Undoing Germany's Colonial Amnesia

England, France and Belgium are among the countries most often mentioned when historians consider Europe's colonial history and its related atrocities. Lesser known, however, is the fact that for 20 years, between 1884 and 1914, Germany lorded over its own swaths of the African continent, including areas of what are today Namibia, Cameroon, Togo, Rwanda and Burundi.

In fact, the infamous Congo Conference, where European colonial interests divided-up Africa and its natural resources, took place in Berlin in 1884. And though Germany only managed to hold onto its share for two decades, it certainly wracked up a record of carnage on par with that of better-known colonial powers.

Despite these uncomfortable facts, this historical chapter has been all but forgotten by the German public. Now, a spate of new books, films, exhibitions and conferences -- all coinciding with the 100th anniversary of two of Germany's most bloody African episodes -- are making it a matter of public debate. For a country already fatigued by efforts to come to terms with the atrocities of World War II, that's quite an accomplishment.

A short and violent occupation

The brief 20 years Germany controlled parts of west and east Africa were not peaceful. In 1904 in the German territory of South West Africa, today Namibia, German troops led by General Lothar von Trotha mercilessly put down a rebellion of the indigenous Herero people.

By the time the conflict ended four years later, between 45,000 to 65,000 Herero were killed, many of whom suffered in work camps some consider the forerunners to WWII-era concentration camps.

A year later, in the German held South East Africa, today Tanzania, the so-called Maji-Maji War broke out. There, the local population also rebelled against German rule and likewise suffered the consequences: an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 -- one third of the total population -- were killed.

Slow to offer an apology

With this year's 100th anniversary of the atrocities in Namibia and the upcoming 100th anniversary of the war in Tanzania, the German government has been under added pressure to offer an official apology, which, much to the dismay of Herero leaders, has been slow in coming.

But in August at the anniversary event in Namibia honoring the Herero dead, German Development and Aid Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul came the closest yet any German official has ever gotten to those magic words.

"We Germans accept our historic and moral responsibility and the guilt incurred by Germans," she told a delighted crowd of more than 1,000 people.

"The atrocities committed at that time would have been termed genocide," she added.

However, she ruled out financial compensation for the victims' descendents; there is an ongoing lawsuit seeking €3.3 billion ($4 billion) in damages.

Books, exhibitions remind a reluctant public

With that historic statement, the German government showed its willingness to take on board yet another difficult chapter in the country's history. The general public -- with the help of several recent books, films and exhibitions, all addressing the subject -- is following suit.

Gerhard Seyfried's book "Herero," a novel written from the point of view of a young German sent to the western region of Africa at the height of the conflict, came out last year and was followed this year by Martin Baer's film "White Ghosts," a documentary also looking at the plight of the Herero.

On Thursday, the House of World Cultures (Haus der Kulturen der Welt) in Berlin will launch a major multi-disciplinary exhibition entitled "Black Atlantic", that -- among other things, will look at the legacy of colonial occupation, including that undertaken by Germany. Capping things off, an Anti-Colonialism Conference is scheduled to take place in Berlin in November.

The issue of Germany's colonial legacy has gone beyond the halls of academia, where a few experts debated its significance in relative obscurity, and into the realm of popular culture. In the process, some say Germany is shedding its colonial amnesia.

What took so long?

In critically examining its colonial past, Germany is following a trend already evident in other former colonial powers. The question is, what took Germany so long?

"When it comes to questions of guilt and responsibility, the Germans are simply tired," Gerhard Seyfried, author of the novel "Herero", told DW-WORLD, referring to the arduous task of working through the legacy of Nazi atrocities.

Colonial history greatly interested Germans before the war, but was simply eclipsed by subsequent events, Seyfried said.

Pascal Grosse, a historian who has written extensively on the subject and will participate in a panel discussion on the topic in conjunction with the "Black Atlantic" exhibition in Berlin, concurred.

"The scale of the Holocaust overshadowed previous events," he told DW-WORLD.

But with an ever-more interconnected world resulting from globalization, Germans, like others in different countries, are increasingly interested in their role in the world -- both past and present, Grosse said.

A century later, some debate relevance

But that said, what purpose does dredging up events so far in the past serve?

"We need to look at this material again and again, it's never enough to say we've done that, let's move on," Shaheen Merali, a curator who put together the visual arts component of the "Black Atlantic" exhibition told DW-WORLD.

For Seyfried, such critical self reflection of colonial atrocities serves the same purpose similar reflection on World War II-era crimes does.

"We must learn from history," he said.