Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha was a German military commander widely condemned for his conduct of the Herero Wars in German South-West Africa, especially for the events that led to the near-extermination of the Herero. At the Battle of Waterberg, he issued orders to encircle the Herero on three sides so that the only escape route was into the waterless Omaheke-Steppe, a western arm of the Kalahari Desert. The Herero fled into the desert and von Trotha ordered his troops to poison water holes, erect guard posts along a 150-mile line and shoot on sight any Herero, be they man, woman or child, who attempted to escape. To make his attitude to the Herero absolutely clear, von Trotha then issued the Vernichtungsbefehl, or extermination order.... More • http://en.wikipedia. ... von_Trotha View • Books • Images • Videos • Search Related • Soldiers • 1900s • Africans • Colonialism • Genocide • Germany • Namibia • Prussia • War • People