We Slaves of Suriname

Anton de Kom was a leading advocate of Surinamese independence from Dutch colonial rule. Born in Paramaribo, Suriname, on February 22, 1898, he was banished by the colonial authorities in 1933; he wrote We Slaves of Suriname from exile in the Netherlands, where it was first published in 1934. When World War II broke out, De Kom joined the Dutch resistance; he was arrested by the Germans in 1944 and deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp, where he died on April 24, 1945. In June 2020, Anton de Kom was added to the Dutch national core curriculum for history education (the Canon of the Netherlands) because of his central role in opposing racism and colonialism.

• Translator’s NoteIntroductionsFrimangron by Tessa LeuwshaThe Breath of Freedom by Duco van OostrumWhy Anton de Kom Still Inspires Generation after Generation by Mitchell EsajasForeword by Judith de KomWe Slaves of Suriname“Sranan,” our fatherlandThe era of slaveryThe arrival of the whitesEl DoradoThe first settlementsThe Dutch regimeThe slave tradeThe marketEnslavedThe slave womanThe mastersThe punishmentsThe History of Our NationVan Aerssen van Sommelsdyck (1683–1688)The brutesThe forest expeditionsJohan Jacob Mauricius (1742–1751)Governor Crommelin (1752–1768)Governor Nepveu (1770–1779)Buku (decayed into dust)The final chapter for the resistanceSuriname under British ruleThe great fireThe fate of the ethicalWhite settlementFighting the currentGovernors on paradeThe abolition of slaveryFreedom?The great selloutThe era of freedomHow we liveThe essence of autonomyFin de siècleIndentured laborFree laborIn search of goldThe major cropsWhat becomes of those millions?ResultsReunion and farewellNotesGlossary of Surinamese termsIndex

A New Statesman Book of the YearSelected as a Best Book of 2022 by Public BooksRunner-up for the 2024 Vondel Translation Prize“one of the most important works of twentieth-century anticolonial literature.”LSE Review of Books “De Kom is to Suriname what Mandela is to South Africa: a heroic patriot, an advocate of the oppressed, and a symbol of resistance against colonialism.”Unherd “Heart-breaking... he succeeds in bringing to painful life the savagery of what is now widely considered the most vicious colonization project ever.”New Internationalist“Almost ninety years after its first appearance, We Slaves of Suriname is still an exemplary description and analysis of Suriname’s history, which has not lost its power of expression. From micro to macro situations, De Kom displays phenomenal psychological insight and an acute sense of the driving forces of class and race.”Gloria Wekker, Professor Emerita, Utrecht University "We Slaves of Suriname is both an analysis of Suriname’s postcolonial predicament and an insurgent commentary on the archives of Dutch writing about Suriname… By interrogating the crater left by colonialism in the landscape of modernity, De Kom produces a text that speaks, avant la lettre, directly to postcolonial concerns."Postcolonial Studies Journal “An astounding work of lyrical fury … De Kom is a towering radical and anticolonial figure, and this book a painful masterpiece.”China Miéville, New Statesman “a classic of anticolonial Black leftist thought”Public Books"The plantation-dominated past that Suriname shares with the wider Caribbean is vividly brought to life in a 'new' book ... Books in English on Suriname are rare, and this one — We Slaves of Suriname — is a gem."Caribbean Beat