How the Holocaust Began

Shark Island Death Camp

I have just watched a BBC documentary called How the Holocaust Began, written and presented by James Bulgin, an historian at the Imperial War Museum.  Unfortunately, the link may not be live for much longer, so check it out while you can. 

The details of the killings of Jews and others in Eastern Europe, and the true extent of those killings, is only just beginning to emerge.  Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people were shot, their bodies thrown into trenches, after the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union.  This method of murdering peple ultimately proved unsustainable, as the people doing the killing started to experience mental health issues due to the stress involved.  The Nazis' goal was to wipe out all Jews in Europe. 

The work of those researching this history is vital.  Having said that, in the documentary, there was no mention of the fact that the first German death camp, known as "Shark Island", began operations around 1906 in Namibia, South West Africa.  It has been referred to as the blueprint for what the Nazis did later.  So it could be said that that was how the Holocaust began.. 

When uncovering history that has been buried, it is essential to tell the whole story, not just part of it.  

I learned about Shark Island from presentations at the Imperial War Museum by Tony Warner of London Black History Walks.  Go here to read my review of Brother Tony's first book, Black History Walks in London Volume 1.  

Go here for a report on the Shark Island extermination camp.  

The Holocaust is one huge example of why we must learn ways to get along together harmoniously, why we must learn to communicate nonviolently.  What is at stake is genocide.  What is at stake is the survival, or destruction, of our species. 

Go here for more from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2024.  

African History Blogs

Nelson Mandela and Family

I have listed some of my African history blog posts below.

See also:  Black History Blogs.    

Please note, I DO NOT distinguish between Black history and African history, but I have listed them separately because I know that this distinction matters to some people.

When we learn about what has happened, what has been done to people, on the African Continent and in the Diaspora, it is clear that it is all the same story. We are one people. 

Benin bronze

Please share these with your networks, and particularly with parents, children and young people, and teachers and schools.  Please leave your comments on the individual posts. 

And remember, EVERY MONTH IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH/AFRICAN HERITAGE MONTH.   

African History: Invasion 1897 - this links to some of my other African history blogs 
including blogs about Kenya, Namibia and the Congo..

Break the Silence Congo Week

Black People in the First World War

Mugabe: Villlain or Hero? 

Remembering Sharpeville and Sophiatown

The Sowetan:  Jumping the Border for Water

Sweet Crude - The Niger Delta

Film Review: Long Walk to Freedom

A Light Has Gone Out

World War One:  The Crucial Battle for Togo 


See also:   Black History Blogs. 

Please share these with your networks and please leave your comments on the individual posts.  Thanks.

Black Victims of the Germans and the Nazis from 1904 Onwards

I attended another excellent Black history presentation with Tony Warner at the Imperial War Museum yesterday.

Black Victims of the Nazis traced the history of the atrocities committed by the German military and settlers in Namibia from 1904 onwards. 

One important point which Brother Tony emphasised is that the atrocities committed by the Germans against African people set the stage for the Holocaust and significantly influenced postwar events.

In order for us to heal ourselves, our families, our communities and our world, we need to know our history. See also: The Importance of History. 

For future events with Tony Warner, see London Black History Walks. 

See also: Small Island. 

In my book Black Success Stories Volume 1, I interviewed Len Garrison, founder of the Black Cultural Archives in South London. He describes how, when Black people in the 1970s started offering to donate their artefacts to museums, they were told "We are not collecting this type of material". So, off his own bat and without any funding or training in this area, he set up the Black Cultural Archives. 

Click here for more information and to buy Black Success Stories. 

For more books about Black history and Black achievers, go to African American Holiday Shopping.

German Death Camp in Namibia

Warning: Some of the information in this blog is shocking and disturbing.

I saw a very powerful Black History presentation on Saturday at the Imperial War Museum. Tony Warner of 100 Black Men of London presented this audio visual history of Black people who had served their countries in the armed forces, including the two World Wars.

If you have ever been to any of Brother Tony’s presentations, you know they are very good. Highly informative. But he doesn’t just hit you with the facts, although he gives loads of factual information. He also puts it into context.

So usually, when we think of Black people coming from the Caribbean in the 1950s, we think of them finding it hard to find anywhere to live, and experiencing racism at work. We have heard this same story many times before. But Brother Tony contextualised it by saying that many of these people had served in the armed forces. He showed a TV discussion where ex-servicemen and women in the studio spoke of their experiences.

They thought they would be welcomed when they came to Britain. I still find it very hard to get my head around this. After all, they had experienced racism in the armed forces and even in the Caribbean. But for some reason, they thought things would be different when they arrived here.

Anyway, it was an excellent presentation, as we have come to expect from Brother Tony. He also showed film of people in Africa fighting for Germany, France and Britain in the two Word Wars. Again, I find it difficult to comprehend why they did so, when they were treated so appallingly by the European powers. I understand that in Kenya, the British told the Kenyan people they were fighting for their own country. So I suppose they expected that, after the war, they would be treated better. See also:
Kenya’s Colonial Past
http://ancestralenergies.blogspot.com/2008/03/kenyas-colonial-past.html

One thing I did not know was that the first death camp the Germans built was in Africa – in Namibia in the early 20th century, just over 100 years ago. First, the Germans committed a genocide against the Herrera people, wiping out 75% of their population. Then, they built a death camp on a remote island named Shark Island. They shipped the Nama people to Shark Island in cattle cars. In other words, they tried out many of the methods which were later used against the Jews under the Nazi regime.

But these practices were carried out by the German government long before the Nazis came into existence. Hitler was not involved, he came along much later.

Brother Tony showed photographs of Shark Island which showed men, women and children living there in shacks, in slum conditions.

50% of the Nama people were killed at Shark Island. The surviving Nama and Herrera people were sold into slavery to German settlers.

Probably the most disturbing thing for me was that Brother Tony showed photographs of severed heads – on Shark Island, people were decapitated and their heads were studied to try to prove that African people were inferior to Europeans. In point of fact, they sought to prove that African people were animals.

Brother Tony Warner will be a guest on my Success Strategies radio show at some point during October (Black History Month UK), talking about Black British and European history. This will be one of several programmes I will be doing for BHM (African Heritage Month). I hope you will join us. To tune in, visit: http://www.blacksuccess1.com/radioshow.htm

To find out more about his work and his Black history walks, visit: http://www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk/