Objekt des Monats
Jedes Objekt in der Sammlung des Deutschen Auswandererhauses erzählt eine ganz persönliche Auswanderungs- oder Einwanderungsgeschichte. In dieser Rubrik stellen wir Ihnen jeden Monat ein anderes Objekt vor – eine Fotografie, ein Dokument oder ein persönliches Erinnerungsstück.
May 2017
Photo from 1996
Historical Context
For people to take to the streets on May 1st, Labor Day, to protest poor working conditions is not a new phenomenon. American labor unions demanded the introduction of the eight-hour workday as early as 1865. On May 1, 1886, twenty years later, they resolved to carry out a multi-day general strike. 400,000 workers from 11,000 businesses in the USA went on strike, although the eight-hour workday could only be enforced for 20,000 of them. May 1st was traditionally considered ‘Moving Day’ in the USA, a day when something changes, as it was a deadline for the conclusion or termination of contracts. In Germany, despite the threat of sanctions, 100,000 workers participated in strikes, demonstrations, and ‘May strolls’ in 1890. The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has been responsible for May celebrations since its founding in 1949 and decides on the May calls and a central motto.
Short Biography
Haluk Köker was born on October 19, 1961, in the Turkish border town of Edirne. In 1965, his father went to Germany as a ‘guest worker,’ and a year later, so did his mother. Haluk Köker and his older brother stayed with their grandmother. In September 1969, they brought the family over. Three days and three nights, the grandmother traveled with the three little boys until they arrived in Aalen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Since the parents were not waiting at the train station as hoped, the driver of a street sweeper casually took them to their new home. At school, eight-year-old Haluk quickly made new friends and learned the German language. In 1975, he began an apprenticeship at the Westfalen coal mine. He became active in the works council and participated in various committees and the IG Mining and Energy union. In 1983, he got married, and his three children grew up bilingual.
Significance of the object
The workers of the Westfalen mine are on strike, including Haluk Köker. He can be seen in the front right of the first row, wearing a yellow helmet and black pants. As the closure of the Westfalen mine looms, he transitions to public service in 1997. To this day, Haluk Köker works at the Knappschaft in Hamm and is the chairman of the Migration Committee at the Industrial Union of Mining, Chemistry, and Energy in the Westfalen state district.
The photo depicts a demonstration march, similar to what will be seen this year on Labor Day, May 1, in cities across Germany, when unions and other groups call for rallies.
Do You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de