Persecuted and Branded “Anti-Social”
The Nazis’ Forgotten Victims
Millions of people were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis. After the war, the Federal Compensation Act was drawn up to set out who was entitled to compensation. But this law was based on a narrow definition of who qualified as a victim of persecution. People who had been persecuted as “anti-social elements” were not included. Their suffering was not officially acknowledged by the German parliament until 2020.
The Nazis decided who counted as “anti-social.” This label could be applied to unemployed people, alcoholics, and sex workers, for example. In concentration camps, these people had to wear a black triangle on their clothing. It is still unclear how many people the National Socialists persecuted and murdered because they were classified as “anti-social,” but historians estimate that tens of thousands of men and several thousand women were targeted.
Stigmatized for life
The Federal Compensation Act came into force in 1953. Under this law, anyone who had been persecuted “on grounds of race, religion, or ideology” was entitled to compensation. Persecuted groups such as homosexuals, Sinti and Roma, and “anti-social elements” were excluded from recognition and from receiving any compensation for their suffering. This was either because they did not technically fall under the definition given in the Federal Compensation Act at the time or because the law was interpreted in such a way that it excluded them. This was often the case for Sinti and Roma, for example. The compensation authorities argued that they had not been persecuted as Sinti and Roma, but as “anti-social elements” – this group was not covered by the definition given in the law.
In the 1980s, calls to recognize the suffering of homosexuals and Sinti and Roma grew louder, but survivors of persecution who had been branded as “anti-social elements” continued to face exclusion and discrimination. Many remained silent out of shame – and out of fear of being judged or marginalized again.
Martha’s mother received no compensation for the loss of her daughter
Martha Ndumbe was one of those persecuted as an “anti-social element.” She was born in Berlin on February 27, 1902, the daughter of a German mother and a Cameroonian father. In the 1920s, Martha tried to secure permanent employment, but as a Black woman, she had little chance of finding any position on the regular job market. She was repeatedly convicted for theft, prostitution, and defamation. Finally, in November 1943, she was imprisoned in the Berlin women’s prison and later in Leipzig. From there, the Nazis deported her to the Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp in June 1944.
Late recognition
It was not until February 2020 that the German parliament officially recognized “anti-social elements” and “career criminals” as official victims of Nazi persecution. The motion brought to parliament read as follows: “There was no justification for the imprisonment, torture, or murder of any person in a concentration camp.” Almost 80 years after the Holocaust, this laid the political groundwork for the rehabilitation of the victims and highlighted the full scale of Nazi persecution at the same time.
