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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 09.03.2004 |
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| FEATURE: Joint Ecumenical Memorial Service for Namibia’s Divisive Past |
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Lutheran Bishops Recall Bloodshed, Violent Quashing of Herero Uprising a Century Ago
WINDHOEK, Namibia/GENEVA, 9 March 2004 (LWI) – “It is indeed God’s miracle that today we are looking back together at the terrible things that happened a century ago, as we join hands and face the future as sisters and brothers.” These were the words of Bishop Dr Zephania Kameeta, leader of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) at an ecumenical memorial service recalling one of the most difficult years in Namibia’s history.
In 1904, the territory then called German South West Africa (today Namibia), had been a German colony for almost 20 years. Since colonization began in 1884 the Herero people, in particular, had lost not only most of their valuable pastoral land through fraudulent purchases, tax collection and the building of a railway, but also through sales to German settlers by chiefs concerned only with profit. Consequently, on 12 January 1904, the Herero declared war on the German colonialists. But their resistance lasted only a few months. They were defeated by German defense troops at the decisive battle of Waterberg, 11 August 1904.
The majority of the estimated 60,000 Herero lost their lives either fighting in the war or trying to escape. Survivors were detained in concentration camps where thousands died of hunger or disease. Land that had until then been owned by the Herero became nationalized, and was assigned to German settlers or former defense-force soldiers. The campaign saw the annihilation of an estimated 10,000 members of the Nama and 17,000 Damara peoples.
The year 1904 is a crucial date in Namibian history. Yet, since the country’s independence in 1990, its historical events have never been commemorated nationally and jointly by the former colonial power and Herero people. While the approximately 200,000 Herero-speaking Namibians now live peacefully alongside their German-speaking fellow citizens who number almost 20,000, so far the two groups have held their own separate commemorations, often without informing each other. This was in the context of their own cultures, with their differing understandings of history and their respective backgrounds as descendants either of winners or losers in the war. But this year, they intend to officially commemorate their divided past together for the first time, particularly as the consequences in many ways are still visible, and painful. Decisions taken a century ago are today, above all, reflected in the unequal distribution of land ownership in the country.
In 2003, a Namibian initiative was put forward with the aim of entering into conversation about the possible setting up of a joint public commemoration. The German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN-DELK) headed by Bishop Reinhard Keding, took the first step. “The church took this initiative,” Keding said, “because dealing with the past has always provoked strong feelings on both sides, and the church can play the role of mediator.”
Herero-speaking ELCRN Bishop Kameeta took up this initiative and agreed to moderate a national planning committee for the commemoration ceremony. “Our goal is not to cast off the burden of history on the arduous path of reconciliation, but to look at it and use it as a pointer for a better common future,” said Kameeta, who since July 2003 also is LWF vice-president for the Africa region. “We do not want to bring to light historical facts in order to open new wounds in people’s hearts. If we talk about the atrocities of the past it is only to get to know each other better, to tell each other our stories, privately and in public, and to find common ways of learning from the past.”
Discussion on the commemoration is not just engendering conciliatory statements but also great tension. In parallel to the “Bishops’ Committee” a “Genocide Committee” has been founded, headed by Herero leader Kuaima Riruako, and consisting exclusively of Herero members. In this centennial year Riruako expects the Federal Republic of Germany to apologize and make reparation for the genocide committed.
Berlin’s Ambassador to Namibia, Dr Wolfgang Massing, endorsed Germany’s previous stance. The federal government regretted past wrongdoings, and was confronting its moral responsibility for their common history, he said in a January 11 address. On this basis, it was enacting special relations with Namibia, in the form of EUR 500 million in official development assistance since independence in 1990 – the highest per capita amount of all Germany’s aid packages to African countries. But paying compensation to a certain population group in Namibia would send a wrong signal, according to Massing.
“In principle I support Germany’s attitude,” said Keding, “particularly because reparation payments to only one population group in Namibia could create great tension. I would wish, however, that the federal government could exert greater influence to ensure that aid is channeled to Herero home areas in the coming years.”
The January 11 ecumenical memorial service held in Windhoek, and conducted jointly by Kameeta and Keding, was attended by 400 women and men representing all population groups in Namibia. The two bishops preached together on Psalm 103. Parts of the psalm were quoted in 1973 by Willy Brandt, the first German chancellor to set foot on Israeli soil, during his visit to Yad Vashem, the memorial for victims of the Holocaust: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:8-10, NRSV).
In his sermon, Keding stressed it was possible to jointly remember a most painful past without opening new wounds if one trusted in the guidance of a loving and forgiving God. “Because I know that there is a God who is ready to forgive, I can be prepared to admit my failures. Because I trust in this loving principle of God I am free to ask for forgiveness.” The ELCIN-DELK bishop described the service as “an encouraging beginning.” But it remains to be seen “how the signals sent today will be received and reinforced at other events in the course of this year,” he added.* (1,030 words)
(By Windhoek-based LWI correspondent Erika von Wietersheim.)
The sermons by Kameeta and Keding can be accessed in German and English at: www.chrina.org/1904/opening_2004_01b.html
*This article is part of the ongoing LWI Features on Healing under the LWF Tenth Assembly theme, “For the Healing of the World.”
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