Adolf Hitler has ascended to power through a democratic election. This is not a history lesson but current news coming from Namibia, a former German colony, where a man named after the Nazi tyrant has won election in a landslide.
Adolf Hitler Uunona ran on the ticket of the ruling SWAPO Party of Namibia. He attracted 1,196 votes, compared to 213 cast for his opponent, and secured a seat at a governing council of the Oshana region. The Ompundja constituency, which he represents, has less than 5,000 residents and has long been considered a SWAPO stronghold.
Uunona told the German tabloid Bild that unlike his notorious namesake, he harbors no ambition for world domination, or even for conquest of Oshana.
“My father named me after this man. He probably didn’t understand what Adolf Hitler stood for,” he explained. He said he usually goes by Adolf Uunona and that it would be too late for him by now to change his name.
Namibia is a country in the western part of Southern Africa. It won full independence in 1990, after decades of armed struggle against the domination of apartheid South Africa. SWAPO originates as a pro-independence movement and has been a leading political force since the country became fully sovereign, though its popularity has somewhat dwindled over the past several years.
Prior to that, between 1884 and 1919, Namibia existed as a German colony and suffered mass killings by the colonial administration, which sought to suppress local insurgents. The natives were imprisoned in concentration camps and died by their tens of thousands from exposure, hunger and illnesses in what modern Germany considers an act of genocide.
Germany’s loss in World War I cost it its overseas territory, which was occupied by the British and later handed over to be ruled by South Africa. The German cultural influence, however, remains to this day, as evidenced by Uunona’s name.
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