Introducing the remembrance exhibition last Friday - it can still be seen for some time in the Bookshop „Zum Bücherwurm" -H.W.R. Koch (for AKTION 2004) expressed disappointment that many invited guests did not attend the opening.

He, nevertheless, welcomed „in absentia" the Honourable Minister for Basic Education, Sport and Culture, Mr. John Mutorwa, Honourable Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako of the Co-ordinating Committee for the First Official Commemoration of the Ovaherero Genocide, 100 Years After, Bishop Dr. Zephania Kameeta of the National Preparatory Committee for the Commemoration of 1904 and Mr Eckhart Mueller, Deutscher Kulturrat.

Here is the speech:

It is a pleasure and great honour for me, on behalf of the AKTION 2004, to welcome you here today on the official opening of this exhibition. AKTION 2004 is a group of concerned, interested and affected individuals, mainly Namibians that responded to the call of Bishop Keding to make the commemoration of the Herero Uprising a memorable event.

I would fail in my duty if I do not at this stage express a word of thanks to each and every sponsor and helpful hand, whose support made the exhibition possible. Being a private initiative, we had to dig into our own pockets to meet the costs facing us. As not all expenditures are covered yet, we hope that a donation box placed strategically in the room will collect the one or other Namibian Dollar or even Euro. Furthermore I would reiterate our decision to charge a nominal entrance fee, which we would like to donate to the generation closest to the events of 1904, being the children of people that lived at the time of the Herero Uprising and who are now in old age homes.

The exhibition has the title FROM HISTORY – THE REMEMBRANCE – FOR THE FUTURE, 1904 – 2004.

FROM HISTORY visualises from a scientific and collectors point of view, the happenings and actions of those years. The artefacts hopefully stimulate young Namibians to develop a keen interest in history and the selection of one or the other topic to be researched in greater detail.

Not claiming to be comprehensive, the exhibits touch on widely known and debated topics like the shooting order of General Lothar von Trotha, but at the same time highlight some of the less known topics. These include the participation of the Witboois and Rehoboth Baster as allied forces of the Schutztruppe to suppress the Herero Uprising for which Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi and others were highly decorated by The Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II. Recently the skirmish at Onganjera was commemorated. Who knew, that 11% of the Schutztruppe forces were Witbooi and Rehoboth Baster soldiers?

THE REMEMBRANCE display honours and remembers the dead, mourns the loss of lives on both sides and by doing so recognises the just cause for which the battles were fought. Ironically and surprisingly the murdered 129 mostly civilian settlers, women and children were not mentioned in any of the speeches during the church services in January of this year. Here their names bear the silent message of also not being forgotten.

Both opposing parties were on horseback and made use of ox-wagons to transport supplies. In addition the Schutztruppe used mules to drag cannons and in the desert were riding on camels. Who has ever counted the losses of these trustworthy animals?

FOR THE FUTURE is not expressed in the exhibition. This omission was done deliberately. Each person that visits the exhibition with or without a preconceived idea on or understanding of the Herero Uprising should formulate his own view for the future. We did not want to dictate any message for the future, as is very often done by so-called historians, who base messages on their own political beliefs rather than on scientific research. We see the formulation of a message for the future to be a very personal issue. Therefor we hope that each and every one of you will pause for a while and think of the future based on the lessons to be learned of 1904. Only then can we convey a message to others for a peaceful co-existence of all Namibians in this country.

Please enjoy the exhibition and thank you for honouring us with your presence.