Shark Island concentration camp

26°38′45″S 15°9′14″E / 26.64583°S 15.15389°E / -26.64583; 15.15389

Shark Island
Concentration camp
Prisoners at the camp
Location of Shark Island within Namibia
Other namesKonzentrationslager auf der Haifischinsel vor Lüderitzbucht
LocationLuderitz, German South West Africa
Operated byImperial German Army
Original useOfficially a prisoner of war camp, in reality a civilian internment camp, described by some as a death camp or even extermination camp
Operational1905–1907
InmatesHerero, Nama
KilledUnknown (estimates range between 1,032 and 3,000)

Shark Island or "Death Island" was one of five concentration camps in German South West Africa. It was located on Shark Island off Lüderitz, in the far south-west of the territory which today is Namibia. It was used by the German Empire during the Herero and Nama genocide of 1904–08. Between 1,032 and 3,000 Herero and Nama men, women, and children died in the camp between March 1905 and its closing in April 1907.