preventgenocideinternational 

German Southwest Africa 1904-1908: Genocide of Hereros

Resources on this website  |Books and Articles | Reports | Survivor testimonies
Film and Video | Websites   
(Last revised March 28, 2005)

Other resources pages: Past Genocides 1901-1950: Hereros 1904 | Armenian 1915  | Holodomor 1933 | Shoah 1941 | Parajmos 1941
Past Genocides 1951-2000: East Bengal 1971 | Burundi 1972  | Cambodia 1975 | Guatemala 1982  | Iraqi Kurds 1988 | Bosnia 1992 | Rwanda 1994

Resources on this website

On August 14, 2004, on th 100th anniversary of the battle that began the Herero genocide, Germany's Development Aid MinisterHeidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul offered her government's first formal apology for the colonial-era massacre of some 65,000 members of the Herero tribe by German troops in Namibia. "We Germans accept our historic and moral responsibility,"she said, "Germany has learnt the bitter lessons of the past." Ms Wieczorek-Zeul repeated that there would be no compensation, but she promised continued economic aid for Namibia which currently amounts to $14m a year. [BBC Aug. 14, 2004]

Books and Articles

Helmut Bley, Southwest Africa Under German Rule 1894-1914.

Jon M. Bridgman, The Revolt of the Hereros, Series: Perspectives on southern Africa ;(Berkeley : University of California Press, 1981) 184 pp. Bibliography: p.175-177.

Horst Drechsler, Let us die fighting : the struggle of the Herero and Nama against German imperialism (1884-1915) / Horst Drechsler ; [translated by Bernd Zöllner from Südwestafrika unter deutscher Kolonialherrschaft, (London : Zed Press, 1980), x, 277 pp. Includes index, Bibliography: p. 256-275.

Horst Drechsler, Südwestafrika unter deutscher Kolonialherrschaft : der Kampf der Herero und Nama gegen den deutschen Imperialismus 1884-1915, (Berlin : Akademie Verlag, 1985), 318 pp.

Casper W. Erichsen, "A Forgotten History - Concentration camps were used by the Germans in South West Africa," Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg), 17 Aug 2001

Peter L. Fraenk and Roger Murray, with additional material by Kaye Stearman, The Namibian of South West Africa. Series: Report no. 19 (London, Minority Rights Group, 1985), 31 pp. [Updated edition of: The Namibians of South West Africa. 1974]

Gustav Frenssen, Peter Moors Fahrt nach Südwest : ein Feldzugsbericht, (Windhoek, Namibia : Typoprint, 1998), 147 pp. [ Gustav Frenssen, 1863-1945. ]

Jan-Bart Gewald, Herero heroes : a socio-political history of the Herero of Namibia, 1890-1923, (Oxford [U.K.] : James Currey ; Athens : Ohio University Press, 1999), 310 pp. Includes bibliographical references (p. 290-304) and index.

J.B. Gewald 'The Herero and Nama Genocides, 1904 - 1908' In: Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, New York: Macmillan Reference, 2004.

Peter Haller, Das Marine-Denkmal in Swakopmund / zusammengestellt von Peter Haller. Swakopmund, S.W.A. : Peters Antiques, [198(?)] 44 pp. Contents: Die Tätigkeit des Landungskorps S.M.S. "Habicht" während des Herero-Aufstandes in Süd-West-Afrika -- Das Marine-Ehrenmal in Swakopmund -- Die Denkmalseinweihung -- Erinnerungsfeier am Marinedenkmal in Swakopmund. Subjects: Monuments and War memorials--Namibia--Swakopmund.

Gesine Krüger, Kriegsbewältigung und Geschichtsbewusstsein : Realität, Deutung und Verarbeitung des deutschen Kolonialkriegs in Namibia 1904 bis 1907, Series: Kritische Studien zur Geschichtswissenschaft ; Bd. 133 (Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999), 344 pp.

Walter Nuhn (b. 1928), Sturm über Südwest : der Hereroaufstand von 1904 : ein düsteres Kapitel der deutschen kolonialen Vergangenheit Namibias, (Koblenz : Bernard & Graefe, 1989), 396 pp. [Includes bibliographical references (p. 364-368) and indexes. ]

Walter Nuhn (b. 1928), Feind überall : der grosse Nama-Aufstand (Hottentottenaufstand) 1904-1908 in Deutsch-Südwestafrika (Namibia) : der erste Partisanenkrieg in der Geschichte der deutschen Armee / Guerillakrieg in Südwest, (Bonn : Bernard & Graefe, 2000), 344 p. : Includes bibliographical references (p. 310-312) and index.

Woodruff D. Smith, The German Colonial Empire.

Primary Sources:

Oberleutnant Haak, Tagebuchblätter aus Südwest-Afrika / [Oberleutnant Haak] ; mitgeteilt von Wgm.
Swakopmund [Namibia] : Peter's Antiques, [1987?], 46 p. Originally published: Berlin : Boll u. Pickardt, 1906.

Max Schmidt, Aus unserem Kriegsleben in Südwestafrika : Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen, (Berlin : E. Runge, 1907), viii, 204 p. Personal narrative

Gerhardus Pool, (b. 1941) Die Herero-opstand, 1904-1907 (Kaapstad : HAUM, 1979), 311 p.Includes index.
Bibliography: p. 290-299.

Gerhardus Pool, (b. 1941), Samuel Maharero, (Windhoek, Namibia : Gamsberg Macmillian, 1991.
xiii, 359 pp. Includes bibliographical references (p. 321-336) and index. Biography of SamuelMaharero, , ca. 1854-1923.

Walter Rahn, , 1920- Sanitätsdienst der Schutztruppe für Südwestafrika während der grossen Aufstände 1904-1907 und der Kalahari Expedition 1908 / von Walter Rahn ; [Herausgeber, Traditionsverband Ehemaliger Schutz- und Überseetruppen/Freunde der Früheren Deutschen Schutzgebiete e.V.]. [Berlin] : Der Traditionsverband, 1997), 128 pp. Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-125). Subject: Medicine, Military--Germany--Colonies. Series: Beiträge zur deutschen Kolonialgeschichte, 1430-6352 ; Bd. 9

Other books:

Joris de Vries, Manasse Tjiseseta : chief of Omaruru 1884-1898, Namibia, ( Köln : R. Köppe Verlag, 1999), 146 pp.

Biography of Herero leader Manasse Tjiseseta (c. 1850-1898). Includes bibliographical references (p. [93]-96). English with some appendices in German.

National Society for Human Rights (Namibia) Dumped and abandoned : suffer the Herero returnees, (Windhoek, Namibia : NSHR, [March 19, 1998]), 20pp.

Relocation of the Herero in Namibia.

Ada Obi Udechukwu, Herero (New York : Rosen Pub. Group, 1996.) 64 pp.

Children's book discussing the history, culture, religion, traditions, and contemporary life of the Herero people living mainly in Namibia and Botswana. Includes bibliographical references (p. 62), illustrations, maps and index.

Frank Robert Vivelo, The Herero of western Botswana : aspects of change in a group of Bantu-speaking cattle herders, (St. Paul : West Pub. Co., 1977), xviii, 232 pp.

Reports

Jeremy Silvester and Jan-Bart Gewald Words Cannot Be Found: German Colonial Rule in Namibia: an Annotated Reprint of the 1918 Blue Book. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, Sources on African History 1, 2003

Film

 

Survivor and Eyewitness testimonies

See Daniel Kariko, Barmenias Zerua, Gottlob Kamatoto, Gerard Kamaheke, Hosea Mungungda, Samuel Kariko, Manuel Timbu, Jan Cloete, Johannes Kruger, Jan Kubas and others in Chapter 1 of Samuel Totten et al., eds., Century of Genocide: Eyewitness Accounts and Critical Views (Garland Reference Library, 1997).

Websites

Namibia Library Of Dr. Klaus (www.klausdierks.com), including a chronology on Namibian History from the precolonial times to the date of independence (1990). Klaus Dierks, PhD, was a member of the namibian Parliament from 1990 to 2000. Born in Berlin, and trained in Civil Engineering and History, Dierks has lived in Namibia sinc ethe earlu 1960s. HE joined the SWAPO Party in 1982.

Der Völkermord an den Herero 1904-1907 http://www.gfbv.de/voelker/afrika/herero.htm

Herero - This site is project of the Genocide Studies class at Father Ryan High School www.fatherryan.org/holocaust/hereogen/Herero/

Conference in Berlin Jan. 2005

THE HERERO HOLOCAUST? The Disputed History Of The 1904 Genocide Jeremy Silvester, Werner Hillebrecht & Casper Erichsen links to 3 related pages http://www.namibweb.com/hererohol.htm

Please send us items to expand and improve this webpage