Germany officially acknowledged committing genocide during its colonial occupation of Namibia
Finally, Germany has OFFICIALLY acknowledged that it committed genocide in the South West African Republic (now Namibia) in the early 20th century (1904-07) by almost wiping out two indigenous peoples, the Nama and Herero. I don't want to bless my beard, although some have mocked me or shown cold indifference, although I was perhaps the first to bring it up here, but I have written three articles on this, the first six or seven years ago and published in an English-language magazine, the second a year and a half ago and the third recently on the occasion of the Armenian genocide, connecting the two genocidal countries, Germany and Turkey.
This from BBC.
Germany has officially acknowledged that it committed genocide during its colonial occupation of Namibia and announced financial aid of more than 1,1 billion euros (£940 million, $1,34 billion).
German colonizers killed tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people there in massacres in the early 20th century.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said his country asks for forgiveness from Namibia and the descendants of the victims.
But activists say the aid is not enough to address the suffering being caused.
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The money will apparently be paid out over 30 years through spending on infrastructure, healthcare and training programs to benefit the affected communities.
“We will now officially refer to these events as what they are from today’s perspective: genocide,” Mr. Maas said, adding that colonial-era actions must be discussed “without shirk or escape.”
A Namibian government spokesman told the AFP news agency that Germany's recognition was "a first step in the right direction."
What happened during the genocide?
Friday's statement came after five years of negotiations with Namibia - which was under German occupation from 1884 to 1915.
The atrocities committed have been described by historians as a “forgotten genocide” in the early 20th century, in what was then known as German South-West Africa.
The UN defines genocide as a set of acts, including murder, committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
The genocide began in 1904 after the Hero and Nama revolted against German confiscations of their land and cattle. The head of the military administration there, Lothar von Trotha, called for the extermination of the population in response.
How do you define genocide?
Namibia: Country Profile
A search in Germany for the lost skull of the tribal leader
The survivors of the Herero and Nama population were forced into the desert and later placed in concentration camps where they were exploited for labor.
Many died from disease, exhaustion and starvation, with some individuals subjected to sexual exploitation and medical experimentation. It is believed that up to 80% of the indigenous population died during the genocide – with the death toll in the tens of thousands.
Germany had previously acknowledged the atrocities but ruled out paying reparations.In 2018, some human remains were returned to Namibia, which had been used as part of the now-discredited research attempting to prove the racial superiority of white Europeans.The latest deal was reportedly agreed during a round of negotiations held by special envoys in mid-May.A declaration is expected to be signed by the German foreign minister in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, next month before being ratified by each country's parliament, German media reported.President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is then expected to travel to the country to formally apologize.
What are the protesting activists saying?
Laidlaw Peringanda, a Herero activist and president of the Namibian Genocide Association, said the offer of development aid was not enough.
"We are not actually accepting this offer because our people have lost lands, they have lost their culture and many of them have fled to Botswana, South Africa and some of them have been moved to Togo and Cameroon," he told the BBC World Service.
He insisted that Germany should buy back ancestral lands now in the hands of the German-speaking community, which reportedly makes up less than 1% of the population.
“People are getting impatient, especially the minority black people who don’t have a piece of land,” he said. “And from what I hear from some people, there’s going to be a land revolution. People are going to grab the land by force. So we really have to try to avoid these things.”
Mr Maas said the negotiations aimed to find “a common path for genuine reconciliation in memory of the victims” with members of the Herero and Nama communities closely involved in the talks.
Another point of disagreement is the language. The agreed deal focuses on the idea of reconciliation over standard compensation, with Mr. Maas describing the aid package as a “gesture” rather than reparation.
Click on the image to see the original BBC article and the impressive video it contains.
Jürgen Zimmerer, a professor of world history at the University of Hamburg, told the BBC World Service that a large number of descendants of genocide victims felt excluded.
“That’s quite a problem if the goal is reconciliation,” he said. “How are you going to reconcile with the victims if the victims feel like they’ve been left out of the whole process?”
Tim Whewell, writing for the BBC earlier this year about the negotiations, said the talks were the first of their kind by a former colonial power.
He wrote that many Hero and Nama living in densely populated areas or informal settlements hoped that the agreement would help restore access to land and some of the prosperity their ancestors enjoyed before the genocide.
It's time for Germany to recognize its crimes and debts to Greece since the Great Patriotic War.
-Panos Niarchos, Indiana