In 1904, the German Empire initiated the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples in the German Southwest Africa region, which is now Namibia. This event is widely recognized as the first genocide of the 20th century.

The conflict began in 1904 when the Herero revolted against German colonists who were taking their land and livestock. The German military response was brutal, especially after General Lothar von Trotha took command and issued an extermination order.

It is estimated that approximately 65,000 Herero (about 80% of their population at the time) and 10,000 Nama were exterminated between 1904 and 1908.

The Germans used resource deprivation tactics, poisoned water sources, and trapped the Herero in the Omaheke Desert to starve and thirst to death. Furthermore, concentration camps were created, such as the notorious Shark Island camp, where many prisoners died due to forced labor, disease, and malnutrition.

The extermination was driven by a racial ideology that considered African peoples inferior and justified extreme violence to establish colonial control.

Prisoners were also subjected to pseudoscientific experiments, including the collection and analysis of skulls for racial studies in Germany.

More than a century later, in 2021, the German government officially recognized the atrocities committed as genocide and expressed a desire to apologize to Namibia and the descendants of the victims. Germany pledged to pay over one billion euros for development projects in Namibia as a gesture of reconciliation.

Congratulations to @BlokchainB for the History Territory initiative.
It is a fundamental space for SN to understand the present in the light of the past.