Why do you think some genocides become part of collective memory while others remain forgotten?
Between 1904 and 
1908, Germany orchestrated the near-total destruction of two peoples in what was then called German Southwest Africa – the Herero and the Nama.
An estimated 80 percent of the Herero people were killed. Half of all the Nama. Driven into the desert. Forced into concentration camps. Systematically exterminated.
“If we forget them,” the Herero elders have said, “we will lose who we are.”
Most school curricula – in Germany, in the United States, and around the world – barely mention it. Historians call it the first genocide of the 20th century. They also call it the blueprint for what came later.
For the next two weeks, leading up to Namibia’s Genocide Remembrance Day on May 28, I’ll be sharing the history that Mama Namibia was written to honor. One post at a time.
Start here. Share this. Help make the forgotten unforgettable.