dispossession is an integral part of the process of colonization
and it continues today. (An example is East Timor,where the
Indonesian government, which wishes to dispossess the East
Timorese, has already slaughtered 200,000 of them.) By 1903, a
mere 11 years after the arrival of the first colonists, it was pro-
posed that the Hereros should be moved into reservations for
their own protection. Railroads were to be driven right into the
heart of Herero country, and the grazing and water rights on
either side of the railroad would be annexed (as had already been
done wherever railroads were built in the colony).

At this stage the Herero, realizing that their own lands were
about to be expropriated, rebelled. The Germans, under the com-
mand of General Lothar von Trotha, embarked upon a war of
extermination against them, reducing their numbers from about
80,000 in 1904 to 14,000 by 1911. The explicit intention of von
Trotha's campaign was to "remove" the Herero from the country
altogether. (In our more detailed account of the Herero war we
shall note a dispute between two authorities on the precise mean-
ing of von Trotha's words.)

Isn't this perfectly rational? It may be disgusting, horrible, vile
and immoral, but it is surely rational to eliminate those who
resist dispossession. The policy of extermination cleared the
way for the colonists. It entitled them, under the fundamental
principles of colonization — "right of discovery" and the "right
to vacant land" — to occupy the land so vacated. This they
proceeded to do. The advantage was clear; the legality was hard-
ly disputed, given the ample precedent of four centuries; and
duty called. Christians were taking over from savages.
Civilization was replacing barbarism. Does this genocide really
need an explanation? Within the European tradition of coloniz-
ation, its rationale was unexceptionable, however rough.

We now look at an example of genocide which shocks us
because of its scale and irrationality. This is the Nazi genocide of
over five million Jews and other groups, such as the 200,000
gypsies. What is puzzling about this — when we try to analyze it
in terms of benefit to the perpetrators — is the costliness of the
process. Germany lost brilliant scientists, inventive entrepre-
neurs, skilled workers, and millions of ordinary, loyal citizens

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