Reddit reviews The Kaiser's Holocaust: Germany's Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism

One story that struck hard in me was about a Berlin Colonial Exhibition which included 'natives of the imperial colonies', including recently acquired German South-West Africa (present day Namibia) where they included human exhibitions.

Outdoor areas where the 'natives' would live in traditional clothes and huts, etc, etc. The irony is that the Nama tribe already wore European clothing, spoke a dialect of Dutch and were several generations into converted Christianity. In fact, the exhibition's organisers had to teach them how to put on traditional Nama clothing and set up the huts for them to live in during the exhibit.

One Nama chief (whose second name was Witbooi, a Dutch name) was so admired by the German visitors for his manners and well-spokenness that german girls left him love letters which were later confiscated by the authorities. At night when the exhibition was closed they changed back into warmer European clothes and even sang German drinking songs.

Another tribe closely related to the Nama were the KhoiKhoi, of which some women were exhibited as freak shows during the 19th Century, the most famous being Sarah Baartman, who I noticed someone else linked.

This kind of objectification and dehumanisation paved the way for the later Genocide against the Nama and Herero tribes in the early 20th Century, a criminally under-mentioned Genocide which foreshadowed the Holocaust (for example; Hermann Goering's father was the first Governor General of German South-West Africa).

Apologies for the long post. If you want to know more, I suggest this excellent book: The Kaiser's Holocaust.

Here's a link for the lazy

Not much to add, just want to recommend this book on the subject.

Pick up a copy of King Leopolds Ghost or The Kaiser's Holocaust. Both very readable although not much fun.

His predecessors did

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kaisers-Holocaust-Germanys-Forgotten-Genocide/dp/057123142X