Herero and Namaqua genocide

The Herero and Namaqua genocide (or the Herero and Nama genocide) was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment which was waged against the Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama in German South West Africa (now Namibia) by the German Empire. It was the first genocide to begin in the 20th century,[5][6][7] occurring between 1904 and 1908.[1]

Quick facts: Herero and Namaqua genocide, Location, Date, ... ▼

Herero and Namaqua genocide
Part of Herero Wars
A photograph of chained Herero and Nama prisoners during the genocide
Location	German South West Africa (modern-day Namibia)
Date	1904–1908[1]
Target	Herero and Namaqua peoples
Attack type	Genocidal massacre, starvation, concentration camps, human experimentation, extermination through labour
Deaths	24,000[2] to 100,000[3] Hereros killed 10,000[4] Namaqua killed
Perpetrators	Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha and the German colonial forces
Motive	Collective punishment, German colonialism, German imperialism

In January 1904, the Herero people, who were led by Samuel Maharero, and the Nama people, who were led by Captain Hendrik Witbooi, rebelled against German colonial rule. On January 12, they killed more than 100 German settlers in the area of Okahandja.[8]

In August, German General Lothar von Trotha defeated the Ovaherero in the Battle of Waterberg and drove them into the desert of Omaheke, where most of them died of dehydration. In October, the Nama people also rebelled against the Germans, only to suffer a similar fate.

Between 24,000 and 100,000 Hereros and 10,000 Nama died in the genocide.[9] The first phase of the genocide was characterised by widespread death from starvation and dehydration, due to the prevention of the Herero from leaving the Namib desert by German forces. Once defeated, thousands of Hereros and Namas were imprisoned in concentration camps, where the majority died of diseases, abuse, and exhaustion.[10][11]

In 1985, the United Nations' Whitaker Report classified the aftermath as an attempt to exterminate the Herero and Nama peoples of South West Africa, and therefore one of the earliest attempts at genocide in the 20th century. In 2004, the German government recognised and apologised for the events, but ruled out financial compensation for the victims' descendants.[12] In July 2015, the German government and the speaker of the Bundestag officially called the events a "genocide". However, it refused to consider reparations at that time.[13][14] Despite this, the last batch of skulls and other remains of slaughtered tribesmen which were taken to Germany to promote racial superiority were taken back to Namibia in 2018, with Petra Bosse-Huber, a German Protestant bishop, describing the event as "the first genocide of the 20th century".[15][16]

In May 2021, the German government agreed to pay €1.1 billion over 30 years to fund projects in communities that were impacted by the genocide.[1]