Phalapoem editor, 24/09/25
Germany presents itself as a global defender of human rights, a nation that learned the lessons of its bloody past. Yet its actions tell a far different story. From the colonial genocide in Africa, to the Holocaust in Europe, and now to the devastation of Gaza, Germany’s history reveals a pattern of complicity in mass violence—one it continues today through unwavering support for Israel’s assault on Palestinians.
Long before the Holocaust, Germany committed what historians recognize as the first genocide of the 20th century. Between 1904 and 1908, German colonial forces in present-day Namibia carried out a campaign of extermination against the Herero and Nama peoples. Tens of thousands were driven into the desert to die of starvation and thirst. Concentration camps were established, where survivors were subjected to forced labor, starvation, and medical experiments—grim foreshadowings of what was to come decades later in Europe.
Then came the Holocaust, the most infamous crime of the modern era. Six million Jews, along with Polish people, Roma, disabled people, and political dissidents, were systematically murdered. The phrase “Never Again” emerged as both a warning and a vow. Germany pledged eternal vigilance against the forces of hatred and genocide.
But “Never Again” has become selective. Today, as Gaza faces relentless bombing, starvation, and mass displacement, German leaders continue to supply Israel with weapons and diplomatic protection. Human rights organizations, UN experts, and legal scholars confirmed that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza, weaponising starvation and ethnic cleansing, yet Berlin stands firmly behind Tel Aviv. German officials invoke “Israel’s right to self-defense” while refusing to acknowledge the scale of Palestinian suffering.
Criticism of Israeli policy is often met with accusations of antisemitism in Germany, effectively silencing debate and criminalizing solidarity with Palestinians. This weaponization of Holocaust guilt allows Germany to posture as a protector of Jewish life while ignoring the universal lesson of its own history: that no people should face collective punishment or extermination.
Germany’s moral obligation should be clear. True reckoning with the past means opposing genocide and apartheid everywhere, not selectively. Supporting a government accused of war crimes in Gaza is not atonement for the Holocaust—it is a betrayal of the very principle of “Never Again.”
From the killing fields of Namibia to the death camps of Europe to the ruins of Gaza, Germany’s pattern of enabling mass atrocities cannot be ignored. History will judge Berlin not by its memorials or speeches, but by its actions. And today, those actions place it on the wrong side of justice, once again.