At the Battle of Ohamakari, large parts of the Herero were killed by German colonial troops. An event in the Nelson Mandela Park in Bremen commemorates the genocide in Namibia from 1904 to 1908.

On 11 August 2021 hrs, the annual commemoration in memory of the victims of the genocide in Namibia will take place at the AntiColonialMemorial “The Elephant!”

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In January 1904, the Herero population group in what is now Namibia revolted against the German colonial rulers. Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha finally led the conflict for the German Empire as a war of extermination. The genocide began with the “Battle of Ohamakari” (“Battle of the Waterberg”) on 11 August 1904. The colonial war and the systematic persecution and extermination of the three ethnic groups continued until 1908. At that time, the German Schutztruppe also carried out murder campaigns against the San. Up to 90,000 people were murdered in the process; they died through military violence, by dying of thirst and starvation on the run or from forced labour in the concentration camps of the German colony. The massacres of the Herero and Nama in what is now Namibia by German colonial troops are considered the first genocide of the 20th century, as claimed for years by the descendants and survivors of the genocide.

PROGRAM

- Greeting: Anja Stahmann (The Senator for Social Affairs, Youth, Integration and Sport)
– Dance performance “MOTHER AFRICA and the Elephant” with Joël Lawrence Detiège and Kossi Sebastian Aholou-Wokawui (Contributing projects Patch-Sew-Dance and ≠ Repräsen-Dance)
– Words of remembrance: Prof. Dr. Manfred Hinz (Bremer Afrika-Archiv e.V.)

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- Minute of silence and laying of flowers

The commemoration is under the patronage of Mayor Dr Andreas Bovenschulte, President of the Senate.

Organisers: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Bremen, Senatskanzlei (Bremen), Der Elefant! e.V. Bremen, Afrika Netzwerk Bremen, Bremer Afrika-Archiv e.V.

Afrika Netzwerk Bremen.

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The team of the German Dance Institute Bremen is pleased to be able to document the dance performance on film.