Germany admits to genocide in Namibia. Should reparations follow?
Growing up in Namibia, Paul Thomas knew that something terrible had happened to his family, though the exact details were fuzzy.
His parents mentioned in passing that their grandparents had once been forced to flee from their land. Older people in his community spoke of those who had died fighting German soldiers.
But it wasn’t until Mr. Thomas was a university student in Namibia, a former German colony, that he learned there was a specific term that historians and activists used for what had happened to his community. A genocide.
Earlier this year, Germany’s government offered an apology for the massacres its colonial forces carried out against Herero and Nama people – including Mr. Thomas’ ancestors
