What about the herero and nama People ?
In his message to the Armenian people on April 12th, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of hundreds of thousands Armenians during World War I in 1915, Pope Francis cited one of his predecessors Pope Paul II referring to "the tragic experience one hundred years ago" as "the first genocide of the twentieth century”.
This articel is not going to asses,whether the referral to the tragic events as "genocide" in the legal sense is legally correct - especially considering the difficulty to prove the fact that the deportation was actually driven by the intent to kill the Armenians.
Rather, it is intended to criticise the Pope's referral to the crime as "the first genocide": this is blatantly false, immoral and a distortion of historic facts. The pope fully ignores the fact that some 111 years back, between 1904 and 1908 the German Government systematically murdered more than 100.000 Herero and Nama people in colonialized South-West-Africa (today: Namibia). This genocide was driven by the unequivocal intent of the Germans to extinguish the herero people, as proven by the statement of the German Army General Lothar von Trotha, who said:
"I believe that the nation as such should be annihilated or, if this was not possible by tactical measures, have to be expelled from the country...."
The German General further warned the herero people, saying:
"Any Herero found inside the German frontier, with or without a gun or cattle, will be executed. I shall spare neither women nor children. I shall give the order to drive them away and fire on them. Such are my words to the Herero people"
The Whitaker Report on the Question of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was delivered by the Special Rapporteur Whitaker to the U.N. Economic and Social Council, mentiones the German massacre of Hereros in1904 alongside the massacre of Armenians in 1915 or the Tutsi massacre of Hutu in Burundi.
Until today, the German Government refuses to officially refer to this massacre as a genocide - despite the undisputed evidence. The German Government is not only reluctant to accept its responsibility for the genocide but even refused to ever pay compensation for the victims and their descendants. But Germany is eager to criticise Turkey and in the front row when it comes to raising the warning finger, claiming a high moral ground. Don't throw stones if you live in glass houses...
Whether this false statement is calculated historical amnesia of the Christian Church or a political side blow against at an increasingly confident Turkish President - the underliying motives for this backlash remains a matter of speculation. However, it is a sign of indifference for the historic debt the whole of Europe owes to African people for to its long and ruthless imperialistic politics. A person claiming to be the "God's deputy" should make clear that all lives matter.
This articel is not going to asses,whether the referral to the tragic events as "genocide" in the legal sense is legally correct - especially considering the difficulty to prove the fact that the deportation was actually driven by the intent to kill the Armenians.
Rather, it is intended to criticise the Pope's referral to the crime as "the first genocide": this is blatantly false, immoral and a distortion of historic facts. The pope fully ignores the fact that some 111 years back, between 1904 and 1908 the German Government systematically murdered more than 100.000 Herero and Nama people in colonialized South-West-Africa (today: Namibia). This genocide was driven by the unequivocal intent of the Germans to extinguish the herero people, as proven by the statement of the German Army General Lothar von Trotha, who said:
"I believe that the nation as such should be annihilated or, if this was not possible by tactical measures, have to be expelled from the country...."
The German General further warned the herero people, saying:
"Any Herero found inside the German frontier, with or without a gun or cattle, will be executed. I shall spare neither women nor children. I shall give the order to drive them away and fire on them. Such are my words to the Herero people"
The Whitaker Report on the Question of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was delivered by the Special Rapporteur Whitaker to the U.N. Economic and Social Council, mentiones the German massacre of Hereros in1904 alongside the massacre of Armenians in 1915 or the Tutsi massacre of Hutu in Burundi.
Until today, the German Government refuses to officially refer to this massacre as a genocide - despite the undisputed evidence. The German Government is not only reluctant to accept its responsibility for the genocide but even refused to ever pay compensation for the victims and their descendants. But Germany is eager to criticise Turkey and in the front row when it comes to raising the warning finger, claiming a high moral ground. Don't throw stones if you live in glass houses...
Whether this false statement is calculated historical amnesia of the Christian Church or a political side blow against at an increasingly confident Turkish President - the underliying motives for this backlash remains a matter of speculation. However, it is a sign of indifference for the historic debt the whole of Europe owes to African people for to its long and ruthless imperialistic politics. A person claiming to be the "God's deputy" should make clear that all lives matter.
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