Between 1895 and 1947, Madagascar gradually experienced peacetime thanks to colonization and its “Gestapo” methods. In Tananarivo, several places symbolized the terror inflicted by the French settlers to the population. Ambotsirohitra and its 41 rooms, now presidential palace, former headquarters of the colonial administration and housing a torture room of “La Sureté”, brought the worst hours to the Malagasy patriots. The most notorious was the first mayor of the City of Mille (1906–1976). Accused of being a “traitor to France”, because cherishing Madagascar in Madagascar was qualified as betrayal to France which was thousands of kilometers, he was arrested and kidnapped for weeks. Dean journalist, the late Rémi Rahajarizafy, remembers an anecdote. “” To make Stanislas suffer, they dragged her with the feet tied, his head on the ground. Then, they went down a staircase, Stanislas’ head banged the steps ». A place of death sentence had a particularity, it is to be in the city center: the storefront of the Soarano railway station. Fathers of families have lost their lives there, at the post. To spice up certain executions, the French did not allow families to bring back the body of their loved one. The executors left dogs to revel in the eyes of relatives and parents. Even a hitler in his worst crisis of racist fury would not have such an idea. The scene was of course in public, to demonstrate what expected those who wanted to stand up to France. This place also had the particularity of being the decor of the execution of sellers of fabrics, doctor, labor, etc. So to speak, the establishment of a regime of fascist terror, whose response to the provocation of French civilian colonists was often enough to decree death. Symbolic place of the 1947 revolt, the municipal theater of Analakely has, for a time, served as a arms depot of the patriots. Before being discovered by colonial investigators, this led to ten or a little less death sentences. The hiding place would have been updated by the denunciation of an Indian merchant with the settlers. One of the latter’s employees would have been a member of a group armed with Malagasy patriots. Having trusted his foreign boss, the poor man unveiled their plan. “Development” scenarios bring other versions to this story. What is certain, this place – now cultural – has been used to hide the weapons of the Malagasy Freedom fighters. Other places, such as in Moramanga, Mananjary, Majunga, etc. were bloodied by the French colonialists. We must not forget the abuses perpetrated in rural areas, in the weekly markets, in the name of the Christian religion, by the colonists wishing to monopolize land … The genocide, which does not say its name, from 1895 to 1947.
Maminirina Rado
