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Remembrance of the dead at Anton de Komplein
4 MAY 2023
17:30 — 20:15
Anton de Komplein
Attention! This event has already passed.
This relatively new commemoration at Anton de Komplein shines light on hidden stories.

Programme

17:30 –  Arrival. Coffee and tea will be served.

18:00 – Programme begins

19:00 – Departure of procession to De Drecht monument

19:30–20:00 – Programme at the De Drecht monument (organised by 4/5 May Committee Amsterdam Zuidoost)

Background

One of Suriname’s most prominent heroes is writer, activist and resistance fighter Anton de Kom. His memory is kept alive by the monument in his name on the square in Amsterdam Zuidoost. This bronze statue can be found on the square’s monumental steps, positioned on a granite pedestal with a stainless steel tip. On this steel tip, the following lines of poetry are inscibed in dark grey letters : ‘To battle I go! Only after victory shall I return…’. The sculpture depicts not only his thoughts but also his unyielding determination.

Anton de Kom’s life was characterised by his fight against injustice and oppression; both in his struggles in Suriname against Dutch colonial power and in his struggles in the Netherlands against the German occupiers. In 1920, at the age of 22, Anton de Kom left for the Netherlands. He became politically active. Just like the nationalist Indonesian students who fought for independence from Indonesia during those years, he was an advocate for freedom for Suriname. Anton returned to his homeland in 1932 because his mother lay dying. He was then well-known there due to his fight for freedom. He defended himself against exploitation of workers and called upon the Surinamese people to stand up for their own rights in the face of colonial Dutch rule. As expected, the people responded. He was arrested and imprisoned by the colonial rulers. A violent riot then broke out, resulting in his expulsion from his own country. A year later, he was forced to return to the Netherlands. Undeterred, De Kom continued his struggle and wrote his masterpiece ‘Wij Slaven van Suriname’ (‘We The Slaves of Suriname’); a fierce indictment of colonialism, racism and exploitation by Dutch authority. The book was the first anti-colonial account of Surinamese history.

De Kom never saw Suriname again. When the Netherlands became occupied by Germany in May 1940, the activist supported the Dutch resistance from the start. He contributed texts for the illegal publication De Vonk. Anton was very cautious and anxiously kept his resistance activities hidden from those around him. Despite this, on 7th August 1944 he was arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and imprisoned in an isolation cell in the ‘Oranjehotel’, the infamous prison in Scheveningen. From there, he was transferred to Vught concentration camp, then subsequently to Sachsenhausen camp and finally to Neuengamme concentration camp. The conditions there were inhumane. Thousands of prisoners died of exhaustion, hunger and malnutrition. One of them was 47-year-old Anton de Kom.

The Surinamese freedom and resistance fighter is commemorated on 4th May, at the Anton de Kom monument in Amsterdam Zuidoost. The Ons Suriname Association and the 4-5 May Amsterdam Zuidoost Committee organise this annual commemoration in the district. In 2022, a torchlight procession moved from the monument to the memorial at De Drecht residential centre in Holendrecht. This memorial commemorates the resistance, liberation and victims of World War II in the Netherlands and the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), Suriname and the Antilles. The march has great symbolic significance and gives us occasion to remember together – a desire we all share.

Remembrance of the dead at Anton de Komplein
4 MAY 2023
17:30 — 20:15
Anton de Komplein
Amsterdam
Part of Silent March & Commemorations
Website by HOAX Amsterdam