A German machine gun unit during the fighting of the Herero tribe in 1904 (Getty)

A genocide launched by German forces in the early twentieth century (1902-1908) against the African Herero and Nama ethnicities during their colonization of Namibia, leaving behind about 65,000 Herero dead and 10,000 Nama dead.

After Germany decided to stand by Israel in the lawsuit filed against it at the International Court of Justice in early 2024 due to its crimes against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and accusing it of committing genocide and massacres against the Gazans, Namibia reminded Germany of its colonial history and the genocide it committed against the indigenous people.

Namibia

The Republic of Namibia is located in southwest Africa, with an area estimated at about 824,292 square kilometers. It is bordered to the north by Angola and Zambia, to the east by Botswana, and to the south by South Africa, which is also bordered to the east and west by the Atlantic Ocean.

Namibia is distinguished by its cultural and linguistic diversity, as its population, estimated at approximately two million and 642 thousand people (2023 estimates), speaks approximately 16 languages ​​and dialects. Despite this diversity, English remains the official language in this country, which adopts a pluralistic democratic system of government, and nearly 90% of its population is Christian.

The beginning of colonialism and the start of resistance

On April 28, 1884, Namibia was occupied by Germany with the approval of Britain and South Africa, and this was officially announced on August 7 of the same year.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, approximately 5,000 German settlers arrived in Namibia and immediately began imposing their rule with iron and fire on about 250,000 indigenous people in this African country.

German settlers led a campaign of mass expulsion of the indigenous population, forcing them to leave their lands and seizing them by force, and they were displaced to reserves outside the borders of the lands in which they lived.

On January 12, 1904, Namibia witnessed the outbreak of a revolution led by the Herero tribe against the German colonialists imposing oppressive laws and exposing the population’s wealth to plunder and theft.

Members of the tribe led fierce resistance against the settlers and German forces, resulting in the killing of approximately 120 settlers and German soldiers.

With the escalation of resistance, Germany decided to replace the military governor, Theodor Gotthelf Lutwin, and appoint General Lothar von Trotha as his successor. General Trotha arrived in the colony in June 1904 with large military reinforcements.

Upon his arrival, approximately 50,000 Herero men, women and children gathered with their herds under the leadership of Samuel Maharero, anticipating negotiations with the general after their attacks had ceased. However, Lothar von Trotha had no intention of negotiating.

During the transfer of Herero individuals to concentration camps in the Khan Mountains in 1905 (Getty)

On October 2, 1904, General Lothar von Trotha issued an "extermination order" against the Herero, declaring that they must leave the colony or be killed. As a result, about 65,000 Herero and 10,000 people from the Nama tribe were killed, which in turn took up arms against the Germans, and its population suffered the same fate as the Herero.

After the killing campaign led by General Trotha, the colony's governor, Friedrich von Lindquist, called on all heroines to surrender and join "consolidation camps" from November 1905 to August 1907.

Historians confirm that tens of thousands of Namibians died of thirst or hunger during their departure to neighboring Bechuana Land (today's Botswana), and Namibian female prisoners were systematically sexually assaulted.

In the cities of Lüderitzbucht and Swakopmund, Herero prisoners died as a result of exposure to the harsh climate, malnutrition, and forced labor. The death rate peaked on Shark Island, adjacent to the city of Lüderitzbucht, which the Germans initially leased from the British Cape Colony.

The war officially ended on March 31, 1907, but the camps did not close until January 27, 1908.

After the end of World War I in 1918, the League of Nations decided to withdraw the German colony, and the mandate was granted to South Africa, which was under British protection. The administration of the colony was then handed over to South Africa in 1920, and it continued under its control until Namibia's independence in 1990.

In 1923, the funeral of Herero leader Samuel Maharero, whose slogan was “We died fighting,” was held, marking the beginning of a collective movement by tribesmen to convey what had happened to the world.

In October 1966, the United Nations General Assembly issued a resolution to end South Africa’s mandate over Namibia, a decision that was rejected by South Africa, causing the South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) to engage in an armed struggle, until the Namibian people gained their independence on March 21. March 1990.

Prisoners from the Herero and Nama tribes during their uprising against German colonialism between 1904 and 1908 (French - archive)

In 1985, the Whitaker Report issued by the United Nations described what the Herero and Nama tribes were subjected to as “genocide.” This description included details of the horrific practices to which the residents of these two tribes were subjected, including killing, torture, sexual assault, and cruel treatment.

The report was based on the evidence and testimonies collected by investigators, and had a significant impact in raising awareness about what happened, and in encouraging demands for justice and reparation for the harm resulting from this genocide.

In May 2021, the German government officially recognized that the events that occurred in Namibia during the period from 1904 to 1908 constitute genocide.

In a joint declaration with Namibia, the German government committed to paying €1.1 billion to the Namibian government to contribute to development and reconstruction over more than 30 years. The declaration stressed the need to spend this money mainly in the areas where the descendants of the victims of this genocide currently live.

The joint declaration between the German and Namibian governments sparked widespread controversy in Namibia, where activists from the Herero and Nama tribes called for its renegotiation.

Skulls for scientific research

It was not limited to killing and torture, but even to the remains and skulls of the Herero and Nama. Military doctors who served in the camps received requests from scientists in Berlin asking them to keep complete skulls and heads.

The German doctor Buffinger was conducting several experiments on detainees on Shark Island, and researchers in Germany, between 1906 and 1907, received a number of heads from both tribes to conduct experiments aimed at confirming the superiority of the white race over the black race.

Among the published studies, the study of the German doctor Eugene Fischer (1913) stands out, which aimed to prove the negative effects of racial mixture.

Among the letters that were transmitted in this context were those sent by the anthropologist Felix von Lochan to Ralph Zern, who was a lieutenant in Okahandja on June 22, 1905, where he addressed him, saying, “Do you know a way to obtain a large number of Herero skulls? The skull that you provided us "They do not fit well with the images created so far... so it seems to me that it is necessary to obtain a larger collection of skulls for scientific research purposes, as quickly as possible."

It is noteworthy that Germany handed over to Namibia 19 skulls in August 2018, as well as bones and scalps, in religious ceremonies held in Berlin. These skulls and bones were transported by German colonial forces with them more than a century ago, and were preserved in the University Hospital in Berlin.

Two skulls of members of the Herero and Nama tribes killed during the genocide (Getty)

History of genocide

The "Blue Book" is the first historical document detailing the genocide that was published by the United Kingdom in 1918 through its official publisher. The book was presented to the House of Parliament in London in August 1918.

The description "Blue" was chosen because it was used to refer to any report published by the British Parliament, and the full title of the book was "The Union of South Africa... A Report on the People of South Africa and the Germans' Dealing with Them", and it was prepared by the office of the Director of South West Africa in Windhoek.

The Blue Book is based on the testimonies of 47 witnesses to the genocidal events that were carried out by order of the German administration, and includes detailed data and photographs.

Among the testimonies included in the "Blue Book" are those that confirm that the Germans were shooting everyone they met, or tearing open their stomachs, and killing infants and children, in addition to killing wounded prisoners and others, in addition to beating them with whips to death as a punishment for their resistance, and whoever was able Escaping from the hands of German soldiers, he was annihilated in the desert by hunger and thirst.

The book was used at that time for political purposes, with the aim of justifying the presence of the British administration and its allies in South Africa in Namibia. In 1926, the British government and its allies in South Africa ordered the complete destruction of the book after Germany was restored to dignity by its allies following World War I. The book became a source of irritation to Germany and the entire “white race” because it depicted Europeans as cruel and inhuman beings.

Source: websites