German Minister acknowledges Namibian genocide

Germany’s Development Minister Gerd Mueller has described the slaughter of Namibia’s Herero and Nama peoples by German soldiers in Namibia as ‘abominations and genocide’. Radio France International reports that it marks the first time a high-level German Minister has used the term. Although Germany has said it takes a ‘moral responsibility’ for the killings, it has refused to apologise for the killing of an estimated 75 000 people in order to avoid reparations. ‘It is our job not to forget but to work through the German colonial history and strengthen the reconciliation process,’ said Mueller during an official visit to Namibia. German soldiers murdered villagers who rose up to protest land seizures and forced labour by colonists between 1904 and 1908 in what was called German South West Africa. Those who weren’t killed were driven out into the desert and died of thirst and starvation. Others perished in concentration camps.