GERMAN PARLIAMENT DIVIDED: Should Germany Pay Billions for Namibia Genocide? | Times Now World

Madam President, dear colleagues, and above all, dear representatives of the Ovaherero and Nama people, who are here with us today as guests in the gallery. The fact that you are here today despite the injustice inflicted on your ancestors in our seeking dialogue with Germany deserves our deepest respect. More than 120 years ago, German colonial troops committed genocide in what is now Namibia. Tens of thousands of Ovaherero and Nama were murdered. Colonial crimes were also committed against the Damara and San. People were deported to concentration camps and forced into labor, while women suffered sexual violence. The victims' human remains were even brought to Germany and misused for racist research. In 2022, I visited Namibia and spoke with descendants of victims and perpetrators. I was particularly moved by the words of a young woman. Her great-grandmother was subjected to horrific abuse in a concentration camp, as a result of which several children were born. And she said to me, my family exists despite and because of the colonial crimes. Our history is full of wounds. And what hurts me even more is that in Germany you barely engage with the issues that continue to shape our lives in Namibia to this day. And I believe these words show that this genocide is not simply a thing of the past, it was denied here, from this side of the chamber, in a disgraceful manner. Its consequences continue to shape the trauma experienced by families, as well as the distribution of land and, of course, economic opportunities to this day. We cannot undo these crimes, but I believe we bear a great responsibility for how we deal with them today. And that is why the Bundestag, too, must explicitly recognize the genocide against the Ovaherero and Nama, as well as the colonial crimes committed against the Damara and San, and ask their descendants for forgiveness. Madam President, fellow members of parliament, distinguished guests from Namibia, our history does not disappear. Remembering is always an act in the present, and it matters. Remembering is always the key to the future. The facts are well known. An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 Ovaherero and Nama were brutally murdered by the Imperial German colonial troops between 1904 and 1908. They were driven into the desert and left to die of thirst or imprisoned in camps. In deep mourning before the victims of German colonial rule in what was then German Southwest Africa. And to be honest, I am ashamed. I am still ashamed today in the face of the indescribable suffering inflicted on people at that time. Looking back, one might note that it took a long time before the German federal government recognized the horrific atrocities in Namibia as genocide from today's perspective. Germany is paying more than 1 billion euros, even though it is not legally obliged to do so, and it is doing so voluntarily. In our view, the sensible course would be to withdraw from this agreement and appoint a commission of historians to investigate what happened back then. Facts first, checks afterward. Unfortunately, with you, it is usually the other way around. We are here. We are gathered here for the good of the German people, not to provide therapy for the left's spiritual confusion, ladies and gentlemen. If you absolutely want to bring Johann Tetzel back to life, if you really want to get back into the indulgence trade, then please do so with your own hard-earned money. The term concentration camp, for example, first appears in history, and in German history too, in connection with these events in Namibia. We all know what it later became. The term cult of guilt, which we have already heard today, is also used when referring to a period in which Germans, that is, people who speak our language, committed the most barbaric acts to have emanated from Germany.