Germany acknowledged for the first time on Friday that it committed genocide during the colonization of Namibia and promised more than one billion euros for projects in the African country.
German colonial settlers killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama peoples during the massacres of 1904-1908 – marked the first genocide of the 20th century by historians – poisoning relations between Namibia and Germany for several years.
While Berlin had previously acknowledged that atrocities had taken place by its colonial authorities, they had repeatedly refused to pay direct compensation.
“We will now officially refer to these events as what they are from today’s perspective: genocide,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement.
He praised the agreement after more than five years of negotiations with Namibia on events in the territory held by the German Empire from 1884 to 1915.
“In the light of Germany’s historical and moral responsibility, we will ask for forgiveness from Namibia and its descendants” for the “atrocities” committed, “Maas said.
In a “gesture to acknowledge the enormous suffering suffered by the victims”, the country will support the “reconstruction and development” of Namibia through a € 1.1 billion ($ 1.34 billion) economic program, he said.
The sum will be paid out over 30 years, according to sources close to the negotiations, and must primarily benefit the descendants of Herero and Nama.
However, he specified that the payment does not open the way for any “legal claim for compensation.”
Rebellion, reprisals
Namibia was called German southwestern Africa under Berlin’s 1884-1915 rule and then fell under South African rule for 75 years before finally gaining independence in 1990.
Tensions boiled over in 1904 when Herero – deprived of his livestock and land – rose up, followed shortly afterwards by Nama, in a revolt crushed by German imperial troops.
At the Battle of Waterberg in August 1904, about 80,000 Herero, including women and children, tried to escape but were pursued by German troops across what is now known as the Kalahari Desert. Only 15,000 survived.
The German general Lothar von Trotha, sent to quell the uprising, ordered the extermination of the people.
At least 60,000 Herods and about 10,000 Namur were killed between 1904 and 1908.
Colonial soldiers carried out mass executions; banished men, women and children to the desert where thousands died of thirst and established infamous concentration camps, such as the one on Shark Island.
‘Overcoming the past’
The atrocities committed during the colonization have poisoned the relations between Berlin and Windhoek for several years.
In 2015, the two countries began negotiating an agreement that would combine an official apology from Germany and development aid.
But in August last year, Namibia said that Germany’s offered compensation was unacceptable. No details about the offer were provided at the time.
President Hage Geingob had noted that Berlin refused to accept the term “repairs”, as this word was also avoided during the country’s negotiations with Israel after the Holocaust.
But in an effort to facilitate reconciliation, in 2018, Germany returned the legs of the Herero and Nama tribes, with then-Foreign Minister Michelle Muntefering asking for “forgiveness from my heart.”
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