PAUL G. CONWAY

CURRICULUM VITA/Resume

ADDRESSES
Home Address:                           College Address:
1 College Park Drive                  410 Fitzelle Hall, Oneonta, N.Y. 13820 SUNY College at Oneonta 13820
Oneonta, NY 13820                    Phone: (607) 436-3923:
                                                     Email: conwaypg@oneonta.edu

General background: Born in Bronx, New York; raised in Dumont, New Jersey
Military Service: U.S. Army Security Agency, Federal Republic of Germany
Overseas travel: Western and Central Europe, Central America, Southern Africa, Israel, Japan, Thailand

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
1972 Ph.D. in Political Science awarded by Purdue University, Dissertation: An Analysis of U.S. Policy making and Decisions on Chemical and Biological Weapons.
1968 Master of Arts Degree in Political Science at Purdue University.
1967 Course requirements for MA in U.S. History fulfilled, Montclair State College, NJ
1963 Bachelor of Arts Degree at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; undergraduate major in Social Science, minors in History and Physical Education.

PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT
1993-present Professor of Political Science
Department Chairman (1993-96)
State University of New York, College at Oneonta, New York
1987&78 Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York
1970-92 Assistant and Associate Professor of Political Science,
State University of New York, College at Oneonta, New York
1968-70 Graduate Instructor, Political Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

TEACHING: (Course evaluations on file in Departmental Office)
Primary responsibilities: POLS 171 and 281: Comparative and International Politics and related 3 credit courses
POLS 284: U. S. Foreign Policy
POLS 382:International Law and Organizations
Introductory Political Science courses: Intro to Government (POLS 120) and US Government POLS 121
Secondary teaching responsibilities: (* indicates courses that I initiated and developed)
* POLS 279 Religion and Politics: Comparative and International Perspectives
* POLS 286:International Arms Races (mini course, 1978-1999)
* POLS 289:Apartheid in Southern Africa and the International Response(mini-course)1979-1994;
* POLS 290:Genocide and the International Response (mini-course)
* POLS 291: Israel and the Politics of the Mid East Region (mini-course)
* POLS 288:Human Rights Politics and International Law (mini course)
* POLS 287: America's Longest War - The Politics of U.S. Intervention in Southeast Asia
   (1978-1998 -- was among the first Vietnam War courses in USA)
* POLS 285: The Military in American Politics (mini course)
     - The two previous courses were restructured as
* POLS 292: "The American Military at Peace and War,"(1999-present)
Additional courses:
* POLS/PSYCH/SOC 278: Prisons and Prisoners (mini course - Visitations to NY state facilities)
* POLS/PSYCH 294: Special Topic: Obedience and Conformity in Public Affairs
    (with Dr. Steve Gilbert, Psychology Department, 1984, 1987, and 1991 Honor's Course).
   POLS 270: The Holocaust: Nazi Germany v. the Jews of Europe
INTerdisciplinary 100: First Year Student Honors Seminar 1994 and 1998

PUBLICATIONS:
Articles
- "Truth and Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid Namibia: The Road Not Taken," Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution (OJPCR)" Issue 5.1   (Summer, 2003) http://www.trinstitute.org/ojpcr/5_1conway.htm
- "Political Culture, Hegemony, and Inequality Before the Law: Law Enforcement in Pakistan" with Fida Mohammad, in Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management December, 2005 Volume: 28 Issue: 4 Page: 631 - 641.
- "A Myth for All Seasons: The Domino Theory and America's Longest War" in George D. Moss, ed. America in Vietnam A Documentary Reader with Original Essays. (Prentice Hall, 1991), pp. 181-200.
- "Drama in the Classroom," with Steven J. Gilbert (SUNY Oneonta, Psychology, in Teaching of Psychology 14:3, (Oct. 1987) pp. 171-172.
Manuscript: “Memories of Genocide in Namibia: A Quest for Some Appropriate Memorialization” (see below)

Additional publications include:
-- "Justice and Law Enforcement in Afghanistan: How Much is Likely to Change?" with Fida Mohammad, (research note) in Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management Vol 26, No 1, (Spring 2003) pp 162-167
-- (Oneonta) Daily Star Op-Ed essay on terrorism in southern Thailand:
http://www.thedailystar.com/opinion/columns/2005/04/23/conw0423.html
-- "Memories, Memorials, and the Legacy of German Genocide in Namibia" in Oneonta Faculty Convivium, Vol XII (Fall, 1998 issue)
-- Introduction to edited collection of 1996-97 McGraw Hill PRIMUS text publications, "Introduction to Government", pp i-xv (ISBN 0-390-14080-5)

BOOK REVIEWS: (Over 85 reviews in several publications, including the Annals of the American Academy of Social and Political Science, the American Political Science Review and especially, CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries and Colleges) Reviews since 1999 include the following:

Victor Peskin International Justice in Rwanda and the Balkans: Virtual Trials and the Struggle for State Cooperation New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Daniela Kroslak The French Betrayal of Rwanda (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2008)

Michael D. Goldhaber, A People’s History of the European Court of Human Rights
(New Brunswick: Rutgers, 2007) CHOICE, January, 2008.
Jared Cohen, One Hundred Days of Silence: America and the Rwanda Genocide, Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007 CHOICE, June, 2007.
Michael Wessells, Child Soldiers: From Violence to Protection (Cambridge: Harvard, 2006) CHOICE May, 2007 and
Adam Jones, Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction, (New York: Routledge: 2006) in CHOICE, April, 2007.
Daniel Chirot and Clark McCauley Why Not Kill Them All? The logic and prevention of mass political murder (Princeton University: 2006, NJ) and, Cheryl Hendricks, and LwasiLushaba, eds. From National Liberation to Democratic Renaissance in Southern Africa (Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa: Dist. by Michigan State University Press, 2006), both in the December 2006 CHOICE.
Kevin Boyle Mary Robinson: A Voice for Human Rights (Pennsylvania, 2006), in CHOICE, October, 2006.
Mark Ensalaco and Linda C. Majka, “Children’s Human Rights: Progress and Challenges for Children Worldwide”, (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005 in CHOICE, March, 2006.
Mark R. Amstutz, "The Healing of Nations: The Promise and Limits of Political Forgiveness". (Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005) in the April 2005 issue of CHOICE.
Tracey Jean Boisseau, "White Queen: May French-Sheldon and the Imperial Origins of American Feminist Identity," (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004) in Phoebe: Journal of Gender and Cultural Critiques 17:1 Spring 2005, pp119-120.
Benjamin Valentino, "Final Solutions: mass killing and genocide in the twentieth century". (Ithaca: Cornell, 2004) in CHOICE, October,  2004.
Mwesiga Baregu and Christopher Landsberg, eds. "From Cape to Congo: Southern Africa's Evolving Security Challenges" (London: Lynne Rienner, 2003) in CHOICE, December, 2003. 
Alexander Moseley and Richard Norman, eds. "Human Rights and Military Intervention"  (Ashgate Publishers, 2002) in CHOICE, Spring, 2003.
Peter D. Feaver and Richard H. Kohn, eds. "Soldiers and Civilians: The Civil Military Gap and American National Security" (MIT Press, 2001) in CHOICE, April, 2002
 Richard Falk, "Human Rights Horizons," (New York: Routledge, 2000) CHOICE
Ann Kent, "China, the United Nations, and Human Rights: The Limits of Compliance," CHOICE
Review of internet web-site called "GlobalLink" for the August, 1998 CHOICE (pp. 164-5). This publication was a special supplement to Volume 35 which provides a "comprehensive, convenient, single reference source of CHOICE internet reviews," Republished in August 1999 special supplement to Volume 36.
Review of David S. Sorenson, "Shutting Down the Cold War: The Politics of Military Base Closure. (St Martin’s, 1998) CHOICE April, 1999 Vol 36, no. 8.
Review of Robert W. Gregg, "International Relations on Film," (UK/Lynne Rienner, 1998)
in Asian Thought and Society: An International Review (Fall, 1999)
Review of Yves Beigbeder, "Judging War Criminals: The Politics of International Justice”
(Macmillan,UK/St Martin’s, 1999) CHOICE, Fall, 1999

Ben Kiernan, “The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power and Genocide Under the Khmer Rouge,
1975-1979” (New Haven: Yale Univ Press, 1995) in Asian Thought and Society: An International Review (Sept-Dec 1996) XXI, 63; pp.19

PAPERS and Professional Presentations:

Paper presented at the 2007 IAGS (International Association of Genocide Scholars) conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (June 20, 2007) “PATHS TO RECONCILIATION: COLLECTING NARRATIVES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE AS RESCUERS IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA AND RWANDA” (with Nejra Nuna Cengic) June 20, 2007
Panel presentation to Center for the Study of the Presidency Student Symposium in Washington, DC. "Congress, the Courts and the Presidency," (Invited paper on "Foreign and National Security Policies for the New Millennium") March 14, 1998.
Paper presented to the (April) 1999 Pennsylvania Political Science Convention (Reading) and New York State Political Science Convention (Hofstra) entitled "Truth and Reconciliation: The Road Not Taken in Post-Apartheid Namibia."

* Paper presented to the 1994 NYS Political Science Association Convention, Albany, New York, entitled "Quest for a Genocide Memorial in Southern Africa: The German-Herero Legacy in Namibia"

* Paper presented at the NYS Political Science Association Convention held at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, April 1, 1989: "Teaching a Neglected Topic: Courage in Public Affairs," co-authored with Steven J. Gilbert
Invited participant in a week-long Scholar-Diplomat Seminar in the U.S. State Department during February 1974. Included were numerous interviews with bureaucrats on U.S. arms (development, distribution and limitations) polities and extensive conversations with diplomats and other scholars. Twelve scholars with professional interests in "Politico-Military Affairs" were invited.
Participant Two-day scholar-diplomat seminar reunion by invitation, June 1975, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.
Invited participant U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C., Conference on U.S. Foreign Policies, April 6 & 7, 1983.
Participant, SUNY@Buffalo Conference, "America in Vietnam: A Reappraisal," September 29-30, 1978.
* Discussant: "U.S. Foreign Policy in the Nuclear Age," New York State Political Science Association Convention, Albany, New York, April 6-7, 1984.
* Panel Moderator and involvement in organizational activities for the SUNY Conversations in the Disciplines on "Space for War, Space for Peace," SUCO April 1986.
* Paper presented at the 1986 NYS Political Science Association Convention, New York City, entitled "Fidelity and Infidelity in the Superpower Empires: Grounds for Divorce."
* Panel presentation at the 1969 American Political Science Association Convention, "Systems Analysis in the Introductory American Government Course: The Audio-Tutorial Technique."
* Paper presented to the Conference on "Morality Among Nations" at Plattsburgh State College, Plattsburgh, New York, February 22-24, 1972: "The Moral Dimension in Foreign Policy Making: The Case of Chemical and Biological Weapons Decisions."
Invited Participant in the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society held at Dickinson College and at the U.S. Army War College in Dickinson, PA, October 1974.

GRANTS, HONORS, AND AWARDS

UUP Faculty Development Grant Award, 2006

College Research Foundation Grant, 2006-7

Provost Faculty Development Research Grant Award 2006-7

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Seminar on "Comparative Imperialism" directed by Robin Winks, History Department, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, June-August 1984.
Graduate Research Initiative Grants, SUNY Oneonta, Spring 1993, 1999; 2006
United University Professions (UUP) Travel-Research Grant, Spring 1993, 1995, 1999
Walter B. Ford Research Grant, Spring, 1993
David Ross Fellowship in Political Science, Purdue University, Summer 1969.
National Defense Education Act (NDEA) Experienced Teacher Fellowship Program
    (Full-year graduate scholarship in Political Science) at Purdue University 1967-68
Coe Foundation Award: Summer Institute in American Studies
    at Bucknell University, Lewisberg, Pennsylvania, 1965.

Fifteen National Science Foundation (NSF) Chautauqua Short Courses (most recently with (Douglas Magrath, USFla) on Islam, 2004,  Jackie Smith, Globalization and George Lopez, International Economic Sanctions at SUNY Stony Brook, NYC campus, Spring, 2003; and Paul Bernstein, "Is the American Democratic System Truly Responsive?" Summer, 2000 at University of Washington, Seattle; Matthew Kerbel, "Media Politics in a Cynical Age," Spring, 1999 at Temple University, Philadelphia).

COLLEGE and UNIVERSITY SERVICE (since 1990)
(Service activities prior to 1990 listed on previous Vita on file in Political Science Department Office)
Chair, Political Science Department, 1993-1996.
Departmental representative to the College Senate 1984-1992; 1996-98; 2001-2006

College Standing Disciplinary Board, 2003-present
Grievance Chair, Oneonta United University Professionals Union (UUP);  2003-2007 Mediator 2007 to present
SUNY Senate Standing Committee on Student Life, 1998-2001.
Pre-Law Advisement Committee (Coordinator, 1986 to 1993).
Advisor to the Political Science Club, 1987, 1989 to 2004.
Advisor to campus chapter of Amnesty International 1989 to 1999.
Advisor to Pre-Law Society - 1987 to 1994.
Student Progress Committee - 1988 to 1989. Curriculum Committee 1990-April, 1991.
Student Affairs Committee 1990 to 1992 (Chair 199Standing Disciplinary Board (1992; 2003-present)
Academic Orientation Committee, 1989-1992.(Co-chair with Marilyn Helterline
Gulf Crisis Information Center, Advisory Committee, Spring, 1991
Vice President's Search Committee for Acting Dean of Science and Social Sciences, April, 1991
First Year Experience Committee (Dr. Margaret Maguire, Chair) 1991-1997
First Year Seminar Honors Section, Fall, 1994
College Life (experimental course for first year students),instructor
First Year Scholars Seminar (experimental honors program) 1995-1996
Chair of Search Committee for Director of International Education 1995
Presentation to Oneonta Faculty Convivium. December 2, 1995
Dean’s Advisory Council (Personnel recommendations to the Dean of Science and Social Science) 1997-1999

COMMUNITY SERVICE (since roughly 1990)
Chapter President, Amnesty International (Otsego-Delaware Counties), 1982, 1987-88;
Case Coordinator 1985 to 1990.
Mayor's Commission on Vietnam Veteran's Awareness Week - Fall 1988 to August 1989.
Dispute Mediator with Otsego County Conflict Resolution Center, Dietz Street, Oneonta.
(active mediator - June, 1989 to 1998) Agency susequently known as Mediation Services Inc.
Executive Board, League of Woman Voters 1992-1993)
Otsego County Early Probation Release Commission (1991- to present);
Mr. Thomas Heitz, Cooperstown and Mr. Michael Newell, Hartwick, Chairs).
Board of Directors,  West Kortright Centre (1998 to 2004) a tri- county cultural arts association.
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Memories of Genocide and Memorials in Namibia

A CASE STUDY OF THE GERMAN-HERERO LEGACY

IN SOUTH WEST AFRICA

Paul G. Conway

Political Science Department

State University College of New York at Oneonta

SYNOPSIS

Although the crime of genocide has occurred throughout history, the concept and the sense that it must be carefully documented came about in this century. In recent years the rationale for memorials to genocide victims has become widely appreciated. Whether or not such memorials should be established is a matter of public policy within nation-states. This essay is a case study of what was presumably the first instance of genocide in the 20th century, in the German colony of South West Africa (now Namibia), and the aftermath of that event. My search for a national memorial to the Herero victims of genocide is detailed. The paper concludes with an attempt to explain the absence of any prominent monument, museum or national memorial to commemorate the catastrophe.

“The fact of genocide is as old as humanity."

-- Jean-Paul Sartre

"The Hereros ceased to exist as a people."

-- Report of German Military Historians, circa 1907

"Forgetting the extermination is part of the extermination itself."

-- Jean Baudrillard

Introduction

Although genocide - the most horrendous of crimes - has occurred throughout the course of history, the use of the word, the legal concept, and the sense that genocide should be carefully documented and analyzed, developed in the twentieth century.[i] The widespread sensibility that such events should be memorialized for social, psychological, and historical reasons is also relatively recent. During this century Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Rwandans and other groups have been victimized by genocidal policies. In response to the most extreme example of genocide, the Holocaust, the awful events have been exhaustively documented and memorialized in national monuments and museums in several countries. Other genocidal events have been memorialized as well.[ii]

Genocide poses a grave threat to international standards of civilized behavior. After a century marked by its horrors,[iii] one would hope that all such events would be memorialized. But they are not. Invariably, genocide memorials must be created within the boundaries of a state system. The memorials are invested with a national soul and memory; the “collected memory” (as Young called it) is somewhat selective and subjective.[iv] Monuments and other memorials represent efforts to sustain a particular interpretation of an event in light of the nation's history.[v] Decisions regarding what, when, where, and what kind of memorials should be established are matters of public policy shaped by political realities as well as collected memory. Presumably useful lessons can be learned about cultures and politics through investigations of how and why some societies choose to memorialize the victims of genocide and others do not.

What follows is a case study of what many scholars identify as the first incident of genocide in the twentieth century, and its aftermath.[vi] According to some researchers, the antecedents to the Holocaust itself were rooted in that catastrophic event.[vii] Unfortunately, the event is not widely known, except to academics and students of history.[viii] What happened? Has the event been memorialized? If there is a significant national memorial to the genocide victims, what is it like? If none exists, why is that the case? This essay represents an effort to answer these questions, beginning with a summary of historical research on the genocidal event.

Background -- A Story of Genocide:

During the 19th century, the Hereros were the largest indigenous group in the center of the land that would eventually become Namibia. They were a pastoral people who had previously migrated from the northeast. They lived closely with herds of cattle that provided nutrition, a way of life, and even a measure of wealth in their culture. Rhenish (German Rhineland) missionaries who first proselytized and settled there during the middle of the century had limited success in converting Hereros to the Lutheran faith.[ix] The Hereros frequently came into conflict with the Namas (then called “Hottentots” by Europeans), another indigenous, pastoral group. There was no threat to the Herero way of life, however, until the 1890's, after Germany colonized the territory. Berlin then provided incentives to encourage settlements and a modest military presence to protect them. Settlers, typically cattle ranchers, called the Hereros "baboons" and maneuvered to obtain their land and livestock. They enacted laws to restrict Herero activities and established courts that rarely punished Germans for crimes such as rape or even murder of native peoples.[x]

Politically, the Hereros had no central authority as they acknowledged several chiefs (called headmen) in distinct regions where they resided.[xi] Nonetheless the death of the most prominent Herero leader, Kamaherero, in 1890, and the subsequent execution of his nephew and potential successor six years later, undermined the Herero’s ability to control their own destiny. After German colonial administrators maneuvered to put Samuel Maherero in an unprecedented political position of Supreme Chief, supposedly responsible for all of the Herero nation or “tribe”, their persecution and misfortune accelerated.[xii] Herero leaders became increasingly concerned about their losses of cattle and lands as well as the degradation of their people. In 1903 they learned of a new German ordinance that would diminish their control of land and livestock. The Herero chiefs then conferred.

TABLE I

Selected Chronology of Namibian Political History

1884 Germany establishes colonial administration of South West African territory.

1892 Last (fourth) war between Herero and Namas ends with treaty.

1896 Eastern (Mbanderu) Herero rebellion crushed. Chiefs executed by Germans.

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1904 (January) Herero "Rising" begins with Chief Samuel Maherero's call for unified African rebellion against German rule.

1904 (August) Reinforced German military confronts main body of Herero nation in battle at Waterberg Plateau. Herero forces slaughtered; survivors herded into desert.

1904 (October) German forces attack Herero survivors. Nama rebellion begins with October 3 declaration of war by Chief Hendrik Witbooi.

1905 German pursuit of survivors ends. Hereros lose property and rights; many thousands die from harshly forced labor and squalid conditions

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1907 Nama guerrilla forces defeated by Germans. Herero survivors and Namas dispersed in colonial work force and labor camps.

1915 German military defeated by British/South African forces.

1920 League of Nations mandate arrangement negotiated to provide for South African Administration of South West Africa territory.

1948 Afrikaner Nationalist Party wins control of South African government; Apartheid policies enforced in South West Africa territory.

1958 "Old Location" massacre of Windhoek/Katutura residents occurs as South Africa extends apartheid policies throughout territory. Political struggle against regime commences with formation of Ovamboland Peoples Organization in 1959 which became South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1960.

1966 United Nations General Assembly resolution declares South Africa should cease their administration of the territory. SWAPO military struggle begins. Subsequent UN activities endorse SWAPO and legitimize idea of Namibian state.

1978 United Nations Security Council Resolution 435 provides outline for negotiated end to war in Namibia. Despite diplomatic efforts, war continues.

1988 F.W. De Klerk takes power in Pretoria; efforts to initiate political change in South Africa reverberate in Namibia. Cease-fire declared.

1990 Elections conducted under supervision of UN observer forces. SWAPO wins; Sam Nujoma becomes first President of Namibia.

The shaky relationship between the settlers and Chief Samuel collapsed early in 1904. Although he had been something of an opportunist and collaborator prior to then, Samuel announced that he would oppose the Germans with military force. He called for all Hereros, along with the Namas and other tribes, to cooperate in a united front against the Germans. The other Herero chiefs did respond to his plea but the Namas did not. The unified Hereros began their revolt with a commitment to honor Samuel’s pledge not to attack German women, children, or missionaries.[xiii]

After a series of Herero victories in small skirmishes, German settlers feared for their survival. The German military (Schutztruppe) was rapidly reinforced; eventually, almost 20,000 troops were provided to protect a total of less than five thousand settlers.[xiv] At that time the total number of Hereros was thought to be at least 80,000.[xv]

At the end of the autumn, Chief Samuel ordered the Hereros to withdraw and consolidate their forces, along with their families and livestock.[xvi] Customarily, Herero wives went into battle with their warriors to inspire them and tend to the wounded. Nonetheless, the result of this unprecedented consolidation reduced their mobility and increased their vulnerability. It proved to be disastrous.

In Berlin, a newly-appointed Commander-in-Chief, General Lothar von Trotha, was chosen to oppose the Hereros on the basis of ruthless but successful campaigns he had previously waged against rebellious forces in east Africa and China. Von Trotha decided to track down, surround and confront the concentrated Herero force, in an effort to totally destroy them. The confrontation occurred in August of 1904 at the base of the Waterburg Plateau, part of an area also called Hamakari. Both sides were fully mobilized but Herero weapons were a poor match for the superior German rifles and cannons. Von Trotha deployed a wide ring or cordon of 250 kilometers to force retreating Hereros into the arid Omaheke “sand- veld” (contiguous with the Kalahari Desert) and prevent them from reentering the colony. The Hamakari battle and its aftermath caused massive devastation. Tens of thousands died. Most of the victims were Hereros.[xvii]

The official policy was to discourage atrocities but many were reported. According to one witness, a military guide, all who were captured, “men, women, and children, wounded and unwounded. . . were killed without mercy.”[xviii] The Hereros fled in panic. Von Trotha’s subsequent proclamation to Herero leaders on October 2, demanded that, "The Herero nation must leave the country. . . every Herero tribesman, armed or unarmed, with or without cattle, will be shot. No women and children will be allowed in the territory; they will be driven back to their people or fired on.”[xix] Two days later he said, "The nation as such must be annihilated. . ." He told his soldiers that he had, "no doubt that as a result of this order no more male prisoners will be taken.”[xx]

For ten months the Schutztruppe pursued groups of Hereros, denying their access to waterholes. The pursuit was somewhat haphazard but effective. Herero men were executed; women and children were chased towards to the desert. Without food or water, countless numbers died in the sandveld.[xxi] Eventually protests from Rhenish missionaries caused an outcry in Germany against von Trotha’s campaign. Less than a year after being awarded the Pour le Merite by the Kaiser, the arrogant General was dismissed from his command late in 1905.

A tiny fragment of the Herero population, including Chief Samuel, survived an arduous trek across the Kalahari Desert to what was then British Bechuanaland (now Botswana).[xxii] Elsewhere, dispossessed and desperate survivors were rounded up and imprisoned in hastily constructed colonial facilities. Colonists eagerly confiscated what was left of Herero land and livestock. The Hereros were stripped of all legal rights. Many were chained and branded “GH” (gefangene Herero).[xxiii] They were essentially put in a state of bondage.

Between 1904 and 1908, thousands of incarcerated Hereros died of starvation and disease. The prisoner of war facilities and labor camps were overcrowded to the point that they could not be supported adequately. The number of prisoners in the adjoining facilities actually surpassed the colonial populations of Windhoek and Swakopmund.[xxiv] Neighboring communities had limited resources to share. Undoubtedly many deaths then were unintended. Yet German settlers (unlike the missionaries who were never attacked by Herero warriors) had little sympathy for the surviving Hereros in the colony.[xxv]

The estimated number of Hereros who survived the calamitous events is based upon the official census taken in 1911. The count then was 15,130 Herero in the colony, much less than a quarter of their estimated population prior to the war.[xxvi]

The Namas, who belatedly began a rebellion against the Germans in October of 1904, also suffered great losses. Their numbers were reduced from approximately 15 to 20 thousand to less than 10,000.[xxvii] Their revolt was not connected to the Herero uprising and only indirectly connected to von Trotha's campaign to completely destroy the much larger Herero nation. Fighting in the south of the colony, the Namas persevered with guerrilla tactics for three years. Although they suffered greatly, the documentary evidence does not suggest that they were victims of a deliberate war of extermination as were the Herero.

In the Official Military History written in 1907, German historians asserted that “the Hereros ceased to exist as a tribe.” Social scientists who studied the Herero survivors and their descendants would concur. Karla Poewe, an American anthropologist, later concluded that the traditional Herero culture was virtually destroyed. She found none who remembered or were willing to recount the disaster.^[xxviii] Among the surviving Hereros there were [xxix]many conversions to Christianity in the missionary stations, initially the only places where they could legally congregate and gain some external assistance. For many years their general condition remained desperate but their sense of collective identity was gradually resuscitated. The return of Chief Samuel’s body from Botswana after his death in 1923 provided the first occasion and opportunity for thousands of Hereros to assemble ceremonially in their own forum.[xxx] Annual memorial celebrations at his burial place (where other chiefs have also been buried) facilitated some revival of Herero cultural consciousness and opposition to colonial rule under a new regime.

Sequel: The emergence of the state of Namibia

After German colonists lost control of South West Africa during World War I, the territory fell into the hands of the British (and other) South African whites. The colony was subsequently administered as a League of Nations Mandate. As for the impoverished Hereros, their numbers gradually replenished during an extended period of subjugation. Meanwhile another group, the Ovambos, became the most politically prominent indigenous group in the territory. (The Ovambos had been ignored by most German settlers during the earlier period because previously there was little economic interest in the colony’s northernmost region where their population was heavily concentrated). Several years after World War II, the Afrikaner white minority took power in Pretoria, South Africa. Southwest Africa remained a mandate colony, administered as if it were a fifth, albeit lesser, province in the increasingly segregated Afrikaner republic.

There were numerous protests from Namibians to the United Nations pleading for action against the apartheid regime. Among the groups that resisted, the Herero Chiefs were most vociferous up until the mid 1950’s.[xxxi] One Herero leader in particular, Chief Hosea Kutako,a survivor of the battle of Hamakari, gained widespread respect for his dignified opposition and articulate petitions to the UN. But the peaceful protests had little impact.[xxxii]

The Pretoria government’s effort to rigorously accelerate apartheid policies in the colony led to major confrontations beginning in 1959. At the end of that year, the forced evacuation of (non-white) Windhoek residents to Katutura led to a bloody clash. Ovambo leaders such as Sam Nujoma organized political dissidents beginning in the early 1960's (with Herero and other groups represented as well). After Nujoma’s South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) established a military wing, an arduous, bloody struggle against South African troops commenced in 1966.[xxxiii] By then, dissidents had embraced the new name of Namibia. The United Nations endorsed the cause of SWAPO.

During the war for Namibian independence, Ovambos were in the forefront of SWAPO's struggle but they also predominated in the notorious Koevoet ("Crowbar"), counter insurgency forces organized by the South African military, as well. Torture and other human rights abuses were widespread. Many Hereros were involved and victimized by both sides.[xxxiv]

The climax to the struggle occurred in the late 1980s. The outcome was influenced by the intervention of Cuban forces in neighboring Angola but even moreso by political changes within South Africa. International economic sanctions caused a loss of confidence on the part of investors there. The deteriorating economic situation led to the emergence of a reform wing in the Afrikaner National Party under F.W. De Klerk, which seized power from the more conservative old guard. De Klerk implemented policies that diminished the resolve and capability of Pretoria to continue the fight in Namibia. A UN-monitored cease fire was declared in 1988. At that point the demise of apartheid was imminent. Two years later Namibia finally became an independent republic. SWAPO won the country's first elections and Sam Nujoma became President.[xxxv]

Today, Namibia appears to be a relatively optimistic African state.[xxxvi] The political system is characterized as a relatively stable democracy although poverty is widespread. The country is large, roughly two and a half times as large as Germany (or California, USA), but very sparsely populated with less than 2 million people. The terrain is dry, with two major desert systems and a vast expanse of savanna and thorny, tropical scrub vegetation. There are significant reserves of diamonds, copper, and uranium. Among numerous African ethnic groups, the Ovambos are still, by far, the largest. They comprise approximately half of the total population. The Hereros are a significant ethnic minority with a population of approximately 95,000. Other groups include the Nama, Berg-Damara and Rehoboth Basters. Most of the white minority of just under 100,000 speak Afrikaans; others speak English or German as a first language. Those with primarily German backgrounds now number about 27,000.

Namibia’s Historical Memorials:

One might expect that many or most of the prominent statues and memorials in Namibia (and other African countries as well) would reflect the values and dominance of European colonists prior to the liberation of indigenous peoples. The duration of independence for African states still does not approach the length of time they were administered as colonies; not even a decade has passed since Namibia’s liberation. On the other hand, one might now hope to find modest memorials to the most devastated victims of colonial conquest in a country such as Namibia. My own search for a prominent memorial to Namibia’s genocide victims began in Namibia’s somewhat cosmopolitan capital, Windhoek, with such an expectation and that hope.[xxxvii]

Several of the largest and most striking monuments in the country are located in Windhoek. Two of the national museums are also located there. The statues in particular emphasize the historical impact of the German colonial presence. The most prominent monuments are situated in the commercial heart of the city. One is the "Hottentot" War Memorial (to Schutztruppe slain during the 1890’s) on the green grasses of tranquil Zoo Park. A much larger statue, which dominates the landscape above the city’s center, depicts a German cavalryman on the hilly lawns in front of a fortress called Alte Feste. Plans are now being implemented to change the inscription at the base of that monument to German casualties.[xxxviii]

Alte Feste was a Herero prisoner of war camp around the year 1906. The fortress structure now houses a museum. The emphasis in that museum is on cultural artifacts and SWAPO's political struggle for independence Significant changes have occurred in recent years, however.[xxxix] There are now photographic displays of Herero resistance to German rule early in the century, located in the room adjoining the entrance. The other national museum, adjacent to the Archives and the Library, presents cultural, natural, and environmental phenomena, but very little related to Namibia’s political past.

To the west and south of Windhoek, in unique communities where the German language is spoken and the architecture suggests Europe at the beginning of the century, one can see more of Germany's historical impact. In Luderitz, formerly a port facility and fishing village where thousands of Hereros and Namas were transported en route to an infamous prisoner-of-war camp on nearby Shark Island in 1904, there are memorials to German soldiers. There are none to commemorate their African victims. In another coastal, resort community -- Swapkopmund -- there is an impressive museum which documents technological developments within the territory. One display there includes models and artifacts which characterize Namibia's indigenous cultures. A diorama of battles and numerous military weapons there suggests the intensity of many violent confrontations that occurred during the early colonial period. Not far from the museum, there is an imposing statue that memorializes the Schutztruppe who died in combat throughout the colony during the years 1904 and 1905.

Inland to the north there are several scenic towns with Old World architecture and atmosphere. One is Grootfontein, where there are well-preserved forts and war memorials that extol the accomplishments and triumphs of colonists and their defenders. Another town called Omaruru (a Herero name for sour buttermilk) was the site of an important skirmish between the Germans and Herero warriors. The Franke Tower, located there, is a monument that was constructed by German settlers in grateful appreciation to the Schutztruppe who arrived in time to protect them during the uprising of 1904. There is a modest Herero memorial there as well, but unrelated to the genocide. Herero Chief Wilhelm Zeraua was buried in Omaruru in the mid-19th century. Residents and visitors march to Zeraua's gravesite every year.

The most salient Herero memorials in the entire country can be found in the town of Okahandja. Okahandja is the administrative capital for the Herero people today. I traveled there twice, the second time accompanied by an official from the National Monuments Commission. A very important memorial called Otjiserandu, or Herero Day, occurs there annually.[xl] Thousands attend. One activity involves a ritual march. There is a solemn procession of Herero women (in the colorful, “traditional” Victorian dress adopted by some even before the mass conversions that happened after the 1904 disaster) and Herero men in military khaki (on horseback and on foot), to a small enclosed cemetery, well shaded in the midst of tall palms trees. Some of the most famous Maherero chiefs are honored there. Samuel Maherero’s gravestone (shared with two of his ancestors) is marked in three languages.[xli]

Elsewhere in Okahandja there are more modest Mbanderu graves of "Green-Flag" Herero chiefs. Most notably, there is the place where the proud Chief Kihamema was buried. Kihamema's resistance to German persecution and exploitation ended with his death in 1890. Six years later the execution of his nephew and intended successor, Nicodemas Kavikunua, led to the elevation of Samuel as paramount chief.[xlii] Yet another important Herero memorial, "Blood Hill," is located in this historically important yet now sleepy town. A concentration of large rocks commemorates the victims of an assault in 1850 by Nama warriors which resulted in many casualties, including hundreds of Herero women whose arms and legs were methodically amputated by the invaders.

If there is any other historically significant place where one might expect to find a prominent memorial to the Hereros, it would be in the Waterberg/Hamakari area. The places of battle and a German graveyard are located today in what is now part of a major nature preserve, the Waterberg Plateau Park. It is now one of best known, large, public parks with Namibian wildlife and scenic splendor (although less known internationally than Etosha, further north). The old Waterberg cemetery is isolated and austere in a tranquil, wooded setting. The yard is bordered by a waist-high stone wall with an unlocked iron gate. There are over sixty stones, many with more than one German name. The symbolism is poignant in that humble setting. A simple plaque marker on one side of the wall (in the German language only) was added by a German veterans' group in 1984. It expresses solidarity with Herero soldiers who fell in battle.[xliii] In a modest annual ceremony, participants representing both sides of the battle meet in the graveyard to commemorate the event. If there are any Herero burial sites in the Waterberg Plateau Park they are obscure, if not forgotten.[xliv]

In the Hamakari beyond the plateau there is a small, remote Schutztruppe gravesite. It is located on one of several, large ranch estates in the area owned by German-Namibians. On that same estate is another remarkable site, but hardly noticeable without effort. There is a collection of large rocks, piled together in the midst of heavy brush. It is said to a mass grave. Allegedly, it was marked by Herero warriors who returned there several years after their defeat.[xlv]

Again and again, the search for significant Herero memorials led to gravesites. There was clearly a bias or distortion of history in the existence and placement of such monuments. The traditional culture of the Hereros included an oral tradition which passed on information about the location of burial sites and great events, but there was no tradition of sculpted monuments prior to their conversions to Christianity. The Herero chiefs who were prominently memorialized were those who converted to Christianity rather than those who resisted pressures to convert. The German missionaries had their greatest success proselytizing after the Herero nation was virtually destroyed.[xlvi]

My search throughout much of Namibia thus failed to locate a single museum or prominent national memorial clearly dedicated to the Herero victims of German policies in the early 1900's. Ironically, the most noticable and visually impressive monuments and museums emphasize the sacrifices and contributions of Germans during that period. There are other memorials that mark the presence of the British and Afrikaners during the last periods of colonial rule. Yet the history that is landmarked is incomplete. Altogether there are over one hundred national monuments in Namibia today but there is no explicit memorial to the Herero victims of German colonial policies early in the twentieth century.[xlvii] The places and activities that engage the memories of many Hereros do not seem to promote a national consciousness of their historic sacrifice. Society’s collected memory of genocide in Namibia is clouded.

Most of Namibia’s monuments are transcribed in one language; a small number are in two or three. Most Ovambos, who comprise roughly half of the population, speak Kwanyama and related languages. Generally a large percentage of Namibians speak more than one language. Since independence, English has been declared the official national language, ostensibly to promote economic development (although fewer than 7% of Namibia's population use English as a first language). If and when new memorials are designated, they are likely to be marked in several languages; for the foreseeable future most are likely to emphasize sacrifices made during the most recent revolutionary struggle.[xlviii]

It is reasonable to ask whether or not a museum or monument (meaning statuary or facilities previously associated with Western cultures) would be appropriate from a Herero point of view. There is no obvious answer because the Hereros today constitute a very diverse population in Namibia. A somewhat traditional style of life with a livestock-oriented economy has been revived in rural areas.[xlix] Many Herero still identify with so-called traditional chiefs or leaders, who sometimes dress ceremoniously in formal military fashion. But others, especially in urban areas, eschew the "traditional" costumes and activities. There are other divisions among the Herero as well,[l] so one must assume it would take a good deal of time and effort for any consensus to develop among them on the subject of a genocide memorial.

Why is there no prominent genocide memorial in Namibia?

An outsider would be presumptuous to suggest how thoughtful people in a foreign land should interpret and represent their own history. There is no intent to do so here. Perhaps one can come to an understanding that many in Namibia came to ignore or neglect this one, very significant event in their tumultuous history. As late as 1980, at the outset of Namibia’s last decade of struggle for independence, historian Jon Bridgman wrote, “few Hereros today have more than a hazy idea about their national past, and even fewer Africans know anything about the Herero revolt.”[li] There are signs that this situation is changing in recent years. After suggesting several hypotheses about why no prominent genocide memorial to the Hereros exists in Namibia today, I conclude with some thoughts on the functions of genocide memorials with reference to national and international perspectives.

One point that becomes evident in discussions with many Namibians is that the issue of genocide, per se, is not resolved within the country itself. The issue is potentially quite controversial there, despite what seems to be a consensus among scholars elsewhere. Although Namibians scholars acknowledge that the Hereros suffered catastrophic losses under German rule, some skeptics among them have raised interesting historiographic questions as to whether the most dreadful events were really a result of genocidal policies.

The most intrepid (and controversial) skeptic in Windhoek to raise provocative questions about the Herero disaster was Brigitte Lau. As the head of the National Archives prior to her accidental death late in 1996, Lau attempted to refute the consensus of genocide scholars on a variety of points. In academic publications and elsewhere,[lii] she argued that there is not enough clear, reliable data to corroborate the allegations of German genocide. She doubted that there was evidence of a coherent and implemented colonial genocide policy and whether German forces had the actual capability to destroy the Herero nation, regardless of von Trotha’s proclamations.[liii] The most important analytical problems that she identified were in regard to the shaky statistics that many mainstream scholars take for granted. The numbers of Hereros prior to 1904, the numbers of Hereros who were killed in the battles of 1904-05, and the numbers of Hereros who survived thereafter, are all questionable.[liv] The posing of such academic questions in Windhoek has been labeled genocide “denial” elsewhere but some such points do warrant careful consideration.[lv] Some of the skeptics have argued that not even von Trotha, much less other administrators, deliberately intended to “annihilate” or exterminate the Hereros in a literal sense.[lvi]

It is certainly true that there was no careful census nor was there even a systematic (in the modern sense) survey of the Herero population prior to 1904. What cannot be refuted however, is Berlin's calculated selection of von Trotha, support for his clearly stated intentions to force the Herero nation to leave the country,[lvii] the military campaign to cordon off the Omaheke which lasted until mid-1905, and subsequent colonial policies that decimated the Herero population. The dreadful consequences of German military and colonial policies, regardless of reliable statistics, are also irrefutable.[lviii]

The most prominent Herero academic in Windhoek is the Vice Chancellor of the national university. Professor Peter Katjavivi researched the history of resistance to colonial rule in Namibia.