My Brave Haitian Family: Before and After Father's Execution

© 2012 Robert Monestime. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 6/27/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-2025-2 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-2026-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-2027-6 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012910665

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Haiti

Trouble in the Presidential Palace

Father Returning Home

Father’s Promotion

Back to Father’s Nightmare

Mother’s Character / Courage

Mother’s Visit / Port-Au-Prince

Remembering Can Be Entertaining

Father / Mother’s Background

Probus Transferred Again

Our Reaction to Bad News

Time Is Running Out

Tensions Rising

Formation of the Court

René Consols The Elders

Frantz in Final Exam

Verdicts Announced, But Not Yet Publicly

Crucial Visit to See Father for the Last Time

Execution of the Officers

The Day after the Execution

Running Again

Moving for Convenience

Plan Falls Apart

The Second Group Arrives

What Really Happened at Hinche?

Our Biggest Challenge

After the First Exile Group’s Departure

Neighborhood Curiosity Brings Attractions

Awaiting Better News

Our Reunion in the United States

About the Author

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I must offer a special thank you to my darling wife, Betty. I especially thank you for being so patient on the many days and nights I spent writing and researching information for this book. Your encouragement always provided just the necessary inspiration for me to finish what had long been a passionate endeavor of mine.

To my dear brothers, Guy and Frantz: The courage, foresight, and inspiration you displayed, from getting us out of danger to keeping us going to this very day, earns you a very special place in my heart.

A special thank you to my dear, youngest brother, Max, who took precious time that he could have spent with his family and instead used it to proofread my book. Special recognition must be given to his wife, Anne, another motivator and gracious hostess, who always made sure we were fed and comfortable as we worked late, often into the night. I also thank their wonderful children, Alexis, Ethan, and Olivia, for their patience and curiosity of their uncle’s project. Also special thanks to my brother, Hugues, and his wife, Ulla, who provided me with most of the family pictures for the book and who also proofread my manuscript. Also thank you to my dear long-time friend, Carol Hazelett, for her help in proofreading my manuscript and spending time to find the right publisher and movie producer. I also would like to thank my children, Marc, Rachelle, Ronald, and my grandson Jordan, for their patience in proofreading and inserting the pictures in the right places.

There are so many people who offered advice and encouraging words, and I cannot do justice to all of you. Your understanding and support has been tremendous. You all know who you are, and you continue to have my deepest appreciation.

To Captain Idérique Léger, Officer Dieugrand Léger--or Panoski, as the family used to call him--and Captain Probus’s wife, Anania Monestime, thank you for allowing me to interview you regarding what must have been the most difficult moments of your life. These last three of my cousins reassured me and provided important information that made it much easier for me to write this book and recount the last moments my father suffered at the hands of the vicious dictator. I was fortunate to have had time with them before their time on Earth expired.

May God bless their souls!

Prologue

My name is Robert. I am the third in a family of fifteen children. At the age of eight, I entered the third grade at Charlemagne Péralte Elementary School. Throughout my school years my father, Marc Monestime, would help me with my schoolwork, just as any loving father would do. I can remember the times he would teach me how to multiply numbers and show me different tricks to memorize the multiplication tables. He would also help me with spelling and penmanship. The year seemed to go by so fast, and soon it was time for finals.

Everybody fared well on their tests and excelled to the next grade level. For many years everything went well, the family was happy, and Father followed the same routine back and forth to work as a soldier in the Haitian Army. He spent his time in the barracks on duty scheduled from 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM. There were days when he was scheduled for duty all day and overnight, to be relieved in the morning. When he returned home, he would spend quality time with us and take his usual afternoon nap. Once he awoke, he would head off to the family farm. It seemed like this happiness would last forever.

In May 1962, Father was promoted and became an officer. The promotion came with a transfer to another district. Most of the time, soldiers with large families, like ours, had to leave them behind since it was too costly to move them. However, officers were able to obtain leaves for family visits. Having grown used to being around his family, it was very hard for Father to live alone, so he decided to take me with him. I was extremely happy since it was my first opportunity to visit another city in my country. How lucky I felt to be picked from among all my brothers and sisters.

Father also took the opportunity of his promotion to move the oldest of us three children to a different secondary school in the capital of Port-au-Prince. However, Guy, Frantz, and I had to be enrolled in three different schools due to our late registration.

Before the end of the school year, Guy left for the United States of America and was replaced by my younger brother, René, who took his place at Lycée Antenor Firmin. Now the oldest, Frantz took over Guy’s responsibilities. His laissez-faire style helped us to become more mature because it meant we had to make most of our own decisions. He would still watch over us to correct what he thought needed correcting. I got away with certain behaviors that Guy would never tolerate. Frantz had always been independent and was only one year younger than Guy. The way he looked at things, as long as I did what was right, then he wouldn’t bother me. We were close buddies and watched out for each other.

Guy’s responsibility had been to supervise the progress of our school and homework, ensure our well being, and to keep an eye our behavior in the house and in public during Mother’s absence. Father had to be in the Caserne, and when he got home, he had to tend to the farm, returning home at dawn. His time off he spent at home and with his friends, like Sergeant Rosemar. He always wanted to know upon returning home if everything was in order. He often showed his affection through kind conversation and teasing. He liked hugging us and ate dinner with us as often as he could. Dinnertime in our culture was between 12:00 noon and 1:00 PM. Guy was like a father to us because that’s how he was raised, being the first child; that is, he was raised to be good, responsible, helpful, and kind. He tried to instill in us the good manners he had learned from Mother and Father. He respected himself and was respected in turn by his peers and the people in town. Guy and Frantz, two and three years older than me, respectively, are very intelligent. I am and always will be proud of them as a brother and as a friend. They cared for us at home as well as when we were away from home.

Three years later I would learn that I had a fifteen-year-old half-brother. Early one morning in August 1965, a soldier knocked at the door with an emergency message from the cardinal of the Catholic Church of the city of Grande Rivière du Nord, addressed to my father. The message indicated there was a child who was under temporary custody of the Church due to the death of his mother, and it was required that my father take over his custody. After consulting with my mother, he sent me with a soldier to pick up my brother, who I was about to meet for the first time. Upon our arrival, the soldier delivered my father’s reply to the cardinal, then without any delay, we returned to Lascahobas with my new brother, Pérard. He brought the number of boys to ten, making for a new total, along with the five girls, of fifteen children in the family.

At the start of the new school year in October, Frantz completed his degree at College Simon Bolivar and was admitted to medical school. I had also decided to leave Lycée Pétion and join the others with Pérard at College Simon Bolivar. About a year later, Fritz, our cousin from the city of Thomazeau, arranged with Frantz to give residence to his two young children, Jeanette and Sandino, so they too could attend the better schools in the capital. Frantz was more than happy to grant him the favor. With this, our family in College Simon Bolivar grew yet again.

Time went by fast. Frantz had successfully completed his first year of PCB (physics, chemistry, biology) at the Medical University. Toward the end of his second year of medical school, a terrible tragedy would occur in the family. Father would be dismissed from the military and be falsely accused of treason by trying to overthrow the Dictator President of the Republic. Along with eighteen other officers he would be sentenced to death by the Dictator. This would be only the beginning of the saga our family would endure as we tried to escape this dictator’s oppressive grasp.

Haiti Map Showing Hinche

Our Birthplace Location in the Central Department

Chapter 1

Haiti

Haiti, our native country, is an island located in the West Indies, having Cuba to the northwest, Jamaica to the southwest, and Puerto Rico to the east. The island is divided into two independent republics: the Republic of Haiti on the western side and the Dominican Republic on the eastern side. Haiti entails an area of approximately 27,700 square kilometers and has a population of about 8 million people. The country is divided into nine departments. Each department has forty-one districts, one hundred thirty-two communes. Its capital is Port-au-Prince. The official languages are French and Creole. It is an agricultural and industrial country. Catholicism, the dominant religion, was installed officially by the Concordat of 1860, the decree by which the Vatican re-established relations with Haiti following its independence from France in 1804.

Father’s Unexpected Visit

In October 1962, some of the oldest children were sent to high school in Port-au-Prince from our hometown, Hinche. Hinche is one of the four districts in the Central Department. Throughout those five wonderful years in Port-au-Prince, we had frequent visits from our father, but the visit in May 1967 was one that would change our lives forever.

During the first week of May, our father showed up unexpectedly, arriving by taxi at the front gate. Our housekeeper, Marie, who was downstairs most of the time taking care of her chores, came up the stairs saying, Guess who I brought you today? Behind her was Father, carrying his briefcase. He was dressed in a suit, tie, and hat. His clothing wasn’t unusual, although all the other times, he had been dressed casually or in his military uniform. What a surprise! This was a first as far as an unannounced visit, but we didn’t realize the significance of it at the time. This time he came from Hinche, instead of Lascahobas, where he was stationed. We were so happy to see him that it didn’t matter so much to us where he had come from.

Father’s Arrival That We Mistook as a Typical Visit

Father was relaxed as he gave us lots of hugs and kisses on our foreheads and cheeks. He shared with us good news about Mother and the rest of the family. Frantz, the second oldest brother, wasn’t home at the time, and Father was anxious to see him because he was the type of father who always liked to be around all his children.

Father hadn’t said anything yet about the purpose of his visit. He looked around the apartment and walked downstairs and looked around some more. Marie, with her typical flair for being efficient, had already prepared him a fresh cup of coffee, which he was sipping. He walked back upstairs with his coffee with us in tow. He didn’t mention anything about his post or the soldiers, or even my friend, Sergeant Bruni. Neither did it cross our minds to ask him about his maid, Merina, who always took good care of us when we were on vacation with him in Lascahobas. He waited for everyone to be together before talking about what was on his mind. This was to be a family meeting unlike any other.

Our First Date

A short time later, my girlfriend, Betty, came by for a visit. She said she was visiting my sister, Rose, but that didn’t stop me from introducing her to my father, who was delighted to meet her. It wasn’t the first time Father met one of my special friends. He had a way of making us comfortable talking to him about anything, like the good friend he was.

I don’t remember exactly what started me telling him how I met Betty, but I remembered we were on the back balcony while Betty and Rose were looking at magazines at the dining room table. I explained to Father that she and Rose had met when we attended College Simon Bolivar. They were new students, and since we lived a short distance from the school, they walked home to either study or do homework, and they participated in other social activities together. At the end of the school year, the school moved from the corner of Chemin-des-Dale and Lalue to another building farther up on Lalue. We also moved, coincidently, from Chemin-des-Dale to an apartment on Rue Magny in Bois-Verna. Rose and Betty’s friendship remained the same, even though we now lived farther away from the school and Betty’s house.

Occasionally, when they needed assistance with math, I would help them. One day I asked my sister