GDR Children Of Namibia
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

GDR children of Namibia () is a colloquial term denoting black
Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
n children that were raised in
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, also known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR). During the
South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...
, the children of hundreds of Namibian refugees and political exiles were resettled and educated in the GDR from 1979 onwards. They were repatriated upon
German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
and their native country's formal independence from South Africa in 1990.


History

During the South African Border War, SWAPO solicited material assistance from around the globe, which they got in the form of education, health, arms and funds. Between 1960 and 1980 hundreds of Namibians came to GDR and were offered academic education. In 1978 many wounded SWAPO guerrillas came from Cassinga to GDR for medical treatment. The GDR offered what was termed "Solidarity Consignment“ to
South West Africa South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...
ns.
Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma ( ; 12May 19298February 2025) was a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first president of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and t ...
turned again to the GDR and other socialist countries after the Cassinga massacre and asked again for children to be taken out of the SWAPO refugee camps for safety, support, and care. On 12 September 1979 Nujoma's request was granted by the SED's Central committee. Jagdschloss Bellin, a hunting castle in Bellin, a village ten kilometers south of
Güstrow Güstrow (; ) is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is capital of the Rostock (district), Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis. It has a population of 28,999 (2020) and is the sevent ...
(today in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...
) was identified as a safe home for the children.


Arrival

On 18 December 1979 the first group of about 80 children arrived in the snowy winter in Bellin. Some were between the ages of 3 and 5 years old. Besides medical and general support it was agreed that German should be the medium of instruction for those in pre-primary and primary school. Between 1979 and 1988 a total of 430 black children came to the GDR. Due to inadequate space, the groups from 1979 to 1985 were moved to the ''School of Friendship'' in
Staßfurt Staßfurt (Stassfurt) () is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on both sides of the river Bode, approximately northeast of Aschersleben, and south of Magdeburg. Pop. (2005) 23,538. It was one of th ...
. The children were mostly pre-school war orphans. Some of them were selected from families of SWAPO functionaries, reportedly without the consent or consultation of their family members. The government of GDR saw the education of these children as one of their contributions to the international revolution. The first group of children that went in 1979, and were called later the "79ers," spent eleven and a half years in the GDR. They went to school, learned German as a mother tongue, and basically grew up with a German lifestyle. German and Namibian teachers tried their best to sustain the Namibian culture with the teaching of traditional dances, Oshivambo songs, and traditional cooking. In the GDR, social and tertiary education was of utmost importance for the children. The education for the SWAPO
Pionier Pionier may refer to: * PIONIER, the Polish academic network * ''Pionier'', the German-language paper published by Karl Heinzen * PIONIER (VLTI), an instrument at the VLTI astronomical observatory * "Pioniere", combat engineering A combat eng ...
aimed to place most of these youths in elite leadership positions for the development of the country once Namibia achieved its independence.


Repatriation

A few months after the fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...
in November 1989, Namibia attained its independence. The event culminated in the repatriation of Namibian children and teachers from the GDR back to Namibia. There are a number of theories regarding the unexpected repatriation; at that point, an established parent committee requested the return of these children, as a
symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...
for a new Namibian government and to nullify the rumours that the SWAPO children were kidnapped. The repatriation of these children took place from 26 to 31 August 1990, landing in a homeland alien to them. The consequence was cultural shock: Though these youth were seen by the Namibian people as Germans, the
Namibian German Namibia is a multilingual country in which German is recognised as a national language. While English has been the sole official language of the country since 1990, in many areas of the country, German enjoys official status at a community level ...
people regarded them to be "amazingly German“, though as black people. For the GDR children of Namibia, it meant a conflict between two home countries and two cultures, and a fight for two identities. Many of them returned into poverty and struggle instead of the expected leadership positions.


Aftermath

In the process of the children's homecoming to Namibia, the concept "ex-GDR children" was casually used along with the term "Ossis of Namibia“, as they sometimes regarded themselves as " Ossis". The ''Ossiclub of Windhoek'' that existed up to 2007 was a place where they regularly met. Up to today, the concept of "GDR children" is a meaning that continues to have significance. As some of them went to good schools in Namibia and still have a good command of the German language in a country with a strong German influence, they stand to have good career opportunities. Unfortunately some still experience difficulties in the search for their own sense of home, culture, and identity. Today most of the ex-GDR children describe themselves as "Omulaule", a word in Oshivambo that means "black" or "black man". They call their everyday language Oshi-Deutsch, a mixture of
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and Oshivambo. Their organization continues to operate under the name ''Freundeskreis ex-DDR'', but it is largely dormant.


Current Situation

Since end of 2009 a group of Omulaule came under the spotlight through bad behaviour especially in Windhoek. They started collecting money in the form of donations for an apparent historical expedition from German tourists. Such expedition or project was never planned.


Exhibition

In the temporary exhibition "Ansichtssache(n) : The German in me is Indirect" at the
Humboldt Forum The Humboldt Forum is a museum dedicated to human history, art and culture, located in the Berlin Palace on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It is named in honour of the Prussian scholars Wilhelm von Humboldt, Wilhelm and Alexa ...
/ Ethnological Museum in Berlin traces the history of the "GDR children". In photo collages and video interviews, some of them and their children look at their biographies, in which African and European perspectives intersect in many ways. Exhibition concept: Dirk Neldner. Opening Sep. 2021.


In the arts


Films

*''Omulaule means black'', from the
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is a university located in Weimar, Germany, and specializes in the artistic and technical fields. Established in 1860 as the Great Ducal Saxon Art School, it gained collegiate status on 3 June 1910. In 1919 the s ...
(Fakultät Medien) developed a documentary film . They got a prize for the Landeszentrale for political Education Thüringen, in 2003
Webseite zum Film
* ''The Ossis from Windhoek'', 1997 Documentation, 52 min. ARTE & Mdr * Documentaryfilm-Zyklus von Lilly Grote & Julia Kunert: ** ''Inside – Outside'', Staßfurt, 1990 ''Staßfurt – Windhoek'' ** ''Oshilongo Shange – My Land'', 1992 * ''The Ossis from Namibia'', Documentary film from K.-D. Gralow, R. Pitann and H. Thull., 2004–2007, Production: Pitann Film+Grafic, First screening NDR 2007


Plays

* ''Oshi-Deutsch - The GDR Kids of Namibia'' / ''Oshi-Deutsch - die DDR-Kinder von Namibia'' Namibian-German coproduction,
Theater Osnabrück Theater Osnabrück is a German theatre in Osnabrück, Germany. It operates under the auspices of the ''Städtische Bühnen Osnabrück gGmbH''. The primary performance venues are the ''Theater am Domhof'' (seating capacity 642) and the ''emma-thea ...
, 2016


Literature

* Marco Mahler: Kuckucksland, Tinte & Feder, 2016, *Stefanie-Lahya Aukongo: ''God's Child. How the GDR changed my life.'' Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek 2009, , (''Rororo'' 62500 ''Sachbuch''). * Lucia Engombe, Peter Hilliges: ''Child Nr. 95. My German-African Odyssee''. Ullstein, Berlin 2004, , (''Ullstein-Taschenbuch'' 25892). * Constance Kenna (Hrsg.): ''The „GDR-Children“ of Namibia. Homecomers in an unknown country''. Klaus Hess Verlag, Göttingen / Windhoek 1999, . * Jürgen Krause: ''„The GDR-Namibia-Solidarityprojekt School of Friendship – Possibilities and limitation intercultural Education“''. BIS-Verlag, Universität Oldenburg 2009, . * Uta Rüchel: ''„We had seen a black person“. The integration of Germans and Namibian around the SWAPO-Childrenhome Bellin 1979 - 1990''. Published from the Landesbeauftragten for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for materials of the safety and security of the GDR. Landesbeauftragter for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for materials of the safety and security of the GDR, Schwerin 2001, . * Ingrid Brase Schloe, Kay Brase: ''Onesmus. White Children with a black skin in Namibia''. Betzel Verlag, Nienburg 1996, .


References

{{Reflist


See also

* Namibian Czechs


External links


Oshie-Deutsch, Bilder und Geschichte

Website of the Freundeskreis ex-GDR

Omulaule - A documentary movie
German people of Namibian descent Ethnic groups in Namibia South African Border War Foreign relations of East Germany Namibian expatriates in East Germany Germany–Namibia relations Namibian expatriates in Germany