South African soldiers thought by fighting along during World War II they would gain the right to vote and independence, because they were promised that. But after the war, not freedom awaited them but Apartheid. With We are the avengers of it all writer Conny Braam sheds light on this painful history.
Four years ago, Conny Braam (72) published the successful novel I am Hendrik Witbooi, about the Namibian warrior who wanted to free his people from German colonialist rule. Her new book We are the avengers of it all is a compelling narrative about Henry's grandson Jakob, who faces a very different battle, during and after World War II. South African troops are defeated by the Germans in northern Libya in 1942, and the thousands of white, brown and black soldiers are shipped to Italy as prisoners of war.
Auschwitz
When after some time that camp was evacuated because Allied troops were advancing from the south, another transfer followed: to Auschwitz. Jakob Witbooi managed to survive this camp too, after which another ordeal followed: a months-long, arduous march on foot to liberated territory. Once there, the black soldiers are immediately separated from the white ones again.
Back in Africa, everything continues as before. Jakob simply becomes the 'slave' of German bosses again. So a novel about racism and Apartheid, a theme close to Braam's heart. She was involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement Netherlands for 20 years, and collaborated in the liberation of Nelson Mandela.
A novel about the grandson of Hendrik Witbooi - did the idea for this story come your way while researching your previous novel?
'No, actually it only came into being after that, by accident. Hendrik Witbooi was a special figure, that 80-year-old Namibian who rebelled against German colonialism. When the book was finished after three years, I had become deeply attached to him and found it hard to let him go. So I was doing some browsing on the internet, searching for the name Witbooi, and discovered that the name appeared on war memorials in North Africa and Italy.'
Spears
'An old friend of mine, Wolfie Kodesh, was a white, Jewish South African and he had once told me that he had fought with South African troops in Italy during World War II. At the time, I didn't pay much attention to that, but now that I came across the name Witbooi on Italian monuments, the two stories suddenly came together and that history began to fascinate me more and more.'
Did Jakob Witbooi really exist?
'Let me put it this way: he could have existed. My book is a novel and the character Jakob Witbooi is a composite of a number of Witboois I came across during my research. Jakob symbolises the black soldiers from South Africa who were called up by Churchill and Roosevelt to enlist in the army. The number was one hundred and twenty thousand, including several Witboois. In the archives gathering dust in Windhoek in Namibia, I found countless enlistment forms, as well as diaries and memoirs of soldiers.'
What intrigued you about it?
'As soon as you talk about South Africa, you have to deal with race issues - and certainly at that time that was the case. White, brown and black soldiers were placed in separate divisions. The black soldiers were in the so-called Native Corps and were initially not allowed to carry guns, only spears. The reason was that the whites were like de dód that after the war they would suddenly be left with an army of black soldiers who could handle guns. So the black soldiers had to take on Hitler's armies with spears, insane! That situation was obviously not sustainable for long, and at one point the black soldiers just appropriated the weapons of fallen soldiers themselves.'
Automatism
'I was also surprised by the huge numbers involved: for example, ten thousand POWs were made at Tobruk in northern Libya. When I discovered that, I knew: now I have a story. Because those ten thousand African men of all colours were herded together and were at each other's mercy for survival.'
Yet initially, these different groups are almost at each other's throats because of their skin colour, even though they are all compatriots and prisoners of war. Only towards the end of the war does some fraternisation develop between white and black African soldiers.
'That's right, they have a long way to go for that. I found the automaticity that spoke from white soldiers' diaries about the relationships between them shocking. They didn't think: this is my fellow soldier, my comrade. No, they thought: this is a black, he is my servant; I get food first. Whites did not want to give up their position; they continued to regard black soldiers as inferior. In the POW camp, black soldiers were given the least food, and had to sleep in the worst places, next to the latrines. They hardly resisted, because they had never experienced anything but that South African society, with its rigid segregation by race and the impossibility of education and development.'
Jacob looks forward to seeing something of the world. Is that from life too?
'Yes, the diaries of soldiers I read showed excitement, because they were young men aged between 20 and 30 who had never seen anything of the world. They did not yet know what was going on in Europe, so the mere fact that they were going to see Europe evoked all sorts of fantasies and thoughts. I really found such an atlas as Jakob Witbooi has in the novel, trying to follow their journey. It just fitted in a soldier's big pockets.'
The great betrayal
'In Italy, they discover a different society, where people interact differently and do not necessarily treat black soldiers racially. But the war is not over yet or they are immediately separated by race again by the Allies' army command. Then they come home and hupsakee: Apartheid. I have talked to historians and a lot of people in South Africa about it: this has been the great betrayal. Churchill and Roosevelt had promised that the countries that fought against Hitler would have the right of self-determination (again) after the war. The documents that stated this still exist. But after the war, that promise turned out to apply only to Europe and the US. Not for the millions of people in the colonies.'
How did the veterans respond?
''The veterans formed the basis for the liberation movements from the 1950s onwards. These former soldiers had been in contact with partisans in Europe, fighting against racism and for equality. Now a distinction was made between white and black veterans. Whites were received as heroes and treated with full honours, receiving benefits. Blacks were given a bicycle and a pair of boots, and could then go back to work as servants. They rebelled against that. There is still some wobbly film footage showing tens of thousands of veterans carrying torches through the streets of Cape Town in protest against Apartheid.'
To save a friend, Jacob switches identities. Did such things really happen?
'Such an identity swap did indeed occur, otherwise I would not have dared to write that. Jakob swaps his own identity tag with his Jewish friend Moritz Rabinowitz, because Jakob thinks no one will mistake a black for a Jew. Partly because of the Geneva Convention, which protected prisoners of war, he manages to stand his ground. In this, you can see strength and fortitude of old Hendrik Witbooi. The human urge to survive and be free can never be completely destroyed. That lives on in someone.'
Better people
'After the end of the war, Jacob was accused of switching identities for self-interest, namely to be registered as white. It was assumed that every black preferred to be white. After all, whites were "better people".'
What can we learn from this story today?
'That racism is a hugely destructive force, and it is very dangerous when it drives the highest echelons of society, politics. After the war, many people thought we had defeated the most ultimate form of racism: Nazism. But less than three years later came Apartheid and there was dead silence. The evil that had just been defeated reared its head again. This teaches us that we will always have to stay alert and keep fighting this evil. Because failure to do so will lead to repulsive excesses.'
Are struggle and resistance necessary?
'Yes, but they also bring out the best in people. The period when I fought with others against Apartheid and for Nelson Mandela's release was the best time of my life. While we went through dangerous and dark times together, we also had unlikely fun together - people of all colours, young and old, male and female. I think it's important to read stories like this because, as a reader, it means you have already empathised with such experiences and asked yourself what you would do in certain situations.'
'For me, at least, it worked that way. As a girl I read stories about Hannie Schaft and Freddie Dekker. What they dared and did as young girls... It opened my mind wide and inspired me enormously to have courage myself. I grant such an experience to all young people. Because it offers confidence in all the good things humans are capable of.'
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