Herero tribe. How Victorian-style dress became the traditional clothing of Herero women. About female beauty and its owners

The uprising began on January 12, 1904, with the uprising of the Herero tribes under the leadership of Samuel Magarero. The Herero began an uprising, killing about 120 Germans, including women and children. The rebels besieged the administrative center of German South-West Africa, the city of Windhoek. However, having received reinforcements from Germany, the colonialists defeated the rebels at Mount Ognati on April 9, and surrounded them in the Waterberg area on August 11. At the Battle of Waterberg, German troops defeated the main forces of the rebels, whose losses ranged from three to five thousand people. Britain offered the rebels refuge in Bechuanaland in modern-day Botswana, and several thousand people began crossing the Kalahari Desert. Those who remained were imprisoned in concentration camps and forced to work for German entrepreneurs. Many died from overwork and exhaustion. As the German radio Deutsche Welle noted in 2004, “it was in Namibia that the Germans, for the first time in history, used the method of imprisoning men, women and children in concentration camps. During the colonial war, the Herero tribe was almost completely exterminated and today constitutes only a small proportion of the population in Namibia.” There are also reports that the remaining tribal women were raped and forced into prostitution. According to a 1985 UN report, German forces destroyed three-quarters of the Herero tribe, reducing its population from 80,000 to 15,000 exhausted refugees. Some of the Herero were destroyed in the battle, the rest retreated into the desert, where most of them died of thirst and hunger. In October, von Trot issued an ultimatum: “All Herero must leave this land. Any Herero found within German territory, whether armed or unarmed, with or without domestic animals, would be shot. I will not accept any more children or women. I will send them back to their fellow tribesmen. I will shoot them." Even the German Chancellor Bülow was indignant and told the emperor that this did not comply with the laws of war. Wilhelm calmly replied: “This corresponds to the laws of war in Africa.”
Those same 30 thousand blacks captured were placed in concentration camps. They were building railways, and with the arrival of Dr. Eugen Fischer they also began to serve as material for his medical experiments. He and Dr. Theodore Mollison trained concentration camp prisoners in methods of sterilization and amputation of healthy body parts. They injected blacks with poisons in varying concentrations, observing which dose would become lethal. Fischer later became chancellor of the University of Berlin, where he created the department of eugenics and taught there. His best student was considered Joseph Mengele, later notorious as a fanatical doctor.
After the defeat of the Herero, the Nama (Hottentot) tribes rebelled. On October 3, 1904, a Hottentot uprising led by Hendrik Witbooi and Jacob Morenga began in the southern part of the country. For a whole year, Witboy skillfully led the battles. After the death of Witboy on October 29, 1905, the rebels, divided into small groups, continued guerrilla warfare up to 1907. By the end of the same year, most of the rebels returned to peaceful life, as they were forced to provide food for their families, and the remaining partisan detachments were soon driven beyond the border of modern Namibia - to the Cape Colony, which belonged to the British.
Herero near their huts

Indigenous peoples of German South-West Africa with their traditional weapons and in national clothes

Colonial soldiers with a machine gun during a training exercise

Governor of German South West Africa Theodor von Leutwein and Herero leader Samuel Magarero

Hendrik Witbooi and Theodor von Leutwein in 1896

Governor Theodor von Leutwein with Hendrik Witbooi (left) and Herero leader Samuel Magarero (right)

Lieutenant Techow informs the command about a possible Herero uprising and mobilization of troops in northern German South-West Africa
"200 armed Herero horsemen were seen on the night of January 11, 1904..."

Troops move to suppress the uprising

General Lothar von Trot (front right) and Governor Theodor von Leutwein (front left) with staff in Windhoek (German South West Africa), 1904

Military camp, circa 1904

In the camp

Lieutenant Paul Leutwein in the uniform of the colonial forces of South West Africa, circa 1904-1905

Herero prison camp near Alte Feste in Windhoek, circa 1904-1908

Herero prisoners

Herero survivors who passed through the desert.

Hendrik Witboy

Hendrik Witboy (seated on a chair) with Nama fighters, circa 1904-1905

In Namibia and southwest Angola. They are divided into Herero proper (in the area of the White Nosob River and the upper reaches of Swakopa, Mount Waterberh), Mbandiera (Mbandera, Ovambandera - Omaheke region in eastern Namibia), Himba (Ovahimba) and Chimba (Ovachimba, Tjimba) - in the north of the Kaoko plateau and in Angola . The population in Namibia is 157 thousand people, in Angola - 126 thousand people (2006, estimate). They also live in the north-west of Botswana (20 thousand people). They speak the Herero language, as well as Afrikaans and Nama (Namibia), Tswana (Botswana), English (Namibia, Botswana) and Portuguese(Angola). 33% in Namibia, 80% in Botswana and 95% in Angola are Christians (Protestants, Catholics in Angola), the rest retain traditional beliefs.

According to historical legends, around the 16th century, the Herero, led by the chiefs Chiviseua and Kamata, settled between the Zambezi and Okavango rivers, then migrated south to the territory of modern Botswana, after which part went to the north-west of modern Namibia on the Kaoko Plateau; The Herero (mbanderu) who remained in the east said about those who had left: “Wa hererera” - “They decided!” (This is where the Herero self-name comes from). Since the end of the 18th century, they traded with the colonists of the Cape Colony in livestock, meat, leather goods, blacksmithing, and wood carvings. Since the 1840s, Christianity has been spreading thanks to the activities of German missionaries. In the mid-19th century, chiefdoms emerged headed by a chief (omuhona), who ruled with a council of elders, a commander-in-chief (omuhongere omunene) and an ambassador (owatumua). During the Nama (Khoi-Khoin) War of 1863-70, they were united under the military chief Magarero. In 1885, the Herero territory became part of German South-West Africa. The defeat of the Nama and Herero uprising of 1904-07 led to the extermination of up to 75% of the Herero. Having lost the right to own livestock, the Namibian Herero began to graze the livestock of European settlers, engage in farming, become familiar with European culture and accept Christianity. From the late 1960s until 1989, the bantustans of Hereroland and Kaokoland existed. Modern Herero are mainly employed in agriculture and in the mines, some live in cities, there are intelligentsia. The Himba and Chimba largely maintain a traditional way of life.

Traditional culture typical of nomadic pastoralists South Africa. Basics traditional occupation- cattle breeding (the number of herds reached 4 thousand, the total number by the end of the 19th century was 90 thousand heads). Women grew millet and sorghum. The traditional settlement, the kraal (onganda), formed a patrilineal lineage and was headed by a hereditary leader (omuhona). The dwelling is a tent made of skins (ozonjua; built mainly by women), clothing is aprons made of tanned goat and sheep skin or the skins of wild animals, longer for women. Jewelry - metal beads and spiral bracelets, necklaces made of ostrich egg shells. Women's dresses of the Victorian type, similar to those worn by the wives and daughters of missionaries, and a headdress made of a scarf tied with the ends up are typical. The main food is milk (omaere), fermented in wooden vessels or wineskins, and on holidays - meat. At the head of the community was an elected headman (mukhona); for the duration of the war, a single leader was elected. The kinship count is double: divided into 20 patri (oruzo) and 6 matrilineal (eanda) clans; property (livestock) was passed down through the female line. Traditional beliefs are the cult of ancestors (mukuru), sacred cows, the supreme gods Njambi Karunga and Omukuru. A sacred fire (okuruo) was constantly burning near the omuhon tent and sacred water was kept, which was used in rituals for the consecration of newborn children. There are known myths (about the first ancestor Mukuru), legends, etc. Initiations, weddings, funerals, and memorial ceremonies are accompanied by dances and chants, in which the influence of church singing can be traced. Masks are made from leather. The sacred center of the Hereros is the city of Okahandya (conquered by the Hereros from the Nama in 1880), the resting place of their ancestors and the storage of the sacred fire.

Lit.: Vivelo F. R. The Herero of westen Botswana. Saint. Paul, 1977; Medeiros S.L. Va-Kwandu: history, kinship, and systems of production of an Herero people of South-West Angola. Lisboa, 1981; Balezin A. S., Pritvorov A. V., Slipchenko S. A. History of Namibia in the new and modern times. M., 1993.

The Herero are an African people living in the territory of modern Namibia (West Africa). The colonialists used the slave labor of this people to mine diamonds and ruthlessly destroyed them. It was in Namibia that the first concentration camps in history appeared. In turn, the Herero rebelled more than once, answering with blood for blood. Namibia became independent in 1990, but the Herero are now considered an endangered tribe due to genocide.

The Herero came to Namibia from the Great Lakes region in the 17th century. Some of them settled in the north-west of the country, now they are called Himba, and some crossed the Orange River. Here the settlers encountered Boers and missionaries. From them the Herero adopted European clothing. This happened in the 18th and 19th centuries. Fashion among Europeans has long changed, but the Herero continue to dress as if many, many years had not passed. Now these clothes look very exotic even in Africa. True, some changes were made to the Herero dresses, removing the corset and adding bright colors. They also changed the headdress - they made a two-cornered hat from a cocked hat, and their hats resemble cow horns. True, ladies became “cuckolds”, and the longer these symbolic horns, the richer the husband. Currently, the Herero live in remote villages in the west of the country, in arid areas near the Kalahari Desert. Previously, these were the lands of the Bushmen, but the Herero have long become masters here. They came here after the bloody war of 1907-1909, miraculously surviving the real genocide perpetrated by the Kaiser’s Germany. Then 65 thousand people were killed. The Germans justified themselves by saying that their they committed inhumane acts in response to the 1903 uprising, when the Herero and Nama killed about 120 Germans, including women and children. By order of Emperor Wilhelm, the rebellious Herero people were driven into the Kalahari Desert by machine gun fire and tens of thousands of people were doomed to death from hunger and thirst in concentration camps. Even the German Chancellor von Bulow was indignant and wrote to the emperor that this did not comply with the laws of war. Wilhelm then replied: “This corresponds to the laws of war in Africa.” Then 16 thousand Herero survived, but, as they say: “Give us two cows and in a couple of years we will have a hundred of them.” One of the richest Herero villages is Oshiyara, with 47 households scattered over 10-15 kilometers. About 600 people live in the village, who keep 4-6 thousand cows and about 5-6 thousand goats. The most common form of transport is a donkey, although some also have horses. The village head wears it on special occasions. military uniform times of World War 1. He has a watered garden located behind a gigantic fence. There are a couple of beds of carrots, beets, several tomato bushes and a stunted mango tree, but in Oshiyar it is truly a marvel - the Gardens of Babylon. Rich families live in the village. The head of one, Mondi Agim is a very large man with a kind face. True, one of his eyes was knocked out. He bought a tractor, opened the only store in the village, drilled 2 wells and now enjoys life. Agim does not deny water to anyone, despite the fact that water is supplied from its wells using a diesel pump. Every morning for a simple Herero begins with a cup of tea with milk. After drinking tea, the women begin to prepare food and care for the children. Later they make butter from the cream, let the goats and cows out to pasture, clean, wash, and sew. They are helped by workers - Bushmen. These are poor people - they have nothing at all. The main source of food, game, has long been hunted down, so the Bushmen are forced to work for the Herero for a bowl of food. The Hereros say that if it weren’t for them, the Bushmen would have already They died of hunger long ago. Most likely, they fear for their cows and goats, because, driven to despair and hungry, the Bushmen can easily kill a cow and eat it. After all, they have nothing to lose except life. Herero cows represent wealth, which is multiplied and protected in every possible way. At the market, a cow costs at least a thousand dollars. Cows' milk is exchanged for nuts and fruits. There is also an ancient custom - a ban on the consumption of sour milk by women. It is a drink of men, symbolizing the male seed.
In addition to cattle breeding, the Herero plant maize and corn, but only during the rainy season. Only the rich with their own wells have permanent corn fields. Simple Herero live in huts made of cow dung. Construction begins with digging in four small tree trunks. A woven wooden frame made of smaller branches is attached to them. Above - thatched or tin roof. Then walls of manure are applied in three layers. Professionals work only with their hands. In all huts, the owners place wooden sculptures that ward off evil spirits. Inside there is also a fireplace that acts as a heater, stove and smoker to protect against insects. Bread is baked in an iron barrel, in which a door is cut out, placing metal shelves for bread inside. Coals are placed at the bottom of the barrel and on top so that the bread bakes evenly.
Recently, a fashionable house appeared in Oshiyara - made from homemade sandstone bricks. The Herero themselves extract the bricks from local rock. Three people a day extract 120-160 bricks and sell them for 1 Namibian dollar. A person can earn 5-8 US dollars per day, but only 3 people are engaged in such business in the village, even though 80% of the population is unemployed. Herero men prefer to sleep in the shade rather than work to earn their daily bread.
True, dances and songs are held in high esteem in the tribe. The dancing is quite slow, because the dancers have to dance in 5-10 huge skirts. The rhythm is set not by drums, but by ordinary boards, which the matrons tie to one leg and knock them on the ground, producing something like loud rhythmic claps.

Britain offered the rebels refuge in Bechuanaland in modern-day Botswana, and several thousand people began crossing the Kalahari Desert. Those who remained were imprisoned in concentration camps and forced to work for German entrepreneurs. Many died from overwork and exhaustion. As the German radio Deutsche Welle noted in 2004, “it was in Namibia that the Germans, for the first time in history, used the method of imprisoning men, women and children in concentration camps. During the colonial war, the Herero tribe was almost completely exterminated and today constitutes only a small proportion of the population in Namibia.”

There are also reports that the remaining tribal women were raped and forced into prostitution. According to a 1985 UN report, German forces destroyed three-quarters of the Herero tribe, reducing its population from 80,000 to 15,000 exhausted refugees. Some of the Herero were destroyed in the battle, the rest retreated into the desert, where most of them died of thirst and hunger. In October, von Trot issued an ultimatum: “All Herero must leave this land. Any Herero found within German territory, whether armed or unarmed, with or without domestic animals, would be shot. I will not accept any more children or women. I will send them back to their fellow tribesmen. I will shoot them." Even the German Chancellor Bülow was indignant and told the emperor that this did not comply with the laws of war. Wilhelm calmly replied: “This corresponds to the laws of war in Africa.”

Those same 30 thousand blacks captured were placed in concentration camps. They built railways, and with the arrival of Dr. Eugen Fischer, they also began to serve as material for his medical experiments. He and Dr. Theodore Mollison trained concentration camp prisoners in methods of sterilization and amputation of healthy body parts. They injected blacks with poisons in varying concentrations, observing which dose would become lethal. Fischer later became chancellor of the University of Berlin, where he created the department of eugenics and taught there. His best student was considered Joseph Mengele, later notorious as a fanatical doctor.

After the defeat of the Herero, the Nama (Hottentot) tribes rebelled. On October 3, 1904, a Hottentot uprising led by Hendrik Witbooi and Jacob Morenga began in the southern part of the country. For a whole year, Witboy skillfully led the battles. After the death of Witboy on October 29, 1905, the rebels, divided into small groups, continued the guerrilla war until 1907. By the end of the same year, most of the rebels returned to peaceful life, as they were forced to provide food for their families, and the remaining partisan detachments were soon driven beyond the border of modern Namibia - to the Cape Colony, which belonged to the British.

Pictures of genocide are difficult for human consciousness to comprehend: charred skeletons in crematoria ovens, ripped open bellies of pregnant women, crushed skulls of children...

Repressing these pictures from memory, from consciousness is a natural defensive reaction of the psyche. However, forgetting history creates the possibility of its repetition.

The term “genocide” came into political use shortly after the Second World War in connection with the investigation of the crimes of fascism and was widely used in UN documents. But the practice of genocide itself probably existed in all known periods of history. It, in particular, was reflected in biblical texts (for example, the destruction of the Canaanite tribes by the ancient Jews, etc.).

Genocide of the Herero and Nama tribes in 1904-1907

One of the first manifestations of an act of genocide in the history of mankind is the genocide of the Herero and Nama tribes, which occurred in 1904-1907, when German troops destroyed 65,000 thousand representatives of the African Herero tribe and 10,000 thousand people from the Nama tribe, this happened against the backdrop of a fire that flared up in Western Europe. African popular uprising. Germany declared Namibia a protectorate country immediately after it realized that it was not interested in its territories, after which the slave labor of Namibians began to be actively used, and their lands were seized for the purpose of exploitation natural resources. At the initial stage, about 60 German settlers were killed; under the leadership of S. Magarero and H. Wittboy, the Herero and Nama tribes killed 120 Germans, including women and children. Under the command of Lothar von Troth, German troops began to suppress the uprising, the number of the German army was 14,000 people. The expedition was financed by Deutsche Bank and equipped by Voormann. In October 1904, von Troth issued an ultimatum: “All Herero must leave this land... Any Herero found within German territory, whether armed or unarmed, with or without domestic animals, will be shot. I will not accept any more children or women. I will send them back to their fellow tribesmen. I will shoot them." At the Battle of Waterberg, German troops defeated the main forces of the rebels, whose losses amounted to 3-5 thousand people. Britain offered the rebels refuge in Bechuanaland in modern-day Botswana, and several thousand people began crossing the Kalahari Desert. Those who remained were imprisoned in concentration camps, forced to work for German entrepreneurs. Many died from overwork and exhaustion. As the German radio Deutsche Welle noted in 2004, “it was in Namibia that the Germans, for the first time in history, used the method of imprisoning men, women and children in concentration camps. During the colonial war, the Herero tribe was almost completely exterminated and today constitutes only a small proportion of the population in Namibia.” There are also reports that the remaining tribal women were raped and forced into prostitution. According to a 1985 UN report, German forces destroyed three-quarters of the Herero tribe, reducing its population from 80,000 to 15,000 exhausted refugees. However, this fact was classified as genocide only in 1985, when it was mentioned in the next UN report, in which this act was compared with the genocide of the Jews, and only in 2004 the commission of genocide on the territory of Namibia was recognized by Germany itself. in October 1904, von Troth put forward an ultimatum, the main idea of which was to force the entire Herero tribe to leave German soil, and any representative of this tribe, if the order was not followed, was simply shot. German troops managed to defeat the forces of the rebels, with losses amounting to over five thousand people.