When the Herero people of Namibia revolted against the confiscation of their land and cattle by German colonists more than 80,000 people were killed. On October 2nd, 1904 Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha publicly issued a written extermination order, Vernichtungsbefehl, of the Herero people in Namibia on behalf of Germany%u2019s Kaiser Wilhelm II. This infamous extermination order decreed: %u201CAny Herero found within the German borders with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot. I shall no longer receive any women and children. I will drive them back to their people or I will shoot them.%u201D The United Nations and historians consider this to be the first genocide of the century and it is estimated that eighty percent of the tribe was killed. The Herero people suffered incalculable losses from mutilation, rape, slaughter, and banishment from their land. Survivors were confined to concentration camps where they performed forced labor. Today, descendents of the survivors continue to reside in Botswana, South Africa, and many other countries. The majority of the Herero people live in their homeland of Namibia, where they are now a minority. While the German minister of economic cooperation and development, Mrs. Wieczorek-Zeul apologized for the genocide at a commemorative event in 2004, the German government refuses to enter into a meaningful dialogue about reparations. In order to address the genocide of the Herero people, Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako filed a lawsuit against the German government and German companies that benefited from slave labor. Paramount Chief Riruako, along with others, notably, Chief Munjuku Nguvauva II, are demanding reparations for the Herero people from Germany. We ask that you sign the petition below to show your support for Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako and the Hereros in their just quest for reparations from Germany for the Herero people. We, the undersigned, urge the government of Germany to offer reparations to the Herero tribe of Namibia for the genocide committed against their people from 1904-1908. Sources: Books 1. Words Cannot Be Found: German Colonial Rule in Namibia : An Annotated Reprint of the 1918 Blue Book (Sources on African History, 1) by South-West Africa Administrator's Office, Jan-Bart Gewald, Jeremy Silvester 2. Herero Heroes: A Socio-Political History of the Herero of Namibia, 1890-1923 by Jan-Bart Gewald (Paperback - March 1, 1999) 3. Let us die fighting: The struggle of the Herero and Nama against German imperialism (1884-1915) by Horst Drechsler 4. 1985, United Nation's Whitaker Report (google up) 5. The Revolt of the Hereros (Perspectives on southern Africa) by Jon Bridgman Links http://www.fatherryan.org/holocaust/hereogen/Herero/index.htm http://www.raceandhistory.com/Science/germanynamibia.htm http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/2004/08/herero_genocide.html http://homepage.mac.com/tristanmf/HEREROweb.htm Want to Join our FORUM? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ovaherero_mbanderu/
