Namibia marks genocide with first national commemoration day
Namibia organised national commemorations for the genocide committed by German colonisers for the first time. The new national holiday serves as a reminder of the tragic events from the early 20th century.
Key information
- Namibia has established a new national holiday to commemorate the victims of the early 20th-century genocide.
- Germany recognised colonial crimes only in 2021, when it began offering development aid.
- Descendants of the victims demand formal reparations and the return of land.
Namibia held its first-ever national commemoration of the genocide committed by German colonial forces. This event took place in the country’s capital, Windhoek, and is the result of years of pressure on Germany to acknowledge the crimes of the early 20th century.
Between 1904 and 1908, German colonisers killed over 70,000 members of the Herero and Nama tribes, who refused to surrender their land and cattle. It was the first genocide of the 20th century, occurring in what was then German South West Africa.
The new national holiday will be observed annually on 28 May. The Namibian government chose this date because it was on this day in 1907 that German officials closed Namibian concentration camps in response to international criticism.
Criticism of the German offer
It was only in 2021 that Germany officially recognised that their colonisers committed genocide. As part of the compensation, they offered Namibia 1.1 billion euros in development aid to be paid over 30 years. However, this offer does not include formal reparations or compensation.
Many families of the victims criticised the German offer, calling it racist. Descendants of the Herero and Nama demand formal reparations and the return of land that remains in the hands of the great-grandchildren of German colonisers. They demand that the German government purchase these lands and return them to their rightful owners.
