How did Chinatown in Germany die out during World War II?

There is no Chinatown in Germany at present, with 1.5 million Chinese. There is actually a Chinatown in Germany, but it was "destroyed" by Hitler during World War II. Recently, German historian Lars Ameida told this story in Bild.

"Little China" appeared in Hamburg.

/kloc-at the end of 0/9, European merchant ships loaded with silk, porcelain and opium returned to Hamburg port from Guangdong. A group of China people disembarked from the ship. They drifted at sea for nearly a year and were imprisoned under the cabin as heaters or computer room workers.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of European merchant ships returning from China gradually increased. Businessmen began to agree that women could do odd jobs on ships. Many wives of China sailors also drifted around with them. After a long time, some crew members' families were abandoned in Hamburg because they could no longer set off with the fleet because of illness or childbirth. They teamed up to set up a cabin in the port's St. Pauli district or shared a room with several families. Slowly, more and more China people live in this area.

192 1 When the Consulate of China was founded, there were more than 2,000 Chinese living in the area of Jewelry Street in St. Pauli District. At that time, Hamburg Evening News called this area "Little China". From 1929 to 10, Chen Jilin, an old sailor from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, established the first China Association in German history-"Sailor Pavilion" in Chinatown.

"China people have escaped."

1933 Hitler had a honeymoon with China after he came to power. Germany needs China's strategic materials such as tungsten, iron and manganese, which are needed to make guns. China needs German guns for military equipment. Therefore, China people who survived the First World War safely did not pack their bags and sell their possessions as early as most Jews did. On the contrary, many children from gentry families in China choose to study in Germany.

1938, Hitler pursued the policy of "pure German descent", thinking that "only five generations of true Germans are Germans". China people were forced to divorce their German wives on the grounds that "it would defile the blood of the Germans".

Around 1939, World War II was just around the corner, and the Nazi regime gradually increased its persecution of immigrants from various countries. China people living in Chinatown began to flee Hamburg. Especially 194 1, when the Nazis broke off diplomatic relations with China, the status of China people declined sharply. Within a few months, all China restaurants and grocery stores in Chinatown were forced to close. But there are still about 300 China people living in Jewellery Street. They think that the Nazis only captured the Jews in the end, and their behavior against the Chinese was only caused by the war environment.

Fabricate "collaboration" to persecute China people.

The situation suddenly changed. 1944 at the beginning of may, boss Chen of the sailor's pavilion and others received a secret letter from Nazi insiders, saying that the Nazis were preparing to attack the people of China. That night, more than 65,438,000 China people fled Chinatown. On June 3, 65438, more than 200 secret police officers led by Brecht came in from both ends of Jewelry Street. They arrested all the remaining 65,438+030 people for "collaboration with the enemy".

The Gestapo put innocent China people in Forsbut Gestapo prison. In prison, China people have to do forced labor, otherwise there is no food. Three months later, 80 of them were thrown into the "Tomorrow Concentration Camp" in Williamsburg. Due to the poor sanitary conditions in the concentration camp, China people had to work hard, and 20 people died in less than a week. Most of the rest died of abuse.

After World War II, Germany provided a large number of pensions to the relatives of Jews, civilians and allied prisoners of war who were massacred, except China who survived. They think that the raid on immigrants from China was not "genocide", but was essentially different from the massacre of Jews. It was not until 1972 that Sino-German diplomatic relations were normal that more and more Germans appeared in Hamburg.

Now, at the corner of Jewelry Street, there is a dark iron sign firmly embedded in the wall, which reads: "This used to be the former site of China Chinatown." From then on, there was no new Chinatown in Germany.