Staff Reporter
NAMIBIANS this week join the rest of the world in commemorating the end, 80 years ago, of the Second World War (WW2) — and rightly so.
Thousands of Namibians participated actively in the largest and most violent military conflict in human history, etching their names in the annals of world history.
The most notable Namibian WW2 veretans include late Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo and late Simon Mzee Kaukungwa.
Ya Toivo attained the rank of corporal in the Native Corps of the Union Defence Force, while Kaukungwa served as a military policeman.
Both eventually became legendary fighters for Namibia’s independence.
The end of WW2 is commemorated as Victory in Europe (VE) on the 8th of May, the day of Germany’s unconditional surrender in 1945.
The surrender was signed in Europe late in the evening of the 8th of May (9 May, Moscow time) and is, therefore, commemorated in Russia as Victory Day on the 9th of May.
The WW2’s casualties are estimated at 15 million battle deaths and 38 million civilian deaths.
Approximately 8,000 Namibians — 7,000 blacks and more than 700 whites —volunteered to fight against the Nazi Germany by joining the South African Defence Force which was part of the anti-Nazi Allied Powers.
However, few Namibians fought on the opposite side. Such was the case of late Hellmut von Leipzig who served as the driver of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, the commander of the German and Italian forces during the North Africa campaign.
Leipzig was captured in combat and spent about ten years in Russian captivity, was freed in the 1950s, returned to Namibia where he played a role in the advancement of German culture till his passing in 2016.
He was an acquaintance and personal friend of Founding President Sam Nujoma.
