‘Dialogue on Namibia’s Past’ is our Online Dialogue Information Documentation Resource Platform about Namibia’s past.
‘Our’ includes you.
Our past shapes our lives and coexistence in the present. We need to understand and come to terms with it if we are to achieve our goal of national reconciliation and shape our future together.
Our platform wants to contribute to understanding and processing by
providing information about events for dialogue about the past,
giving the floor to organisations,
presenting a chronology of Namibia’s past
also taking a look at developments outside Namibia
providing official documents,
listing in-depth works by historians and other experts and
giving you the opportunity to participate with comments and suggestions.
The guiding principle of our platform is “We Hear You”. Find out exactly what this means and who we are under ‘About us’ .
Dialogue
Germany’s Colonial Memory Failure – Namibian 15-02-2026
"Germany’s Colonial Memory Failure By Henning Melber 15 February 2026 [...] The first genocide of the 20th century took place in South West Africa, where an estimated two thirds of the Ovaherero, a third of the Nama and numerous Damara...
Background
1915 July 9 – From the end of the German colonial era in South West Africa to ‘special relations’ today
• From the end of the German colonial era in South West Africa to 'special relations' today • Germany's era as a colonial power ended with its defeat in the First World War (1914 to 1918). The Union of South Africa, a self-governing...
‘I was simply luckier’: Holocaust survivors warn against forgetting Nazi atrocities – Guardian 27-01-2026
"'I was simply luckier': Holocaust survivors warn against forgetting Nazi atrocities People urged to stand up against populism and antisemitism as the world marks International Holocaust Memorial Day [...] Kate Connolly in Berlin Tue 27...
Term of the month
Gaslighting
Gaslighting is a term that refers to the Hollywood movie ‘Gaslight’ (1944, starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer). In the film, a man tries to make his wife doubt her own perception of reality through systematic manipulation…
Quote of the month
Resources
Bley, Helmut (1971): South-West Africa Under German Rule
Bley, Helmut: South-West Africa Under German Rule, 1894-1914, London 1971 (Translated from the original German version of 1968) Original German work: "Kolonialherrschaft und Sozialstruktur in Deutsch-Südwestafrika 1894-1914", Hamburg 1968...