Dorothee Gizenga writes about her father Antoine Gizenga of the Congo
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I read today your review of the movie Lumumba. And for as much as you are clearly supportive of Lumumba himself, I am surprised at how little do you know about his supporters, collaborators and comrades. So you speak of Antoine Gizenga as a traitor. I would like to know on what grounds?

Antoine Gizenga, former vice-Premier Minister in Lumumba’s government is still alive and has led a life of exile and of big sacrifice. As his daughter, I can’t begin to tell you the tribulations we have lived through during his 27 years of exile (in the former Soviet Union, in France, in Angola, in Congo-Brazzaville), and then after his return to Congo.

I witnessed his dedication to the Congo, to pan-Africanism and to Lumumba’s legacy.

We, his children, lived with him a life of danger and sacrifice and were asked to accept that Congo was our father’s primary focus.

We were with him when an attempted assassination failed in 1977. We were expelled from France with him a few weeks later not knowing our destination, until we were welcomed in Algeria and then by Agostinho Neto in Angola.

A few years later, our father was a “nuisance” to Dos Santos regime in his attempt to negotiate peace with Zaire to eliminate FNLA. It took a hunger strike of the whole family to be released out of Angola. Accepted in Congo-Brazzaville at first, the family found itself facing a firing squad at the airport on arrival, then jailed until Brazzaville cleared it with with Kinshasa. I could tell you more...

We were afraid of our father's return to the Congo. However, he told us that at his age, if he is to die anywhere, he will rather die in the Congo, no matter even if it was brutally. And so he returned in 1992 and participated in the National Conference under constant harassment.

On July 29, 1995, 35 people were butchered at my father’s residence during the brutal attack led by Mobutu’s soldiers. These events were broadcasted on international news. In August 1997, we saw a repeat of military attack on Gizenga’s residence. This time by soldiers of Laurent Desiré Kabila.

I do not intend this to be an emotional letter, I just could not stay silent after reading such an unjust portrayal of someone you do not know (even if you may have met him) and know nothing about.

I may be his daughter, but I know that the force and persecution suffered by our father are not necessary against any corrupted traitor.

My words would not be accepted by you as credible, because I am his daughter. Yet, numerous writings exist that are contrary to your statements. I will cite “Congo Cables” by Madeline Kalb,” because she is an American and “ My Mother, Africa” by Andrée Blouin who was chef de protocol of Lumumba’s government, loaned to Lumumba by Sekou Touré of Guinée.

Your statements also contradict the effusive demonstration of support by the Congolese and African people towards Antoine Gizenga and the fear of him by political opponents.

How well do you know the circumstances of the trip to Russia? You even claim that Lumumba did not call on Russians, when he actually resorted to what he thought was his last hope, when neither the Americans, nor the United Nations would help him against Belgian-organized plots to destabilize our first and only democratic government to date.

My letter may not make a difference to you, but it does to me.

Regards, Dorothée Gizenga

REFERENCE: The best summary I have found of the history of the Congo and the only full description of the activities of the various military and mercenary elements after independence is "Heart of Darkness: the Tragedy of the Congo, 1960-67" © 1997 by Dr. Robert Craig Johnson, a highly respected military historian. This is part of a series first published, in abbreviated form, in 'Eagle Droppings', the Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Chapter, IPMS/USA. It includes excellent pictures of all the military aircraft involved and a very good map. You will find this at http://worldatwar.net/chandelle/v2/v2n3/congo.html

CONTENTS: PATRICE LUMUMBA, THE CONGO, AND ALL OF AFRICA
MANY OF THESE PAGES CONTAIN FULL SIZE DOCUMENTS AND ARE VERY LARGE. IF YOU ARE ON BROADBAND THIS WILL NOT BE A PROBLEM, BUT IF YOU ARE ON A DIAL-UP MODEM, SOME PAGES WILL TAKE AS LONG AS A MINUTE OR MORE TO LOAD.
IF YOU ARE ON AOL YOU MUST GO TO USER PREFERENCES AND TURN OFF "USE COMPRESSED IMAGES" (WHICH IS THE DEFAULT BECAUSE AOL DOES NOT HAVE THE BANDWIDTH TO GIVE ITS CUSTOMERS THE QUALITY OF THE IMAGES THAT ARE ACTUALLY ON THE WEB SITES). IF YOU DO NOT TURN OFF "USE COMPRESSED IMAGES", AOL WILL REPROCESS THE IMAGES THROWING AWAY MUCH OF THE DETAIL AND COLOR SO THAT THE TYPE IN THE DOCUMENTS WILL NOT BE READABLE, AND PHOTOGRAPHS WILL LOOK TERRIBLE.

Lumumba, the assassinated first Prime Minister of the Congo.
D'Lynn Waldron's newspaper headline stories and photographs, plus related documents from 1960, with a commentary by D'Lynn Waldron written 2001-2003. The subjects covered on this web site include Lumumba in Stanleyville and his real attitude towards America and Russia, and the secret cannibal war in the Kasai fostered by the Belgian government to sabotage the upcoming independence, which D'Lynn Waldron exposed.

PART 1- LUMUMBA IN STANLEYVILLE AT THE TIME OF THE ELECTIONS
D'Lynn Waldron was the only correspondent in Stanleyville and her newspaper stories contain both historically accurate information as written by D'Lynn Waldron, and also the disinformation put in by the newspaper publisher back in America. Her 2001 commentary points out the disinformation.

........Lumumba in Stanleyville- D'Lynn Waldron's 1960 headline story

........D'Lynn Waldron's commentary on this written in 2001

........Lumumba's telegram regarding troops being brought in, etc.

........D'Lynn Waldron's commentary on her time in the Congo written in 2001

........Lumumba's typed statements on his policies for the Congo with D'Lynn Waldron's handwritten questions

........Patrice Lumumba's statements on his policies for the Congo in D'Lynn Waldron's handwritten interview notes

........Lumumba's statements about the Belgian Admin and General Janssens in Stanleyville (document is a VERY large file!)

........Cable with Lumumba's statements sent by D'Lynn Waldron and not published by Scripps-Howard Newspapers

........Messages carried between Lumumba and General Janssens by D'Lynn Waldron with Lumumba's handwritten comments

.......D'Lynn Waldron's report on conflict between General Jannsens and Patrice Lumumba

.......Refusals of Belgian Administration to transmit D'Lynn Waldron's press cables about Lumumba

.......TIME Magazine's slanders of Patrice Lumumba May 1960

......D'Lynn Waldron's cable to American Consulate in Uganda about hitch hiking out of Congo through Ruanda Urundi

........A GALLERY OF PICTURES OF PATRICE LUMUMBA

........OLD PICTURE MAP OF THE MAJOR TRIBES OF THE PRE-COLONIAL CONGO

.......Tribal war in Luluabourg, Belgian Congo D'Lynn Waldron

........Response to a reader asking why Lumumba was assassinated

.......Raoul Peck's movie "Lumumba" a discussion by D'Lynn Waldron

.......Ludo De Witt's book "The Assassination of Lumumba" a brief review by D'Lynn Waldron

.......E-Mail with historical data concerning her father and family from Dorothee Gizenga

THE TRIBAL WAR IN THE KASAI FOSTERED BY BELGIUM BEFORE INDEPENDENCE TO CREATE CHAOS ALLOWING THEM TO TAKE BACK THE CONGO'S MINERAL-RICH AREAS OF KATANGA AND THE KASAI.

.........The Tribal War In Luluabourg- D'Lynn Waldron's 1960 headline story

.........Kasai section of D'Lynn Waldron's book "Secret in the Heart of Darkness"

........Henry N. Taylor killed filling in for D'Lynn Waldron in Luluabourg the Congo

D'LYNN WALDRON'S PHOTOS AND SKETCHES OF AFRICA

.........Sketch of man in the interior on the Congo River

.........Photograph of a mountain village in Rwanda

.........A Gallery of African Children

D'LYNN WALDRON IN SOUTH AFRICA AND ESCAPE FROM THE SECRET POLICE