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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

German-Tongans, racial integration, twentieth century, German

College

Humanities

Department

German and Russian

Abstract

In Tonga, an archipelago deep in the South Pacific Ocean, German immigrants during the middle and late nineteenth century played an important role in the development of the islands. The presence of businessmen involved in the Copra trade was especially significant, and according to historical evidence, members of the Wolfgramm and Sanft families, both from Pyritz, Pomerania, Prussia were among the most influential. During Germany’s colonial period, race was a primary factor in determining how a person was treated, yet despite European racial prejudice, all three men married Tongan women and eventually became fully immersed in Tongan culture. Regardless of the importance of these families in Tongan history, however, little to nothing is recorded about either them or the racial integration that occurred as they mixed German and Tongan blood. More importantly, there is nothing recorded about how such unions were perceived when these families traveled back to Germany with their mixed-race children. My 2010 ORCA mentored research project was to discover, via an examination of both family and historical records, to what extent racial prejudice in Germany immediately preceding World War II impacted the treatment of mixed-race individuals there from Tonga.

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