Between 1904 and 1908, German colonial troops murdered up to 80,000 members of the Herero and Nama ethnic groups. Their colonial crimes are considered the first genocide of the 20th century. In May 2021, almost 110 years later, Germany recognised the colonial crimes as genocide in a reconciliation agreement with Namibia. The agreement provides for aid totalling around 1.1 billion euros for a “reconstruction and development’ programme. However, there is no provision for direct reparations for the victims’ descendants. For this reason, representatives of the Herero and Nama, as well as members of the opposition in Namibia, have strongly criticised the agreement. They have also criticised the lack of inclusion of victim group representatives in the negotiations. Representatives of the Herero also reject the treaty because in it, Germany admits merely moral, not legal, responsibility for the crimes.
From 1884 to 1915, the German Reich was the colonial power in what is now Namibia, then known as ‘German South West Africa’. The Herero and Nama peoples launched a rebellion against the oppression of the colonial rulers, beginning on 12 January 1904 in what is now central Namibia. German settlers and colonial institutions were attacked, military posts besieged, and railway lines blocked. Lothar von Trotha, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of German South West Africa, then issued the ‘extermination order’: all Herero were to leave the colony’s territory. All those who remained on German territory were to be shot, with no consideration given to women and children. After the rebellion was suppressed, the first prison camps were set up in Ojahandja, Windhoek, and Swakopund, and the prisoners were made to perform forced labour. Due to the conditions in the concentration camps, many died of illness and cold, including children.
Known as ‘Herero Day’, the official commemoration of the genocide of the Herero and Nama is held on 23 August each year – the anniversary of the 1904 Battle of Waterberg, which was led by Samuel Maharero, which the day also commemorates. The resistance against the German colonial rulers, which lasted from 12 January to 11 June 1904, is commemorated on 12 January each year with numerous commemorative events, primarily held by civilian organisations and groups. At the heart of the remembrance is the revolt against the exploitation, violence, and oppression of the Herero and Nama, who the German Reich deprived of their livelihoods due to the expansion of colonial power structures.
In order to legitimise the economic exploitation, violence, and discrimination of the Herero and Nama within the colonial legal system, racist ideologies increasingly spread among the white population, which were reinforced by newly arrived settlers from the German Empire. Members of the Herero and Nama defended themselves by organising themselves and buying weapons, horses, and supplies in large quantities. Meanwhile, the willingness of the German settlers and especially the German military to use violence against the Herero and Nama was fuelled by targeted propaganda and incitement, which portrayed the Herero and Nama as bestial murderers What followed was a colonial war that lasted months, an extremely brutal crackdown on those who resisted, and the internment of thousands of people in concentration camps.
The crimes of European colonialism are still not an integral part of the official German or European culture of remembrance. For decades, Germany’s colonial past was a blind spot in the country’s remembrance work. Thanks to the work of civil society organisations and activists, this situation has gradually changed in recent years, so that colonial atrocities and the associated historical responsibility have entered the public consciousness. They have created the basis for a culture of debate that makes it possible to ask questions about historical responsibility and about recognising the victims of colonial crimes. This has not only created the conditions necessary for bringing colonial crimes and their victims into (civil) collective remembrance and commemoration, but also for expanding awareness of the continuities of colonial power structures.
In Namibia, such colonial continuities are visible in a variety of contexts. Around 70% of land is owned by people of German and South African origin, with only about 17% in the hands of Black inhabitants. Members of the Herero and especially the Nama and the Oorlam are socially and economically disadvantaged. They live in precarious conditions despite recent land reforms that have sought to do away with the unfair distribution of land. In addition to these economic and social disadvantages, the historical trauma weighs heavily; it is passed on from generation to generation and continues to have a significant impact on families and communities. In Germany, the lack of remembrance of colonial crimes is now being recognised. Nevertheless, reactions to demands for material compensation and heated debates – for example, about the renaming of streets – testify to a politically, historically, and culturally entrenched ignorance of the country’s colonial past.
