TiG-01 / "Z-Sauce" / Ruth Noack
Channel: This is Germany
Date: 11/02/2021

TiG-01 / "Z-Sauce"
Language: English
Date: 08.02.2021

TiGGER:
Ruth Noack (She/Her)
Executive Director + Curator
The Corner at Whitman-Walker
Vintage: 1964


TRIGGER:
In late November 2020, ‘Die Letzte Instanz,’ a talk show regularly hosted by the German public broadcaster WDR, platformed a ‘debate' during which four white celebrities were asked to share their opinions regarding whether it was appropriate or not to continue using the word ‘Zigeunersauce’ (in reference to a much-loved ketchup-like sauce that prominently features paprika as an ingredient). Knorr—a giant in the German food industry—has recently renamed its version of the product ‘Paprika Sauce / Hungarian Style,’ in response to objections from within Roma and Sinti communities to the derogatory connotations of the previous name, which had been used by Germans for decades.

At the end of the talk show—after much ribaldry—the white panelists unanimously agreed that it would be absurd to refrain from using words like ‘Zigeuner’ (‘Gypsy’), taking a vehement collective stance against having to consider the impact of language on those who bear its brunt. During the same segment of the talk show, Thomas Gottschalk—a television host and entertainer who is something of a folk hero in mainstream Germany—added insult to injury by claiming to understand "how black people feel about racism," as a result of once having attended a party in blackface (where he apparently had to bear the discomfort of being "the only black person" in the room).

Astonishingly, it was not until the talk show was re-streamed by the same public broadcaster during January 2021, that public outcry erupted. The fact that the re-broadcast of the talk show took place on 29 January 2021— literally two days after 'International Holocaust Remembrance Day'—was widely commented upon in the ensuing uproar. While Germany is often commended for its culture of remembrance around the millions of Jews that were murdered during the Holocaust, it has been shockingly negligent in acknowledging and seeking to redress the genocide of Romani people during the same historical period. Like Jews, Romani were classified as members of an ‘inferior and foreign race’ under the dictates of Nazi Germany. Historical estimates suggest that at least 500,000 Romani were murdered by the Germans and their collaborators between 1938 and 1945—in other words, between 50% and 75% of the Roma/Sinti people living in Europe at the time. It was not until 1982 that West Germany formally acknowledged this genocide.

The controversial episode of ‘Die Letzte Instanz’ can still be viewed in the WDR Mediothek. Contributors to this episode of ’This is Germany’ were given free rein to decide how and whether they wanted to address the talk show in the reflections posted here. 

BREAKDOWN:
Total Contributors Invited: 92
Davon Biodeutsch/Weiß: 48

BEHIND THE SCENES:
Concept / Design: Candice Breitz
Production / Design: Alex Fahl