives,” says Abenaa.
Unlike her mother Erica, Beryl is a rather reserved woman. She tries to become inconspicuous in the vacuum of post-war Germany and practically merges with the outside world. Beryl falls in love with a Ghanaian. They have children – Abenaa and Roy. “My mother always made sure that we didn’t stand out too much,” the woman recalls.
Fourth generation: There are many of us!
It took Abenaye decades to free herself from all restrictions and feel truly free. However, today she is full of energy and strength. At 30, Abenaa co-founded the Initiative for Black People in Germany (ISD). “We have a place where we give each other strength and demand recognition. Now we can not be ignored,” she says with pride.
The black community in Germany has to do its own research on its own history. It is poorly documented and not taught in schools. Compared to the US or the UK, Germany is still at the very beginning of its journey.
Fifth generation: everyday life of the Afro-Germans
In the spring of 2023, at the house in Berlin where Erika Dick and Louis Brody lived (real name – Ludwig M’bebe Mpessa), memorial plaques with their names appeared – “stumbling blocks” built into the pavement. In total, there are about 100 thousand of them in Germany. These new ones are one of the first six that were installed in memory of the black victims of National Socialism. Erica did not find this anymore, she died in 1999. But Abenai’s mother Beryl was very touched. “She always cries when I take her to our meetings. In these moments, black people can tell their stories, something that she really missed in her life,” says Abenaa.
Stumbling blocks near the house in Berlin where Erica and Luis lived Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa/picture alliance
Her daughter is already the fifth generation of the Dick family. 24-year-old artist Antonia lives and works in London. When she was at school, the teacher enrolled her in the “German as a foreign language” group and even complained to her parents that the girl did not come to class. The main factor for this decision, obviously, was the color of the girl’s skin.
Today, Antonia does not feel the color of her skin as something special. “My daughter lives a more confident and calm life than my generation. I am in a constant state of struggle, and she feels the diversity of life, in which some issues are not even raised,” says Abenaa Adomako.
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