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Robert Dama, a simple Malagasy soldier, listened inspired as Deputies Raseta and Ravoahangy made an oration to Malagasy troops still serving in Germany: "You will soon go back to Madagascar! It will be up to you to protect all Malgaches!" Dama had been a German prisoner of war; he had also guarded German prisoners alongside GIs from America. The Malagasy veterans expected to gain political rights and financial rewards for their overseas service. Instead, they were dispatched back to their villages amid rice rationing and the reinstitution of forced labor for the government. Madagascar was soon full of very angry men with military training -- and firsthand knowledge of how to kill Europeans. Dama became a general in the 1947 revolt. |
