Ugly history: The 1937 Haitian Massacre - Edward Paulino

翻译人员: Chien Yet Chong 校对人员: Viviana Hu

“无论是活人还是死者，我们都该为他们作证” -- 埃利·维瑟尔

When historians talk about the atrocities of the 20th century,

当历史家谈到 20世纪的暴行时，

we often think of those that took place during and between the two World Wars.

我们往往会想起发生于两次世界大战 或是两次大战之间的那些事。

Along with the Armenian genocide in modern-day Turkey,

除了现代土耳其的亚美尼亚大屠杀、

the Rape of Nanking in China,

中国的南京大屠杀、

and Kristallnacht in Germany,

和德国的水晶之夜，

another horrific ethnic cleansing campaign

还有另一个恐怖的种族清洗活动

occurred on an island between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

在一座位于大西洋和 加勒比海之间的岛屿上发生。

The roots of this conflict go back to 1492,

这个冲突的根源可追溯 到1492年，

when Christopher Columbus stumbled onto the Caribbean island

克里斯托弗·哥伦布 意外地在加勒比海发现

that would come to be named Hispaniola, launching a wave of European colonization.

一座后来被命名为伊斯帕尼奥拉的岛, 展开了欧洲人的殖民浪潮。

The island’s Taíno natives were decimated by violence and disease

该岛的原住民泰诺人 因为暴力和疾病而人口锐减

and the Europeans imported large numbers of enslaved Africans

欧洲人则带入大批的非洲奴隶

to toil in profitable sugar plantations.

在盈利丰厚的甘蔗园做苦力。

By 1777, the island had become divided

到了1777年，该岛已分裂成

between a French-controlled West and a Spanish-controlled East.

法国控制的西部 和西班牙控制的东部。

A mass slave revolt won Haiti its independence from France in 1804

1804年发生的奴隶大反抗 使海地从法国争取独立。

and it became the world’s first black republic.

它成为了世界上 第一个黑人共和国。

But the new nation paid dearly,

但海地赔上了极高的代价，

shut out of the world economy and saddled with debt by its former masters.

经济上被其他国家孤立 又遭法国索赔、负债累累。

Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic would declare independence

同时，多米尼加共和国 则宣布独立。

by first overthrowing Haitian rule of eastern Hispaniola

他们推翻了海地 在东伊斯帕尼奥拉的统治，

and later Spanish and American colonialism.

又打败了西班牙 和美国的殖民主义。

Despite the long and collaborative history shared by these two countries,

尽管两国共享悠长的历史， 也常常一起合作，

many Dominican elites saw Haiti as a racial threat

多米尼加的许多上层人士 依然视海地为一个种族威胁，

that imperiled political and commercial relations with white western nations.

危害他们跟西方白人国家 在政治与贸易上的关系。

In the years following World War I,

第一次世界大战后，

the United States occupied both parts of the island.

美国占领了该岛上的两国。

It did so to secure its power in the Western hemisphere

为了巩固它在西半球的势力

by destroying local opposition and installing US-friendly governments.

美国粉碎了地方反抗势力， 并设立了亲美的地方政府。

The brutal and racist nature of the US occupation,

美占时期的残暴和种族歧视，

particularly along the remote Dominican-Haitian border,

在多米尼加-海地边界的偏僻地区， 尤为严重，

laid the foundation for bigger atrocities after its withdrawal.

为美国撤退后， 该地发生的种种暴行播下种子。

In 1930, liberal Dominican president Horacio Vásquez

1930年，开明的多米尼加总统 霍拉希奥·巴斯克斯

was overthrown by the chief of his army, Rafael Trujillo.

被他的陆军总司令 拉斐尔·特鲁希略推翻。

Despite being a quarter Haitian himself,

尽管有着四分之一的海地血统，

Trujillo saw the presence of a bicultural Haitian and Dominican borderland

特鲁希略还是 把海地和多米尼加边界的二元文化

as both a threat to his power

视为对他的权利的威胁，

and an escape route for political revolutionaries.

以及政治革命者们 的发泄渠道。

In a chilling speech on October 2, 1937,

1937年十月二日， 在一个令人寒心的演讲中

he left no doubt about his intentions for the region.

他毫无保留地说明 他对该地的计划。

Claiming to be protecting Dominican farmers from theft and incursion,

打着保护多米尼加农民 免受被盗和侵犯的旗帜，

Trujillo announced the killing of 300 Haitians along the border

特鲁希略宣布杀害300名 居住于边界的海地人，

and promised that this so-called "remedy" would continue.

并言之凿凿地承诺这个 “解决方法”将不会间断。

Over the next few weeks, the Dominican military,

接下来的几个星期， 多米尼加军队

acting on Trujillo’s orders,

在特鲁希略的命令下，

murdered thousands of Haitian men and women,

滥杀上千名海地男女，

and even their Dominican-born children.

包括他们在多米尼加出生的孩子。

The military targeted black Haitians,

军队主要针对海地黑人，

even though many Dominicans themselves were also dark-skinned.

尽管许多多米尼加人本身 也拥有黝黑的皮肤。

Some accounts say that to distinguish the residents

有些记载称为了辨识两国的公民，

of one country from the other,

the killers forced their victims to say the Spanish word for parsley.

杀手会强迫受害者用 西班牙语说“香菜”这个词。

Dominicans pronounce it perejil, with a trilled Spanish "r."

多米尼加人会把它念成“perejil”， 颤音的西班牙“r”。

The primary Haitian language, however, is Kreyol, which doesn’t use a trilled r.

而海地人的主要语言克里奥尔语， 是从不使用颤音的“r"的。

So if people struggled to say perejil,

所以如果某人很难说出“perejil”这个词，

they were judged to be Haitian and immediately killed.

他就被视为海地人， 格杀勿论。

Yet recent scholarship suggests that tests like this

但现代学者提出 类似这种的测试

weren’t the sole factor used to determine who would be murdered,

并不是用来决定谁将 被杀死的唯一方法，

especially because many of the border residents were bilingual.

尤其是因为有很多住在 边界的人都懂两个语言。

The Dominican government censored any news of the massacre,

多米尼加政府对任何 跟大屠杀有关的新闻严加检查

while bodies were thrown in ravines,

受害者的尸体则被抛入深谷、

dumped in rivers,

弃于河中、

or burned to dispose of the evidence.

或焚毁以毁尸灭迹。

This is why no one knows exactly how many people were murdered,

这就是为什么没有人 知道受害者的确实数目，

though contemporary estimates range from about 4,000 to 15,000.

但现代推测这个数字 介于4千到1万5千人之间。

Yet the extent of the carnage was clear to many observers.

无论如何，大屠杀程度之严重 是众所周知的。

As the US Ambassador to the Dominican Republic at the time noted,

就如当时美国驻 多米尼加共和国的大使说的,

“The entire northwest of the frontier on the Dajabón side

“达哈翁省西北方边界 的整个地区

is absolutely devoid of Haitians.

没有一个海地人。

Those not slain either fled across the frontier or are still hiding in the bush.”

未遭受屠杀的要么跨过边界逃命， 要么依然躲在森林之中。”

The government tried to disclaim responsibility

多米尼加政府尝试拒绝承认罪行

and blame the killings on vigilante civilians,

并把滥杀归咎于非法 民间义警团，

but Trujillo was condemned internationally.

不过特鲁希略还是被 国际社会谴责。

Eventually, the Dominican government

最终，多米尼加政府

was forced to pay only $525,000 in reparations to Haiti,

被迫赔偿区区的 52万2千美元给海地。

but due to corrupt bureaucracy,

但是由于腐败的官僚制度，

barely any of these funds reached survivors or their families.

只有少量的赔偿金真正落入了 幸存者或受害者亲人手里。

Neither Trujillo nor anyone in his government

特鲁希略和他的政府官员

was ever punished for this crime against humanity.

都没有因为这项危害人类罪 的罪行而被处置。

The legacy of the massacre remains a source of tension

大屠杀所留下的影响 仍然是这两国关系紧张的根源。

between the two countries.

Activists on both sides of the border have tried to heal the wounds of the past.

双方的积极分子都在尝试 愈合过去的伤痕。

But the Dominican state has done little, if anything,

然而多米尼加政府却几乎 没采取什么行动

to officially commemorate the massacre or its victims.

来正式纪念这场屠杀 或其受害者。

Meanwhile, the memory of the Haitian massacre remains a chilling reminder

与此同时，海地大屠杀的记忆 仍然是个刺骨寒心的警示，

of how power-hungry leaders can manipulate people

提醒我们权欲熏心的领导 可以如何操控人民

into turning against their lifelong neighbors.

让他们和相处多年的邻国朋友 反目成仇。