Hendrik Witbooi and Samuel Maharero: The Ambiguity of Heroes
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Date
2015
Authors
Hillebrecht, Werner
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Namibia Press
Abstract
Hendrik Witbooi and Samuel Maharero are two familiar icons. Both of these portraits
were probably taken in the same style, but on different occasions, by the Windhoek
photographer Lange. Both men started their careers as leaders in a controversial way, Hendrik by rebelling against his father, Kaptein Moses Witbooi; Samuel by succeeding his father Maharero in violation of traditional succession rules. Both led their people in the struggle against German colonial rule. Witbooi died from a German bullet in 1905. He was buried in a secret, forgotten grave near Vaalgras, which has not been rediscovered. Maharero died in exile in Bechuanaland in 1923, eight years after German rule ended, and seventeen years after he had left; indeed he only returned to Namibia for his reburial in Okahandja. Both are remembered to this day by their respective communities in an annual commemoration, and both had a history of fighting against each other,
and side by side, both for the Germans, and against the Germans.
This chapter focuses on Hendrik Witbooi, as it is mainly based on research of his
correspondence, but Samuel Maharero also appears again and again, as their stories are inextricably linked. The chapter should not be understood as an attempt to tear down monuments. In any case, although he deserves a monument, Witbooi does not have one, just an empty grave at Heroes Acre, Windhoek, and a memorial stone in Gibeon. In my personal opinion, Hendrik Witbooi is a hero for a number of reasons, and that he died from a German bullet is but the least of them. But this chapter is a reminder of the complexity of history and that ‘heroes’ are rarely as flawless as popular versions of history would like to portray. Contemporary images of cartoon and ‘Hollywood Heroes’ create expectations that run the risk of obscuring histories that contain different and discordant perspectives.
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Keywords
Hendrik Witbooi, Samuel Maharero, Ambiguity of heroes
Citation
Hillebrecht, W. (2015). Hendrik Witbooi and Samuel Maharero: The Ambiguity of Heroes. In J. Silvester(Ed.), Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibia History (pp. 38-54). Windhoek: UNAM Press