What my experience has taught me, is that history is written by the victors until you get to college. Once you sign away to an indefinite amount of debt, aspirations are slowly withered as your professors break down the happy western civilization monologue high school gave you. Being a double major in History and German, I was a little bit more prepared for this overpriced depression than my classmates. The Holocaust is an integral subject in the curriculum, being one of history’s greatest tragedy and a continuous guilt to the German nation. But the Holocaust wasn’t Germany’s first dabble in genocide, in fact, most of the SS and Nazi Elite got their kicks over in Africa a little over a hundred years ago this week.
On April 26th, 1884, Germany colonized German Southwest Africa or what’s now known as Namibia. Even to the untapped historian, the country Namibia should sound familiar as it’s now suing Germany for reparations on the grounds of genocide. Like with all colonial stories, it begins with the European powers promising fair treaties with natives and ends with a colossal shit show for them. Germany was no different when it began colonizing the Herero land in Germany with trading posts, promising only to use the land allotted by their agreement. By 1904, Germany would have forced out the natives into the deserts to starve and rounded the rest into forced labor concentration camps. Ultimately over 75% of the Herero population and 50% of the Nama population would be dead. It was considered (cue morbidity) one of the most successful genocides in history. Multitudes of soldiers who served the Germans in the Herero genocide would go onto serve in the Nazi regime.
Outside of correlating dates, this history has a special connection to New York State. Namibia has been suing for reparations from Germany since the late 90s but has been unsuccessful. Originally it was denied by Roman Herzog, the president of Germany at the time, under the grounds that there were no rules on international protection. This set the precedent for continuously failed lawsuits with national and international courts with the reiteration that if a judgment has been ruled, the new judge must respect the previous ruling. All the while, Germany has refused to acknowledge what occurred as genocide, claiming that the laws currently existing didn’t apply then. Despite the horrible crime that occurred, by denying acknowledging it as genocide, Germany could potentially be covering the backs of all European colonial powers. It’s opening a real can of worms if Germany acknowledges the genocide and offers reparations. There are no laws with time constraints on reparations as long as it can be clearly shown, from this; multiple native peoples could demand their claim from the Spanish, the Portuguese and other powers who wreaked havoc. Granted morally this is a valid issue, but economically and politically, this could be a giant shit show.
If we bring this back to its connection to New York State, with the use of the Alien Tort Statute, which originally was meant to deal with international cases that touched the American country. In January the court in Manhattan has decided that it should open its doors to all crimes against humanity, regardless of whether it directly affected America. The case of the Herero genocide will play itself out on the court floors with the Herero demanded millions in reparations from Germany. Personally, I’m unsure of how a verdict from the United States would work if it counters years of European courts denying the case. Regardless, it’s an incredibly important aspect of history that seems overall forgotten and opens the gates to discussions on how colonization has hindered the growth of multiple countries.
