Farewell to a Brother, Robert Sansaricq!

FAREWELL TO A BROTHER!

by Bernard Sansaricq

My brother Robert Sansaricq (Bobby or BOB for his friend) passed away yesterday March 4th, 2021 at 7 PM (EST). He lived in the Houston Texas area for a very long time, he worked for Chase Bank in New York, then he was transferred to Houston and spent the rest of his life still working for Chase until his retirement.

As all of us in the family, having great parents, after terminating secondary schooling in Haiti, we were all sent to colleges in the United States. Bob went to Bryant College to have a BS degree in Business Administration. He returned to Haiti to work with my Dad in a family coffee export business.

He married Micheline Courtois, had three children: Philippe – Patrick and Dominique who is my Goddaughter. Philippe and Patrick still live in the Houston area, while Dominique who married Jim Bruno lives in New Jersey.

While Robert was still in Haiti in 1963, working with my father, there was a lot of unrest in the country.

One night while Robert and his newly wife were out in a Drive-In movie, Gerard our older brother was also there, with his wife, but in a different car… that night, without any arrest or search warrant, a hardened criminal working for the Duvalier’s government: Elois Maitre, flanked by a bunch of “Tonton Macoutes” (also hardened criminals at the service of the right wing dictatorship of Duvalier) invaded the family home in Turgeau, Port-au-Prince… searched the house for weapons, found none, and arrested my father Louis Sansaricq.

As they were leaving our home with my Dad in handcuffs, Gerard pulled up the driveway, returning home from the Drive-In, Elois Maitre, decided to release my father and arrest Gerard who was younger… as they prepared to leave with Gerard, my brother Robert pulled in with his car and Elois Maitre once more decided that Robert looked more like a trouble-maker to him, decided to release Gerard and arrest Robert. These are the kind of things that people in more advanced civilized world, find it hard to understand; not having lived in backward societies, where backward men and women are making decision that could mean Life or Death for innocent Citizens that are completely incomprehensible to any normal human being!

Believe it or not… the United States of America, has and are still supporting criminals and backward men in power in a lot of countries, in ways that are totally incomprehensible to US citizens, and the so-called free presses of those countries are covering totally, crimes of lease-humanity, sometimes worse than crimes committed by the Nazis during World War ll.

Going back to Robert Sansaricq, he was taken to the basement of the National Palace where he was tortured by another criminal by the name of Luc Désir, head of Duvalier’s Gestapo.

Having absolutely nothing to confess since he was innocent… Luc Désir had him transferred to Fort Dimanche where he spent 15 days in pure hell. In a cell no larger than 20X20 feet, some 20 + political prisoners were stacked there also, with one bucket for all necessities… the food once a day, was ground corn, (Maïs moulu)served in the palms of their hands… people were dying 2 to 3 a day in those cells, horrors just incomprehensible for civilized people to even understand…

Robert left Haiti soon after his release… and worked hard to raise his family here.

Over the years, I realized that he was blocking his illegal arrest from his memory, having seen “HELL” on earth in a country he once loved… He never went back to Haiti, except for a very short visit after the fall of Duvalier.

We did talk briefly about his arrest a few times, but the pain was such that he was definitely blocking it from his memory.

Just once, he said to me: “I am just glad that it was me, not Gerry that they had taking that day, as he wouldn’t have survived this kind of ordeal”.

Today, I am sure he is with GOD in heaven, looking down at his tormentors burning in Hell!

One year later, 13 more Sansaricq in Jérémie, aged from 2 to Senior Citizens were murdered by the assassins of François Duvalier.

Good bye dear brother…. You are Safe and in Peace now!

Photo: (Robert is second from the left…. I am the toddler. )