Honoring Those Who Endured—and Ensured Our Survival
The Genocide Survivors Project is dedicated to identifying, recognizing, and honoring the brave individuals who endured the Ovaherero and Nama Genocides (1904–1908). These survivors faced unimaginable horrors. Yet, through their resilience and sacrifice, they gave life to future generations and laid the foundation for the continued survival and revival of our communities.
Why It Matters
In official history of the Ovaherero and Nama genocides, the survivors’ stories have remained largely untold. The Genocide Survivors Project seeks to change that. This project places them at the center—celebrating their strength, preserving their stories, and inspiring action.
Our goal is to:
- Say their names and keep their stories alive
- Document their lives and preserve their memory
- Build living archives through burial sites, oral histories, and memorials
- Inspire future generations to carry forward their legacy
How We Do It
We work with communities to:
- Photograph headstones of survivors born before or during the genocide
- Record names, dates, and burial locations in a Genocide Survivors Database
- Collaborate with families and historians to collect oral histories and biographical details
- Recognize survivors with certificates, plaques, and storytelling platforms
Burial grounds are sacred archives. They are libraries of history and heritage. We must protect and preserve them as sites of cultural and ancestral memory.
ONGI’s Call to Action
You can be part of this important work. ONGI invites all Namibians and members of the global Ovaherero, Mbanderu, and Nama diaspora to take the following steps:
🌍 Step 1: Identify – Make a conscious decision to recognize genocide survivors in your own family, village, or community.
🪦 Step 2: Visit – Go to local burial grounds. Write down the names and birthdates of individuals born before or during the 1904–1908 period who survived.
🧭 Step 3: Engage – Speak with relatives, descendants, and elders. Learn about the survivors’ stories and experiences. Keep their names alive.
🏵️ Step 4: Honor – Create a tribute—a memorial plaque, a certificate, a short biography, or a digital story.
📤 Step 5: Share – Submit names, photos, and stories to ONGI for inclusion in our Genocide Survivors Database and other remembrance platforms.
In addition to documenting the names of genocide survivors from headstones at burial sites, the ONGI will launch a Genocide Survivors Registry, along with an online submission form to collect and add the names and information of survivors to the official database.
Together, We Remember
This is more than history—it is healing. Every name documented, every story told, and every tribute created reclaims a part of our collective dignity and ancestral legacy.
Join the movement. Reclaim the memory. Celebrate survival.