Why is there no Chinatown in Germany?

There is no Chinatown in Germany at present, with 1.5 million Chinese. In fact, there is a Chinatown in Germany, which 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 other goods returned to Hamburg port from Guangdong. A group of China people with black hair and yellow skin got off the boat. They drifted at sea for nearly a year and were imprisoned under the cabin as heaters or computer room workers. These China people are more hardworking than those slave workers from Africa and America, and they are "loved" by European caravans.

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. They cook, clean and sew for the crew on board. 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. Some rely on years of savings and cooking to open Chinese restaurants and teahouses; Some people run grocery stores, laundries and dance halls. 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.

Hitler even ordered his subordinates to carefully select China students and crew to serve in the German army. After that, he sent them to three military academies in Munich and other places for military training. Hitler also summoned students from China Military Academy to encourage them to "serve the motherland". The special secretary in charge of German East Asian affairs is also from China. Nazi officials in Hamburg also showed great respect for Chinatown and built many sanitary facilities. China men have also become the object of German women's hearts.

1938, Hitler pursued the policy of "pure German descent", thinking that "only five generations of true Germans are Germans". The people of China suffered as a result. There are many secrets circulating around Chinatown. China people were forced to divorce their German wives on the grounds that.

Will 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. With the help of Mr. Chen of the Mariner's Pavilion, China people arrived in Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and London without much effort. From there, they fled to further American continent, such as San Francisco and other places, and some people simply returned home by boat.

Especially 194 1, when the Nazis broke off diplomatic relations with China, the status of China people declined sharply. Ernst Brecht, the leader of the Gestapo, often leads his men to "pick holes" on trumped-up charges such as "possession of opium" and "trafficking in women". 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. 13 On June 38, more than 200 secrets headed by Brecht came in from both ends of the jewelry street. Armed with guns, they angrily searched the houses of immigrants from China and arrested all the remaining 65,438+030 people for "collaboration with the enemy". The so-called "collaboration with the enemy" means that China "tipped off" the Nazi army to the allied forces.

The Gestapo put innocent China people in Forsbut Gestapo prison. The Gestapo tortured China people every day, asking them to admit that they were "engaged in espionage" and "corrupted the social atmosphere". At the same time, in prison, China people must also carry out forced labor, otherwise there will be 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, only about 30 China people survived in the huge Chinatown. The government of China sent a boat to pick up some people. Later, 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. Although they admit that there is no evidence that the immigrants from China ever cooperated with the allied forces, the raids in those years were not "genocide", which 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.

Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition