Swakopmund: Beneath the cold Atlantic winds of the Erongo coastline, where Swakopmund's desert sands conceal unmarked graves, descendants of genocide victims say the pain of one of Namibia's darkest historical chapters continues to echo painfully across generations.
According to Namibia Press Agency, between 1904 and 1908, German colonial forces carried out a campaign of extermination against the Ovaherero and Nama people after uprisings against colonial occupation, land dispossession, and the seizure of cattle. Tens of thousands died through massacres, starvation, forced displacement into the Omaheke Desert, and imprisonment in concentration camps established in Swakopmund, at Shark Island in Lderitz, and in other parts of the country. Historians widely recognize it as the first genocide of the 20th century.
For Senior Headman and Traditional Leader within the Ovaherero Traditional Authority, Chief Jeremiah Janee Mujahere of Otjimbingwe, the wounds are not distant history; they are etched into the land itself. 'At my age, I can still take you to gravesites where human bones can be found underground,' he said quietly during an interview with Nampa ahead of Namibia's Genocide Remembrance Day commemoration on 28 May. 'When you stand there, you feel as if this could have been your great-grandfather or your uncle. That pain remains with us, even if we were not physically there,' he expressed.
Mujahere spoke emotionally about Otjimbingwe, widely regarded as Namibia's first colonial administrative center and one of the country's most historically significant settlements. Long before modern Namibia emerged, missionaries, traders, colonial authorities, and traditional leaders converged there. The settlement became a major center of missionary education and administration during the 19th century. The Augustineum Seminary and teacher-training college, founded by Rhenish missionary Carl Hugo Hahn in 1866, began in Otjimbingwe before later moving to Okahandja. The institution became one of the foundations of formal education in Namibia. The Paulinium Theology School also traces its roots to Otjimbingwe, which for decades remained a center for theological training in the country.
Namibia's first post office was opened there on 16 July 1888, when the settlement briefly became the de facto capital of German South West Africa under Commissioner Heinrich G¶ring. Mujahere said many Namibians do not realize that some of Namibia's oldest educational institutions emerged from Otjimbingwe. 'This place was once the center of learning and leadership, but today many people pass through without understanding its importance,' he said.
At the center of the settlement still stands the historic Rhenish Missionary Lutheran Church, one of Namibia's oldest churches. Constructed between 1865 and 1867 by the Rhenish Mission Society under the direction of missionary Carl Hugo Hahn, the church later became both a spiritual refuge and a shelter for terrified residents during violent attacks in the colonial era. According to oral history preserved within the community, frightened residents often fled into the church during periods of conflict, believing its walls would protect them from attacks. But one of the settlement's darkest moments unfolded on a Sunday during the violence that engulfed the area when residents seeking refuge at the church were attacked, resulting in multiple deaths that traumatized the community for generations.
Just a few kilometers from the church are the graves of missionaries and colonial administrators. Nearby stands the famous Pulverturm, the old colonial powder tower built in 1872 to protect ammunition, trade goods, and settlers during attacks linked to conflicts between colonial forces, Nama groups, and Ovaherero fighters. The thick-walled tower later became part of the German military presence in the settlement and remains one of Otjimbingwe's most recognizable historical structures today. A similar colonial tower still stands in Omaruru, where German forts and lookout posts were used during military campaigns and later during the genocide period as colonial forces tightened their control across central Namibia.
'These places are not just buildings; they carry the memories of what happened here,' Mujahere narrated. He explained Otjimbingwe settlement's evolution into a center of conflict and dispossession during the genocide, with nearby battlefields scattered across the landscape. Mujahere also described how entire communities were uprooted during the genocide, with many survivors fleeing to Botswana, Angola, and South Africa, never to return to their ancestral homes. 'Some people no longer know exactly where they belong because they lost their land, their language, their dignity, and their confidence,' he said. According to the chief, the trauma continues to affect descendants' generations later because communities were never properly assisted to heal.
'We must first acknowledge that these communities still carry pain. You cannot heal people if you ignore what happened to them,' he stressed. Mujahere said justice cannot only be about financial agreements or political negotiations between governments. Instead, affected communities themselves should have been fully included in discussions between Namibia and Germany regarding reparations and reconciliation. 'They should have listened to the feelings of the people first because without hearing the pain of the communities, there can never be genuine healing,' he added.
He also expressed frustration over what he described as the neglect of historically important settlements such as Otjimbingwe, adding that despite its significance in Namibian history, development has largely bypassed the area. 'This is where so much of Namibia's history began, but development has passed us by,' he said. Mujahere called for investment in vocational training centers, tourism infrastructure, and stronger preservation of heritage sites to transform Otjimbingwe into a center of remembrance and economic opportunity. 'There are many places that still need to be declared heritage sites. We need these places preserved so future generations understand what happened here,' he said.
He welcomed the official recognition of Genocide Remembrance Day on 28 May but stressed that commemorations should center the voices and emotions of affected communities themselves. 'This day must have meaning; people who carry the pain should be given the space to tell their stories,' he said. Historian Uahimisa Kaapehi, who chairs the genocide committee for the Erongo Region, echoed many of Mujahere's concerns, saying many Namibians still do not fully understand the scale of the genocide. 'People think genocide is just a word in a dictionary, but our people lived through it. Women were raped, families were separated, children were killed, and people died in concentration camps in Swakopmund and on Shark Island,' Kaapehi narrated.
He recounted his own family history, revealing that his mixed German and Ovaherero ancestry traces back to the rape of his great-grandmother during the colonial era. 'There was no agreement; there was force and violence. That blood is still in me today,' he said softly. Kaapehi said descendants continue to carry psychological trauma, discrimination, and identity struggles linked to atrocities committed more than a century ago. 'When you grow up, and people tell you that you are not fully Omuherero because of your appearance, that pain continues,' he said. He criticized the lack of detailed genocide education in Namibian schools, saying many citizens, including some leaders, know little about what happened.
'This history was hidden. If our own people do not know this history, how can they understand the pain?' he asked. Kaapehi explained that he and other researchers are now working to document oral histories from affected communities to preserve stories passed down through generations. Part of that painful history is also preserved inside the privately owned Swakopmund Genocide Museum, founded by Namibian activist and artist Laidlaw Peringanda, whose own great-grandmother survived the Swakopmund concentration camp.
Inside the museum are haunting black-and-white photographs of emaciated prisoners, German colonial troops, concentration camp scenes, and grieving families. Old newspaper clippings, testimonies, and historical documents line the walls, confronting visitors with the brutality of colonial rule. Some photographs show Ovaherero and Nama prisoners forced into labor under harsh coastal conditions, while others depict survivors standing frail behind barbed wire fences. Among the museum's symbolic artifacts is an Otjiherero headdress known as ekori, returned to Namibia after decades overseas. The headpiece serves as a reminder of how communities lost not only land and lives, but also culture and identity during colonial rule.
Kaapehi said the museum plays an important role in preserving memories that many families fear could disappear. 'History should not be hidden. If we forget these stories, then we lose part of ourselves,' he said. Just a few kilometers away from the museum, in the city center, stands another reminder of the colonial era: the controversial Marine Denkmal, or Marine Memorial, erected in Swakopmund in 1908 to honor German soldiers who fought during the colonial war.
For many descendants of genocide victims, the memorial symbolizes colonial violence and the glorification of forces responsible for mass killings. Over the years, activists and community groups have repeatedly called for the monument's removal or return to Germany. In 2015, protesters splashed red paint on the statue during demonstrations demanding its removal. Yet despite years of debate, the memorial still stands today. Some residents and heritage groups argue it forms part of Namibia's colonial history and should remain as a reminder of the past, while many affected communities say its continued presence deepens historical wounds.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway in Swakopmund for this year's regional Genocide Remembrance Day commemoration at the Memorial Park gravesite near Grner Kranz, historically associated with victims of the genocide. Erongo Governor Natalia |Goagoses described the upcoming event as more than a ceremonial gathering. Under the theme: 'Honoring the Past, Healing the Present and Inventing the