The Namibian Genocide

1904: The Herero extermination order is issued.

“I, the great general of the German troops, send this letter to the Herero people... All Hereros must leave this land... Any Herero found within the German borders with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot. I shall no longer receive any women or children; I will drive them back to their people or have them fired upon. This is my decision for the Herero people.” Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha, October 2nd, 1904

This widely unknown genocide is regarded as the century’s first example of genocide.

1905: Nama extermination order is issued.

1905: Survivors were placed into concentration camps, such as Shark Island.
It is these concentration camps that became a model for Hitler.

Dr. Fisher’s book, Human Hereditary Teaching and Racial Hygiene, where he determines that the Africans are inferior to Whites and should not be mixed with, was read by Hitler when he was imprisoned, and partially inspired him to write Mein Kampf.
Dr. Fisher student was Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, one of the drafters of Apartheid and 7th Prime Minister of South Africa.)

According to the 1985 United Nations Whitaker Report, some 65,000 Herero (80% of the total Herero population) and 10,000 Nama (50% of the total Nama population) were killed between 1904 and 1907.

The effects of this are still widely felt, but what is most surprising is that a lot of Namibians don’t know about it! When asked about it they will reference the statue in Windhoek. The Reiterdenkmal, statue is actually of a German general on his horse that was placed there as a monument to the German invaders.