MARXIST. MISSIONARY IN, INDONBSTA be re
By Jan Hekkenberg
(The following article appeared in the November 1965 issue of the New-Zealand Monthly Review. In gathéring his material, the author was assisted by. Sneevliet's widow before her death last year. Writing about her husband, Mrs. Sneevliet told Jan Hekkenberg: "Our principle still lives on, this I agreed with my husband when we parted." ee a
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At Q9-p.m. on Sunday-12 April 1942 seven death row cells of the German concentration camp at Amersfoort in: Holland were thrown...
Opens Extta guatds were Posed: anda call went out: 'There:are ....; dangerous people coming! Then Gnéevliet's voice was heard “Dy a. prisoner who was later ranted a reprieve: ‘Men, we are proud to”. be the first in Holland to die for one, ake. of, ‘the international’,
The ‘lights . were switoned - on every. "15 minutes. “Dutes Sass. guards patrolled. the ; outside. walls, using - toxr.ches. The next. morn ing the seven prisoners, members -of the. .outlawed Marx- -Lenin-Luxemburg Front, were brought together .in.a va x 4 foot-cell and‘toldthat the death sentence would be carried “out shortly. Permission to die without being blindfolded was.- -given.. Sneevliet, the ieader of the resistance. group, asked for the right to be. executed . last.
The condemned men were given cigars and Sheévliet spoke again: 'I suffered my Gethsemane last night. When I was a boy and joined the socialist movement the priest. said to me: "My boy, you may go your: way, as-tong as. you keep your faith," I have fought and kept the faith. Raith in tne International. “There will ‘be much more suffering and struggle, but the future will be ours:'"* ~ Sneevliet referred to some of his experiences in Indonesia, then the men. joined hands and together they sang the ‘International. 'T never heard.voices singing with so much sentiment and emotion, I was. not ashamed to OLY! wrote the fellow prisoner. .
“Later one of: tne condemned men asked for silence. ‘and a Catholic prayer was; recited. There was a-moment of absolute silence. -Then the. prisoners were put in,a.car and at twenty minutes past: nine the first shots.were heard... “Farewelling his relatives Gneevliet had written: ‘I hope to live up..to the Indghesian mottn: Beran Karena Benar -- Be brave, because ‘it is good.!
* KK : . . ‘Henricus (Henk) ‘J.P. M. Sneevliet was* born at Rotterdam: in 1883. His mother “died young’. leaving her «son: to the. care of. relatives. Thé Gneevliets were Catholics, ° ‘but Henk left:the Charch after he completed Grammar School and became a- -Eallway-employee. As a boy*he had seen much poverty for which the Church showed po | concern, but he developed no bitterness: 'I-did.not lose the ‘poetry and splendour of the goyful Catholic faith without acyuiring the riches and- religious | fervour of a belief in.Social Democracy’, he stated On oné occasion. Perhaps: Sneevliet's - loyalties remained Catholic, aif only in a human sense. b
Before. the first world war ‘Sneeviiet became. a trade union leader and in 1913, after a dispute about. Revisionism in the socialist movement, he left for Indonesia where a Dutch novelist, known for her deep concern about colonial conditions had arranged a position for him. or
The failure of Revisionist Socialisn in 1914 and the picture of colonial capitalism at work+taused: Sneeviiet's political creed to mature. 'I realized in Indonesia that I shared the beliefs of
Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotsky and others,'. he wrote. - re ce teed - ‘There were two nationalist movements. “in Indonesia in 1914, the Budi Utomo and the Sarekat Islam. Both of these were mainly _ Gorcerned with cultural and economic affairs, partly. for security _easons. Resentment against oppression and widespread: poverty: existed, but it did not yét express itself in‘any. well -defined.. social and political form. Sneevliet observed “the situation and _ when he became editor of ‘a-Buropean railway employees journal he ~made a move to extend -unzven membership to Indonesians. Many ‘European members resigned, but with Indonesian membership. the union became strong and later played | a part in tne nationalist _ movement. a re
> In om and upon “gneevliet's inubiative: ‘a. umber - of | Dutch Social Democrats ‘formed the. Indies Social. Democrat. Association :. (I.8.D.V.) with a weekly edited by himself and Bears, another - Marxist Dutchman. foe : ‘Sneevliet now started to advocate the liberation of Indo- “nesia through the organization afd struggle of the peasants ton ‘gether with the newly formed working-class. °Hée emphasized the» need for opposing both national and foreign capitalism and. ham—mered the point that European socialists had nothing in common with the foreign imperialists in Indonesia. This was powerful stuff in the Dutch East Indies at that time, even’ for the Javanese who listened to Sueevliet! s fiery ‘speeches. at: mass Bae eT eS » “response to the Marxist gospel, was as follows: yg
‘Only seldom have we heard somebody who testified So beautifully, so sensitively, so much frém the bottom of his heart of a belief founded on prolonged study, as Mr. Sneevliet did yesterday. For two hours he managed to captivate his .avdience’in an atmos—_ --=phere of ‘breathless. silence. . We know that this socialist, antigovernment and anti-employer. address deeply” impressed the. young : Javanese who:nevertheless did not dare too express theirx eppreciation by a Loud: applause. !.:>, eg ‘Gneevliet!s I. $.D. V. soon abtracted a number of capable -and intélligent Indonesians like Semaun, Tan Malakka and Darsono; all of later and still of present.fame. They’ began to influence the existing nationalist organizations towards a ‘leftist course. New trade unions were’ also formed. On 18th March 1917 word arrived ~ that the ‘Russian February Revolution had broken out and~ Sneeviiet . wrote: -: Bt
‘can the glad tidings also be heard in the towns and villages of this part of the world?
'Here lives a nation incomparably. ‘blessed by. nature.
. ‘Here lives a.nation that is needy and illiterate.
'Here lives a nation producing richés: which for centuries . have flowed. into the coffers of Western Europe.
‘Here lives a population which ‘endures ahd suffers.
"People. of Java, the Russian Revolution, also contains lessons for. you.- The Russian people: too. suffered. ages of ovpression. and were. poor. and largely illiterate, like _yourselves. a
“'phey, triumphed only by’ constant: struggle.
'Sexving the cause of freedom is a heavy responsibility. It. demands the. whole personality and courage, above all courage.
-c ‘Will those responsible for the distribution of material for-an Indonesian radical political : and economic movement now double. their efforts?
“And continue to work relentlessly, even. if much seed is. aa falling on: the rocks and. stones? . a
“fondly: then will the Indonesian ‘people ~ ‘find what “the | ‘Russian, people have found: Victory for. their CAUSE. ++." a
The Dutch colonial, authorities who. had been renarkably tolerant, or perhaps just careless towards Sneévliet and: his. works ,. now started legal. proceedings. against him. ‘A°trial was held in Semarang at which Sneevliet..defended himself with great. confidence. Altogether. he spoke. for Aine hours, attacking the colonial: system in a. way that. made it seem, according tod one Dutch newspaper,-as if the roles. of the. accused. and’ the-° prosecution were.: reversed. The ‘speeches. were later published | in the , - bookform..'..; a ets Dn
The Judge showed a liberal dislike for a political trial: and’ the prosecution had shown political ignorance and so Sneevliet was acquitted, Outside the Courthouse a huge crowd of. ‘Tndohesians welcomed him and by request of. the » Police he elimbed a _lamppost to address the multitude... . - ;
“Towards the end of the first world war the moderate | wing in the Dutch Social Democrat Party gained more influence‘‘and this in turn affected the I.S.D.V. in Indonesia which was mainly: Sneevliet' s creation. A large number of European members resigned to form a: separate organization and.so the I.S.D.V. became almost entirely an Indonesian group. The next development followed in' 1920 when it became the P.K.I., the Indonesian Communist Party. It is-significant ‘that Sneevliet's original Indonesian converts left the * party ‘in various ways. : . Fa ee
Sneevliet' s career in Indonesia came to an end in 1918... He
had become active in organizations for the Yower (Dutch’and Indonesian) ranks of the army and navy. On a May Day gathering he “addressed a large number of sailors as: "Fellow partymembers, friends, Red Guard of the-fleet'. According to the interpretation of one newspaper this meant that Sneevliet was convinced that 'almost the entire fleet was on-his side’. =
a “* It was probably an exéggeration, but the colonial authori- “ties ‘now decided to: remove Sneevliet. Twice he received visits from an agent-provocateur +--a-‘navy officer seeking support for a rebellion -- and the head of the political information service also called, pointing out; in a most reasonable manner, ‘that Sneevliet's followers could easily get out of hand. Towards the end of 1918 an expulsion order was issued and he left the country, fare- ‘welled like no Diatchman had éver been farewelled before.=:.
“Nor was: Sneevliet forgotten after his departure from Indonesia. He became the delegaté “for the P.K.I. at. the°Second Congress of the Comintern where Lenin appointed him as Secretary of the Commission on Colonial Problems in the Far East. His Indonésian friends’kept in touch with-him even from as far as the notorious Dutch concentration camp-Tanah-Merah in New -Guinéa.... .-And, as Arnold Brackman has observed in his exhaustive study of ‘Indonesian Communism, since the ‘days of Sneevliet Marxist-Nationalist sentiment has pérméated ‘the Indonesian independence movement.
Theré is no space to ‘discuss Gneevliet's further activities extensively here, but it’ may be interesting to. note that-as -a Comintern representative. hé was. active’ in China where he met.Sun. Yat Sen and assisted* the ‘reluctant- ‘Chinese ‘Communists to..establish. relations with the* Kuo Min fang. “En 1923 Sneevliet resigned from the Comintern’ and | ‘later becamé-a Trotskyist Member of’ Parliament. In close association with- Trotsky during the thirties, he was.:to receive attention: from Stalin's secret police: who «were: responsible for the murder of two prominent Trotskyists in Sneevlietts surroundings. Lo. os
. A few ‘days abter | the- German: “occupation of. Holland in 1940 the | German police called at’ Sneevliet'"s home in Amsterdam. He escaped and was soon busy with-the formation of an undergx ound political resistance group, the Marx-Lenin=Luxemburg Front. ..The M.L.L.F.. published a fortnightly bulletin, ran a youth movement , distributed. anti-Nazi pamphlets among the German occupation forces - and established | contacts with Marxist eroups in Belgium and in Germany itself. nn on : chong
The. invasion of: - Rubsie. in- 1941 caused. ae wave. of arrests. in Holland and a number of M.L.L.F. mémbers were.also. caught. A... second seriés of arrests ‘early in LHe hit the organization seriously and Sheevliet fled ‘south. It‘was' too. late; during a wild and stormy night both he and his wife (who was to survive the. Ravensbruck. concentration camp) were arrested near the Belgian frontier.
_a2Q-
. Along with others Sneevliet was tried and sentenced to death. According to his Dutch Counsel (allocated when the trial had already started). he defended himself with sound arguments in excellent German, The-trial revolved around Sneevliet and there -were times when the Court showed respect for his.stand. The summary of the trial shows a ‘Teutonic. thoroughness in its understanding of the resistance group:
It belongs to the comioniat, Broups which séék. to ‘over throw, on an international basis, the existing governments arid desire to -establish a: working class government according to the ideas of Marx, Lenin and Luxemburg. As.:a communist party. ‘of a Trotskyist nature it. (the MeL.L.F.) regards the. dieadership of Stalin as a betrayal of the party programme drawn up by Lenin and sees itself in a sense carrying out the will of Lenin, by seeking a Solution to the international problems through a "Fourth International".
'Sneevliet's political career from a minor trade union... secretary to Comintern Representative in the Far Hast, in the™ Dutch Hast Indies and in China, as well as his personal links with Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin indicate that he is a high, ‘fan-. atical and skilled communist .functionary, whose. activities against the state have been proved beyond doubt by the measures taken ™ against him by the police authorities of a number of countries."
‘He was fully conscious of the ‘punishment which his’ stand ces would bring. He takes the view that sacrifices are part of- the * political struggle and that he. is ) Prepared y if necessary , to die for his. political, beliefs,'
In a moving last Letter to his wife Sneevliet ‘wr ote about nis..life struggle:
'Tt did fot ‘bring riches’ or fame, such is the fate of those who do not regard.the world of today and tomorrow as all important and who under all.circumstances think of a future in which-norms of high quality will govern the relations betwéén man and man. For us world peace and brotherhocd have never been concepts incapable of realization.'
And in tribute to Henk Sneeviliet in 1954 John McNaixz of the British I.L.P. speaks of his knowledge.of languages, iiterature and socialism which Sneevliet always regarded as absolutely irreconcilable with any form of totalitarian government John McNair recollects how Sneevliet, better than most, “understood the ramifications of American ‘nonopely capitalism .and believed that «4 the planning of a socialist’ society: had td.be carried.out, in an atmosphere of freedom. Snéeviiet, according to-JTohn MeNair. who. knew him well between the wotid wars 3" ‘regarded the socialist as ~ the only true individualist whose attacks on any form of bureaucracy are based on his unalterable belief in the development of the human personality. :
'He showed himself the friend whom we Knew, respected and loved. For him it was impossible to sell or surrender his prin- -° ciples, he was prepared to die for-them.-° His name will live on in -. the history of socialist thinking as a source of lasting inspira- tion and the effect of his labours ana his personality will be. continued in the history of the human race.' fe
‘Enter into the ruling principle of your neighbour! s mind and suffer him to enter into yours', suggested Marcus. Aurelius 1800 years ago and this advice may still be useful today for a a better understanding of Indonesia where even anti-communists inter- :pret the West (including the Malaysia issue) in Marxist. terms... aie The story of Marxism in Indonesia starts with Henk ‘Snseviiet ‘who: : was its first missionary and ‘martyr. ae
References —
Voor “Vrijheid en Socialisme (For | Freedom and Socialism). Edited by M. Perthus for the Sneéviiet Commemoration Committee... : A series | Oh Sette ne ‘in bookform: privately published | in Rotterdam:: (1953).
Indonesian Communism -- A History , “Arnold C. ‘Breckaea, Frederick &. ‘Praeger, New York and London ; 1965.
“Sneevliet's archives have béen- ‘deposited in ‘the Interna-_ tional Institute for Social History in Amsterdam. There are also 185 letters and documents concerning Henk Sneevliet in the Library of Harvard University, belonging to the closed section of the _ Trotsky archives which may be made available in 1980.: [t-is unlikely that these refer to Sneevliet’ S Indonesian Period.
The Prophet Outcast, Isaac Deutscher , ‘0.U.Ps Vol. 3 of. Trotsky's Biography. “Contains a number of interesting ‘references os to Sneevliet. . . oo mG wat a
THE EXAMPLE OF CU CUBA
BY ‘Bertrand Russell
(The - following. is the text of a statement - by 1 Bertrand” Russell which was tape-recorded for Havana Radio. The world-— famous philosopher had sent a message of greetings to the Tricon- * tinental Conference. The Cuban. government was so pleased with this that _ they asked for a. _ tape- -recorded MESS age. )
Throughout the world, people speak in awe and admiration of the extraordinary spirit of the Cuban people. In the course of
-3l-..
history; there have been many. cruel: and :predatory. imperialisms , but few have been as powerful as United: States imperialism. <In’ Cuba, a: ‘small: ‘nation has defied successfully. this. great. colossus.
I. need ‘not ‘tell you of the. impact your: revolution has. made - “on the consciousness of “all those suffering from exploitation:and domination. There is no other country in Latin America where the wealth and resources’ of the population are-not manipulated and stolen*by. foreign capitalists whose. base: of operation. is the United States. ioe 7 A. a ae,
_ The problem, therefore, that presents » ‘itself bo. the ‘people. of the world ‘is how to remove "the. rulers of the United States, who have created a war machine of great brutality to protect their economic empire.
In Vietnam. and the Dominican Republic the. rulers: of ‘U. Ss. capitalism have: sought directly to. suppress: popular .and; patriotic ~ struggle.- But ‘the problem is not-’.only ‘one.-of ‘military. aggression. °«' U.S. rulérs also control world markets, and: through this. they . siphon the wealth of. people and make them ever more dependent on the United States. - When we consider «the suffering this.causes, _ we are again reminded of the debt we owe to the Cuhan people for: showing us the way to overcome misery and. degradation. oe
Let us examine the nature of this war machine. “Phree | thousand military -bases and. vast mobile fleets, bearing missiles and fleets of nucléar.bombers, are spread over our planet. to protect the -ownership and control by U.S. capitalism of: sixty per cent of the world's..réesources.,: 3: Sixty. -per cent of the world's resources are owned bY the tulers of six per cent of the world's population. = oo oh! ;
he ageressiveness. of this empire imposes. on “mankind. an Oo expenditure of $140,000 ,000 ,000. annually. or $16,000,000 each hour. The current arms: expenditure..exceeds the entire. national income | of all developing countries. .It.exceeds the world's annual exports of atl ‘commodities. ~ It exceeds the national income of... Africa, Asia’and Latin America. Tne U.S. military budget is, |. nearly $60',0G0,000;000 per year. One Atlas missile costs ...- $30, 000 5000 : ‘or the "equivalent of the total investment for nitrogen fertilizer plant with capacity: of 70, 000 tons. per annum. Let .
Consider this in terms ‘of the Unitea Kingdom oniy, to take the example of a prosperous country: one obsolet: missile equals four universities, one TSR-2 equals five modern hospitals, one ground-to-air missile equals 100,000 tractors.
During the past fourteen years the U.S. spent $4,000,000 ,000 to purchase farm surpluses; butter and cheese have been stored and poisoned to keep prices up in the world markets. Blue dye is poured into great mountains of butter and cheese to render them unusable. By 1960, 125,000,000 tons of bread grain had been
stored in the United States to rot -- enough food for every citizen of India for one year. Unimaginably vast quantities of: faodstuffs are calculatedly destroyed by the rulers of U.S. capitalism for no other purpose than the continuation of their profits and the retention of their power.. Like vultures the: handful of the “rich batten on the: poor, the exploited, the oppresseds : : A drop. of five per cent in: the world price. “of. staple . exports of any country would, according to Dag Hammarskjold, wipe out all investments of the world bank, of the United Nations and ' all bilateral and other investments. These were the fears of Hammarskjold.-..What are the facts? In. recent. years. prices have - been operated against poor countries. not merely. at five. ‘per cent but at forty per cent. ; _ hook TS
The industrial production of Western sapitalion is con-
scivously employed not only to perpetuate the: hunger-which exists ‘in the world,-but to increase it vastly: for: profit.: In South -- Africa, 10,000.children die annually from gastroenteritis. The. smallpox which haunts many countries:.could, be eliminated at a cost of $500,000. Hundreds of millions. who sutfexr. from. yaws could. be cured by a five-penny shot of penicillin, Five hundred million:. people have trachoma. Sixty per cent. of tne-children of Africa suffer from protein-deficiency diseases such. as kwashiorkor, beriberi ox pellagra.
- When U.S. capitalists hoard: food and: ‘poison “ity they. not “only deprive the starving , but force the developing countries. to buy food at high costs. The. riches of the.earth.are: destzroyed,, wasted, stolen by the” few and used. to. murder the. millions. -.
But the people of Cuba nave stirred the conscience. - of the American people. Every university, school and, indeed, every major city in the United States witnesses the “popular resistance ‘of the American people to the military- -industrial complex which. rules: them. This new: resistanee of the people of, the United | States is-a tribute to the people of. Cuba, because the. demands of the American resistance are precisely those. which: have been achieved, in practice, in- Cuba. As the people of the United States become more militant and strong in their opposition, and “as the peoples of the world follow the Cuban example, the predatory system which so jeopardizes world peace will succumb to the people of the United States and the world.
I sent you ny warmest: greetings in our common struggle.