The book V. is largely set in the 1950s, but contains an extended segment depicting Imperial German atrocities in Southwest Africa.
Because Pynchon is known for his surrealism and satire, I'm unsure to what degree this depiction is accurate. The long African chapter serves a purpose that is more narrative than journalistic, and some episodes seem to be exaggerated. At the same time, the German genocide against Southwest African people is very poorly known. Pynchon's books are all rich with politics commentary, and it is very possible that he intended to bring light to German atrocities in his novel.
Chapter 9 of V. includes the following. Which elements are historically attested?
*80% of Herero individuals (65,000 people) would be slaughtered between 1904 and 1907 *Nearly all Southwest African women and girls were raped before their slaughter *Women's corpses would often be raped, sometimes by multiple soldiers in quick succession *Surviving women were kept as livestock in a pen, to be raped by passing platoons of soldiers *Officers were allowed exclusive long-term access to individual women *Due to high mortality rates among native men, pubescent boys were the most valuable sexual partners
Is this an accurate portrait of Imperial German behavior toward indigenous Africans, or did genocidal policy "just" involve killing?
It always amazes me how little known about this is. First of all it's important to note that this was a genocide systematically carried out by the German imperial military, with lieutenant general Lothar von Trotha overseeing it, ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm II, and fully known about by the chancellor and every other important German politician. Unlike say, the atrocities that occurred in King Leopold's Congo Free State.
Rape was already a problem before the genocide had even begun, in fact one of the reasons the natives bore such ill will towards the German colonialists at that time was because for decades native women were very often raped by Germans, with the German authorities doing nothing about it. This and other reasons (mostly to do with the taking of lands and slavery) led to a great rebellion, which was put down pretty quickly, allowing for the Herero Genocide proper to begin in 1904.
Now during the genocide all Herero men that were found were summarily executed. Sometimes the women and children were also killed but usually they were either sent to concentration camps or simply driven off into the desert to die of thirst/exposure - this was more humane than simply shooting them, you see, and would ''maintain the good reputation of the German soldier''. I don't think rape was used systematically as a weapon of war per se, but very often the women in the concentration camps were raped or forced into sexual slavery, also they were very often raped before being driven off into the desert. I don't remember ever reading about prepubescent girls/boys being sexually abused in these camps, but I have no doubt in my mind that it happened routinely, as it always did in these kinds of places. The conditions within these camps were obviously horrific, with rampant disease and starvation and huge mortality rates of upwards of 60%. There was also some horrific medical experimentation carried out on live people, in fact cadavers of people killed at that time have only been returned to Namibia from Germany in the last 10 years or so.
You're correct in saying that around 70-80% of Hereros were killed - there were only around 20,000 left after 1907. Also worth noting that around 10,000 of the Nama people died too. Unfortunately these survivors lived on as virtual slave labourers on the German settlements.
I'm afraid I don't have sources right now but I may be able to dig up something later. I must pick up V. though since I'm already a fan of Pynchon and wasn't aware it had anything like this in it.
Hey,
just to let you know, I have tagged this question "nsfw" due to its nature.
Thank you!
As a follow up, were there any mixed-race children born from the systemic rape? Similar to the post-WWI 'Rhineland Bastards.' If so, how were they treated within the larger society?
I couldn't help but see a macabre mirroring of the Birth of Venus imagery (a center of plot in a previous chapter) as a native woman Sarah died on the beach after being brutally gang raped, "...the next day her body washed up on the beach. She had perished in a sea they would perhaps never succeed in calming any part of. Jackals had eaten her breasts."
This chapter was brutal and intense to say the least but it was an incredible meditation on history and violence. This book is full of depth and intellect that I really didn't anticipate. I'm not a history buff so it is fascinating to unearth these mostly unheard of events. Though as horrible and remorseful as these events are it is an amazing experience to uncover them solely through this novel. Thanks for the insights.