The Forgotten History of Africa’s Concentration Camps

Colonial Origins: The Forgotten History of Africa’s Concentration Camps

​While the atrocities of the mid-20th century are well-documented, the blueprints for such systems were drafted decades earlier. Long before the events in Europe, colonial powers utilized concentration camps and forced settlements across the African continent to suppress resistance and exert control over indigenous populations.

​The Herero and Nama Genocide in Namibia

​The first recorded use of German concentration camps did not occur in Europe, but in South West Africa (modern-day Namibia) during the early 1900s. As German settlers expanded into the territories of the Herero and Namaqua peoples, tensions escalated into a full-scale uprising in 1904.

​In response, German colonial authorities issued a formal extermination order. Those who were not driven into the desert to perish from thirst were rounded up and sent to “death camps.” The most notorious of these was located on Shark Island, off the coast of Lüderitz. Thousands perished in these facilities due to forced labor, starvation, and extreme neglect creating a dark precedent for future decades.

​The Mau Mau Uprising and British Detention Systems

​Germany was not the only colonial power to employ these brutal tactics. In the 1950s, the British Empire faced a massive revolt in Kenya known as the Mau Mau Uprising. The Kikuyu, Meru, and Embu peoples rose up to reclaim their land and resources from colonial rule.

​To break the resistance, the British administration forcibly relocated approximately 1.5 million people. This system was divided into two distinct parts:

• ​Enclosed Villages: Heavily surveilled settlements where civilians were monitored around the clock.

• ​Detention Camps: Facilities where suspected rebels faced interrogation, systemic abuse, and execution.

​The “Pipeline” Classification System

​The British implemented a tiered classification system for prisoners within their camps to break their psychological and political resolve. Prisoners were categorized by color:

• ​White (Cooperative): Individuals who renounced their oaths to the resistance were kept in “milder” camps with basic provisions.

• ​Grey (Resistant): Those deemed partially uncooperative were sent to harsher facilities with increased labor.

• ​Black (Hardcore): Leaders and those who refused to submit were held in maximum-security camps, where they faced the most severe forms of deprivation and torture.

​Why This History Matters

​Understanding these colonial precursors is essential for a complete view of global history. These events demonstrate that the mechanisms of mass detention and systemic violence were often tested in colonial territories before being deployed on a global scale. Recognizing the tragedies in Namibia and Kenya is a vital step in honoring the victims of colonial expansion.