The Third World in the Second World War exhibit opens in Berlin

September 5, 11:46 PMGermany Headlines ExaminerBuffy Naillon

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From an uncaptioned photo album. Probably North Africa, c. 1943. Photo courtesy of gbaku.  

September 1st marked the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II, an occasion which has been marked by the media and world wide museum exhibits. One exhibit getting attention this week is The Third World in the Second World War (Die Dritte Welt Im Zweiten Weltkrieg), which is premiering at the Uferhallen in Berlin’s Wedding District.

The brainchild of Cologne based freelance journalists headed by Karl Rössel, the exhibit looks at the often overlooked role that the Third World played in World War II. The journalists discovered that there were many movements to fight Fascism during the war that included groups that were not—as the organizers described them—“Eurocentric”. While colonists from Africa had been fighting on the side of the French and other Allies since World War I, perhaps most notably at the Battle of Verdun, these peoples and many others have not take their rightful place in German history books. The journalists organizing the exhibit felt the absence of these important stories in the annals of history was “scandalous” is reported as saying in an interview with The Local.

Conspicuous in their Absence

This isn’t the first time that Rössel has spoken out about the conspicuous absence of non-Europeans in German history books. According to a 2005 Deutsche Welle article, one of Rössel pet examples of the German approach to the history of WWII is a

a 45-minute-long German documentary about the war in the Pacific, examining the battles between the Americans and Japanese near the Salomon Islands. Not once does the narrator mention the islanders. On the contrary, he explains that the Salomons were uninhabited. Actually, millions of people lived there, and ten-thousands were soldiers or forced laborers, and thousands of Salomon Islanders were killed.

But these disenfranchised groups are having their say now in Berlin, because Rössel’s and company are giving it to them. The group, already known for its 2005 publication of Our Victims Don’t Count (Unsere Opfe zaehlen nicht) has been looking at the involvement in World War II by peoples outside of Europe for over ten years.

The stories of Third World participants in the Second World War are told through a series of interactive displays and photos. According to Uferhallen’s website, the series will kick off a series of events, which look at similarly related themes. Invited speakers and entertainers to the exhibit included historian, author and founder of AfricAvenir, Professor Kum’a Ndumbe III. and Erick Manana, a popular Madagascarian musician.

All is Fair in Love and War

However, all is not rosy for the band of journalists who so much want to tell the stories of World War II’s forgotten participants. Because they don’t just look at those who fought against, the Nazis, but also those who were willing collaborators it probably cost the exhibit its originally intended exhibit space at the Werkstatt der Kulturen. According to The Local, the workshop’s Director, Philippa Ebéné, reportedly backed out of hosting the exhibit at the last minute due to pressure from groups like media watch organisation Der Braune Mob.

Although Ebéné has gotten some criticism for being anti-semetic, Rössel doesn’t agree with the criticism, according to The Local. However, Hedefended his inclusion of the non-European Nazi sympathizers by pointing out that it would be impossible to look at the victims of World War II without looking at their perpetrators.

The Third World in the Second World War runs September 1-20th at Uferhallen in Berlin. 

To read more more about themes related to Germany and National Socialism, take a look at these stories: