Colonial times in today’s Namibia: Germany recognizes genocide

Colonial times in today’s Namibia
Germany recognizes genocide

During the time of the German Empire, colonial troops brutally attack ethnic groups in what is now Namibia. Germany now recognizes the killing of around 75,000 people as genocide. Federal President Steinmeier will ask for forgiveness. Money should flow.

More than 100 years after the crimes of the German colonial power in what is now Namibia, the federal government recognizes the atrocities committed against the Herero and Nama ethnic groups as genocide. Germany officially wants to ask for forgiveness for the crimes.

The federal government wants to support the descendants with billions. “As a gesture of recognition of the immeasurable suffering that was inflicted on the victims, we want to support Namibia and the descendants of the victims with a substantial program worth 1.1 billion euros for reconstruction and development,” said Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

Previously, after almost six years of negotiations, delegations from both countries reached an agreement on a joint political declaration, which both governments have now agreed to. The German Empire was a colonial power in what is now Namibia from 1884 to 1915 and brutally put down rebellions. According to historians, about 65,000 out of 80,000 Herero and at least 10,000 out of 20,000 Nama were killed.

In the agreement, the federal government wants to classify the killing of tens of thousands of people in the ex-colony of German South West Africa as genocide from today’s perspective. According to reports, an official request for forgiveness is to be made by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a ceremony in the Namibian parliament.

Help for infrastructure and education

The 1.1 billion euros are intended to support projects in the Herero and Nama settlement areas over a period of 30 years. It should be about land reform, agriculture, rural infrastructure and water supply as well as vocational training.

Uruanaani Scara Matundu, a representative of the Herero community, shows photos of his ancestors in a park in Windhoek. His family fled the genocide to Botswana.

(Photo: dpa)

The Federal Government emphasizes that its recognition of the genocide and the establishment of the relief fund do not result in any legal claims to compensation, but that it is a question of a political and moral obligation. “I am happy and grateful that we have succeeded in reaching an agreement with Namibia on how to deal with the darkest chapter of our shared history,” said Maas. “Our goal was and is to find a common path to real reconciliation in memory of the victims.”

The joint declaration has yet to be signed. Maas emphasized that this did not mean an end to the past. “The acknowledgment of guilt and our apology is an important step to come to terms with the crimes and to shape the future together,” he emphasized. The negotiations were conducted by representatives of the two governments. The Herero and Nama were closely involved.

Agreement criticized as a PR coup

Initial indications of the agreement had triggered criticism from some representatives of the ethnic groups. It was nothing more than a PR coup for Germany and an act of deception by the Namibian government, according to a statement by the Ovaherero Traditional Authority and Nama Traditional Leaders Association. According to their German representative, both groups have introduced a corresponding petition in the Bundestag.

The Ovaherero Traditional Authority is just one of many Herero groups, eight of which are officially recognized by the government and represented in the Namibian negotiating delegation. The Nama Traditional Leaders Association is also not representative of all Nama groups.

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A Herero woman in traditional clothing in the village of Warmquelle.

(Photo: imago images / Ardea)

From 1884 Germany had appropriated colonies in Africa, Oceania and East Asia. It had the fourth largest colonial area and was an occupying power not only in German South West Africa (Namibia), but also in Cameroon, Togo, German East Africa (Tanzania), in the Chinese Tsingtao and on the Pacific islands. The violent rule of the Germans led to uprisings and wars. With the German defeat in World War I, their colonies were then divided up among the victorious powers.

The negotiations that have now been concluded have for a long time been clinging to the delicate issue of financial compensation for colonial exploitation and oppression. For long stretches they looked like a haggling over the conditions and circumstances for Germany’s long overdue gesture of apology.

The federal government had agreed to an “unconditional apology” to the Namibian government, its people and the affected communities, but did not want to use the term “reparations”, Namibia’s President Hage Geingob complained last August. The term “healing of wounds” was also rejected as inadequate.

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