• 1904 October 2 – Von Trotha issued the ‘Extermination Order’ •
After the Battle of the Waterberg on 11 August 1904, the OvaHerero fled east into the Kalahari with most of their cattle. Their destination was the British protectorate of Betschuanaland, now Botswana.
The Germans’ plan to decisively defeat and capture the OvaHerero had failed. The commander-in-chief of the Schutztruppe, General Lothar von Trotha, was left empty-handed.
But the escape through the Kalahari proved to be a disaster for the OvaHerero. August falls in the second half of the dry season. People and livestock were therefore dependent on water points along the Omiramba (dry river beds). Although the OvaHerero dug up to 20 metres deep, they did not find enough water.
Von Trotha ordered the escape routes to the west to be blocked and the fleeing OvaHerero to be pursued. Over the course of the weeks, his soldiers were confronted with images of horror: countless corpses and cattle carcasses lined the paths.
Many OvaHerero had died sitting or lying down, with their children on their laps, under bushes where they had sought shelter from the sun. Those who were still alive looked at the soldiers apathetically or with confused eyes.
Pursuit of the OvaHerero: Infantry of the von Mühlenfels Division of the Schutztruppe in German South West Africa marching through the Omaheke (part of the Kalahari) on 13 August 1904. Source: National Archives of Namibia
The persecution was an ordeal for the German soldiers. Many suffered from diseases such as scurvy and typhus. In the end, it was clear that the troops would not be able to capture the surviving OvaHerero. Trotha’s cordon to the west also proved to be a failure. Many OvaHerero had passed the posts unnoticed and were now living hidden in the bush.
Extermination Order: Proclamation to the OvaHerero nation
Von Trotha was forced to abandon the pursuit and turn back. While resting at a waterhole east of Otjinene, he finally wrote his infamous proclamation to the OvaHerero nation. Today it is also known as the firing order (Schießbefehl) or extermination order (Vernichtungsbefehl).
With the help of two OvaHerero, von Trotha had the proclamation formulated in OtjiHerero and several copies made. Signed by him, they were given to a captured group of old Herero men, women and children, who were then chased away. One of these copies is now in the National Archives of Botswana.
Translated verbatim into English, the decisive passage reads:
“You OvaHerero now you leave the country, it is now German’s (…). A person in the German country will be killed with the gun. I will not take women and the sick anymore, I will chase them to their chiefs or I will kill them with the gun.”
(Hartmann 2019, p. 116)
Not only historians have long argued about whether the ‘Schießbefehl’ (firing order) proves the purpose of extermination. Intention is an essential criterion in the definition of the UN Genocide Convention of 1948, as is (partial) implementation.
Von Trotha expressed his intention to exterminate the OvaHerero as a people both before and afterwards. His instructions were followed. Eyewitnesses described in letters, for example, how captured OvaHerero were shot or hanged.
Women, children and old people who approached the Schutztruppe camps in desperation to get water and food were chased away.
Withdrawal of the extermination order
According to historians, Lothar von Trotha did not have his proclamation published. They deduce also from one of his letters that he was expecting public protests, both in the protectorate and in Germany.
German settlers had repeatedly pointed out that the OvaHerero were urgently needed as labour on farms and for the development of the colony. In the German Empire, there were protests from the political opposition and the church.
On 8 December 1904, Kaiser Wilhelm II instructed General von Trotha to withdraw the extermination order. Instead, the Schutztruppe was to keep the OvaHerero under control in prisoner-of-war and concentration camps.
General von Trotha complied. But four months later, on 22 April 1905, he issued a similar proclamation to the Nama people, who had also taken up arms in the meantime.
.
Sources:
- DHPS History Department 2020
- Eckl, Andreas and Häussler, Matthias with Kavari, Jekura: Oomambo wandje komuhoko wOvaHerero “Words to the OvaHerero nation”. The Extermination Order of Lothar von Trotha, in: Hartmann 2019, p. 109 – 116
- Häussler, Matthias 2021
Author of the extermination order against the OvaHerero: The commander-in-chief of the Schutztruppe in German South West Africa, General Lothar von Trotha. Source: National Archives of Namibia