NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Herero and Namaqua Genocide

The Herero and Namaka Genocide occurred in German South-West Africa (modern day Namibia) in 1904-1907, during the scramble for Africa, and is considered one of the worst atrocities in the history of the German colonial empire. In 1985, the United Nations' Whitaker Report recognized Germany's attempt to exterminate the Herero and Namaqua peoples of South-West Africa as one of the earliest attempts at genocide in the 20th century. In total, some 65,000 Herero (80 percent of the total Herero population), and 10,000 Namaqua (50 percent of the total Namaqua population) were killed between 1904 and 1907. Characteristic of this genocide was death by starvation and the poisoning of wells for the Herero and Namaqua population that was trapped in the Namib Desert. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (933x612, 159 KB) Summary Surviving Herero after the escape through the arid desert of Omaheke. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (933x612, 159 KB) Summary Surviving Herero after the escape through the arid desert of Omaheke. ... Area: 84,732 km² (32,715 mi²) Population: 67,496 (2001), 52,735 (1991) Population density 0. ... Flag of German South West Africa German South-West Africa (German: Deutsch-SÃ¼dwestafrika, DSWA) was a colony of Germany from 1884 until 1915, when it was taken over by South Africa and administered as South-West Africa, finally becoming Namibia in 1990. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For information on the colonization of Africa prior to the 1880s, including Carthaginian and early European colonization, see Colonization of Africa. ... The German colonial empire was an overseas area formed in the late 19th century as part of the Hohenzollern dynastys German Empire. ... United Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... A group of Herero women. ... South-West Africa is the former name (1884-1990) of Namibia under German (as German South-West Africa, Deutsch SÃ¼d-West Afrika) and (from 1915) South African administration when it was conquered from the Germans during World War I. Following the war, the Treaty of Versailles declared the territory... Dune 7, the highest sand dune in the world (ca. ...

1 Before the genocide
2 The genocide
3 Recognition, denial and compensation
4 Fictional representations
5 See also
6 References
7 Bibliography and documentaries
8 External links

Before the genocide

Herero chained during the 1904 rebellion.

The Herero tribe were originally a tribe of graziers living in the region of modern Namibia. Formerly, Namibia was called German South West Africa and the area occupied by the Herero was known as Damaraland. Image File history File links Herero_chained. ... Image File history File links Herero_chained. ... Farmer spreading grasshopper bait in his alfalfa field. ... 1979 Proposed Flag of Damaraland Damaraland was a bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Damara people. ...

During the Scramble for Africa, the British made it clear that they were not interested in the territory so in August 1884 it was declared a German Protectorate; at that time the only overseas territory deemed suitable for white settlement that had been acquired by Germany. From the outset there was resistance by the Khoikhoi to the German occupation although a sort of peace was worked out in 1894. In that year von Leutwein became Governor of the territory and it entered a period of rapid development. For information on the colonization of Africa prior to the 1880s, including Carthaginian and early European colonization, see Colonization of Africa. ... 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A protectorate is, in international law, a political entity (a sovereign state or a less developed native polity, such as a tribal chiefstainship or feudal princely state) that formally agrees (voluntarily or under pressure) by treaty to enter into an unequal relationship with another, stronger state, called the protector, which... An 18th century drawing of Khoikhoi worshipping the moon The Khoikhoi (men of men) or Khoi are a historical division of the Khoisan ethnic group of south-western Africa, closely related to the Bushmen (or San, as the Khoikhoi called them). ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

White settlers were encouraged and settled on land appropriated from the natives which caused a great deal of discontent. German colonial rule in the area was far from egalitarian, the natives including the Herero were used as slave laborers, their lands were frequently seized and given to colonists and resources, particularly diamond mines, exploited by the Germans. There have been many proven allegations of sexual exploitation of Herero women by German troops. A group of Herero women. ... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: slave Slave may refer to: Slavery, where people are owned by others, and live to serve their owners without pay Slave (BDSM), a form of sexual and consenual submission Slave clock, in technology, a clock or timer that synchrnonizes to a master clock... For other uses, including the shape â—Š, see Diamond (disambiguation). ... Sexual abuse is a relative cultural term used to describe sexual relations and behavior between two or more parties which are considered criminally and/or morally offensive. ...

In 1903 some of the Khoi and Herero Tribes rose in revolt and about 60 German settlers were killed. Troops were sent from Germany to re-establish order but only succeeded in dispersing the rebels led by Chief Samuel Maharero. 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Samuel Maharero (1856 - 1923) was a chief of the Herero people in German South-West Africa (today Namibia) during their revolts and in connection with the events surrounding the Herero massacre. ...

In 1904 the Hereros revolted, led by Chief Samuel Maharero, and killed about 120 Germans, destroying their farms. General Lothar von Trotha was dispatched in October 1904 with a force of 14,000 soldiers to resolve the crisis. He issued an appeal to the Hereros: 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Samuel Maharero (1856 - 1923) was a chief of the Herero people in German South-West Africa (today Namibia) during their revolts and in connection with the events surrounding the Herero massacre. ... Lothar von Trotha Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha (July 3, 1848 – 1920) was a German military commander most famous for his method of waging war during the Herero Wars in South-West Africa, which the German government has since admitted was a form of genocide. ...

I, the great General of the German soldiers, send this letter to the Herero people. The Herero are no longer German subjects. . . . The Herero nation must...leave the country. If they do not leave, I will force them out with the Groot Rohr (cannon). Every Herero, armed or unarmed...will be shot dead within the German borders. I will no longer accept women and children, but will force them back to their people or shoot at them.

General Lothar von Trotha's orders to kill every male Herero and drive the women and children into the desert were lifted in 1904 by the metropole, but the massacres had already began. When the order was lifted at the end of 1904, prisoners were herded into concentration camps and given as slave labour to German businesses, where many died of overwork and malnutrition. Lothar von Trotha Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha (July 3, 1848 – 1920) was a German military commander most famous for his method of waging war during the Herero Wars in South-West Africa, which the German government has since admitted was a form of genocide. ... The Metropole was the name given to the English metropolitan center of the British Empire, i. ... A concentration camp is a large detention centre created for political opponents, aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. ... It has been suggested that Chattel slavery be merged into this article or section. ...

The genocide

German forces met the 3000-5000 Herero combatants at the battle of Waterberg and shot them indiscriminately. The survivors retreated with their families towards Bechuanaland, after the British offered the Hereros asylum under the condition not to continue the revolt on British soil. Combatants Germany Herero Commanders Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha Samuel Maharero Strength 2,000 3,500 - 6,000 warriors with their families. ... The Bechuanaland Protectorate (BP) was a protectorate established in 1885 by Britain in the area of what is now Botswana. ... A refugee is a person seeking asylum in a foreign country in order to escape persecution. ...

Some 24,000 Hereros managed to flee through a gap in the netting into the Kalahari Desert in the hope of crossing into Botswana. German patrols later found skeletons around holes (25-50 feet deep) dug up in a vain attempt to find water. Maherero and 1000 men crossed the Kalahari into Bechuanaland. The Kalahari Desert (shown in red) The Kalahari Desert is a large arid to semi-arid sandy area in southern Africa extending to some 900,000 kmÂ² and covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. ... The Bechuanaland Protectorate (BP) was a protectorate established in 1885 by Britain in the area of what is now Botswana. ...

The German administration never conducted a census before 1904. Only in 1905 did a counting take place which revealed that 25,000 Herero remained in German South-West Africa. Flag of German South West Africa German South-West Africa (German: Deutsch-SÃ¼dwestafrika, DSWA) was a colony of Germany from 1884 until 1915, when it was taken over by South Africa and administered as South-West Africa, finally becoming Namibia in 1990. ...

Survivors, mostly women and children, were eventually put in concentration camps, such as that at Shark Island, similar to those used in British South Africa during both Boer Wars. German authorities attributed to each Herero a number and meticulously recorded every death of a Herero, whether in camps or due to forced labor, and including, unusually enough, the name of each dead person. The skulls of dead Herero people were collected and sent to Germany for use in research of evidence of racial superiority of Germans, which concluded that their race was superior to others. German enterprises were able to rent Herero people for manpower, and death of workers was permitted, and reported to the German authorities. Forced labor, disease and malnutrition killed an estimated 50 to 80 percent of the entire Herero population by 1908, when the camps were closed. This extermination thus qualifies as genocide. A concentration camp is a large detention centre created for political opponents, aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. ... Shark Island, or Haifisch Island, is a small island off the coastal city of LÃ¼deritz in Namibia which though now is used as a campsite was the site of a concentration and extermination camp from 1904 to 1907 in which prisoners of the Herero and Nama tribes were worked... Look up South Africa on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Government South Africa Government Online official government site Parliament of South Africa official site Statistics South Africa official government site News AllAfrica. ... Boer guerrillas during the Second Boer War There were two Boer wars, one in 1880-81 and the second from October 11, 1899-1902 both between the British and the settlers of Dutch origin (called Boere, Afrikaners or Voortrekkers) in South Africa that put an end to the two independent... Genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) Article 2 as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing...

It took until 1908 to fully re-establish German authority over the territory by which time some 100,000 Africans had been killed. At the height the campaign some 19,000 German Troops were involved. According to the 1985 UN Whitaker Report, some 65,000 Herero (80 percent of the total Herero population), and 10,000 Namaqua (50 percent of the total Namaqua population) were killed between 1904 and 1907. Others estimates give a total of 100,000 killed. 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... United Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... A group of Herero women. ... Namaqua are a pastoral people of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana; one of the principal branches of the Khoikhoi race, and inhabiting Great Namaqualand. ...

At about the same time diamonds were discovered in the territory and this did much to boost its prosperity. However it was short-lived. The country was annexed by South Africa in 1915. For other uses, including the shape â—Š, see Diamond (disambiguation). ... This article describes the conquest and occupation of German held South West Africa, now called Namibia, by forces from the Union of South Africa acting on behalf of the British Imperial Government at the start of World War I The outbreak of hostilities in Europe in August 1914 had long... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Recognition, denial and compensation

German troops in combat with the Herero in a painting by Richard Knötel.

Larissa Förster, a Namibia expert at the Museum for Ethnology in Cologne considers (like many modern historians) the Herero massacre the first genocide of the 20th century : "It was clearly a command to eliminate people belonging to a specific ethnic group and only because they were part of this ethnic group." ^[1] Historical revisionists prefer the terms "Herero Wars" while acknowledging massacres. They deem the evidence insufficient to call it a genocide and deride comparisons to Auschwitz as sensationalism. German troops fight the Herero, circa 1904. ... German troops fight the Herero, circa 1904. ... Historical revisionism is the attempt to change commonly held ideas about the past. ... German troops in combat with the Herero in a painting by Richard KnÃ¶tel The Herero Wars were a series of colonial wars between German forces and the Herero tribe of southwestern Africa. ... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ...

In 1998, German President Roman Herzog visited Namibia and met Herero leaders. Chief Munjuku Nguvauva demanded a public apology and compensation. Herzog expressed regret but stopped short of an apology. He also pointed out that reparations were out of the question. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Prof. ...

On the 100th anniversary on August 16, 2004, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany's development aid minister officially apologized for the first time and expressed grief about the genocide committed by Germans, declaring that "We Germans accept our historic and moral responsibility and the guilt incurred by Germans at that time". In addition, she admitted the massacres were equivalent to genocide. However, she omitted to mention the concentration camps and slavery that took place, which are well documented by the Germans themselves. The infamous Shark Island was the precursor to the Nazi death camps that were to become an integral part of the Third Reich thirty years later. Furthermore, she ruled out paying compensation, as the Hereros have demanded in a law suit in the USA. August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, born November 21, 1942 in Frankfurt am Main), is a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party. ... Genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) Article 2 as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... Shark Island, or Haifisch Island, is a small island off the coastal city of LÃ¼deritz in Namibia which though now is used as a campsite was the site of a concentration and extermination camp from 1904 to 1907 in which prisoners of the Herero and Nama tribes were worked... Prior to and during World War II Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps (Konzentrationslager or KZ) throughout the territory it controlled. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

Fictional representations

One chapter of Thomas Pynchon's novel V. (1963) is about the Herero genocide. A group of characters of Herero descent are also present in his Gravity's Rainbow (1974), which hints more than once at the Herero Massacre. Thomas Pynchon in 1957 Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. ... book cover V. is the debut novel of Thomas Pynchon published in 1963, concerning the journey of discharged U.S. Navy sailor Benny Profane through a decadent group of artists in 1956, along with the attempt of an aging traveller named Herbert Stencil to locate the mysterious woman he knows... Gravitys Rainbow book cover. ...

References

^ "Remembering the Herero Rebellion", in Deutsche Welle, January 11, 2004

This article is about the German international broadcaster. ...

Bibliography and documentaries

Genocide & The Second Reich, BBC Four, David Olusoga, October 2004
German Federal Archives, Imperial Colonial Office, Vol. 2089, 7 (recto)

BBC Four is a BBC television channel available to digital television (Freeview, satellite and cable) viewers in the UK. The successor to an earlier digital channel called BBC Knowledge, BBC Four began broadcasting on March 2, 2002 - its first evenings programming being simulcast on BBC Two. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Herero War -History in Pictures from Radio Bremen
Germany Refuses to Apologize for Herero Holocaust (BlackVoices - October 14, 2002)
Germany apologizes
Center for Holocaust studies under the, misspelled, title "Hereo Genocide in Namibia 1904"
Article on debate over it being genocide

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