As Namibia approaches Genocide Remembrance Day on 28 May, the nation once again reflects on one of the darkest chapters in its history: the concentration camps known in Khoekhoegowab as ǃkhōǃharagu lit. “captivity kraals”, established during German colonial rule between 1904 and 1908.
These camps became sites of immense suffering , particularly for the OvaHerero and Nama communities who were directly targeted during the genocidal campaigns of the period. At the same time, the wider colonial system of dispossession, forced labour and racial domination also affected other indigenous communities across the territory, including many ǂNūkhoen (Damara) and Sān communities (DHPS History Department, 2020).
On 9 December 1904, Reich Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow instructed the German colonial administration and the Schutztruppe under General Lothar von Trotha to establish concentration camps in German South West Africa. Camps were erected in Windhoek, Okahandja, Karibib, Swakopmund and Lüderitz (Dialogue on Namibia’s Past, n.d.-a). These camps emerged within the context of the wars between German colonial forces and indigenous communities resisting colonial occupation, land dispossession and racial oppression.
Historical scholarship consistently recognises the genocide committed against the OvaHerero and Nama peoples during this period. Tens of thousands perished through warfare, forced displacement into the desert, starvation, disease and incarceration within the concentration camp system (Dialogue on Namibia’s Past, n.d.-b).
At the same time, historians also note that the broader colonial labour and concentration camp regime extended beyond the immediate military campaigns and drew in various indigenous communities through systems of imprisonment, labour extraction and racial control. While the concentration camps in German South West Africa differed historically and structurally from the extermination camps later established by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, the conditions within them were nevertheless catastrophic.
Prisoners endured forced labour, overcrowding , inadequate shelter, malnutrition and disease. Thousands died from typhoid fever, scurvy, exhaustion and exposure (Erichsen, n.d.).
The concentration camp at present- day Lüderitz — traditionally known in Khoekhoegowab as ǃNamiǂnûs — became one of the most infamous sites of incarceration. Nearby Shark Island acquired a grim reputation due to the severe conditions prisoners endured there.
Historical accounts describe freezing coastal winds, minimal food rations, insufficient shelter and relentless forced labour (Anele, 2023).
Mortality rates at the camp were exceptionally high. To the east of ǃNamiǂnûs stood another camp remembered in Khoekhoegowab oral tradition as ǁGariǁōs, the latter was setup under the new commander-in-chief of the Schutztruppe Major Ludwig von Estorff. Similarly, the concentration camp at present- day Swakopmund was traditionally known as Tsantōkās, while Omburo carried the Khoekhoegowab name ǃGāǃgās.
These names were preserved through oral historical knowledge maintained by the ǀAinîdaman Chief, Kai ǀGarub Hans Axasi ǂEichab, and communicated by the traditional leadership as part of broader indigenous memory associated with colonial-era sites (ǀAinîdaman Traditional Community, personal communication, 2026).
Although colonial archival records concerning ǂNūkhoen (Damara) and Sān experiences within the concentration camp system remain fragmented and limited, the broader impact of German colonial rule on these communities is historically evident through processes of forced labour, displacement, social disruption and racial subjugation. The limitations of colonial documentation itself remain an important historical issue, as indigenous experiences were often inconsistently recorded or filtered through colonial administrative categories (Kreienkamp, 2019).
The acknowledgment of indigenous place names and oral histories is therefore historically significant. Colonialism did not only dispossess people materially, but also sought to reshape landscapes, identities and historical memory through renaming and administrative control.
The preservation and restoration of indigenous names contributes to a fuller and more inclusive understanding of Namibia’s past.
At the same time, historical clarity remains essential. The genocide of 1904– 1908 primarily targeted the OvaHerero and Nama peoples as identifiable groups through explicit extermination policies and military campaigns.
Recognising the broader suffering experienced by other indigenous communities — including the ǂNūkhoen (Damara), many of whom also suffered severe population losses, displacement, forced labour and social disruption under colonial rule — should therefore not obscure the specific historical and legal dimensions of the genocide itself. Rather, it broadens understanding of the wider colonial system within which the genocide occurred.
Prisoners within the camps were frequently used as forced labourers for railway construction, harbour works and colonial infrastructure projects. Reports from the period describe prisoners surviving on minimal rations, lacking adequate medical care and being subjected to corporal punishment and exhausting labour (Tjivikua, 2023). The camps thus became symbols not only of military repression, but also of the broader dehumanisation embedded within colonial rule.
The camps were officially dissolved on 18 May 1908, but their consequences endured long afterwards. Survivors returned to societies transformed by land confiscation, labour restrictions and racial legislation. Indigenous communities increasingly found themselves dispossessed within their own homeland and forced into systems of economic dependency under colonial authority (Dialogue on Namibia’s Past, n.d.-b).
Today, Genocide Remembrance Day serves not only as a commemoration of lives lost, but also as an opportunity for careful historical reflection. It calls for remembrance that is truthful, balanced and inclusive — one that acknowledges both the specifically targeted genocide against the OvaHerero and Nama peoples and the broader structures of colonial violence that affected multiple indigenous communities across Namibia.
Remembering places such as ǃNamiǂnûs, Damarostaǃgorohes, ǀGuiǀhunibes and ǃGāǃgās reminds us that history survives not only in official archives, but also in oral tradition, language and collective memory. In recognising these layered histories, Namibia strengthens a remembrance that honours all who suffered under colonial rule while remaining grounded in careful historical understanding.
- R.I. Gaob Kawango, also known by the traditional name ǃGawax’mâ ǃKhâxa ǀKharu ǀNaniseb, is a Senior Traditional Councillor of the ǃAinîdaman Traditional Community.
