Between 1901 and 1908 the colonial German government committed mass atrocities against the Herero and Nama peoples of Namibia, a byproduct of Germany’s haste to acquire colonies. Many of the Nazi’s racial ideologies and killing techniques can trace their origins to this genocide, which is considered the first genocide of the twentieth century. For a detailed history and in-depth analysis of Germany’s conquest of Namibia, readers should consult David Olusoga and Casper W. Erichsen’s The Kaiser’s Holocaust and the collection Genocide in German South-West Africa from editors Jürgen Zimmerer and Joachim Zeller.
