Shark Island, Namibia

Shark Island

Haifischinsel
Shark Island Haifischinsel
Peninsula
	Shark Island
	Coordinates: 26°38′S 15°09′E / 26.633°S 15.150°ECoordinates: 26°38′S 15°09′E / 26.633°S 15.150°E
Country	Namibia
Region	ǁKaras Region
Constituency	ǃNamiǂNûs Constituency
Establishment	1904–05
Founded by	German Empire

Shark Island (German: Haifischinsel) is a small peninsula adjacent to the coastal city of Lüderitz in Namibia. Its area is about 40 hectares (99 acres). Formerly an island, it became a peninsula from 1906 on by the creation of a wide land connection that doubled its former size.

It had been formerly named Star Island by British Captain Alexander during his 1795 surveying expedition.^[1]

Concentration camp[]

The island was site of Shark Island death camp. It was Namibia's first large-scale death camp. Close to 1,800 Nama prisoners arrived in September 1906, including Cornelius Frederiks, one of the strongest Nama military leaders.^[1]

Shark Island has been called the "blueprint" for what the Nazis did later. Long before Hitler or the Nazis, the Germans shipped the Nama people to a remote location, where they performed experiments on the Nama and worked them to death.^[2]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Cassidy, Joseph (2009). Place Names of Namibia A Historical Dictionary. Windhoek: Macmillan Education Namibia Publishers (Pty) Ltd. p. 102. ISBN 978-99916-0-654-5.
^ Steinhauser, Gabriele (28 July 2017). "Germany Confronts the Forgotten Story of Its Other Genocide". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 3 September 2021.

External links[]

Travel guide

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[:0-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b Cassidy, Joseph (2009). Place Names of Namibia A Historical Dictionary. Windhoek: Macmillan Education Namibia Publishers (Pty) Ltd. p. 102. ISBN 978-99916-0-654-5.

[2] Steinhauser, Gabriele (28 July 2017). "Germany Confronts the Forgotten Story of Its Other Genocide". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 3 September 2021.

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