Surinamese writer, activist and resistance member Anton de Kom received a memorial stone in Amsterdam’s De Nieuwe Kerk. Surinamese Ambassador Rajendre Khargi unveiled the stone on Thursday. He did so in the presence, among others, of De Kom’s daughter, Minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection) and the Mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema.
De Kom lived from 1898 to 1945 and wrote the book in 1934 We slaves of Suriname. This book is a major indictment of racism, exploitation and colonial rule. He appeared again in 2020. Especially for Suriname, De Kom is still a great hero.
In WWII it resisted the Nazis in the Netherlands. He died in April 1945 in the German concentration camp of Sandbostel.
De Kom has been part of the Canon of the Netherlands for two years now. This is a list of notable events, people, and objects in history. There is also a statue of him in the southeast district of Amsterdam.
Halsema: ‘De Kom receives a literary honor that is absolutely his due’
According to Halsema, De Kom now also receives the literary honor with the tombstone “which he still lacked, but which is absolutely due to him”.
In his work, De Kom opposed the so-called superiority thinking. This is the idea that one group considers itself more valuable than another group.
“Amsterdam cannot appropriate Anton de Kom’s legacy, but it can welcome it with passion. By paying homage to him here, by continuing to read his work and, above all, by continuing to fight against any form of superiority thinking,” says Halsema. .
Famous writers such as Joost van den Vondel, PC Hooft, Hella S. Haasse, Johan Huizinga, Multatuli and Willem Frederik Hermans have their graves or memorial stones in De Nieuwe Kerk.
