The Kaiser's men’s medals

[TabsTabs1964]

In 1989 the monument was converted into an anti-colonialist memorial....


Current image of the monument...


Omaheke Stones in Memory of the Herero and Nama Victims


Commemorative plaque: "In memory of the victims of the 1904-1908 genocide in Namibia and the Battle of Waterberg/Ohamakari".

[TabsTabs1964]

Well, let's finish this chapter of the history of Imperial Germany with the claps remembering the campaigns in the lands of the Herero and the Nama and with the romantic image of it in the Empire...


The Herero and Nama, two people of proud and brave men


The land of the Nama & The land of the Herero


Washed-out railway embankment between Keetmanshoop and Lüderitz, German South West Africa, around 1910


Christuskirche und Südwest Reiter in Windhoek

[VtwinVince]

The latter-day WOKE railroading in Germany of the DSWA campaigns reached it's apogee a couple of years ago, with the ridiculous, self-loathing spectacle of Wiedergutmachung run amok in Berlin, wherein it was decided to pay 'reparations' to the victims of this 'genocide'. I'm not aware of any modern political entity known as Hereroland or Gross-Namaland, but who cares, just keep paying the claimants. Oh, and by the way, the Berlin city council changed the name of 'Mohrenstrasse', as apparently this was a grievous insult to black people everywhere.

[Chopperman]

Santi.
Very, very well done.
This was the first time that I've read about Germany in Africa that
was written in such a way that was easy to follow and held my interest.
Thank you.

[VtwinVince]

I don't want to railroad this excellent thread, but when history becomes politicised for financial gain, I think it's important to talk about that. The legacy of the imperial powers in Africa is not completely good, or completely bad. Like all initiatives of that era, they were 'of their time' and shouldn't be judged through the lens of modern-day politics. I'm looking forward to an international conference in Paris on the role of France in the Algerian war, or an international conference in Brussels on the role of King Leopold in the Congo, or an international conference in London on the Amritsar massacre. I could go on, but my point is, when you open Pandora's Box, you'd better be ready to confront some unpleasant narratives.

[TabsTabs1964]

Hi Vince.
I agree with what you say. My country occupied part of what is now Morocco in an almost constant war from 1859 until its independence in 1956. There were lights and shadows. My great-granduncle miraculously returned alive from the 1909 Barranco del Lobo war. My father served in Tetouan in 1956, just before Independence....
After the Annual disaster of 1921 in which the Riffian rebels killed 10,000 compatriots, we reconquered the land after four hard years and with the landing of Al Hoceima in 1925. We used poisonous gases, surplus from the WWI... it was war.
Years before, in Cuba, fighting against the rebels, we invented free-fire zones and the reconcentration of civilians in certain areas. (90 years before Vietnam) My great-great-uncle fought there in the "Big War" of 1870.
History is what it was, with lights and shadows.
And it cannot be seen from a current perspective. Nor can it be rewritten.
Many in my country want that and some leaders in Central America want my government to apologize to them... (I wonder, apologize for what?)
Our nations have played their role in history and I neither believe that current governments should apologize to others for events of the past, nor do I believe in the current trend of historical revisionism in which we absurdly try to change the past because someone feels offended or does not care. like what history is.
Finally, if I have bothered you in any way, I apologize for it, but you will have noticed that I sincerely admire the history of the time of the Second German Reich and I believe that I have not made any negative judgment about it... rather I have claimed the opposite.

Regards
Santi

[TabsTabs1964]

By the way. Regarding the change of name of Berlin's Mohrenstrasse (which I suppose I walked years ago, if it leads to Gendarmenmarkt) because that name could offend someone, I think it is just as bad as the change of names of dozens of streets in my country for supposed offenses.

Regards
Santi

[AndyM35]

These posts are thoroughly enjoyable Santi and your research is impressive. I think there really may be a book in there somewhere!

Andy

[VtwinVince]

Santi, no need to offer an apology, I know that you are presenting facts as they are. And yes, that is (was) the Mohrenstrasse I'm referring to. My country, Canada, is also on a revisionist bent, and mobs have been tearing down statues of famous people and burning Christian churches by the score, and our communist government does nothing to stop it. I know I'm not the only one who is fed up with this nonsense. I have been a harsh critic of German policy for many years, and as a German citizen I feel nothing but sadness for the current state of affairs there. My father used to say, 'Es ist ja alles relativ dabei', which roughly translates to 'all things being equal', but I no longer subscribe to this point of view.

[Jack59]

Great trip so far Santi, thanks.

The former German askari's pensions.

The Weimar Republic and pre-war Nazi Germany provided pension payments to the German askaris. Due to interruptions during the worldwide depression and World War II, the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) voted in 1964 to fund the back pay of the askaris still alive. The West German embassy at Dar es Salaam identified approximately 350 ex-askaris and set up a temporary cashiers office at Mwanza on Lake Victoria.

Only a few claimants could produce the certificates given to them in 1918; others provided pieces of their old uniforms as proof of service. The banker who had brought the money came up with an idea: each claimant was handed a broom and ordered in German to perform drill exercices. Not one of them failed the test.
Source: (July 21, 1975) DER SPIEGEL 30/1975, pp. 64–65

More on askaris:
Askari - Wikipedia