Anton de Kom, born in Paramaribo (Suriname) on February 22, 1898, and died at the Sandbostel camp (Germany) on April 24, 1945, is the author of We, the Slaves of Suriname, published in 1934. This book is described as the first history of Suriname written by a Surinamese author. He wrote it in the Netherlands after his expulsion from Paramaribo in 1933. On February 7, 1933, a crowd gathered in front of the prison in Paramaribo, Suriname—then a Dutch colony—to demand the release of Anton de Kom. Shots were fired. Two protesters were killed and many others were wounded, according to the Canon Netherlands. Arrested six days earlier, the man would never stand trial. The colonial authorities deported him to the Netherlands, and he would never see his country again.
Anton de Kom, the son of a slave born in Paramaribo
Anton de Kom was born in Paramaribo on February 22, 1898, thirty-five years after the abolition of slavery in Suriname in 1863. According to the Canon van Nederland, his father was born into slavery on the Molhoop plantation. The family lived in Frimangron, a neighborhood where former freed slaves settled.
Although Anton de Kom held a degree in accounting, he was denied jobs because of racism. In the early 1920s, he left for the Netherlands. There, in 1926, he married Petronella Borsboom, with whom he would have four children.
The Return to Suriname in 1933
In late 1932, Anton de Kom returned to Suriname to see his dying mother. She had already passed away by the time he arrived in early 1933. In his hometown, Paramaribo, the authorities had previously labeled him a “troublemaker,” according to a study by the Royal KITLV Institute. The colony was then undergoing a severe crisis. According to the KITLV, approximately 20% of boys and 15% of girls in Paramaribo were undernourished in 1933, and a hunger riot in October 1931 had already claimed one life. Anton de Kom gave lectures, which were banned. He then opened a consulting office, which was frequented by many Surinamese. The authorities arrested him on February 1, 1933.
After the shootings on February 7, Anton de Kom was deported without trial. The authorities later admitted that they lacked evidence of incitement to revolt, according to the KITLV. A report from the U.S. Consulate in Trinidad describes his forced deportation, including passport photos and fingerprints.
*Wij slaven van Suriname*, a book against colonialism
Upon his return to the Netherlands, Anton de Kom published a book in 1934 We, the Slaves of Suriname, “We, the Slaves of Suriname.” This book denounces racism, exploitation, and colonial oppression. It combines the history of slavery, class analysis, and a critique of colonialism, according to a study by theLeiden University. Its uniqueness lies in its perspective—that of the Surinamese people themselves. The text has a history of its own. Anton de Kom’s editor revised the manuscript in consultation with the author, and the published version is more measured than the excerpts that appeared in the left-wing press. According to Leiden University, however, the call for independence remains implicit in the text.
Anton de Kom’s book then spread to other countries. A German edition was published in Moscow in 1935, then in Zurich in 1936. A Spanish edition was published in Cuba in 1981. According to the same study, no English translation had been published.
Anton de Kom, from the Resistance in Sandbostel
During the German occupation of the Netherlands, Anton de Kom joined the Resistance. He wrote for By Vonk, “L’Étincelle,” an underground communist newspaper. The occupying forces arrested him on August 7, 1944. After being held in several camps, he died on April 24, 1945, at the Sandbostel camp in northern Germany, likely of tuberculosis. This camp was a subcamp of Neuengamme, near Hamburg. His body was thrown into a mass grave. He was not identified until 1960, according to the Canon van Nederland. Anton de Kom is now buried at the Loenen Cemetery of Honor in the Netherlands, where his death was officially commemorated for the first time, according to the ANP news agency.
A Memory That Is Still Disputed
After Suriname gained independence in 1975, Anton de Kom was honored as a hero. A bronze bust was unveiled in Amsterdam in 2006, and his portrait has appeared on Surinamese banknotes. He is also included in the Canon van Nederland, a collection dedicated to the major milestones in Dutch history.
The legacy of Anton de Kom is not straightforward. According to Leiden University, the Surinamese government has long downplayed the communist aspect of his life in favor of nationalism. The study also states that in 2013, his family blocked a planned English translation by Pluto Press for political reasons. The author of the study refers to this as “rode deletie,” literally a “red erasure.” The phrase sums up the debate over the place of communism in Suriname’s collective memory. How can we understand Anton de Kom in his entirety without turning him into a sanitized icon? The question remains open—and it extends beyond Paramaribo. To continue your journey through Suriname, set out to meet the Bushinengués, descendants of the Maroons from Suriname and French Guiana.
Frequently Asked Questions About Anton de Kom
Anton de Kom was a Surinamese writer and resistance fighter, born in Paramaribo on February 22, 1898, and died at the Sandbostel camp (Germany) on April 24, 1945. He is the author of *Wij slaven van Suriname*, published in 1934.
*Wij slaven van Suriname* is a book published in 1934, described as the first history of Suriname written by a Surinamese author. It condemns racism, exploitation, and colonial oppression, and combines the history of slavery with class analysis.
Anton de Kom was arrested on February 1, 1933, by the colonial authorities, who feared the protests he was sparking. After the shootings on February 7 outside the Paramaribo prison, he was deported to the Netherlands without trial.
