"De Overval": Aanslag op Suid-Afrikaanse Biblioteek in Amsterdam

Abstract

The  South  African  Institute  (SAI)  on  Keizersgracht  141,  Amsterdam,  was  seen  as  the  most  important  library on the subject of South Africa in Europe. It had a comprehensive collection of Africana, dating back  to  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries.  On  January  19,  1984,  more  than  50  young  people,  wearing  black  stockings  over  their  heads,  forced  their  way  into  the  building.  They  wreaked  havoc.  Bookshelves  were  pulled  over  and  books  and  documents,  and  the  building  façade  were  splashed  with  “paint  and  oil  bombs”.  Hundreds  of  books  were  hurled  into  the  adjacent  canal.  A  radical  group  of  anti-apartheid  protestors,  calling  themselves  “Amsterdammers  against  racism  and  discrimination”,  claimed responsibility for the library’s destruction. They declared that the institute supported apartheid. For  them  the  library  was  primarily  a  symbol  of  repressive  ideals  and  hated  policy.  They  destroyed  the  library  because,  according  to  them,  the  Dutch  government  was  dragging  its  feet  over  the  issue  of  condemning South Africa and breaking off contact. In South Africa, newspapers responded to the attack
on  the  library  with  outrage  and  moral  indignation.  Dutch  newspapers  also  decried  the  incident  as  violent and senseless. Even the Dutch anti-apartheid organisations were critical of the vandalism. The library was, ironically, also used by vocal opponents of apartheid. It also contained works which were forbidden in South Africa.