Authority 6

Because I had made peace with him, I was sleeping, oblivious, when he came and shot me awake.

Annemarie Heywood, Eben Maasdorp & Brigitte Lau (Hrsg., 1996): The Hendrik Witbooi papers. Windhoek: National Archives of Namibia. p. 151. The year (1893) is an approximation.

Hendrik Witbooi (ca. 1830-1905) about Curt von François, officer of the German Protection Force in today's Namibia, the former German colony. Witbooi, actually ǃNanseb ǀGabemab, was from the end of 1888 the captain of the Orlam people, the Witbooi, who were related to the Nama.

The Roman strategy of divide and rule was used by the Germans in Namibia to ensure that they would not confront a united anti-colonial army. The Witbooi family led the Nama in the resistance against German colonial power. The Nama were attacked by the Germans in 1893 in what became known as the Hornkranz Massacre. During it, most of the women and children were slaughtered, while male warriors escaped. Henrik Witbooi, Moose's son, then led a guerrilla war. After several attempts, which the exchange of letters also bears witness to, from 1904 onwards, the Herero and Nama united their resistance. Defeated by the colonial power, they were interned in camps where most of the remaining Nama and Herero perished. Overall, it is estimated that between 1904 and 1908, up to 70,000 Nama and Herero died in what was the 20th century’s first genocide (Jorgensen & Markusen 1999: 288).

*Reinhard Koesseler (2007): Genocide, Apology and Reparation –the linkage between images of the past in Namibia and Germany. *Torben Jorgensen & Eric Markusen (1999): The Genocide of the Hereros. In: Israel W. Charny (Hrsg.): Encyclopedia of Genocide. Band 1, S. 288.

1893