Chapter 11: Germany: Nazism. Bordercrossing. Racism. All Lives are of Equal Worth

This oral history narrative tells of my life as a young German girl growing up during the Nazi regime and the end of World War II. It recounts my childhood experiences and the stories my father shared with me, his oldest daughter, about the horrors of the Nazi regime and Nazi genocide of tens of millions. I describe the suffering of ordinary people in my village, the death of soldiers at an early age, and the sabotage activities of my dissident father. I recall how we, children-of-war, stood watching the liberation of our village by American forces, fascinated by U.S. tanks rolling down our village streets and the Black and White soldiers throwing us food we had never seen before—like Hershey bars, oranges, and bananas. I describe my immigration to the Deep South of the United States at age 22, and my introduction to the suffering of African Americans and systemic racism in a country to which most of the world’s refugees want to migrate. I explain how I began to develop my philosophy of global pedagogy in teaching about the integration of global awareness in the secondary social studies curricula in public schools and in teacher education programs. I share the power of my extensive storied historical narrative with you which comprises one of the richest pedagogical strategies for classroom use (Connelly & Clandinin, 2006).