Titans of History

In 1938, Duvalier formed Le Groupe des Griots, a group of black intellectuals—influenced by the ethnologist and voodoo scholar Lorimer Denis—which aimed to awaken black nationalism and voodoo mysticism in Haiti. Voodoo, which derives from the word vodun, meaning spirit, is an ancient religious practice that originated in west Africa, perhaps as much as 10,000 years ago. It is still practiced by more than thirty million people worldwide, despite once being suppressed and denounced as black magic by Christian colonialists.

In 1946, after the Second World War, Dr. Duvalier joined the government of President Dumarsais Estimé, becoming director general of Haiti’s public health service and then, in 1948, minister of public health. In 1950, however, the government was overthrown by a military coup led by Paul Magloire, who identified Duvalier as a key opponent of the new regime, forcing him into hiding from 1954.

Haiti was notoriously unstable, however, and Duvalier re-emerged in December 1956 after Magloire was compelled to resign. Over the next nine months, the country experienced six governments, Duvalier and his followers participating in them all. Finally, in September 1957, he was elected president in his own right, on a populist platform, promising to end the control of the mulatto elite—those of mixed Latin American and European origin—and claiming to be a voodoo priest. (The “Papa” in his name is a reference to the name often given to Voodoo priests and priestesses.)

Despite the fact that the generals had helped to rig his election, Duvalier did not trust the army and, with the help of his chief aide, Clément Barbot, he decreased its size and created the Tonton Macoutes, or Volunteers for National Security, as a counterweight. The Volunteers, soon known as the Bogeymen, were a thuggish militia, loyal to the president and numbering between 9000 and 15,000. Without an official salary, they were instead given free rein by the government to help themselves through extortion, racketeering and crime—in return, they kidnapped, intimidated and murdered opponents of the regime, as many as 30,000 during Duvalier’s reign. They dressed in quasi-military clothing, wore dark glasses and mimicked the demons of the voodoo tradition, preferring to use machetes and knives rather than firearms to dispose of their victims, whom they would leave strung up as a warning to others. No rivals were to be tolerated in Duvalier’s regime, as his aide Barbot discovered to his cost after he temporarily assumed the reins of government when the president suffered a heart attack in May 1959. On Duvalier’s recovery, he was promptly imprisoned and, after plotting against his former friend on his release, killed in 1963. Others considered a threat were sent to Fort Dimanche, where they were tortured to death.

Having fought off an attempted invasion by Haitian exiles—assisted by Cuban guerrillas—in August 1959, Duvalier soon resumed control. In 1961, a sham election saw his term as president unanimously extended to 1967, Haiti as a result becoming increasingly isolated, as potential allies such as the United States—which had backed him against the 1959 invasion attempt—began to ostracize the regime. This isolation, however, gave Duvalier more room to stamp his cult of personality on the regime, manipulating the voodoo traditions of the island and portraying himself as the embodiment of the nation. He imposed his image on the rural population by mimicking Baron Samedi, a sinister spirit figure in voodoo associated with death, depicted in top hat and tuxedo, with dark glasses and skull-like face. At the same time, despite having been excommunicated by the Vatican in 1964 for harassing the clergy, he associated himself closely with the figure of Christ, one notorious propaganda image depicting Jesus with his hand on Duvalier’s shoulder declaring, “I have chosen him.”

In 1964, Duvalier became president for life in a quasi-monarchical regime, amending the constitution to ensure that his son, Jean-Claude, became president following his death. Baby Doc Duvalier duly took over the country in 1971 at just nineteen years of age, his ostentatious displays of wealth incurring the wrath of the impoverished nation, which remained largely illiterate while the corrupt elite siphoned off the country’s remaining assets. Baby Doc ruled until 1986, when he was overthrown by the military.

SCHINDLER

1908–1974

I hated the brutality, the sadism, and the insanity of Nazism. I just couldn’t stand by and see people destroyed. I did what I could, what I had to do, what my conscience told me to do. That’s all there is to it. Really, nothing more.

Oskar Schindler