The Trial of Lam See-Woh: Chinese Men and German Women in Hamburg, 1933–1947

Abstract

abstract:This article examines sex and romance between Chinese men and German women in Hamburg from 1933 to 1947. This study is a microhistory of the ill-fated engagement between Lam See-Woh, a thirty-one-year-old from Canton, China, and sixteen-year-old Irmgard Tschöpe in 1946. Through exploring their relationship, this piece untangles the various conceptions of citizenship, foreignness, class, gender, and sexuality that factored into the racialization of Chinese people in Germany. This article illustrates that Chinese men provided protection for German women, who were faced with uncertainty, deprivation, and even persecution, both during and after the war.