Le premier génocide du XXe siècle : Herero et Nama dans le Sud-Ouest africain allemand, 1904-1908

An exhibition to discover at the Mémorial de la Shoah.

In 1904, in response to the rules imposed by the German colonial administration and to the abuses and mistreatment inflicted by settlers, a revolt broke out in German South West Africa, today Namibia. The forces of the Second Reich suppressed it brutally and defeated the Herero.

An extermination order, issued by General Lothar von Trotha on 2 October 1904, instructed the Kaiser's troops to kill indiscriminately, condemning men, women and children alike. The Nama in turn took up arms against the Germans and suffered the same fate as the Herero.

In the concentration camps opened in 1905, such as those at Windhoek, Swakopmund and Shark Island, Nama and Herero prisoners were worked to death and succumbed to disease, mistreatment and malnutrition. Skulls of victims were then sent to Germany for racial scientific research.

Between 1904 and 1908, around 80% of the Herero and 50% of the Nama were exterminated: a crime of African colonial history regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century. Scientific curator: Leonor Faber-Jonker, Leiden University, Netherlands.

Coordination: Sophie Nagiscarde, Élise Arnaud, Mémorial de la Shoah. Book