Two Namibian communities sue Germany for genocide committed in 1900s

Germany has been sued in the United States by the descendants of the Herero and Nama people of Namibia, for what they called a genocide campaign by German colonial troops in the early 1900s that led to more than 100,000 deaths.

A few months ago, Germany had promised to submit a formal apology. But the discussions with the Namibia trample because of the question of reparations to the victims. The proposed class-action lawsuit seeks unspecified sums for thousands of descendants of the victims, for the “incalculable damages” that were caused.

The slaughter took place from roughly 1904 to 1908, when Namibia was a German colony known as South-West Africa, after the Herero and Nama groups rebelled against German rule.

According to many published reports, victims were also subjected to harsh conditions in concentration camps, and some had their skulls sent to Germany for scientific experiments.

Some historians view what occurred as the 20th century’s first genocide, and a 1985 United Nations report said the “massacre” of Hereros qualified as a genocide.

Germany has paid victims of the Holocaust, which occurred during World War Two.