Literature: Books of Albert Schweitzer concerning medicine in the African rain forest

Medical reports from Africa:
1) On the edge of the primeval forest (orig. German: Zwischen Wasser und Urwald (Edition Haupt, Berne 1921 - Spanish: Entre el agua y la selva virgen)
2) Letters from Lambarene 1924-1927 (orig. German: Briefe aus Lambarene 1924-1927)
3) Out of My Life & Thought (orig. German: Aus meinem Leben und Denken 1931 - Spanish: Mi vida y pensamientos)

Other sources

Sources for the time from 1924-1927 in Lambarene are also the reviews of the C.H.Beck Edition, which were mainly written for the donors of the hospital:
-- Messages from Lambarene. First and second review (spring 1924 - autumn 1925). C.H.Beck Edition, 164 pages
-- Messages from Lambarene. Third review (autumn 1925-summer 1927). C.H.Beck-Verlag, 74 pages
The reviews are also available in Swedish, English and Dutch, English with the title: "More from the Primeval Forest" (Life + Thought, p.219)

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Mentality of black characteristics

Searching for things

-- blacks go diving in the port: Look for coins from Europe in the port: The ocean of Africa is full of sharks, the sharks are attracted by kitchen garbage from the steamers and they also come to the ports (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.334).

In the ports, young black men dive in groups for European coins of the whites. They make a huge noise, so that the sharks are driven away. The mouth is a money deposit [at that time black people only have loincloths, no trouser pockets] (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.334).


Mentality: Beauty and design are secondary in Equatorial Africa
[because the government is arranging a total misery] (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.379)


Rituals against "evil spirits"

- the Afro healers and their rituals: The rituals of the Afro healers (fetish men) are for the spirits (according to the report by helper Joseph), and whoever is against it or makes it ridiculous will at some point be poisoned by the healers (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.362-363). The black population lives in a permanent fear of being poisoned and lives in a permanent fear of a "supernatural, evil power" (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.363).

Fetishes

-- The belief in amulets + fetishes: The belief in amulets and fetishes is very great, as is the fear of it, there is a constant fear that blocks the whole life, and so the entire black African society is in misery (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.364).

-- the fetish with "magic power":
-- consists of a little sack or buffalo horn or can with
   -- red bird feathers
   -- a package with red soil
   -- leopard claws, leopard teeth
   -- bells from Europe, barter bells from the 18th century (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.364).

Fetishes are supposed to protect a field, e.g. in a corked bottle on a tree or in a tin can (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.364).

Fetishes with a piece of skull bone
A big fetish contains a piece from a human brain shell, for that a person must have been killed for the purpose of stealing the piece of the brain shell (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.365). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"There are large and small fetishes. A large piece usually includes a piece from a human brain shell. The human being must have been killed specifically for the purpose of obtaining a fetish." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.365)

The skull bones are ascribed to have magic powers, that is an ancient idea (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.365).

Example: A creditor (lender) wants to create a fetish with a cranial shell to use to collect debts. For this he has to murder a person, but that is discovered (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.365). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"This summer, an elderly man was slained in a boat two hours below our station. The perpetrator was discovered. There is the clear suspicion that he committed the murder for preparing a fetish for manipulating people who owed him goods and money, he wanted to force them to fulfill their obligations!" (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.365)

Skulls with holes were found
Albert Schweitzer thinks: possibly the trepanations with the skulls [from stone age] that were found were not tumor operations, but pieces of skull were operated out for fetishes (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.365).

Give fetishes away for others
Fetishes are also given away, e.g. to Albert Schweitzer, who now has a fetish with pieces of skull from a parietal bone (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.365). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"I have a fetish myself. The main parts of it are two elongated oval cutouts soaked in red dye from a human skull, it seems to me, taken from the parietal bones. The owner and his wife had been sick for months. They suffered from excruciating insomnia. In the dream, the man heard a voice several times, which revealed to him that they both could only recover if he brought the fetish he had inherited from his fathers to the missionary Mr. Haug in N'Gômô and obeyed his orders. Finally he did as he was commanded. Mr. Haug ordered him to me and gave me the fetish. Man and woman stay with me for several weeks and were leaving the hospital much better. " (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.365)

"Constructive" slavery: Black children from poor black areas are sold to black people in better areas - slavery and assimilation for better life

Blacks keep slaves themselves, but the structure has to be observed (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.380-381).

Parents from poor regions (Inner Gabon, area on the N'Gounje tributary river) sell children to families on the Ogowe River so that the children will not starve hunger. The children then are slaves of the families at Ogowe River. The slaves in a black family are called "servant", after some years they are considered as members of the tribe and some time after that they get freedom with a homeland right, that's the goal of all this. The government can investigate this, but the blacks are protecting each other (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.381).

Most of the house slaves in the Lambarene region come from the tributary river N'Gounje and are used to eating earth, they are called "earth eaters". And when they have enough to eat, they are still eating earth (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.381). Quote from Albert Schweitzer (translation):

"The fate of these slaves who are disguised is not a hard one. There is hardly any abuse with them. And they are not at all considering to flee putting themselves under the protection of the government. When there is an investigation, so they are denying normally very strongly to be slaves. Often they are accepted as a member of the tribe after some years, and by this they are free and get a right of residence. The last fact is the important.

The reason that the house slaves in the region of the Lower Ogowe River is existing yet secretly is the famine in the inner of the country. It's the dreadful fate of Equatorial Africa that on this continents own fruit plants and fruit trees are missing. Banana tree, manioc, yam, potato and oil palm are not native here but came with the Portuguese from Western India [Caribeean]. They were the great benefactors of Equatorial Africa. In the areas where these crops have not yet reached or where they are not doing well, there is constant famine. Then the parents sell their children down the river so that they at least have something to eat.

In the upper reaches of the N'Gounje, the tributary of the Ogowe, must be such a hunger area. This is where most of the Ogowe's house slaves come from. From there I also got sick people who belong to the "earth eaters". Because of hunger those (p.381) natives get used to eating earth and then keep this habit even if they have enough food." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.382)

Justice in Equatorial Africa

Blacks discuss legal cases for a long time and thus lose a lot, a lot of time with their "sense of justice". Such eternal discussions with a court decision are called "Palaver" (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.385).

Large and small cases are negotiated equally intensively and every black person wants to be a lawyer and they play it that way. Kinship liability is still very broad in Africa. If someone gets into debt, the whole family is responsible for it (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.385).

Fines and compensation with goods are hard (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.386).

Case: Canoe was "borrowed"
Whoever "borrows" a canoe for 1 day without a permit may to pay 1/3 of the canoe value as a fine (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.386).

Case: wife leaves husband - dispute over bride money
If a woman leaves the husband, the ex-husband demands the bride money back from the family (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.385).

Case: wife leaves husband - dispute over bride money
If a woman leaves the husband, the ex-husband demands the bride money back from the family (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.385).

Case: "palaver" is blocking healings
Legal disputes are so long that people cannot come to the hospital in time, or children are suffering from ulcers because the companions still have to "settle a palaver" (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.385).

Case: all has to be proven
A punishment is only considered fair if everything has been fully proven. Unjust punishments provoke eternal anger. So are the Afros in Equatorial Africa (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.386).


The mentality of the sometimes highly criminal African blacks against blacks

Blacks against blacks: poisoning

Equatorial Africa is full of poisoning - a lot of poisoning cases arrive at Lambarene (Letters from Lambarene, p.657). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"How scary is Equatorial Africa because of the many dramas in which poison plays its part!" (Letters from Lambarene, p.657)

Sometimes it is also a poisoning case by accident, e.g. by an overdose by an Afro healer (letters from Lambarene, p.657-658).

Poisoning of patients by the assistant in the hospital
A suspicion of poisoning comes always when the "black assistance" wants to eliminate the ill patients. Blacks are even tricking the cook (Letters from Lambarene, p.594). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"There was also the following case with a European in a bad condition without explanation, I found some pretext to send the black assistant away so I have the possibility to test if there is a poisoning or not. This does not mean that I am suspicious of the cook and the boy. Perhaps they are just not vigilant enough to prevent other people from attempting poisoning." (Letters from Lambarene, p.594)

Poisons used for poisoning in the jungle of Gabon: It should work very slowly
-- the poisons used to poison people often act very slowly [so as not to attract attention]
-- in the hospital, there is not enough time for precise examinations of the poisons
-- since 1913, the remedy against poisoning is "powdered animal charcoal" being shaken in water, or ordinary charcoal [powder?] being shaken in water
-- the natives simply call it "the black medicine" (letters from Lambarene, p.594). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"I had no time for investigating the used poisons. Normally they are agents with a slow effect. It's enough for me that I have probed powdered animal charcoal  as a remedy since 1913 which had effect in a row of cases. When I have a suspicion the patient gets the powdered animal charcoal - when there is non suspicion, also normal coal can work -, being shaken in water, for drinking. Joseph [the medical assist] looks at me sympathetically  when I am preparing "the black medicament". Perhaps we will be enough medical doctors here one time so one of them can investigate the poisons well." (Letters from Lambarene, p.594)

Blacks against blacks: the hippopotamus whip

A hippo [has a hard skin], so when the skin is cut into strips one can produce a hippo whip with that. This is the classic torture instrument among the blacks in Equatorial Africa. Helene Schweitzer [the wife of Albert Schweitzer] is given such a torture thing from a black man as a present (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.378). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"Another patient gave a present to my wife, this was a hippopotamus whip. What is a hippo whip? When a hippo was shot so the skin of 1 to 2cm thickness is cut in stripes of 4cm largeness and 1 1/2m of length. Then the individual strips are put on a board for forming a spiral. Being dried, this torture instrument which is terribly feared is ready with the dimension of 1 1/2m of length, it's an elastic and sharp torture instrument." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.378)

Blacks against blacks: Man-eating with the Pahouins

The blacks from the Pahouin tribe still commit man-eating in 1914, this is all kept secret otherwise there would be persecution and punishment.

Pahouins make people disappear, e.g.
-- a creditor (lender) who wants to cash debts never comes back
-- a worker from Samkita
-- the blacks tell it very clearly: lost means: eaten up (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.380). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

<Among the sick there was a boy who with all signs of horror refused to enter the room and had to be dragged in by force. Afterwards it turned out that it meant the doctor wanted to slaughter it and eat it.

The poor boy did not know man-eating from nursery stories, but from the terrible reality, since it has not been completely eradicated among the Pahouins to this day. It is difficult to determine the extent to which it is still practiced, because the natives, for fear of severe punishments, keep all cases secret. Some time ago a man from the Lambarene region went to visit villages to warn defaulting debtors. He didn't come back. Also a worker from the Samkita region disappeared. Those who know the country claim that "lost" is sometimes synonymous with "eaten up".> (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.380)

Blacks against Blacks: Murders of the mentally ill persons (the insanes)

Shackling the insane - murder in shackles in the river
-- in Albert Schweitzer's hospital the mentally ill are immobilized with syringes, and during the dry season with low water level of the river, they can live freely on a sandbank (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.360)
-- in black villages, the mentally ill are tied with bast ropes, which only increases the excitement (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.360)
-- mentally ill people are tied up and thrown into the water and thus murdered (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.361)

Albert Schweitzer quote:

"The natives do not know how to defend against them. There are no doors with locks or keys so from a bamboo hut they can break out at any time. Therefore they are fixed with bast ropes which is only provoking more excitement [resistance]. The final solution is probably always that they are neutralized in one or another way." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.360)

Case:
"But he [...] was informed the next day that a mentally ill person was tied up on hands and feet and was thrown into the water like this." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.361)

[This is what Christians also did until 1880 approx., especially the Protestants. One only has to read Luther's writings. From 1880 psychiatry was developed, which since then is abusing the "mentally ill" as guinea pigs for toxic pharma...]

Blacks against blacks: Criminal relatives of the patients prevent treatment - kidnapping etc. (!)

Relatives of patients cause problems: Eating ulcer - the patient is kidnapped by the wife

Sometimes the relatives of the patient cause more problems than the patient himself when a woman sees ghosts defaming the medical doctor Albert Schweitzer that he would want to harm the patient, when an anesthetic to treat a phageenic, eating ulcer is considered as the first station and an amputation would be the final goal. In the end the woman kidnaps the patient and all previous treatments were in vain (Letters as Lambarene, p.513-514). Quote:

"In the night she is provoking fear again that the foot wold be cut and she is turning him around. During pouring rain she is traveling away secretly with him. The following day, the missionary Mr. Cadier from Samkita is meeting them on the river and she is simply telling him that the doctor had permitted her husband to leave because the healing had advanced that far so she could do all the remaining service. All effort and expenses were for nothing in this case! What this man did cost me with bandages alone and (p.514) ether for narcosis! And the plaited leaves which I was promised for the healing I will not see either." (Letters from Lambarene, p.515)

The mentality of Afros with blacks against blacks: the terminally ill should not be treated - otherwise the doctor is a stupid (!)

The blacks do not expect a healing with a terminally ill, but only that doctor Schweitzer says that he / she will die. When Albert Schweitzer tries to heal deadly ill he would prove in the eyes of the black natives only his inability to judge. It even happens that some patients are leaving the hospital when deadly ill patients are admitted (!) (Letters from Lambarene, p.518-519). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"For the fetish men, my colleagues, it doesn't happen to them that patients die. They reject hopeless cases from the start. They act like some professors in European clinics who don't want their (p.518) statistics to be spoiled. And when a patient is dying under the observance of a fetish man unexpectedly, so he will save his reputation finding out soon who was the responsible for such a bad magic so he had to die. According to the view of the blacks a medical doctors shows his knowledge of medicine mainly by the decision when the doctor knows if the patient will die or not, and not giving his art to a person who is actually dead already.

Treating a person who is dying after the treatment would be the proof that the medical doctor does not even know if an illness provokes death or if the patient can be saved. Already during my first working time Joseph was always urging to reject candidates for death for not damaging my reputation." (Letters from Lambarene, p.519)

The mentality of Afros with blacks against blacks: Nobody wants to dig a grave for "strangers" - concentration camp child labor (!)

[Summary: Albert Schweitzer maintains a hospital cemetery instead of burning corpses and scattering the ashes, or conserving the ashes in an ash urn. At the end he himself is buried at the hospital cemetery. Refusing to cremate is a lot of work for people digging graves, and that creates problems with healthy relatives of black people who often leave the hospital. No black wants to dig a grave for another black of another tribe. Thus often the mission's children have to do it, and this is a condition of a concentration camp]:

Albert Schweitzer's data:

Afro mentality of the 1920s: the dead are unclean - digging a grave for "strangers" is impossible - mission children have to dig graves and carry corpses
Digging a grave for a stranger, this job no black wants to do because of "uncleanness" of the "others". It's a vow with the blacks never to have affairs with foreign deads [this means: people from one tribe are not allowed to dig graves for deads of another tribe, because "another tribe" is rated as "foreign"] (Letters, p.520). Thus often children of missionary school classes have to dig the graves for the deads, sometimes it's also the assistant Noël Gillespie (Letters from Lambarene, p.521). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"A funeral is a big affair for us. It's just not working that I just give to three or four men who are assists of my patients I give them picks and spades promising them a present and then they will dig the grave for the dead. When somebody has died, so normally all men who are fit for working have disappeared, oh, rumors say for fishing or for a trip for food. With a foreign dead the native does not want to have to do anything. And primitive religious ideas from "becoming unclean" are playing a role, too. When for example in a family a child is awaited, so no member of this family is allowed to have to do something with a dead person. Sometimes the parents vowed during the birth of a child never to have to do something with deads. This vow must be kept. [...]

The Catholic mission faces the same difficulty. A negro woman from Catholic circles died in my hospital. I inform the father (letters, p.520) and ask if he wants to bury her in the catholic cemetery. "Yes," he replies, "when people come to dig the grave in our cemetery. We had to give up asking our schoolboys to do this work."

Usually the ward evangelists take over the task of digging the grave and carrying the body. But if they aren't there, we have to do it ourselves. Noël has sometimes worked as a gravedigger and dead bearer. And the black assist G'Mba is helping him, in these cases he disregards all prejudices what I give him a great credit for." (Letters from Lambarene, p.521)

The mentality of the sometimes highly criminal Africans against whites

Blacks without education acting according to their feeling for justice: eternal revenge against colonialists who destroyed the paradise of Africa

-- People without education = eternal children: Black people without education are like "children", even when they are adults, they need leadership and authority to be constructive, nothing comes by themselves (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.435)

-- Blacks without education are "children of nature" and have no respect for the whites, but evaluate the whites according to their moral behavior: (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.437). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"The negro is a child. Without authority, nothing can be achieved with a child." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.435)

-- Blacks admire the technology of the whites:

Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

""The whites are clever, they can do everything," says Joseph. Who the technical achievement is and what mental performance this really is, the negro cannot measure." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.437)

[Albert Schweitzer is hiding the fact that many of the technical developments only came by wars which were and are caused by the whites].

-- no widows + no orphans: whites are worthless in the eyes of blacks because they always produce wars, orphans and illegitimate children:

"One more thing. There are no unsupervised widows and no abandoned orphans among the primitive peoples. The next familiar is inheriting the wife of a dead and must maintain her and her children. She enters the rights of his wife, even if she later will marry another man with his approval." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.432)

-- the white man has NO authority with the blacks when he comes across as a Christian with Jesus fantasies but there are millions of orphans living in Europe:

"The natural child, because it is not mentally deformed like us, only knows elementary standards and is measuring with the elementary of all, with moral. Where can be found goodness, truthfulness, where it finds the inner dignity behind the external dignity, it is obeying and recognizing the master; where this cannot be found, it remains stubborn only simulating obeying; it is saying: "This white man is no more than me, because he is no better than me."" (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.437)

-- Blacks ask about the morality of whites: White Christians are WORSE than blacks: Whites are murdering one another, even make wars, discriminate against children as orphans or illegitimate children, that is much worse than with blacks. The whites fail the blacks' "morality test"! "Goodness, justice + truthfulness" are often NOT present among the whites. That's why blacks don't rate high the whites! (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.437). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"The child of nature [the black person without high education], because it's not educated in a complex way like us, only knows elementary standards and measures against the most elementary of all, the moral. Where goodness, justice and truthfulness meet the inner dignity behind the externally observed , it bows and acknowledges the master; where it does not find it, it remains defiant in all outward submission; it says to itself: "This white man is no more than me, because he is no better than me." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.437)

-- white idealists capitulate to the criminal blacks: There are many whites who come to Africa as idealists and are then betrayed by the blacks. Then the white idealists will finally become realists and loveless towards black people, in the end they will be tired and discouraged (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.439). Quote from Albert Schweitzer (translation):

"I don't dare to judge any more, since I got to know the psyche of the white man who has to do something materially here with those who were sick in my hospital with me and I recognized that men who are speaking badly about natives now were idealists before coming to Africa and became tired and lost their courage by all the daily conflicts here, they lost what they had mentally step by step." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.439)

-- the eternal revenge of the black nature children against the criminal whites: Blacks are "nature children" and don't know what is responsibility when the matter is about white goals which are NOT IMPORTANT [because the white makes money and destroys the African society]. Therefore: when whites have goals and need black workers for that, this makes no sense, because the blacks only do as much as they need for themselves. Working for whites without control they only produce nonsense, blocking projects is a joy for them. White authorities are in an eternal conflict so having blacks as their staff, and then the whites are destroyed [well, the whites performed the deportations spreading new pests so the blacks in Central Africa are suffering from a rising death rate and sickness rate - this is simply never mentioned in the white media]. Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"They [the white colonialists] have to deal with [black] people who are not accepting any responsibility but who are working just as much as they are forced to, and during the slightest reduction of control they are acting according to their mood without respect of harm they provoke. This conflict exists every day, every hour, the [black] child of nature is addicted to harm, so the white organizer will be destroyed mentally step by step." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.438)

-- Blacks without a sense of responsibility for projects: Blacks drink, smoke without supervision, have parties instead of fulfilling the plan and receiving good wages. Example of a timber merchant - Albert Schweitzer, quote (translation):

"But in spring there happened the following with him: in a pond he had much mahagoni wood prepared about 100km from here, and by a telegram of his company, he was called to Lambarene for proceeding some urgent correspondence, just when the water was beginning rising. He ordered the foreman and the workers for using the flood well so all wood could be arranged in the river at the end. When the water was falling and he came back, nothing had been done. They had smoked, drunk, danced. The wood was already too long in the pond and a big part of it was lost, and he had the damage with his responsibility for the society. People had been careless because he was not feared enough. This experience changed him completely. Now he mocks those who think one can achieve something with the natives without indulgent severity." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.438)

Albert Schweitzer dreams of a "brotherhood" - he can dream for a long time

-- Albert Schweitzer thinks there should be a "brotherhood" between black and white (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.435)

-- Albert Schweitzer thinks that he is an "older brother" of the blacks [to preserve a natural authority], because friendliness is of no use to them (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.436). Albert Schweitzer quote:

     "Pairing kindness with authority is the great secret of proper intercourse with the natives." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.436)

-- Anyone who respects blacks and is non-violent is not respected in an emergency [because in case of doubt always counts the revenge against the whites]. (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.438)


Some whites dream of "integration" - then the blacks want the whites to be as stupid as they are

-- the blacks lose a lot of time with legal disputes, which are called "Palaver", and whoever "integrates" as white people have to participate and loses a lot of time (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.436). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"Some years ago, one of the missionaries, Mr. Robert, was leaving the Missions Association for living with the negroes as a brother completely. He was building a little house near the negro village between Lambarene and N'Gômô and wanted to be considered as a member of the village. Since that day his life became a martyrdom. Letting fall the distance between white and colored he lost his influence. His word did not count any more as a "word of a white", but he had to take part in their long discussions as he had been one of them." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.436)

-- Blacks make no class distinction: since blacks don't know a class society like in Europe, any tactlessness is possible in case of doubt, e.g. a black cook bursts into a white general meeting etc. Albert Schweitzer calls this "inexpedient confidentiality". (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.436)

[AND: My assumption: The Africans seem to be manipulated against Albert Schweitzer by conservative Jesus-Fantasy pastors
by Michael Palomino

It seems to me that the Africans were manipulated by surrounding Jesus fantasy pastors against Albert Schweitzer to act destructive and criminal in the hospital in order to destroy Albert Schweitzer's reputation - because Albert Schweitzer was not an arch-conservative extremist Christian as the Jesus fantasy mission in Paris would have liked to have it. The sum of the high crime rate against Albert Schweitzer and his hospital results in a place like a concentration camp].

The Afro mentality against the whites: Blacks don't work in the rain

Blacks do not work in the rain, rainy day is "rest day" because almost all blacks have malaria so that any little cold can provoke a fever without control, therefore they cannot work in the rain (Letters from Lambarene, p.545). Quote from Albert Schweitzer (translation):

"When it's raining, blacks from Equatorial Africa are not working, it's not possible to urge them to work. A rainy day is rated as a rest day, as a God's present. They are right to hate to become wet. More or less all natives here are infected with malaria. So the slightest cold can provoke a fever attack. I myself am making sure that they have to work as little as possible in the rain." (Letters from Lambarene, p.545)

The mentality of Afros against the whites: lie and steal

Stealing canoes
-- Case: A merchant is healing in Albert Schweitzer's hospital his amoeba dysentery - and as a thank he has two canoes built, he gives the order to transport them to black people and the canoes are stolen and NEVER arrive (letters from Lambarene, p.674).

Theft of aid parcels
-- Aid shipments to the Ovan mission station are often "lost" or take a long time (letters from Lambarene, p.675)

Unsupervised blacks are ruining the lumberyard
-- Case: White timber dealers or trade managers have so much responsibility that they only come to the hospital when it is almost too late. Without a substitute, the blacks are doing what they want in the lumber yard and are ruining the existence of the white man (Letters, p.675). The whites then help each other out, even if they have to overcome long distances (Letters, p.675-676). Or whites leave the hospital too early and die 3 weeks later (letters from Lambarene, p.676).

Black employees in Albert Schweitzer's hospital steal everything that is not locked
-- In general: Black employees in Albert Schweitzer's hospital are stealing what is possible and are cheating what is possible, one must NEVER leave them alone, but at least the supervision of his wife Helene Schweitzer must be in place, and everything must always be locked (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.375). Albert Schweitzer quote:

"All employees, even the best, are so unreliable that they must not be exposed to the slightest temptation. This means that they should never be alone in the house. As long as they work there, my wife [Helene] has to be there. Furthermore everything that might provoke their dishonesty must always be closed." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.375)

Black employees are happy when everything is closed by key, so nobody can hold them liable if something is stolen. All in all, black people steal with a clear conscience because they think that if you don't secure anything, you are stupid and deserve to be stolen (!) (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.376). Quote from Albert Schweitzer (translation):

"When Europeans have the idea of not being cautious, so the blacks will steal everything and have no problem with conscience. What is not closed by key is "going around", Joseph tells. To a "messy" person one can steal everything. With this, the negro is not only taking what has a value for him, but also what seems to be tempting to him. Mr. missionary Rambaud from Samkita was stolen some volumes of a precious collective work. On my book library was the piano reduction from Mastersinger Opera of Wagner and the book of the Matthew Passion of Bach, where I had put the organ accompaniment carefully worked out by me!. So this feeling never be safe against the most stupid theft is really provoking despair sometimes. And to be forced to keep all looked up by key and walking around with a collection of keys makes life really dreadfully difficult." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.376)

Black employees do not help when the work is with blood or pus of other people
Black people don't touch anything with foreign blood or pus (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.377).

Blacks cheat on white timber contractors and deliberately lead them past the good lumber yards
-- when white organizers ask black people about good wood places, black people lie to white people and only show them the bad wood places in order to get presents again and again (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.405). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"The natives keep the knowledge of such places [good logging sites] to themselves and try to mislead the whites who look for them in their area. A European told me that the men of a village were showing him timber places during over two months receiving rich gifts without end like tobacco schnapps and clothe from him every day. But he did not find any good timber place that was promised for having a good yield. Most recently, listening to an overheard conversation, he learned that they were deliberately not showing him the good places, whereupon the friendship came to an end." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.405)

Blacks against whites: Blacks cheating the white timber dealers with tricks on timber

Fraud of blacks against whites: sale of a cheap wood with a similar grain + bark
-- Black people are selling cheap wood with a similar grain and bark as it would be expensive wood (e.g. mahogany fakes)

Fraud by blacks against whites: sawing off old pieces of wood and "integrating" them into the new wood collection
-- Black people mix old pieces into the new wood collection, the ends of the old wood are cut and look like new ones (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.409). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"Finally the wood is placed in running water and is fixed at the river bank with lianas. Now the white timber merchant comes and is purchasing what the negro has to offer in the different villages. But now one has to be cautious. Is it really wood of the wanted species or the negroes have mixed other wood with similar bark and grain into the collection which is just near the water in a luring place? Is all wood fresh or are there old pieces from one year ago or from two years ago which are just cut at their ends so they look new? Fantasy of the negroes for cheating in the timber trade is incredible variable. The newcomer has to be careful!" (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.409)

Blacks are cheating the whites: Leave cheap redwood in the morass for months so that it simulates black ebony wood
-- criminal blacks soak hard wood in the morass for months and sell it as ebony (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.409-410). Quote from Albert Schweitzer (translation):

"The dearly acquired supply was worthless and he was liable for the damage himself. The negroes had sold him some hard wood that they had soaked for a few months in the black mud. The cut and the superficial layers simulated the most splendid ebony. Inside, however, it was reddish. The inexperienced white man had neglected to saw through a few logs as a test." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.410)

Blacks are cheating the whites: collect half the payment several times and disappear, never to be seen again
-- The black logging groups receive half of the wages after the logging, and the second half of the payment comes after the transport to the bay of Cap Lopez. Now there are black groups who never transport the wood, but they collect the first half several times from several white timber dealers, selling the cut wood 4 to 5 times, and in the end the blacks disappear with the money, never to be seen again, and the white woodcutters are left alone (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.410). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"The white timber merchant measured and bought the wood. The measurement is hard work because he always has to jump around on the logs turning in the water. Now he pays half the purchase price. The rest will be payed when the wood - which has got the symbol of his company now - has arrived the sea. Sometimes it happens that negroes are selling the same wood four or five times, every time cashing the first half of the money and at the end they disappear somewhere in the jungle until the trade was forgotten or the white are fed up with loosing time and money to search the defrauders. Of course the money is not there any more because it's converted into tobacco and other items, and there is nothing for getting the money back." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.410)

Cheating blacks against whites: exchanging logs and falsifying markings during the trip on the Ogowe River
-- there are black crews who commit systematic fraud while driving on the Ogowe River and exchange whole trunks at landing sites, expensive trunks are replaced by cheap trunks and the expensive trunks are sold to black villages (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.411 -412). Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"On the trip it is not uncommon for the negroes to sell good tree trunks from the raft to natives exchanging them with cheap wood of the same dimension and with an imitation of the logo of the company. Such cheap wood pieces can always been found in the forest being deposited from the last flood, or they can be found on sandbanks or in bays of the river. There are rumors claiming that villages are collecting the old wood pieces in all dimentions as a stock. The good wood stolen from the raft is anonymized and sold to other whites." (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.411-412)

Blacks against whites: leave the place during a harvest

-- when blacks have raised their money for their project, the blacks don't see any point in continuing to work for a white man and also leave the spot during a harvest, i.e. when they are particularly needed (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.425) .


The criminal black Africans against Albert Schweitzer

The mentality of the Afros against Albert Schweitzer: Abuse of the hospital as a dying hospice

-- Albert Schweitzer's hospital is being abused as a dying hospice for seriously ill people who no one wants anymore (letters from Lambarene, p.517)
-- People are dropped off at the river bank near the hospital overnight just like that, and some seriously ill people then lie about rich relatives or something (Letters, p.518), but they never come, or they lie that food is coming that never comes either (letters from Lambarene, p.518)
-- one patient is waiting for the death of the other to get a mosquito net and a blanket (letters from Lambarene, p.518).

Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"Hardly have I been here for 14 days [beginning of May 1924] when I find an old heart patient in the morning, almost naked, without a blanket and without a mosquito net downstairs. Nobody knows how he got here. He himself refers to a large and influential family up at Samkita, soon these people would come and bring him a lot of groceries and for me a big present: I am giving him a blanket, a mosquito net and something to eat (letters from Lambarene, p.517).

He is with us for several weeks until death redeems him. When he can barely speak, he still talks about the rich relatives who will come. The last service of love that I render him is that I always faithfully agree with him in these speeches. The sick person lying next to him, who has also been put down in this way, is waiting for his death to get his mosquito net and his blanket. The mosquito nets and the blankets that I brought with me in my luggage are all already used up and the arrival of the 370 boxes, which left Strasbourg as freight in February, is still pending." (Letters from Lambarene, p.518 )

-- a ragged, old woman is being dropped off who cannot be helped because other women are screaming that she is only there to die (letters from Lambarene, p.518). Quote (translation):

<There was a woman from a village not far from Lambarene - also in rags and just before dying - she was dropped off at my hospital. She has nobody on the world; that's why nobody is caring about her in her village. Then I was told that a neighbor's woman was asking at another neighbor's woman for an ax for getting some wood somewhere so there would be some warmth in the nights. "What" was the answer, "an ax for this woman? Bring her to the doctor so she will be there until she dies." And it was like this.> (Letters from Lambarene, p.518)

The Afros' mentality against Albert Schweitzer: They don't care about damage to the hospital

-- Case: The wood with termites in it: Blacks don't care if they endanger the whole hospital with their behavior, example termites in wood: The black man should throw the piece of wood into the river - he "integrated" the piece of wood into the firewood. Albert Schweitzer quote (translation):

"Lately termites came to me in a box (p.438) that was standing on the veranda of my house. I emptied them, smashed them and gave the pieces to the negro who had helped me with it. "You see, the termites are in there", I said, "you are not allowed to carry this wood to the other firewood downstairs in the hospital, otherwise the termites will come into the framework of the barracks. Go to the river and throw it in the water. Do you understand?" - "Yes, yes, you can be quiet." It was evening. I was too tired to go down the hill again, and so I was inclined to trust a black person for once - and normally he was not unreliable. At 10 o'clock at night I got so restless that I took the lantern and went down to the hospital. The wood with the termites in it was put under the firewood! In order not to have to walk the 10 meters to the river, the negro had put in danger the whole building! ... " (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.439)

-- Case: Carrying kitchen rubbish to the dung heap: The Afros are notoriously unclean, it is too much for them to carry kitchen rubbish to the dung heap - kitchen rubbish is simply thrown in front of the house or in front of the barrack - and that in Lambarene in Gabon's tropical climate. If the chef G'Mba points this out to the Afro women, they will not obey him. Some black people die of some kind of infection and you don't know what it is. But it can be attributed to the notorious uncleanliness. (Letters from Lambarene, p.541). Quote from Albert Schweitzer (translation):

"G'Mba had become a healing assistant from his inner vocation. He loved his work. Only he could not be brought to include the care of order and cleanliness in the hospital as part of his duties. He could see that the women of the sick people simply threw kitchen rubbish and rubbish in front of the barracks instead of carrying them onto the dung heap. " (Letters from Lambarene, p.541)

The mentality of some Afros against Albert Schweitzer: After an operation leaving the hospital without payment

Some black people are not only patients, but they are also thieves refusing any payment for an operation and secretly they run away at night (letters from Lambarene, p.665). Quote from Albert Schweitzer (translation):

"Normally the operated patients are thankful. But of course it may happen that an operated patient says thank you but then is taking his way home during the night secretly taking the lent moskito net as a souvenir with him. Such behavior had to be observed by Dr. N'Tschinda-N'Tschinda [Dr. Lauterburg] with a patient who had a huge hernia with much work. But the joy of having saved a human being is not harmed by this." (Letters from Lambarene, p.665)

The mentality of the Afros against Albert Schweitzer: Order for 30 poles - then only one poles comes

For the new big hospital new poles are wanted. When Albert Schweitzer would send out the Afros without control, the Afros would come back with only one pole (letters from Lambarene, p.641).

The Afros' mentality against Albert Schweitzer: destroying brushes

Black people are not allowed to be painted, they destroy the brushes in 2 days so that they remain without brush hairs, the method of destruction could never be determined. This happened when the new hospital was painted in summer 1926 (letters from Lambarene, p.671).


The Afros' mentality against Albert Schweitzer: posts for "charring" would be burned or charred too little
(Letters from Lambarene, pp.642-643)


The mentality of the Afros against Albert Schweitzer: Defamation calling the doctor a murderer - worst defamations against the anesthetic

-- The fairy tale about anesthesia: Blacks perceive the anesthesia as death, and awakening from the anesthesia as a resurrection (Edge of the Primeval Forest, p.378). Quote from Albert Schweitzer (translation):

<They [the blacks] are most impressed by the anesthetic. They talk about it a lot. The girls at the school [in Lambarene] are connected by pen friends with a European Sunday school. One of these letters reads: "Since the doctor has been here, we have been experiencing strange things. First he kills the sick, then he heals them; afterwards he wakes them up again."

For the natives, anesthesia is simply dead. If someone wants to tell me that they have suffered a stroke, they say: "I was dead.">

-- Anesthesia is supposed to be a killing attempt: a black African with a phageenic ulcer is supposed to be anesthetized so that the ulcer can be scratched out painlessly. The black patient then invents the rumor that Albert Schweitzer wants to kill patients with a poison under his nose (letters from Lambarene, p.659). Quote from Albert Schweitzer (translation):

"One evening it can be heard how (Letters, p.658) a patient who had to pass an anesthesia for cleaning his ulcer then was telling to others: "Yes, the doctor wanted to kill me! He gave me a poison into my nose and then I was dead instantly. But he did not have enough poison, so I came back to life." (Letters from Lambarene, p.659)

Criminal Afro patients in Albert Schweitzer's hospital - the high crime rate of the Bendjabis

The "wild blacks" (Bendjabis) from the interior of Gabon refuse to help and sell the instruments

-- the "wild blacks" (Bendjabis) from the interior of Gabon are burdening the hospital with their criminality and lack of discipline (letters from Lambarene, p.554)
-- The "wild blacks" never want to observe house rules (letters from Lambarene, p.554)
-- in the hospital itself the savages from the highlands refuse the mosquito nets because "savages" do not need this, and they also refuse blankets against colds, they prefer to buy tobacco or trinkets (letters from Lambarene, p.553)
-- when one then gives working instruments to the savages from the highlands of Gabon, they often sell them and state that they have "lost" the ax or the machete, they prefer to buy tobacco or trinkets with the money (letters from Lambarene, p. 553)
-- the "wild blacks" (Bendjabis) [have no memory], don't know that bandages have to be renewed every day, one has to fetch them every day (letters, p.556)
-- the "wild blacks" (Bendjabis) do not react to a call with a name, only when they are fetched they come (Letters, p.556)
-- the "wild blacks" (Bendjabis) from the interior like to make campfires next to their beds for the food, and in the night it smokes against mosquitoes (letters, p.556)
-- but sometimes they make a fire UNDER the bed, which is forbidden because of the fire hazard, and orders are of no use and they endanger the entire hospital (letters from Lambarene, p.556-557)
-- the "wild blacks" (Bendjabis) steal what is possible in the hospital, steal food from other sick people etc. (Letters, p.557)
-- some sick "wild people" climb up coconut palms to harvest coconuts, although they are sick and one doesn’t expect them to take a step (Letters, p.557)
-- "Wild blacks" (Bendjabis) also make campfires with timber that has been long and laboriously transported instead of looking for some wood in the nearby forest
   --> Albert Schweitzer has to store the timber hidden away (letters from Lambarene, p.558)

-- when a canoe has to be repaired from the bottom in the hospital and has to be turned around and the sun canopy is removed during the repair, the sun canopy on the river bank is unguarded, and "wild blacks" (Bendjabis) steal something from it and make a fire with it (Letters from Lambarene, p.558)

Washing out the bandages by the river
-- there is nobody who wants to wash the bandages on the river for low pay (letters from Lambarene, p.558-559)
-- the "wild blacks" (Bendjabis) sometimes refuse to wash out bandages at the river and simply throw away the laboriously sewn bandages to get new ones the next day (letters from Lambarene, p.558-559)
-- a mental change comes with these "wild blacks" (Benjabis) only after blocking food supply during several days (Letters, p.559)
-- bandage production is very laborious and throwing away a bandage is rated as "one of the most serious hospital crimes" (Letters, p.559)
-- thus beautiful and peaceful days are turning into "fighting days" due to the high crime rate of the "wild blacks" (Bendjabis) (letters from Lambarene, p.559)

The Bendjabis make life in the hospital hell
-- the wild Bendjabis are sometimes bad thieves, rob the patients e.g. the bananas etc. [mouth robbery] (letters, p.578)
-- the wild Bendjabis also steal chickens and have a party with it, that is not an isolated case (Letters, p.559), if e.g. there is an operation ongoing in the operating room and the hospital staff is concentrating in the operating room, then some Bendjabis think that they can now steal a chicken from the doctor Albert Schweitzer (letters from Lambarene, p.583-584). Albert Schweitzer quote:

<During the second operation that we are doing with Doctor Lauterburg, he is frightened by a black man who rushes into the operating room with the cry: "They are trying to kill the doctor's chicken." "They" (letters, p.583) are the Bendjabis, who can only crawl, and his accomplices. I would have been amazed if they hadn't used the time when doctors and nurses are all held together in the house for their saucepan!> (Letters from Lambarene, p.584)

-- many are like that, not all, but when new Bendjabis come, the high level of crime always starts all over again (letters from Lambarene, p.559)
-- the criminal Bendjabis also rob the nerves of the hospital staff - others become affectionate or say hello when you see them again (letters, p.559).

How blacks best obey: when a white woman gives the orders

The mentality of Afro men: obeying to a white woman

This is a principle: Blacks obey best when a white woman is the boss:

"Strangely enough, the white woman has the greatest authority over the primitives." (Letters from Lambarene, p.680)

The black mentality against animals

The mentality of the Afros: torture animals and kill them brutally: elephants, chimpanzees, dogs

-- Elephants: The black people have a tradition of killing elephants by cutting their Achilles tendons, but if they are discovered the elephant wins (letters from Lambarene, p.653). Quote from Albert Schweitzer (translation):

"Now the lumberjacks are thinking of killing the animal in the style of their forefathers by sneaking after it and cutting the Achilles tendons of its hind feet with a machete. How many thousand elephants were defenseless in the forests of Central Africa in earlier times in this insidious way being killed. But the blacks at Samkita lack the practice that their ancestors had. The elephant notices the attack and attacks them. He throws the next one into the air and bores his tusks into his body, and then the elephant is walking on calmly." (Letters from Lambarene, p.653)

-- Chimpanzees: Blacks have a tradition of hunting, killing [and eating] chimpanzees. The chimpanzee children often remain without a mother and are raised as orphans somewhere with people (letters from Lambarene, p.667)

-- Dogs: Some black people practice cruelty when dealing with dogs. This provokes that whites who are traveling back to Europe would rather leave their dogs with Albert Schweitzer in the hospital than give them to other blacks (letters from Lambarene, p.667).

-- Horses + mules: In Dakar Albert Schweitzer sees how the Afros are cruelly abusing their horses and mules (Between water + jungle, p.333).

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