Joel Kontinen
Germany has officially acknowledged committing genocide during its colonial occupation of Namibia, and announced financial aid worth more than €1.1bn (£940m; $1.34bn). German colonisers killed tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people there in early 20th Century massacres.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said his country was asking Namibia and victims' descendants for forgiveness.
But activists say the aid is not enough to address the suffering inflicted.
The money will apparently be paid out over 30 years through spending on infrastructure, healthcare and training programmes benefiting the impacted communities.
Resently, a 60-member Namibian delegation brought the skulls of 20 of their deceased forefathers to Windhoek from Germany, where they were kept on display in museums.
The Nazis did not invent human experiments. Over a century ago, German scientists inspired by Darwinian evolution examined the skulls of dead Africans. Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species had been translated into German in 1875. In addition, Ernst Haeckel promoted evolution with his writings and Nietzsche proclaimed his view of Übermensch or superman.
German scientists wanted to show that light-skinned Europeans were more evolved than dark Africans.
A hundred years ago, Charles Darwin’s shadow extended far from his homeland, bringing desperation, suffering and death to Africa.
Charles Darwin has cast a shadow on African heritage and its people. Just remember, what he did to the Herero and other people in Namibia. In effect, Darwin instigated the first holocaust in Africa.
They did this also in what is presently called Tanzania.
The Austrian anthropologist Felix von Luschan made a call for people to send skulls to Germany. The von Luschan collection, originally contained 6,300 skulls.
Mangi Meli, a chief from the north of what is now Tanzania, was executed in 1900 for his role in a rebellion against German colonial rule. A relative has searched for his skull, but hasn’t found him.
After he died, Mangi Meli body was decapitated and his head was taken to Germany.
The Sunday Express told says that many skulls were sent to Germany “to prove the similarity between the Nama and anthropoid apes”. This was not a distortion but an application of Charles Darwin’s writings in The Descent of Man.
Source:
BBC News, Germany officially recognises colonial-era Namibia genocid BBC News 8. 5.
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