The Genocide of the Herero Set the Tone for the Holocaust Gabrielle Gagnon
61
aegis 2008
th
Colonization of Africa by European powers began during the 19 century. The scramble for Africa led European countries to claim territories in Africa. After taking control the governments would dominate and commit genocide against the indigenous populations. At that time, Germany took control of German South West Africa (now Namibia) economically, legally, as well as military. The Herero resented the control by Germany, which resulted in a revolt. Because of the revolt, the Germans committed genocide against the Herero from 1904 until 1907. The genocide was illegal under the treaties and conventional laws thof the time. 1 The Herero became the first ethnic group subjected to genocide during the 20 century. This genocide set the tone for the Holocaust. Several phases led to the genocide of2the Herero. German South West Africa was acquired in 1884 during the scramble for Africa. In 1894, the territory started to develop rapidly and German troops know3 as the Schutztruppe (which is translated as protection troops) were sent to pacify the region. The indigenous Namibians needed to be pacified to enable settlers to develop the region as they saw suitable. German protection 4treaties stripped the Herero of their traditional power and resources leading to resentment. Judicial discrimination and 5 racial segregation became commonplace. As a result, on January 12, 1904, the Herero, under Samuel Maharero, attacked settlers to regain their land and rights. The revolt led to a war between the Germans and Herero. As fighting continued with no end in sight German General Lothar von Trotha was put in charge upon which he initiated an annihilation policy. Von Trotha defeated the Herero in the Battle of Waterberg afterwards driving survivors including women and children into the desert where most died of thirst and starvation. Survivors were rounded up and incarcerated in concentration camps where the German government continued the genocide using a varying combination of malnutrition, inadequate medical care, overwork, 6 unsanitary conditions, and violence that led to the indigenous pollutions destruction. When the Germans arrived the Herero numbered 80,000, after the genocide in 1907, only 15,000 remained alive. Resentment towards Germans was due to the appalling treatment of Herero7 women, general physical abuse, economic pressure, and legal inequality under colonial law. First, Herero women were raped frequently. The imbalance in female and male settlers led to nu8 merous rapes of indigenous women. The practice was so common that9 settlers had names for it: Verkafferung, or going native, and Schmutzwirtshaft, or dirty trade. Second, the Herero were subject to abuse by settlers. Indigenous Namibian employees could be beaten legally un10 der the authority of the Väterliche Züchtingungsrecht or paternal right of correction. Third, economic pressures centered on the competition for cattle and land. The notion of unclaimed land in Africa provided the framework for genocide 11 by suggesting that indigenous people were less worthy of land ownership and less human. Fourth, 12indigenous Namibians were subjugated to Germans introducing foreign laws and taxation. These abuses led the Herero to attack settlers because it was perceived as threatening their way of life.
