Germany admitted genocide in Namibia | The country …

The government of Germany acknowledged this Friday that the massacre of thousands of people of the Herero and Nara ethnic groups by the army of the German Empire in Namibia at the beginning of the 20th century, it was a “genocide“.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was instructed to report that after five years of negotiations, Germany, Namibia and representatives of these two ethnic groups have reached an agreement on the murder of tens of thousands of people. between 1904 and 1908.

“I am happy and grateful that I was able to come to an agreement with Namibia on the darkest chapter in our common history.”Maas said in a statement.

The minister in turn clarified that the objective was to find a “common path” towards “true reconciliation in the memory of the victims”, which included the official recognition by Berlin that the massacres between 1904 and 1908 were “genocide” .

“In light of Germany’s historical and moral responsibility, we will apologize to Namibia and the descendants of the victims,” ​​Maas said. Likewise, he stressed that “acknowledgment of guilt” and “asking for forgiveness” is an “important step”, although he acknowledged that true reconciliation “cannot be decreed”.

As a “gesture of recognition” in the face of “incalculable pain”, Germany will implement a development program in Namibia for 1.1 billion euros.

However, it should be noted that Germany refused from the outset the individual compensation claimed by the representatives of the Herero and the Nama. Berlin advocated investments in the land inhabited by these two ethnic groups, which was never fully recovered after the German interventions.

Several German media outlets have reported in recent days that the deal is about to be executed and have reported on German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s plans to visit Namibia and participate in a commemorative act in Parliament, where he will officially ask for forgiveness.

In November 2019, the German parliament first used the word “genocide” to refer to this massacre.

Historians estimate that between 1904 and 1908, German Emperor Wilhelm II’s troops massacred around 65,000 Herero (out of a total of around 80,000 people) and 10,000 Nama (out of around 20,000), after s’ be raised against German colonial rule.

This plan for the systematic extermination of men, women and children, whether by arms, desertion or internment in concentration camps, anticipated other ethnic cleanings of the twentieth century.