120th genocide commemoration events slated for Swakop next week
Programme packed with events, discussions
Organisers said the event will bring people together to tell their own stories and host discussions on the history of the genocide and the way forward, among other planned activities.
The first International Conference on the Herero Genocide, marking 120 years since an extermination order to kill Ovaherero was issued by Imperial Germany, is scheduled to take place in Swakopmund from 30 September until Saturday, 5 October.
The week-long event will host a number of awareness raising events, including discussions, a commemoration and reparation walk, an exhibition and a documentary screening of investigative work done on Shark Island, Waterberg and the Battle of Hamakari.
Nandiuasora Mazeingo, an organiser and chairperson for the event, said the programme will also include presentations on the Herero genocide from a historical perspective, as well as a talk by historian Festus Muundjua and a discussion on the topic of 'German intent'.
“We would like our people to relay how their grandparents told them about the horrors they lived through and other tales about the culture they lost and their material wealth," Mazeingo said.
"Really, the intention is to bring people to narrate and publish this and tell our own story. Wednesday is the day that marks the 120th commemoration of the extermination order by Lothar von Trotha. We will be having a solemn march to the unmarked graves and sites where the concentration camps were,” he explained.
Packed agenda
Another session is committed to discussing the Namibian, Botswana, Angolan and South African experiences of Nama and Ovaherero genocide descendants.
The agenda will also explore intergenerational trauma, land dispossession, and patterns of poverty, as well as those who fled into exile, and the loss of identity and consequences of the genocide.
"It is not just a history but continues to be a defining reminder,” Mazeingo said.
The first Ovaherero Claims Conference will also be held during this time, titled 'Conceptualising and Articulating our material claims against Germany'.
"On Saturday we will have a petitioning march to present our demands, including what came out during the claims conference to State House in Swakopmund. In addition to speaking to ourselves, and having our people define what justice means for them, [we have] also have invited political parties, including those from Germany, since it is a hybrid event, to tell us where they stand on this issue. We also want to forge an alliance with our Jewish brothers and sisters to learn from them. Germany does not have to invent the wheel,” he said.
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The week-long event will host a number of awareness raising events, including discussions, a commemoration and reparation walk, an exhibition and a documentary screening of investigative work done on Shark Island, Waterberg and the Battle of Hamakari.
Nandiuasora Mazeingo, an organiser and chairperson for the event, said the programme will also include presentations on the Herero genocide from a historical perspective, as well as a talk by historian Festus Muundjua and a discussion on the topic of 'German intent'.
“We would like our people to relay how their grandparents told them about the horrors they lived through and other tales about the culture they lost and their material wealth," Mazeingo said.
"Really, the intention is to bring people to narrate and publish this and tell our own story. Wednesday is the day that marks the 120th commemoration of the extermination order by Lothar von Trotha. We will be having a solemn march to the unmarked graves and sites where the concentration camps were,” he explained.
Packed agenda
Another session is committed to discussing the Namibian, Botswana, Angolan and South African experiences of Nama and Ovaherero genocide descendants.
The agenda will also explore intergenerational trauma, land dispossession, and patterns of poverty, as well as those who fled into exile, and the loss of identity and consequences of the genocide.
"It is not just a history but continues to be a defining reminder,” Mazeingo said.
The first Ovaherero Claims Conference will also be held during this time, titled 'Conceptualising and Articulating our material claims against Germany'.
"On Saturday we will have a petitioning march to present our demands, including what came out during the claims conference to State House in Swakopmund. In addition to speaking to ourselves, and having our people define what justice means for them, [we have] also have invited political parties, including those from Germany, since it is a hybrid event, to tell us where they stand on this issue. We also want to forge an alliance with our Jewish brothers and sisters to learn from them. Germany does not have to invent the wheel,” he said.
[email protected]
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