oa Rode deletie

Red erasure. The silenced memory of Anton de Kom’s communism

In 1934 the Afro-Surinamese author and activist Anton de Kom published his Wij slaven van Suriname (We Slaves of Surinam). De Kom drew inspiration from his experience and life in Surinam, as well as from the writings of abolitionist authors and the communist and anti-imperialist circles in which he moved while in Europe. Back in Surinam he was accused of plotting to overthrow the colonial government, and mass protests against his arrest were violently suppressed before he was deported to the Netherlands. During the Second World War he remained active in the anti-fascist resistance, and died in a German concentration camp. Remembering his struggle has become a cornerstone of Surinamese nationalism, important to anti-racist activists and important also to his children and grandchildren. This article discusses how these three sets of actors have often chosen to gloss over De Kom’s communist allegiance.