Germany returns remains of Namibian genocide victims

Germany on Wednesday handed over the remains of some 20 Herero and Nama people murdered in the early 20th century by German colonial troops in Namibia.

Speaking at a vigil in Berlin for the victims of Namibian genocide, Evangelical Church Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber asked for forgiveness from the descendants of the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century.

“This day moves me greatly. We intend to do something today which should have been done many decades ago: namely, to give back mortal human remains of people who became the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century, to their rightful descendants,” she said.

Bosse-Huber pledged that the Evangelical Church in Germany would continue to support efforts for reconciliation.

“Together with the descendants of the victims, we intend to keep their memory alive, to publicly advocate for the acknowledgement of the genocide and to work towards overcoming the wrongs committed by the German colonial rule, as well as their enduring effects,” she said.

Michelle Muntefering, Germany’s minister of state at the Federal Foreign Office and Ruprecht Polenz, Germany’s special envoy for intergovernmental consultations with Namibia, also attended the vigil at a historical church in Berlin.

Some 60,000 Hereros and 10,000 Nama people were murdered by German colonial troops in southwestern Africa between 1904 and 1908. The skulls of dozens of genocide victims were sent to Berlin for “racial” scientific research.

Germany’s government has acknowledged its historical and political responsibility towards Namibia, but so far dismissed negotiations with the victims’ descendants, and ruled out paying financial compensation to them.

Since 1990, German government provided more than €700 million ($817 million) development aid to the country.