Windhoek [Namibia], April 23: Descendants of the Herero and Nama people killed in a campaign of genocide by the former German Empire unveiled a memorial in the town of Lüderitz in southern Namibia on Saturday.
Representatives of both ethnic groups unveiled a memorial stone for the victims on the Shark Island peninsula adjacent to the coastal city, which was the site of a concentration camp run by the German colonial rulers.
The German Empire was the colonial power in what was then called German South-West Africa from 1884 to 1915 and brutally put down rebellions. The mass murders committed by German forces during the so-called Herero Wars between 1904 to 1908 are now considered the first genocide of the 20th century. Historians estimate that 65,000 out of 80,000 Herero and at least 10,000 out of 20,000 Nama were killed during that time. The governments of Germany and Namibia have long been negotiating a proposed reconciliation agreement.
Following a march through the streets of Shark Island on Saturday, the memorial stone was unveiled during a ceremony to commemorate the atrocities committed since 1904 and the prisoners who died on Shark Island. Afterwards, the people's representatives held speeches and conducted commemorative rituals.
"About 4,000 Herero and Nama died on Shark Island alone between 1904 and 1908," Johannes Ortmann from the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) told dpa. "The people were fed to the sharks. They never got a respectful burial." The memorial stone served to show respect for the victims and ensure that the events of that time were still remembered today, Ortmann said.
Source: Qatar Tribune