"We will ask for forgiveness."

Germany for the first time admitted, Friday May 28, to have committed a "genocide" against the populations of Herero and Nama in Namibia, in this African territory colonized by Germany from 1884 to 1915. Berlin will pay the country more € 1 billion in development aid, which should primarily benefit the descendants of both populations.

"We will now officially qualify these events for what they are from today's perspective: genocide," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement.

In this statement, the head of German diplomacy welcomes the conclusion of an "agreement" with Namibia after more than five years of tough negotiations on the events in this African territory colonized by Germany at the end of the 19th century .

German settlers had killed tens of thousands of Herero and Nama in massacres between 1904 and 1908, considered by many historians to be the first genocide of the 20th century.

>> To read also: "Exhibition in Paris: the first genocide of the 20th century, the massacre of the Herero and the Nama"

"In the light of the historical and moral responsibility of Germany, we will ask forgiveness from Namibia and the descendants of the victims" for the "atrocities" committed, continued the minister.

In a "gesture of recognition of the immense suffering inflicted on the victims", Berlin will support "reconstruction and development" in Namibia through a financial program of 1.1 billion euros, he added, specifying that it is not a question of compensation on a legal basis and that this recognition does not open the way to any "legal request for compensation".

This sum will be paid over a period of 30 years, according to sources close to the negotiations, and must primarily benefit the descendants of these two populations.

"Overcome the past and build the future"

The crimes committed during colonization have poisoned relations between the two countries for many years.

"We can not draw a line on the past. The recognition of the fault and the request for forgiveness are however an important step to overcome the past and to build together the future", estimated the head of the German diplomacy.

In a desire for reconciliation, in 2019 Germany had handed over to Namibia the bones of members of the exterminated Herero and Nama tribes, and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Michelle Müntefering, then asked "forgiveness from the bottom of her heart" .

A gesture deemed clearly insufficient by their descendants and the Namibian authorities, who demanded an official apology and reparations.

Germany had repeatedly opposed this, citing the millions of euros in development aid given to Namibia since its independence in 1990.

If the work of memory in Germany on the Nazi period is generally considered exemplary, that on the colonial period in Africa, from the second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, was neglected for a long time.

Genocidal techniques

The Herero tribes now represent around 7% of the Namibian population compared to 40% at the start of the 20th century.

Deprived of their land and their cattle, the Herero revolted in 1904 against the German settlers, killing around 100 among them.

Sent to put down the rebellion, the German general Lothar von Trotha had ordered their extermination.

The Nama rose up a year later and suffered the same fate.

In all, at least 60,000 Herero and around 10,000 Nama died between 1904 and 1908. German colonial forces had employed genocidal techniques: mass killings, exile in the desert, where thousands of men, women and children died of thirst, and concentration camps, like the infamous one on Shark Island.

Bones, especially the skulls of victims, were sent to Germany for racial scientific experiments.

Physician Eugen Fischer, who served on Shark Island and whose writings influenced Adolf Hitler, sought to prove the "superiority of the white race."

With AFP

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