Country: Namibia

Group: San

Data Finalized: 3/24/2020

Team: Sophia Agne (lead), Rayna Castillo, Kimberly Prete

Content Warning: genocide, homicide

Approximate Time Period: 1904-1936

In 1904 through 1908, the German empire completed a genocide against the people of many different tribes, including the Nama, Herero, and the San, in the region of today’s Namibia. During this genocide a total of around 90000 people were killed by the German forces (Ochab 2018). Some people were killed right away, and others were killed in concentration camps from exhaustion, an illness, or starvation (Steinmetz 2005). Although most research has focused on Nama and Herero, evidence also suggests that San, Ovambo, and Damara were also killed during this time (Slater 2018). Several years later in 1912-1915, the German government engaged in additional systematic efforts to kill San (Gordon, 2009).  South Africa occupied Namibian territory in 1920, but only in 1936, did the South African government stop issuing permits to “hunt” San (Minorities at Risk Project, 2004). Data quality is 1.5 given the sparsity of evidence for Ovambo.

Sources

  1. Gordon, R. J. (2009). Hiding in full view: the “forgotten” Bushman genocides of Namibia. Genocide Studies and Prevention, 4(1), 29-57.
  2. Minorities at Risk Project, Chronology for San Bushmen in Namibia, 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/469f38c1e.html [accessed 30 April 2022]
  3. Ochab, E. U. (2018, May 24). The Herero-Nama Genocide: The Story Of A Recognized Crime, Apologies Issued And Silence Ever Since. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2018/05/24/the-herero-nama-genocide-the-story-of-a-recognized-crime-apologies-issued-and-silence-ever-since/#17ea8c6e6d8c 
  4. Slater, L. A. (2018). The Namibian Genocide: Reframing the Conflict to Explore Intercultural Connectivity, Inclusiveness and Accurate Memorialization. Dissertation. Salve Regina University.
  5. Steinhauser, G. (2017, July 28). Germany Confronts the Forgotten Story of Its Other Genocide. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-confronts-the-forgotten-story-of-its-other-genocide-1501255028
  6. Steinmetz, G. (2005). The first genocide of the 20th century and its postcolonial afterlives: Germany and the Namibian Ovaherero. The Journal of the International Institute, 12(2), 1-10.