Namibia marked its first official Genocide Remembrance Day on May 28
A calm, heavy silence took over Windhoek on Wednesday evening as candles lit up the steps of Parliament. It was the first time Namibians came together for Genocide Remembrance Day—a national holiday to remember tens of thousands of Ovaherero and Nama people who were killed by German colonial troops over a century ago.
The government picked May 28 for this annual commemoration because it marks the date in 1907 when Germany announced the closure of its concentration camps in the region, after facing global criticism.
The event included a minute of silence and a public candlelight vigil, part of what the government describes as “a journey of healing.”
Germany’s Genocide and the Lingering Fight for Justice
Between 1904 and 1908, German forces carried out mass killings in what many call “Germany’s forgotten genocide.” Victims were either forced into deserts where they starved, or placed in deadly camps where many died from hunger, disease, and exhaustion. Some death certificates were even pre-written, stating “death by exhaustion,” knowing the fate that awaited the prisoners.
Germany officially admitted to the genocide in 2021, offering a €1.1 billion development aid package. However, many Namibians, including activist Uahimisa Kaapehi, rejected the offer as a poor substitute for justice.
“That was the joke of the century. We want our land. Money is nothing,” Kaapehi said during an interview with the BBC.
Campaigners are still calling for true reparations, not charity, and want Germany to return stolen ancestral lands. Adding to the pain, some Namibians were angered when Germany backed Israel at the United Nations against genocide accusations, while failing to take full responsibility for its own colonial crimes.
Former President Hage Geingob once pointed out this contradiction, saying Germany has yet to fully make amends for the atrocities it committed in Namibia.
While the healing process has started, the memories are still fresh—and for many, the road to justice remains long.
