Opera tells story of German journalist who posed as migrant worker for two years

The world premiere of Ganz Unten, or The Lowest of the Low, at Kunstfest Weimar. Photograph: Selin Senkoken

Few people have done more to change the way postwar Germany looks at itself than Levent “Ali” Sigirlioğlu. A 1985 bestselling book detailing the inhumane working conditions and everyday racism that the 26-year-old Turkish migrant worker endured at Ruhr valley steel plants, asbestos-infested building sites and fast-food restaurants was the first to expose the dark underbelly of a booming postwar economic revival.

The only catch is that “Ali” was not a young Turk at all, but a then 43-year-old white German.