Germany acknowledges colonial-era 'genocide' of Herero, Nama people in Africa
The first genocide of the 20th century was overseen by the father of Nazi commander Hermann Göring
Germany on Friday acknowledged it had committed genocide in its colonies in southwestern Africa, pledging 1 billion euros in financial support to descendants of the victims living in modern-day Namibia.
"We will now officially refer to these events as what they are from today's perspective: genocide," said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
"In light of the historical and moral responsibility of Germany, we will ask forgiveness from Namibia and the victims' descendants for the atrocities we committed," he added.
Often described by historians as the first genocide of the 20th century, the slaughter of tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people by German colonial settlers in 1904-1908 massacres was overseen by Heinrich Ernst Göring, father of Nazi commander Hermann Göring.
In 2018, Germany handed over to Namibia skulls and other remains of massacred tribespeople shipped to Germany following the massacres for experiments in the discredited fields of phrenology and eugenics aimed to prove European racial superiority.
Namibia's President Hage Geingob welcomed the "historic" move on Friday, but Herero paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro dismissed a deal agreed by the two governments as "an insult" because it did not include payment of reparations.
"We are actually not happy with the amount of money which the German government is going to offer toward the affected community of the genocide. We also believe that the German government must pay back or must buy back the land which is in the hands of the minority white Germans of Namibian descendants who own more than 60 percent of the commercial lands," said Laidlaw Peringanda, chairman of the Namibian Genocide Association which represents descendants of victims and survivors.