An emotional return to Hornkranz

EDWARD MUMBUU JnrHORNKRANZ, a war zone about 126 years ago, evokes a mixture of emotions – pain over the Namibian lives that were lost unnecessarily at the hands of brutal German intruders, and joy at the recognition that this was one of the battlegrounds which birthed Namibia’s war of liberation from colonial occupation.

These and other emotions were evoked by a recent visit by a delegation led by parliamentarian and chairperson of the Nama Genocide Technical Committee Ida Hoffmann, accompanied by Baden Württemberg’s minister of science, research and arts, Theresia Bauer, to the area.

The objective of this and many other visits still to come is to correct a history of past injustices through acknowledgement, forgiveness, restorative justice, reconciliation and reparation from the German government, while also building a shared future between former foes.

Hornkranz is situated some 120 kilometres south-west of Windhoek. Legendary Nama chief, kaptein Hendrik (!Nanseb) Witbooi, settled in these open plains with about 300 people from his clan in the late 1880s. The area is now dotted with graves, those of the perpetrators and victims, some acknowledged, and some marked with just a heap of rocks.

During the 1884 Berlin conference which formalised the scramble for Africa, Germany claimed as its colony the territory from the Kunene River in the north to the Orange River in the south, naming it ‘German South West Africa’.

Germany sought protection treaties with the leaders of indigenous groups, including Witbooi, documented evidence shows. A defiant Witbooi, however, refused to sign such a treaty.

A German army major who later became South West Africa governor, Curt von Francois, launched a surprise attack on Hornkranz on 12 April 1893 with about 200 soldiers. More than 80 of Witbooi’s people were massacred, many of them women and children. The kaptein and most of the men survived the attack, and escaped.

The Germans took about 100 prisoners, among them Witbooi’s wife and daughter.

These are the sad memories which came to mind when Hoffmann’s delegation visited the area, a day after the return of Witbooi’s Bible and whip from Germany last week, when a ceremony to receive the heirlooms was held at Gibeon, Witbooi’s /Khowese clan’s later home.

The delegation saw that unlike the graves of the Germans buried on the farm, the Nama graves are unmarked, and covered only with rocks.

Going forward, but without forgetting past injustices, Hoffmann said it was only befitting that the two governments pool resources to build a monument and erect tombstones in honour of those who perished during the Hornkranz massacre. This, she said, would restore their dignity.

“The graves of the Germans at least have signs, while these, you think it’s bones and so on… But I am happy that there are Germans in our midst, who equally feel disheartened and show sympathy towards us,” Hoffmann said.

The visit is part of a series of familiarisation tours for the German officials on the impact of atrocities that German soldiers unleashed on Namibian communities, particularly the Nama and Ovaherero.

“It is their responsibility to go back and inform their government about these graves that their ancestors are responsible for, (and) take immediate action to improve these graves,” Hoffmann stated.

She was further dissatisfied with the fact that the remains of Namibians are still being kept in German museums and universities.

“Bring back all the skulls, remains, papers, whatever is there. You cannot talk about reparations while the bodies of our people are still in the mortuary,” Hoffmann said.

She explained: “For us, these remains that are in your museums and universities are still in the mortuary. And traditionally, in our case, it is not allowed to talk about reparation (estates) of the dead while they have not been buried.”

Sympathising with the Namibians, an emotional Bauer said a Namibian way should be sought to honour the victims.

Bauer then vowed to do everything in her power to ensure that all Namibian human remains, artefacts and other belongings are returned to their country of origin.

“I promise that the next step for me will be for Baden Württemberg, with our museums, universities and archives to receive a letter with the obligation to investigate actively, and to guarantee that there are no Namibian skulls left (in Germany). And if they find something, they have to give it to us, and we will send them as soon as possible to you,” she said.

Hornkranz is now a private farm occupied by the Cloete family.

“It is an honour for us to share this historic place with other Namibians,” Riva Cloete, who manages the livestock farm, said. Bauer earlier said it was time for Germans, particularly her generation, to confront their dark colonial past.

The Namibian and German governments are currently engaged in diplomatic talks to put the past behind them.

Through the talks, the Namibian government is seeking to achieve three key things – an acknowledgement of genocide by the Germans; a genuine apology for the atrocities they committed; and reparations.

Reports say the Namibian government intends to demand N$510 billion as reparation from Germany for damages, deaths, as well as livelihood and land losses that resulted from the 1904-08 genocide.

“If the German government thinks something wrong has happened, then they ought to, as you have done, publicly apologise. (It should be an) apology that we must also accept as truly an apology. When you have admitted that something very bad has happened and you are sorry for it, then you must do something to heal the wounds,” president Hage Geingob said at the historic Bible and whip handover at Gibeon.

– Nampa