We Slaves of Suriname

Anton de Kom’s We Slaves of Suriname is a literary masterpiece as well as a fierce indictment of racism and colonialism. In this 1934 book, published here in English for the first time, the Surinamese writer and resistance leader Anton de Kom recounts the history of his homeland, from the first settlements by Europeans in search of gold through the era of the slave trade and the period of Dutch colonial rule when the old slave mentality persisted, long after slavery had been formally abolished. De Kom wrote this book to help free the people of Suriname from the yoke of colonial rule: ‘No people can reach full maturity as long as it remains burdened with an inherited sense of inferiority.’ In 1933, de Kom was banished by the colonial authorities in Suriname, who saw him as a threat. He wrote We Slaves of Suriname from exile in The Netherlands, where it was first published in 1934 in a censored form. When World War II broke out, de Kom joined the Dutch resistance and his works were banned. He was arrested by the Germans in 1944 and deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp, where he died on 24 April 1945. 159 years after the abolition of slavery in Suriname and 88 years after its initial publication, We Slaves of Suriname has lost none of its brilliance and power.