Читать книгу We Slaves of Suriname - Anton de Kom - Страница 20

We Slaves of Suriname was published in 1934, but it was made difficult to obtain for a long time, even after the war. How did this change? According to former members of the Surinaamse Studenten Unie (“Surinamese Student Union”; SSU), one important step was the discovery of a copy of the book by the Surinamese student Rubia Züschen in the Leiden University Library in the 1960s. Züschen was a member of the SSU, which was known for being a hotbed of politically engaged left-wing students who supported the decolonization of Suriname. These students were so inspired by the book that they decided to retype the entire manuscript and distribute clandestine copies. Delano Veira was a member of the Vereniging Ons Suriname and in frequent communication with the SSU. In a conversation about his memories of Anton de Kom, he said:

Anton de Kom was the shining example for Surinamese students in the Netherlands in the 1950s and 60s, because he was the first to hold Surinamese colonialism up to the light in such a fiery way. And he lived up to his words; he returned to Suriname himself, and we all know about that historic episode: two or more people were shot dead by the colonial regime in the uprisings, and Anton de Kom was banished.¹

The 1970s saw a rise in anti-colonial consciousness among the Surinamese in the Netherlands and in Suriname, partly under the influence of the international decolonization struggle in former colonies in Africa and Asia. In 1972, the Vereniging Ons Suriname established a non-profit organization for community welfare called Bouw Een Surinaamse Tehuis (“Build A Surinamese Center,” B.E.S.T.). They occupied a vacant building in the Amsterdam city center and declared it the Centrum Anton de Kom (“Anton de Kom Center”), a social and cultural center for Surinamese people in the Netherlands. The monthly magazine Adek, short for Anton de Kom, reported on injustices with which Surinamese people were confronted in the Netherlands, such as racism, discrimination, and police brutality. It also dealt with problems in Suriname, such as poor government policies and unemployment.

In 1973 Vereniging Ons Suriname, in cooperation with other organizations such as the Amsterdam student unions SRVU and ASVA, organized an “Anton de Kom month” to mark the fortieth anniversary of the uprising after De Kom’s arrest. This month of talks and discussions focused on Anton de Kom and his ideas.

Fifteen years later, in June 1988, an event commemorating Anton de Kom was organized by the Anton de Kom–Abraham Behr-instituut, a collective founded by Surinamese activists from the Landelijke Strijd Organisatie voor Surinamers (“National Activist Organization for the Surinamese,” LOSON) in partnership with the V.O.S. A number of people who had known De Kom personally in the World War II resistance spoke of him in glowing terms. His daughter Judith de Kom, an anti-colonial activist in her own right, also participated in the event.

Memories of the man whose work has such profound meaning to the Surinamese people and is also unquestionably part of the rich activist tradition of the Dutch labor movement. Memories that complete and bring to life the image of De Kom as a great humanist, as a revolutionary activist against exploitation and oppression, as an internationalist. Full of humanity and full of fight.²

Monthly magazine Adek © The Black Archives

Bram Behr, who was assassinated in Suriname’s December murders of 1982 after criticizing the country’s military dictatorship, wrote to his friends that reading We Slaves of Suriname had given him courage. Around the same time, LOSON circulated a petition demanding the rehabilitation of Anton de Kom. This resulted in the renaming of a square after De Kom in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost (Southeast) district, near the present location of the Bullewijk metro stop. Today, the central market square where the district’s municipal offices are located bears De Kom’s name, and a statue of De Kom towers over the square.

From left to right, Armand Baag, Zapata Jaw, Ronald Snijders, and Judith de Kom performing at Vereniging Ons Suriname in the 1970s, with a portrait of Anton de Kom on the wall © The Black Archives

In the Surinamese community, De Kom is a hero and part of our collective consciousness. But outside it, he is still sadly unknown to many people.