Germany's Second Genocide of the 20th Century – Before the Holocaust: The Forgotten Crime Story
Germany’s Extermination of the Herero and Nama Peoples in Namibia—and Its Enduring Legacy
In the 20th century, Germany committed two genocides, the first in Africa, which it tried to conceal for a century, and the second in Europe in the 1940s. Shamefully, in the 21st century, it is again actively involved in a third genocide against a Semitic people, the Palestinians, as I have described in detail here.Between 1904 and 1908, in what was then German South West Africa (present-day Namibia), German colonial forces systematically annihilated the Herero and Nama peoples. Historians widely recognize this campaign as the first genocide of the 20th century, marked by mass killings, forced displacement into deserts, concentration camps, and racialized brutality.
What Happened
In January 1904, some Herero rose up against German colonial rule, prompted by land dispossession and mistreatment. Germany responded by appointing General Lothar von Trotha to suppress the rebellion.
1904 October 2 – Von Trotha issued the ‘Extermination Order ...
On August 11, 1904, German troops defeated Herero forces at the Battle of Waterberg. Thousands fled into the Omaheke Desert, where many perished from thirst, starvation, and exposure as German forces sealed water sources.
On October 2, 1904, von Trotha issued his infamous “Extermination Order”, declaring that every Herero within German territory—armed or unarmed, including women and children—would be shot or driven into the desert to die.
Surviving Herero and later Nama were interned in Konzentrationslager (concentration camps), including the notorious Shark Island camp, where prisoners endured forced labor, disease, starvation, and executions.
content.forensic-architecture.org
Herero prisoners were often chained and subjected to brutal conditions.
By 1908, estimates indicate 70–80% of the Herero population (from ~80,000 to ~15,000) and about 50% of the Nama (~10,000 out of ~20,000) had perished through direct violence, desert exile, or camp conditions.
Methods, Motives, and Brutality
The conflict stemmed from colonial competition for land, water, and cattle, exacerbated by settler expropriation. Ideologically, German leaders like von Trotha viewed the Herero and Nama as subhuman, justifying extermination. Camps facilitated forced labor, and victims’ remains—particularly skulls—were shipped to Germany for pseudoscientific racial studies.
Skulls of Colonial Victims Were Returned spiegel.de
Legacy and Recognition
Survivors lost land and autonomy, facing ongoing dispossession. For decades, the genocide remained obscured in European memory. In 2011 and later, Germany repatriated victims’ skulls. Berlin formally acknowledged it as genocide only in 2021, committing €1.1 billion in development aid (explicitly not reparations), though debates over direct compensation persist.
Germany has paid Israel reparations amounting to tens of billions. Namibia has received no reparations. Is this because they were ‘only’ Africans and black people and not Jews and white people?
All Germany did was returning skulls of Namibian genocide victims. bbc.com
This genocide foreshadowed 20th-century atrocities: bureaucratized killing, concentration camps, and racial ideology. Its “forgetfulness” underscores how colonial violence often evaded scrutiny, yet parallels to later events highlight its warning role in the history of mass murder.
Key English-Language Literature
The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism by David Olusoga and Casper W. Erichsen (2010, Faber & Faber)¹ – A seminal work drawing direct links to Nazi methods, based on archival research.
Genocide in German South-West Africa: The Colonial War of 1904–1908 and Its Aftermath edited by Jürgen Zimmerer and Joachim Zeller (2008, Merlin Press)² – Collection of essays on military campaigns, camps, and memory.
Germany’s Genocide of the Herero: Kaiser Wilhelm II, His General, His Settlers, His Soldiers by Jeremy Sarkin (2011, James Currey)³ – Focuses on legal and historical accountability.
The Herero Genocide: War, Emotion and Extreme Violence in Colonial Namibia by Matthias Häussler (2021, Berghahn Books)⁴ – Explores emotional and ideological drivers using primary sources.
Colonial Genocide and Reparations Claims in the 21st Century: The Socio-Legal Context of Claims under International Law by the Herero against Germany by Jeremy Sarkin (2008, Praeger)⁵ – Analyzes ongoing reparations efforts.
¹ Olusoga and Erichsen emphasize eyewitness accounts and the “continuity” debate with the Holocaust.
² Zimmerer argues for methodological parallels in racial science and extermination policies.
³ Sarkin examines von Trotha’s orders and international law implications.
⁴ Häussler’s study highlights the role of dehumanization in colonial troops.
⁵ Addresses why direct lineage to Nazism remains debated, despite clear tactical similarities.
P.S.
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Related:
The Forgotten Massacre: Germany’s Very First Genocide – in China
Mass executions, village annihilations, and a blueprint for Namibia, the Holocaust, and Gaza
THE WORST ANTI-SEMITISM NO-ONE TALKS ABOUT
Germany is Europe’s driving force behind a new Holocaust to wipe out a Semitic people, the Palestinians. The exclusive exposé. This article was offered to German media, but they were not interested.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH A SURVIVOR OF THE GAZA GHETTO — While his neighborhood was being bombed and razed to the ground, Antoun Ananias — whose Christian Orthodox family can trace and document its roots in Palestine back many centuries — survived alone in his apartment, surrounded by an army of starving rats. He disinfected his open wounds with his own urine. His story was also offered to German media, but they showed no interest.
Yet again, I approached German media with this interview. They turned it down. See the pattern?
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Felix Abt is an entrepreneur, author and travel blogger, living in Asia.
With his articles, he tries to make a modest contribution to debunking the omnipresent propaganda of the mainstream media for those who don’t have the time (and that’s most people) to do the research to see through it.