Enredo

This drama is based on the childhood memories of Hans Jürgen Massaquoi, who was one of the few black native Germans in Nazi Germany. In 1935 at the age of nine, he lives with his German mother in a small flat in Hamburg's working class district Barmbek, while his father and grandfather had left the country. Although the boy is not persecuted by the Nazis and dreams of joining the Hitler Youth, his skin color makes him a target for racism.—fippi2000

In first scene, World War II had recently ended and Hans-Juergen Massaquoi is rummaging through the ruins of his neighorhood and he is held at gun-point by two African American soldiers. When they asked him who he was, he relpied, "Schiess nicht, Ich bin Deutscher". The soldiers were so proud to see a black German that they gave him Sigkeiten (sweets). Then it transitions into a flashback scene where Hans-Juergen Massaquoi (a newborn) and his mother (Bertha Baetz) move into her fiancee's father's villa. She and her son plan on staying with her future father-in-law until her fiancee comes back to Germany so they can get married. After a few years his mother gets impatient with her fiance and decides not to go to Liberia to marry him. She and Hans eventually move back to Hamburg (her hometown) into a shabby apartment in the poorest section of the city.

Frau Möller (Elisabeth) begins to babysit Hans-Juergen while his mother is working at a nearby hospital as a nurse. She instantly establishes a bond with Hans-Juergen, whom she affectionately calls him her Schokoladenkeks (chocolate cookie). While taking a walk through the city, Hans and Frau Möller came across an acquaintance named Wilhelm. Wilhelm then introduces Hans to his son Klaus and his friend Fietz. They jokingly call him Neger, Neger Schornsteinfeger (Black Chimney Sweep). Despite the racial differences, they become the best of friends.

In the year of 1935, the Nazi Party begins to proliferate in Germany, where they began to propagandize their philosophies of Nazism. While playing, Fietz and Klaus call Hans-Juergens mother a Negerhure, which literally translates as a Negro whore. Later that evening, while his mother is bathing him, he asks her what a Negerhure is and she becomes outraged but not surprised that his friends would label her as such. At Hans' elementary school, he is the only black student in his classroom of whites. On the playground, Hans-Juergen was being tormented by the children. He is surrounded by a crowd of white children who continually chant "Neger, Neger Schornsteinfeger". His teacher Fräulein Eilert intervenes and breaks up the scuffle.

Bertha begins to date Franz Wahl, who happens to be the manager of the same hospital she works. He is also an active member of the Nazi Party. Bertha is somewhat apprehensive about introducing her son to Franz because Hans is not accustomed to a man being in the house. On the contrary, Hans-Juergen openly accepts Franz as his mothers boyfriend and they instantly click as friends.

While playing, Hans and his friends discuss Hitlers regime and his establishment of Hitler-Jugend. Klaus states Hitler is a good man and has great plans for the social advancement of Germany. He constantly reiterates that his father wants to join Hitler-Jugend. On the other hand, his mother is totally against the idea. Klaus somewhat contradicts himself when he claims that Hitler is ein gutter Mann, but then says that joining Hitler-Jugend (Hitler Youth) is not worth the trouble to wear a nice uniform and march in the afternoon. Consequently, Hans, Fiete and Klaus agree that if one doesnt join they all cant join because they are close.

At the zoo, there is an exhibition (Voelkershow) of foreign Africans in front of a man-made hut where they are playing the drums. The spectators are making racist comments toward the Africans at the exhibition. One of spectators makes a comment that Hans is one of them [the Africans in the exhibition]. In response, Bertha takes Hans-Juergen home.

In the classroom scene, the presence of the Nazi Party can be felt. Adolf Hitlers photograph can be seen behind the teacher. Director Wiede from Hitler-Jugend commands the children to say "Heil, Hitler" before class each morning instead of "Guten Morgen, Fräulein Eilert". Fräulein Eilert blatantly refuses to recite "Heil, Hitler" because of her religious beliefs and she that says only praises God. After Director Wiede leaves, then the teacher continues on with the lesson. She gives Hans the honor to learn the lyrics to the poem "Die Gedanken Sind Frei" for an up-coming play for his school.

Franz Wahl gives Hans-Juergen a swastika embelm as a gift. Frau Moeller agrees to stitch the embelm on his jacket so that he can display his affinity to the Nazi Party. Since Hans is too young to understand what the Nazi Party truly stands for, he wears the swastika with pride because he wants to acknowledge his German heritage.

Fiete finally breaks the promise that all three of them made to never join the Hitler-Youth group if all three of them made to never join the Hitler Youth group if all three of them did not join. His father became a member of the Nazi and they were both sworn in. In addition, his father bribed him with an electric car.

Hans-Juergen was sent by Frau Moeller to purchase three beers at a nearby Zandetti pub, where there is coincidentally a Nazi rally. During the demonstration, Hans is ridiculed by one of the members of the Nazi Party and Franz allows it to continue. The boy leaves the pub in a state of confusion not really knowing why Franz won't stand up for him.

On the playground, Hans and friends come across a sign that reads "Nicht Aryan ist das Betreten dieses Spielplatzes strengstens verboten" which means that Non-Aryans are not allowed to play on the playground. When his mother finds out about it she orders him to put it back where he got it.

Hans-Juergen has dinner with Klaus family, whose father is a member of the Nazi Party. While eating dinner, he makes Anti-Semitic remarks to Hans-Juergen. Mahnke takes Hans-Juergen home and gives his mother of Nazi flags. Mahnke believes the Blacks don't belong to the German race. Bertha demands that Hans-Juergen put the sign back up even though it is racially motivated. Mahnke and Franz (the manager specialist) agree that Hans-Juergen can play on the playground even though he's not Aryan.

Miss Eilert, Hans-Juergens teacher goes to Hans' mothers house to inform her about her dismissal from the school due to her affiliation with a Christian group which was prohibited in 1933. Hans-Juergen was also excluded from the school performance ordered by the school director.

For his birthday, he got Hitler, Goethe and Goering action figures. As soon as he turns 10 yrs. he gets with his friends to meet with the director of the Hitler-Youth Party to apply for admission. But he is told, it is against the law to admit non-Aryans. Hans-Juergen could not comprehend the idea of not being accepted as a German citizen.

During PE, the boys are inside of the gym engaging in various activities. When Hans-Juergen tries to reach the rope, Director Wiede purposely pulls it away so that he can land on the mat. Director Wiede makes a spectacle out of Hans-Juergen in front of the other boys. Wiede compares him to fellow white student to demonstrate the physical and intellectual traits of Non-aryans.

In the next scene, Franz and Bertha are in bed together and they are discussing the possibly of the future in affiliation with the Nazi. Franz allegiance to Nazi Party has put a strain on his relationship with Bertha. If he continues to be in a relationship with a non-member (Bertha), his status within the party could be jeparodized. Eventually, they both decide to break up since Bertha refuses not to join the Nazi Party.

Bertha was dismissed from her job as a nurse because of her refusal to join the Nazi Party. According to her manager (Franz), political incorrect persons are not allowed to work in public institutions.

In the next scene, Bertha and Hans-Juergen listened to the boxing match between Schmeling and Joe Louis, a well-renowned African American boxer, on the radio. When Joe Louis was defeated, Hans cried as though it were his own personal defeat. His mother begins to cry as well because of his dismissal from her job. But she never reveals the grounds behind her dismal to Hans-Juergen. He asks her, Why Franz couldn't do anything about it? She finds it difficult to tell him the truth but he is able to justify his mothers grief by saying that Franz is traveling on business. Joe Louis defeat inspires Hans to learn how to box. He goes into an old warehouse turned gym, where men you and old train to be boxers. He was told by one of the guys that he was and short to do. Even though that dream is deferred he still tries to gain admission into Hitler Youth. He and his mother went to Hitler Youth to register him for the admission exams at the high school. He has aspirations of becoming an engineer after high school. But the director Wiede of the Hitler Youth discourages him by saying that he is not suitable for high school due to his character defects. By 1941, Germany was already in war and Hans along with his friends dreamed of going to war for Germany. Hans, Fiete and Frank are having a conversation by the train tracks about possibly joining the service. Hans-Juergen has dreams of joining the Airforce. They are afraid by the time they get old enough to join the service, the war will be over by then.

Hans' mother works as a cleaning woman for Dr. Goldstein who happens to be Jewish. Her employment by a Jew is perplexing for Hans-Juergen, whos been brainwashed to believe Jews are inferior. Hans gets to meet Dr. Goldsteins son Fritz, whos fourteen for the first time. Fritz wants to be an astronomer. They soon learn that they have more in common then they previously thought. They were denied into Hitler-Jugend and the Gymnasium because are non-Aryans.

When he was nine years old, he was denied joining the boxing club because of short stature. At the tender age of fifteen, he joins the boxing club after promising his mom that he wouldn't. On the first day he was accepted into the club, he went into the boxing ring up against of the top trainers. Hans goes home the same day to tell his mother the exciting news and she does not object as long as he son is happy. As Bertha and Juergen go the Goldsteins so that she can work. In addition, Hans has recently befriended Fritz and wants to show him a few boxing techniques. As Hans-Juergen and his mother go Dr. Goldstein house for work, they discover him dead along with his wife and son. It seems as though they were forced to drink a poisonous drink as they lied on the bed.

In the next scene, Bertha and Wilhelm Mahnke (Nazi soldier) are having a conversation about the shortage of laborers due to mass proliferation of German soldiers. She wants to work as nurse again since they are in such high demand. Hans also wants to serve in the military as well but Mahnke suggests that he works a harvester instead. He jokingly says that Hans can be the the soldier of the harvest field. Unfortunately, Hans was also denied that position as well. Mahnke replies that they will have their reasons and Bertha retorts with they have always had their reasons.

In this scene, one can see that both Bertha and Hans are both discouraged due to living conditions. Bertha is facing public scorn for having a biracial child which makes it difficult to get ahead in Hamburg. In the next scene, as Hans-Juergen rides his bicycle through the city he discovers an attractive young German adolescent girl by the name of Evchen John. It is like love at first sight for Hans-Juergen as he begins to discover the beauty of the opposite. He seems jittery and is barely able to compose himself in her presence. Coincidently, Klaus happens to know the young lady he has on crush on. Now Hans-Juergen is eager to get to know her better so he starts pestering Klaus for answers to his questions about her.

In the next scene, Hans and his friends go to see Ernst Koeger who happens to be enlisted to fight in the war. Klaus even offers to be his assistant in the war. He goes to a Nazi recruiter to get himself enlisted in the army and he brings his reports to improve his chances of getting enlisted. The recruiter claims that Germany is in the process of conquering African colonies. The recruiter recognizes his good craftsmanship and recommends that he gets an apprenticeship to train African laborers. After his apprenticeship he wants to travel to Liberia, which happens to be his biological father's birthplace.

In the next scene, Bertha and the rest of the dwellers of Stueckenstrasse had to evacuate their from their residences and go into the bomb shelter to protect themselves from any possible bombings. Hans runs across his crush on Evchen John. She passes him a note, telling him to meet her at Café Koenig, which is a swing bar. Unforunately, the HJ patro invades the club. Later, Hans-Juergen discovers that Ernst Koeger died in the war. Soon Hans and Evchen begin to sneak off to meet with one another. The police decide to take Hans into custody and charge him with rape. His mother forbids him from seeing her again because it would cause too trouble and grief for the family. . Hans catches Evchen John and Klaus go out with each other at the Koenig Café. They end up getting into a scuffle which causes a strain in their relationship. Klaus claimed that Hans relationship with Evchen was not socially acceptable because it was considered a defilement to the Aryan race. A day later, Hans and Evchen eventaully call it quits because of the intense pressure to keep their relationship a secret. Hans decides to bury the hatchet with Klaus by going to his house to apologize for his outburst but he finds out from Klaus father that Klaus left for the war. But he leaves Hans a record player.

Hans gets a notice in the mail to take the physical to enlist in the army for Germany. He's very excited about this oppotunity to serve his country with honor. Even though he passes the physical with flying colors, he is still denied admission due to his skin color.

The British invade Hamburg and begins to destroy the whole city with bombs. The entire community has been destroyed in the hands of Germany's enemy. They are surrounded by nothing but ruins. The victims of the bombings mistaken Hans for a British pilot and they begin to beat him unmercifully.