Germany, which recently apologized for its role in the first genocide of the 20th century, which took place in its former colony known as German South West Africa, now the country of Namibia. Between 1904 and 1908, German colonizers killed tens of thousands of Ovaherero and Nama people in Namibia. Last month, for the first time, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas officially described the massacre as genocide and outlined an offer of more than $1.34 billion in development aid to Namibia.
HEIKO MAAS: [translated] Today we officially refer to these events as what they were: a genocide. We are therefore acknowledging our historical responsibility. In the light of Germany’s historical and moral responsibility, we will ask Namibia and the descendants of the victims for forgiveness. And as a gesture of recognition of the immeasurable suffering that was inflicted on the victims, we want to support Namibia and the descendants of the victims with a substantial program worth 1.1 billion euros aimed at reconstruction and development.
The Namibian Parliament is set to vote soon on Germany’s offer, which was not negotiated with survivors of the genocide, and critics have described as a pittance.
— source democracynow.org | Jun 11, 2021