THE FIRST GENOCIDE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: HERERO AND NAMA IN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA GERMAN, 1904-1908 Novelty 2026-2027

In 1904, in reaction to the rules imposed by the German colonial administration and the abuses and mistreatment of the settlers, a revolt broke out in South-West Germany, now Namibia. The forces of the Second Reich brutally repressed her and defeated the Herero. An extermination order – issued by General Lothar von Trotha on 2 October 1904 – enjoined the Kaiser’s troops to kill indiscriminately, thus condemning men, women and children. The Nama take up arms against the Germans and suffer the same fate as the Herero. In the concentration camps opened in 1905, such as those of Windhoek, Swakopmund and Shark Island, prisoners nama and herero are eliminated by work and succumb to disease, mistreatment and malnutrition. Skulls of victims were then sent to Germany for scientific racial research. Between 1904 and 1908, about 80% of the Herero and 50% of the Nama were exterminated: a crime in African colonial history considered to be the first genocide of the 20th century.

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