An
island that has withstood the shifting sands, or should I say waves of time and
history- adapting from vegetable patch to prison to asylum and hospital, just a
few of the various roles it has served in World History. Robben Island is a
tiny rocky outcrop measuring 9.3 km, just off the Cape of Good Hope. These are
stories from the points of view of different people, all having passed or lived
on Robben Island, and describe the island’s past vividly.
Are they real people? Does it really matter to
you, as long as they tell a real story, because after all- the island, or it’s
rocks or lighthouse or buildings or even people wouldn’t be known unless they
told a story, would they? Would any historical site be anything unless it had a
story, of who built it why, or how?
Where did I get these excerpts from…now that
would be telling, wouldn’t it?
Excerpts from the
diary of Ambròsio Ferreirâ, 1498-1527.
6th June 1498
Good Day. This ‘diary’ as Captain
Barthomolew Diaz, leader of our fleet says, will help me to keep my thoughts in
order and write down exactly what I do and see here, to tell dear Mama and Papa
when I am home in Porto, Portugal. To begin, let me write who I am lest a stranger
read this diary.
I am Ambròsio Ferreirâ, First mate on
this ship the São Cristóvão, the lead ship of Captain Barthomolew Diaz, great
explorer’s fleet. We are supposed to reach India on the Spice Route and bring
spices, silk and other such commodities back home. If we do this, we will be
hugely rewarded by the King- or so the Captain says.
Anyway, soon we should be reaching
India, our first stop on the route.
7th
June 1498
It has been many days since I last
wrote. This is for various reasons including the fact that many shipmates were
sick and I had to do extra duty. To continue, many are disgruntled at the
Captain- he promised we would be there soon, but it has been 11 days and he
insists we aren’t even a quarter through the journey. We will be fast running
out of food unless we make a stop at one of the fishing ports on our way…
25th
June 1498
7 days later and my prediction has
come true! We are running out of food. Many have already got the first symptoms
of scurvy and unless the Captain swallows his pride, admits his calculations
are wrong and stops at a port, many will be in Davy Jones Locker!
30th
June 1498
The Captain has finally decided to let
us stop at a port due to ‘our great inability to survive in un-luxurious
conditions which will lead us to our doom in India’. Whatever he says! But by
now no more ports are in sight…God help us!
31st
June 1498
Praise be to the Lord! One of the
Second Mates went ashore on a tiny island and discovered there was extremely
fertile land! We decided to plant our leftover seeds so we could get some food
on our way back, and fished quite a bit to last us on the rest of our journey,
as well as killed some animals for meat and took a few eggs.
3rd
July 1498
We will reach India soon. Now, thanks
to us, ships travelling to Spice Lands will have food, water and shelter as we
have set up base in a cave*, where rations have been stored for our way back.
6th
June 1527
Today is the same day, though 58 years
later, that we set out from this very harbor to India and when I began my
diary. It has been so many years since I wrote in this diary. Someday I will
give this diary to my children…then they will see how much their forefathers
have done for them-my son is also a sailor, and he stops at that very island we
discovered…this is the last entry I will make in this diary before leaving it
to my son. This will help future generations realize the past has a large
effect on the present, even though my son writes that the island may soon be
conquered by the Dutch…
*However,
the cave no longer exists.
Excerpts from the diary of Wilhelm Van Ryjn 1676-1735
and Frederik Van Ryjn, 1735-1795.
6th
June 1676
This is to keep
record of what happens on this island, if the General Riebeeck should ever need
a report. Lest a stranger read this afterwards, I will put down a little bit
about myself so it should go down in history.
I am Wilhelm Van
Ryjn, of Lutzenberg, Deutschland*. I am
part of the expedition led by Jan Van Riebeeck and we have claimed this area in
a land they call ‘Africa’. We were supposed to be home in 3 months, but when we
went home, the King ordered all the men back to this godforsaken place along
with their families to live there! Yes, live here and build a city for him, to
send him fresh produce, meat and other materials from here as well as take care
of the prisoners he deports here. And who got the prison supervisor’s job? Yours
truly. And I am not even on the mainland! We are on this island covered in Rob-
the English call them seals. The men call this island Robben Island due to the
seals. And by men, I mean the criminals whom I have to supervise as they cut stone
and burn seashells for lime to send to the mainland to build the Cape Town they
are settling. The only problems appear to be the natives (the slaves), also
transported here from other parts of conquered Africa. They stay away from the
other men, but….
I will write more
tomorrow.
*Holland, genius!
9th
June 1676
The criminals and
slaves were doing fine! But now Captain Jan insists we need even more stone and
lime-yes, I agree they are criminals and all, but this is inhuman! Even they
cannot work all day with just single meal at night! But I am afraid I may
become one of them if I protest, for the Captain is ruthless- even to me, his
right hand man. They will have to keep working…I cannot help but wonder what
has been told to the King, for I am sure His Majesty would not allow this…at
least I do not think so. However, the natives have been coming closer and
closer lately- I do hope they do not attempt to attack us. I would hate to see
them slaughtered as has occurred on the mainland. Another reason the men are
displeased is that the natives do no work- all us officers are a little nervous
of them.
15th
June 1676
Why me? Why did I
have to be sent for this duty while the others are on mainland? What of my
family and my son? The other children go to school on the mainland…yet there
are no boats to take my son to and from this godforsaken island each day.
Without education, what will he grow up to be? I suppose the next Island
Warden. Will my whole family be trapped here? I hope not! The men are working
fine, but I can see the discontentment in their eyes growing each day. I do
hope there are no riots. The slaves are coming even closer and I can even see
the patterns of their war-paint: none of them are alike in the least. How
undisciplined. Also, why didn’t the war-paint wear off yet? I wonder…
18th
July 1676
Oh dear! The
natives made some whooping noises. The disgruntled men attacked, and of course
the natives fought back! Just the excuse they were looking for to attack us,
wasn’t it? I am writing this with a bloody nose from one of the native’s arms.
I have no choice but to write to Captain Riebeeck for reinforcements…
21st July 1676
Good Lord! The
reinforcements are doing their best to control them, but no luck! There is
still fighting, many men are unable to work. And the Captain wants even more
limestone and burnt seashells as well as sending MORE tribals! This is really
pushing it to the limit…
6th
June 1735
Papa managed to teach me
how to read and write, as I couldn’t go to school. Yes, I am the son of Wilhelm
Van Ryjn, great Dutch
But things are better
now than before. The natives have been disciplined and the men do less, but
equal work. Captain Jan Van Riebeeck is still around, but I suppose old age
softened his attitude toward the men and their work. Papa gave me this diary to
continue, though I doubt the Captain will ever need a report now…
10th
June 1775
Papa died yesterday. And
Captain Riebeeck came around to give his condolunses condolences as well
as to tell us that after all these years of peace and quiet, the British are
planning to invade! Now you wouldn’t catch me saying this out loud, but I’m
glad ! At last I see some real action around these parts…
1st
August 1795
The news: ( it’s good
and bad) the British invaded! The sort of bad news: They won. The worst news: I
still have this crummy job! They kept me on as Warden, but now I have to look
after British as well as the existing Dutch prisoners! Ugh…Also, I couldn’t
write for so long because of the war and all.
3rd
December 1795
Oh, great! Now I have to
control riots between the British and Dutch, the British and Natives, the
Natives and the Dutch! As if it wasn’t enough already, the British have ordered
for them to build an Anglican Church. (they have no more use for the lime and
stone, I think, because the city looks quite complete to me since the last time
I went there….)
1st
Januaru 1796
GOOD NEWS!! We can go
home! Ah, I do hope Oma and Opa, my grandparents, recognize me and my family…We
will finally see the Great Lighthouse and all the other places Papa always
spoke of! I do believe this is the last time I shall write this diary…there
will be no more reports to give, back home, so I will leave this in the lighthouse
storage room’s secret
compartment, which I made them build especially for this purpose. I suppose
being Island Warden has its good points…
(Yes,
I edited it for obvious purposes already stated in the introduction! Can we
please get back to the story now?)
Excerpts from the diary of Kelly O’Hara,
1867-1931
6th
June 1863
Good Day. I’m Kelly O’Hara, and I am the
daughter of Thomas O’Hara, doctor on Robben Island, also called Leper Island.
I’m 13 years old. My Mathair* is Ginny O’Hara, one of the nurses. We (my
parents) moved here from Cork, Ireland, before I was born. I’m 11 now. We live
on ‘Robben’ Island, or the island of seals, as they call it. Or at least that’s
what Mrs. Doyle, the oldest lady on the island, says. She used to be a nurse,
but now her children work at the hospital. But why they call it a hospital, I
don’t know- I thought in a hospital people were free to go back home whenever
they wanted to? Here, they’re locked up- all the people with leprosy (Mr. Doyle
calls them lepers and says they have a HORRIBLE disease and if they lived free
and touched other people, they would all get the disease and die!). Anyway, this
island is where the people who are mad, the lepers and the REALLY ill are sent,
and doctors like my Athair** try and cure them. There are also various other
ill people that the British Government does not want on mainland for some
reason. I feel sad for them as they are neither ill and nor have they done
anything wrong! Many of them are black natives and such races.
The
lepers occupy two buildings, the sick one and the mad about one and a half. The
other buildings
Now
Mathair wants me for some chores… I
will write some more later.
*Mother
**Father
11th June 1863
Athair
insists that the lepers are not infectious and should be sent to a Mainland
hospital to get better, but he doesn’t dare say so to the authorities, of
course. Then he would be arrested! No one says things like that, let alone
thinks them. But Athair is a very different thinker, or so Mathair says...
Anyway, Athair gave me this diary to let my
imagination loose in- this is where I also can be a free thinker like him but
Mathair wouldn’t find out and tell me to stop being silly as she always does!
Right now, both my parents are at work and my brother, Brian, is at his friend,
Patrick Doyle’s house. Patrick is the grandson of the Mrs. Doyle I was talking
about…Athair
says that more lepers will come to the island soon. I think that is just sad-
imagine their families back on mainland, not knowing whether they are even
alive or not and never meeting them again! The mentally ill have been making
even more noises lately. As for the really ill, well what could they be doing
anyway- most of them can’t even get up from their beds!
20th August 1863
Sometimes I feel terribly sad for the
lepers and the patients…most
doctors, unlike Athair, treat them horribly! The lepers are probably the best
off- and even those poor things have to stay days without clean beds or water,
and sometimes the food is stale and days old. As for those who are really sick…well, they just exist. Sometimes people
forget to give them their medicine, and they die because for most of them, that
medicine is what keeps them alive. One missed dose and that’s it. The mad ones
are worst. They bang and scream and yell all day long. Most of the nurses and
doctors are afraid to go near and as a result, they hardly get ANY food. Many
are even insane killers and the other day, one of the murderers stabbed another
to death! Oh dear, Mathair wants me to fetch something…
1st
January 1864
The
Lighthouse has been built! Now no more ships will crash on the rocks. Mrs.
Doyle’s third son and Patrick’s father, Edward Doyle, is lighthouse keeper! I
do hope he will let us look around…I
must get ready for the Doyle’s New Year Party.
15th September 1867
Good news! Athair says that the government
has built new hospitals for the mad and very sick, and soon they will be
transferred! Brian and me were most relieved while Mathair just snorted. I
cannot understand how she is so unfeeling!
Anyway, the poor old lepers will have to stay…Athair also says that this means most of
the lepers on mainland will now be sent here- I do not know if this is good or
bad. On one hand, the others get to be closer to their families, but more
lepers come even farther away from home! I do not suppose it matters to the
lepers as anyway no one comes to visit them for fear they may get the disease…So now at least the crazy and
‘chronically ill’ as Athair calls them, will be taken better care of, which
also means the doctors will have more time, money and space for the lepers! Ah,
thank the lord. I think he finally heard my prayers for those unfortunate
beings….Mr.
Doyle finally let us visit the lighthouse. I can see as far as the mainland
from the top! I saw the huge mountain that surrounds the Cape Town. It looks
very beautiful!
6th December 1868
More
and more lepers arrive each week…I do
believe we have at least 500! More families destroyed, more distance between
loved ones…I wish
it would end! I wish people believed Athair about
10th January 1875
Oh Lord! When will you end this cruelty? We
have 1000 inmates- that sounds more appropriate and prison worthy rather than
patients- as I wrote in my very first entry, in hospitals they would be free to
go, and here they are locked up! The government has decided that they need to
do some work. Athair and the other doctors will decide what they should build
and send a report to the mainland. Athair says that will take a few years just
to be agreed on, approved and designed.
11th February 1885
They have finally agreed on and approved a
plan for the lepers to build a Church for themselves. It will be called the
Church of the Good Shepherd and will be designed by the British
They
have started building the Church! They say it will finish in 2 years, but who
knows? You can never believe these architect people, or so Athair said in his
last letter.
7th December 1892
Hah!
So much for it finishing in 2 years- they haven’t even built the second tower
yet, let alone the insides of the Church, which should have taken the last six
months to hand paint and carve. Well, work on that island is as slow as ever!
8th January 1894
They’ve
finished the building at last! Mathair
said so in her last letter. Now they must hand paint the inner stained glass
and the statues and relics will be sent from the mainland once everything is
over- the wood carved seats and altar, the painted walls as well as the stained
glass- will take a year, I believe, though they say 6 months! Mathair told me
all this in her last letter.
1st January 1895
I am
here for New Years Eve, and they have finished the church at last! I must admit
it looks beautiful- a shame we cannot go in there to pray, it is only for the
lepers…
1st January 1931
It has
been many years since I began this diary- and now, at last, the torture and
horror of Robben Island comes to an end- they have finally listened to Athairs’
and his fellow doctors’ claims as to leprosy NOT being contagious! The lepers
are being moved to hospitals inland. And since this diary was about that
terrible time, I have decided to end it here. Yes, this is my last entry in a
diary almost 60 years old…
Excerpts
from the diary of Harry Matthews, 1936-1959
5th
January 1936
Hitler has declared World War 2. For
all us soldiers, it means leaving home
again. But for where, no one knows! We may be shifted again, I hope- they’ve
stuck me and about a hundred others on this desolate place called the Cape.
I’ve heard of the British colonies near the Cape and the Cape itself, but when
they told me I was assigned to Cape Town, mother was excited as I would
probably not be on the front line with a risk of being killed- but it is
pointless then, isn’t it? Leaving our cozy home in Chelsea and coming all the
way here, then not even fighting. Here I doubt I’ll even be doing anything to
help- as Main Defense for Cape Town. What is so important to protect this
godforsaken tiny town, I will never understand. Like it will ever enter
Hitler’s head to attack one of Britain’s colonies that simply exists for the
sake of existing- there is NOTHING, and I mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to defend
here! The General Smuts will give us our orders tomorrow…
6th
January 1936
The General
says that the HMS Erebus will be used as Offshore Defense. I doubt it will
survive this choppy water- but who am I to say anything? It will be positioned
between that little island that was a leper colony and that the Government
wanted to turn into a holiday spot before WW2. ‘Robben’ Island, the locals call
it. Anyway, the others believe we will be sent aboard the Erebus- but I will
not count my chickens before they hatch like the others…
15th December 1936
It has been
almost a year! And what of the HMS Erebus? NOTHING! It will not survive the
waters, mark my words! Look at the gun size. One shot from those and watch the Bay destroyed…
19th December 1938
They have
finally come to their senses! The Erebus is being sent back and now they need a
new point of defence- I think they will decide upon the little island!
7th January 1939
I am being
sent along with a few others and the SAEC (South African Engineering
Corporation) to survey the island and figure out HOW exactly we will fit 3,000
soldiers and those HUGE new weapons on that island.
6th June 1939
They have
begun the building at last! Now it will have barracks, gun batteries and drill
areas. There will be two gun batteries at the north and south ends of the
island respectively- Cornelia (6 inch) and Robben (9.2 inch). All with the help
of yours truly! I now realize why they needed to protect Cape Town- Gen. Smuts
says it will be the main trading point for supplies through the Suez Canal to
Britain. That’s why they need so much protection for it. They are also building
a new Murray’s Harbor- the tiny jetty on the island stands no chance against
the 30 ton guns it will soon be transporting.
7th August 1940
I am one of
the first few to be drafted to this island as the batteries are fully
operational. As it is doubtful for the Germans to attack, this island is
becoming a training center for the time being.
5th October 1942
The Coastal
Artillery School has many trainees- but the batteries are being ruined due to
frequent use…The Germans have almost severed our route to the middle east with
their U-Boats! One even came within hailing distance and surveyed our harbor
defenses before submerging again. THE NERVE!!!! They are sinking ships all
around the Cape Waters- we shouldn’t stand for this!
12th December 1942
The cunning
Germans sank 21 of our ships!
We are all
being withdrawn from this island and the batteries are being placed under
maintenance- what did they expect with so much use??
7th February 1945
Men from
the Cape Corps (us, now) are being stationed at the island once again! Let us
see what they have done to that desolate bit of rock now.
19th August 1945
Ugh, this
place has become HORRIBLE. Our uniforms don’t fit, there is nothing even
faintly resembling a mess, and less pay. I hate this place- I think I will go
back home! WORST OF ALL, we can’t be promoted above warrant officers, and so no
matter what we do, neither our pay nor our ranks will be increased.
17th December 1945
Thank the
gods! All personnel can leave the island, and mark my words I will be the
first. HOME SWEET ENGLAND, at last!!!!
6th June 1946
I’m now a
free man. All troops have been deployed from Robben Island. This is my final
entry in this diary. I’m now a civilian and I plan to work as an engineer or
start my own business…and have no need of this little book now that I’m home to
the fog, rain and fish and chips of good ol’ England! But I sometimes miss that
godforsaken rocky place- the freedom, the chirping of the seagulls each
morning, falling asleep to the sound of waves. But I don’t miss the place’s
climate and our jobs. I guess you win some, you lose some.
In the years to come,
Robben Island served as a prison for political prisoners- namely those who
stood up against racism and apartheid, the most famous of which being none
other than the President of the South African Republic, Nelson Mandela.
He started a famous
pile of rock there. A rock pile, you think. It’s made of stones from the
limestone quarry where he and his fellow ex-prisoners worked. When they came
back for a reunion, he picked up a rock and placed it in front of the lime
quarry in which they once worked long hours. His fellow prisoners picked up
different stones and placed them on top, creating a pile of stones that
represents the different races, castes and creeds of humankind.
That’s a time everyone’s heard of. These, I doubt
anyone has, unless you’ve been to the island. Tell me, did you? That’s why I
wrote this.
To show the world the history of a tiny rocky
outcrop off the Cape of Good Hope, that’s just a tiny dot on a map of the
world- but holds a special place in people’s hearts, as the one place on Earth
that truly celebrates the triumph of the human spirit- Robben Island.
