Lothar von Trotha

"The Herero nation must now leave the country. If it refuses, I shall compel it to do so using cannons. Any Herero found inside the German frontier, with or without a gun or cattle, will be executed.  I shall spare neither women nor children.  I shall give the order to drive them away and fire on them.  Such are my words to the Herero people."

- von Trotha's extermination order

Lothar von Trotha was an Imperial German general notorious for attempts to exterminate the Herero and the Nama, two ethnic groups in Namibia.

Early Life
Von Trotha was born in Magdeburg on July 3, 1848.

Career Before the Genocide
He joined the Prussian army in 1865, and served with distinction in the Austro-Prussian war a year later.