The Reichskolonialbund in today's Marzahn-Hellersdorf

Introduction: Colonial Revisionism after 1919

Between 1884 and 1914, the German Reich ruled over colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. After World War I, Germany was stripped of its colonies by the Treaty of Versailles and placed under a mandate from the League of Nations. However, the end of formal German colonial rule did not mean the end of colonial fantasies and ambitions. In the Weimar Republic, a growing colonial movement continued colonialist ideas and intentions and pursued the goal of regaining the former German territories in Africa. This endeavor is called colonial revisionism and is negotiated in historical scholarship as a phenomenon of colonialism without colonies . [1]

During the National Socialist era, the colonial revisionist forces expanded their activities. The "Reich Colonial League" founded local groups all over Berlin – from 1937 also in the districts that today form the district of Marzahn-Hellersdorf. This article traces the political development of the Reich Colonial League from its enforced conformity in 1933 to its dissolution in 1943 and relates the local activities of the local groups in today's Marzahn-Hellersdorf to Nazi colonial policy as a whole. [2] In what way did the local structures in Biesdorf, Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf contribute to spreading colonialist ideas? What was the relationship between colonial interest groups and NSDAP party structures on the ground? What room for manoeuvre did the colonial movement have between willing adaptation to the Nazi regime and relentless adherence to its traditional course?

These questions are examined on the basis of newspaper articles from the Lichtenberger Anzeiger and Tageblatt. The districts that today belong to the district of Marzahn-Hellersdorf were part of the district of Lichtenberg until the end of the 20th century; therefore, the local newspaper reported on the activities of the Reich Colonial League in Biesdorf, Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf. Due to the sparse source situation, the article is a fragment of a search for colonial traces in today's Marzahn-Hellersdorf. [3]

The Enforced Conformity of the Colonial Movement under National Socialism

The revocation of the colonies after the First World War was perceived by large parts of the German population as an unlawful seizure and seen as a symbol of Germany's subordinate role in the new world order. [4] Accordingly, the colonial movement in the Weimar Republic elevated the recovery of the colonies to a question of national prestige; nevertheless, it did not succeed in giving the colonial question the desired political significance. [5] The colonial associations finally placed their disappointed hopes in the National Socialists, and from the end of the 1920s onwards, the colonial movement and the Nazi movement came closer together, both in terms of content and personnel.[6]

In 1933, the year of the transfer of power to the National Socialists, the colonial movement was brought into line and willingly restructured its organizations. For example, all colonial youth associations were integrated into the Hitler Youth. [7] In 1936, the existing colonial associations, such as the German Colonial Society, which had existed since 1887, were dissolved and unified in the Reich Colonial League (RKB). In addition, a Colonial Policy Office was established, which, as the NSDAP's authority responsible for colonial issues, dealt with related political, economic, and scientific matters. [8]

Both ideologically and organizationally, the colonial movement integrated itself into National Socialism. The RKB knew how to use its conformist structure within the Nazi system to its advantage and to legitimize itself through public affiliation to National Socialist organizations. A visible expression of this was the fact that after 1937 a swastika was inserted in the middle of the RKB emblem. [9] Despite their loyalty to the Nazi regime and their willing adaptation to the new framework conditions of the National Socialist dictatorship, the colonialists also held on to traditional content that was not shared by all Nazi elites. [10] This was particularly true of debates about colonial policy and Ostpolitik, with the colonial movement insisting on revisionist claims to regain the colonies in Africa, while the Nazi "world power policy" was primarily aimed at expansion in Eastern Europe.

At the end of the 1930s, the RKB intensified its agitational efforts to support the masses with propagandistic marches, lectures and film screenings. The increased efforts and activities brought the colonial movement a rapid influx, which was reflected both in the number of members and in the annual reports. [11] By April 1939, the number of members of the new RKB had risen to one million and in 1941 to two million. [12]

"The colonial idea marches!": The Reich Colonial League in Marzahn-Hellersdorf

Colonial propaganda also spread to the outskirts of Berlin. In the districts that today form the district of Marzahn-Hellersdorf, local groups of the Reich Colonial League were founded, for example in Biesdorf and Mahlsdorf in 1937 and in Kaulsdorf in 1938. [13] After only a few months, in May 1937, around 200 members had joined the Mahlsdorf RKB local group. [14]

In addition to internal events such as monthly meetings of the members and, in the case of Biesdorf, regular consultation hours in the office, the local groups also addressed the population in the district with information events. [15] These were mostly lectures, film screenings or storytelling evenings, which were held in local restaurants and cinemas. These events of the local groups had the aim of anchoring the colonial idea locally. The summary of two colonial political events, which took place simultaneously in Mahlsdorf and Biesdorf on February 24, 1937, shows initial successes in this regard: Both meetings were well attended and would have met with a "joyful response" from those present – so that one can also say of our East: The colonial idea is marching!" [16]

In the autumn of 1937, the Mahlsdorf local association started a "Colonial Political Lecture Series", which was carried out together with the NSDAP local group in the Deutsche Ecke pub in Alt-Mahlsdorf. The series was opened at the beginning of October with a lecture on "Prerequisites of National Socialist Colonial Policy". According to the event report, the expert speaker had "made the necessity of regaining our colonies clear to the eagerly following listeners". [17] The second evening of the series with around 300 visitors was dedicated to the history of the colonies and the last lecture on 7 February 1938 dealt with the economic importance of the German colonies, with the speaker – a former colonial farmer – discussing the supposed "German space problem" and emphasizing "the importance of the colonies for our food and raw material supply". [18]

This series of lectures as well as other events of the RKB local groups in Marzahn-Hellersdorf reflect the contemporary colonial discourse. On the basis of the reporting on RKB events in the Lichtenberger Anzeiger , central discourse motifs can be shown. These include the romanticization of Germany's colonial past and the heroization of central figures from the time of colonial "conquest" as well as military personnel of the colonial wars. This is particularly evident in an event report on a lecture evening of the RKB local group in Mahlsdorf in May 1937:

"One heard of the seizure of possession in the eighties, of the economic, social and hygienic measures to secure and develop this colonial possession, furthermore of the desperate, heroic attempts to defend against the attack of the enemies of the World War on the completely unprotected country, which was not prepared for any attack, and finally of the courageous guardians of the possessions of the planters and animal breeders in our days to the scouts, who are now the third generation on German soil overseas. A heroic song that inspires the youth as well as fills every German with new obligations!" [19]

Another common motif of discourse was that of the so-called "colonial guilt lie". The victorious powers of the First World War had denied Germany the ability to carry out colonial work in the sense of the European "civilising mission". The British in particular portrayed German colonial rule as extremely violent and referred to German atrocities committed during the colonial wars. These accusations aroused the ire of the German public; they were criticised as baseless and rejected as a "colonial guilt lie". [20] In order to refute the accusations, the colonial movement staged the Germans as supposedly "good colonizers" and glorified the German tyranny in Africa and Asia as legitimate and exemplary. At the aforementioned lecture evening on German colonial history in November 1937, the speaker emphasized the "exemplary German administration" and referred to the history of the German colonies as the best proof "of the legitimacy of the claim to the return of our colonies." [21]

The romanticizing and glorifying depictions were underpinned by reports from former settlers, farmers or colonial soldiers. These descriptions made the colonial world tangible and created an emotional access to the topics and demands of the colonial movement. The personal reports gave the events authenticity and legitimized the political demands through personal appeals. This is particularly illustrated by the event report on a lecture evening of the RKB local association Kaulsdorf in April 1939:

"Pg. [Party comrade, author's note] Riebtsch, Germany's oldest colonial orator, came to East Africa as a drummer for the German Schutztruppe and was able to give a vivid description of life in German East Africa from his own experiences. (…) From his own experiences and experiences, the speaker refuted the lies that are spread about Germany's colonial activity with a definite intention, and justified the necessity that Germany should get back the colonies stolen from it. He concluded with the wish and the hope that the swastika flag would soon fly on the administrative buildings of the colonies." [22]

In addition to events with a content-related programme, the RKB local groups also invited people to social evenings, with the screening of colonial films and performances by the music band of the Colonial Warriors' League being particularly popular. In March 1939, for example, the RKB local associations in Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf organised an evening under the motto "Spring under palm trees" in a restaurant on Hönower Straße. According to the event report, there was a colourful programme with a decorated hall, performances and dance, music and a small exhibition "with memorabilia of our colonies". [23] Such events were often a meeting place for former settlers. Africa in particular functioned here as a place of longing for adventure and as a projection screen for unfulfilled colonial dreams instead of as a concrete place of violent rule, racist oppression and economic exploitation.

The RKB in National Socialist everyday life in Marzahn-Hellersdorf

The Reich Colonial League was also present in the district away from its own events, and colonial issues formed part of the National Socialist everyday world. This was facilitated by the interlocking of the NSDAP and RKB. The annual report of the Berlin RKB Gauverband from 1940 emphasizes that the cooperation of the RKB with the NSDAP "is particularly fruitful in those circles in which there is a personal union between the party and the Reich Colonial League." [24] This was the case, for example, in Mahlsdorf, where the NSDAP local group leader Fritz Müller campaigned for the founding and special promotion of the RKB local association. [25] In May 1937, Müller reaffirmed the "fundamental agreement between the local group and the RKB" and praised the "exemplary cooperation" that was in the spirit of the NDSAP district leadership. [26] From August 1937, the office of the Mahlsdorf RKB local association was housed in the premises of the Hitler Youth Unterbannführer at Köpenicker Straße 15 (today Hultschiner Damm 333), and in the autumn of the same year, the aforementioned colonial policy lecture series started in Mahlsdorf, which was jointly organized by the local RKB and NSDAP local groups and attended by many members of the party and the Hitler Youth. [27]

At the Biesdorf Blossom Festival, which was held under the patronage of the NSDAP, the RKB was able to reach a broad public in the district in 1937 and 1938. In 1937, the festival in the Biesdorf Palace Park offered not only a "homeland exhibition" and a demonstration of warship models, but also insights into colonial topics, about which the Lichtenberger Anzeiger reported on May 7, 1937:

"On Wednesday evening, a film event "The Riders of German East Africa" took place in a giant tent built in the castle park. A music platoon of the Reich Colonial Warriors' League played and Bausdorf local group leader of the NSDAP proclaimed a victory for the Führer and the fatherland, referring to the necessary solution of the colonial questions." [28]

The following year, at the Blossom Festival in 1938, the Reich Colonial Association showed a colonial exhibition in Biesdorf Castle (see illustration). The Lichtenberger Anzeiger pointed out that it contains "memorabilia from our colonies, samples of the abundance of the soil, vegetation, weapons, jewelry, etc., [and] is likely to be the first of its kind in Berlin." [29] The exhibition is said to have been "besieged throughout the day by a dense crowd of people who listened attentively to the explanations given by former colonial soldiers." [30]

According to historian Willeke Sandler, exhibitions were a particularly effective instrument for the colonial movement under National Socialism to place colonialist themes in public spaces. According to her counts, the RKB organized six major exhibitions between 1933 and 1943, two of them as traveling exhibitions and dozens more at the regional level. The "Great German Colonial Exhibition", which toured Germany as a show, was visited by around 1.7 million people between 1933 and 1938. The exhibitions gave the colonial movement a public face and brought visitors into contact with colonial issues and questions. Sandler therefore considers them an "important propaganda tool". For example, the colonialists in Nazi Germany occupied public space "metaphorically and physically". [31]

Hitler and the Colonial Question: Legitimation Strategies of the RKB Local Groups

At the same time, the efforts of the colonial movement to be perceived in the public sphere testify to the need to fight for a presence in the political discourse. The Nazi regime initially saw the colonial movement as potential allies and included its interests in its political agenda, at least to some extent. Some leading NSDAP members publicly professed their support for colonial aspirations – especially because they considered German colonial possessions to be economically necessary. [32] Adolf Hitler himself also repeatedly advocated the recovery of the colonies. In February 1933, he declared that he had by no means given up colonial efforts: "We need colonies just as much as any other power." [33]

The colonists understood such statements as commitments to the colonial project and took them up for propaganda purposes. This legitimation strategy can also be seen at the local level in Marzahn-Hellersdorf. For example, when the RKB local group in Mahlsdorf was founded in February 1937, a connection was made to Hitler's party rally speech in January of the same year, in which he had made colonial demands. The future activities of the RKB local groups were justified on a small scale by reference to National Socialist policy on a large scale:

"In order for the Fuehrer to be able to successfully defend his demand, he needs the front that stands behind him in the struggle for the recovery of our colonies. This battle front is embodied in the Reich Colonial League!" [34]

At the opening evening of the colonial policy lecture series in October 1937, the enthusiastic response to the lecture on the "Prerequisites of National Socialist Colonial Policy" was also attributed to a colonial appeal by Hitler, which he had placed in his speech shortly before at the "Reich Harvest Thanksgiving Festival" on the Bückeberg near Hamelin:

"Again and again the spontaneous applause showed how lively the response was. – Everyone was still under the strong impression of the demand that the Fuehrer had unmistakably raised in his speech at the state ceremony on the Bückeberg: immeasurable the importance that our colonies will have for the selection of our offspring!" [35]

Tactical calculation and colonial policy leeway

The colonial movement – both its elites and the local structures – clung to individual statements by Hitler. Often, however, such demands were lip service and tactical calculation. Hitler instrumentalized colonial policy and tactically maneuvered with the demands for the recovery of the colonies, especially as a foreign policy means of exerting pressure on England. [36] Other leading Nazi politicians openly disapproved of the colonial plans. However, the disagreement in the Nazi leadership and Hitler's indecisiveness on the colonial question gave the colonial movement the necessary leeway for its activities. This led to the paradoxical situation that the extensive colonial planning in the legal, scientific, medical and military fields continued until 1943 without any realpolitik basis. [37] The beginning of the Second World War in 1939 added a military option to the colonial revisionist intentions. [38] Historian Karsten Linne describes the period from July 1940 to December 1941 as a "long year of colonial euphoria". [39] The defeat of France in the summer of 1940 created the military and political conditions for the conquest of colonial territory for a short time. Thus, the ideas and designs of the Nazi colonial planners took on "definitive megalomaniac features", according to Linne. [40]

The growing interest in German colonial policy was also reflected in the RKB and its local structures. The number of members rose rapidly in 1940 and the topic was actively discussed in public. The annual report of the Berlin RKB sums up that in 1940 there had been a "comprehensive and successful commitment to the creation of a colonial-friendly and colonial-conscious Berlin". [41] Membership and membership fees had developed positively in Berlin "despite difficult circumstances". In the Reich capital alone, 10,523 new members had joined the local Gauverband. [42]

Like the event reports in the Lichtenberger Anzeiger , the annual report is to be read in the context of Nazi and colonial propaganda and testifies to agitational exuberance. The events of the local RKB local groups in today's Marzahn-Hellersdorf had already subsided at this time – at least this is to be assumed, as reporting on the activities of the RKB local groups as well as on colonial political events ebbed away from 1940 onwards. As early as the beginning of 1939, the Lichtenberger Anzeiger had reported on a "longer period of silence" in the RKB local association in Biesdorf, which was justified by an "internal reorganisation". [43] Finally, with regard to today's Marzahn-Hellersdorf, there was a report on a colonial evening about Cameroon with a slide lecture, which took place on July 10, 1941 in the Gesellschaftshaus Keibel in Kaulsdorf. [44]

Colonial Policy versus Ostpolitik: The End of the Colonial Movement

In the course of the Second World War, the tension between colonial policy and Ostpolitik increased, and the colonial movement came under increasing pressure to justify itself. Not the recovery of the colonies, but the acquisition of "living space" in the East was the declared goal of the National Socialists. [45] For this reason, especially since the invasion of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, all efforts were aimed at continental eastward expansion. The colonial propaganda of the RBK was increasingly criticized by leading NDSAP elites as a dangerous distraction from the actual war aims. The colonial movement became increasingly irrelevant to the Nazi regime – both in terms of its ideological orientation and its practical projects. The colonial associations were required to reduce their activities due to the war. From 1941 onwards, the NSDAP restricted publications and events of the RKB in order to prevent public debate on German colonial policy. Ultimately, Nazi colonial policy never progressed beyond the stage of planning and preparatory work. [46] The German colonial movement was unable to enforce its demands politically, as it, its central figures and institutions ultimately lacked legislative and executive powers. [47] After the capitulation in Stalingrad, failed major offensives on the Eastern Front and defeats in North Africa, the colonial revisionist project had finally failed and the colonial institutions and associations were wound up – albeit not without resistance. [48]