Genocide in Namibia

While I am well aware of the colonial practices of America and European countries against the whole world, Africa in particular. Learning about the 1st genocide of the 20th century amazed me nonetheless. Taking place during 1904-1908.. The Germans who had already colonized much of Namibia at this time wanted more of the fertile land that belonged to the Herero people.

The following is taken from: http://www.socialistaction.org/news/199904/namibia.html

Adolph Hitler acquired most of his racist idea from Eugen Fischer, a prominent German scientist, who went to Namibia in 1904 and made a study of the mixed ethnic children of German men and Herero women. The book, "Human Heredity of Race Hygiene," attempted to show that these children were mentally and physically inferior to German children. Hitler, while writing "Mein Kampf" in prison years later, read the book.By the time Hitler came to power, Fischer was chancellor at the University of Berlin and taught select Nazi physicians in medical school. One of his pupils was the later notorious Josef Mengele, a doctor at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

This "scientific" racist study concerned the first genocide of the 20th century, that of the Herero people.

According to most experts, however, the Hereros numbered 80,000 at the time the rebellion began; in 1911 only 15,130 were still alive. ... In 1904 there were believed to have been about 20,000 Hottentots in the colony; seven years later that number had been reduced to 9781. The Herero were then put in concentration camps and worked as slaves.

You can watch the video here: http://tvshack.net/documentaries/Namibia___Genocide_and_the_second_Reich/