the 50th Anniversary of the Revolution School in Dallas, Texas

TomasKsolomon Tks
·
Here is the transcript of the speech I delivered at the 50th Anniversary of the Revolution School in Dallas, Texas. The speech focuses on the human element of the arduous experiences faced by Eritrean children and the ultimate outcomes of their odyssey.

The bottom line: "Just as they influenced us and set an example by courageously standing for the truth against all pressure, I urge all of us to be a positive influence on this new generation. We must inspire them to hold their heads high and stand for justice and change, so that the sacrifices of our many fallen brothers and sisters may finally find their true meaning."
Greetings, respected brothers and sisters.

Standing on this stage after my elder sister Veronica's sensational performance is a significant challenge, but I will try to share my piece with you as much as I can.
After so many years, this is a great and very joyful occasion that has brought us together in this way.
The subject I want to speak about today is: Who were the students of the Revolution School? As you know, when we speak about the students of the Revolution School, there are many different understandings.
When many people think of the students of the Revolution School, the image they have is that they were children of fighters. Likewise, many people have serious concerns that the organization washed the minds of these students and prepared them to become successors of the regime. I will try to explain these matters clearly.
First, however, when most people speak about their childhood memories or recollections, they usually remember from the age when they began school. Most people do not remember much about the period before that. For most of us who were students of the Revolution School, our childhood memories begin at the Revolution School in the mountains of Sahel.
Many entered the school when they were seven or eight years old. Before they had even had the opportunity to experience their childhood, five years later, at the age of twelve or thirteen, they left, entered the war, and many perished. Let us remember them in the manner in which they deserve to be remembered. Let us reflect on the fact that they were cut down at such a young age.

Most of us who are here are parents. A child is a child whether born today or born one hundred years ago. I leave it to you to consider how we would feel if our own children went through, at such a young age, what the students of the Revolution School experienced.
Now I will answer the question: Who were the students of the Revolution School? As I mentioned earlier, not all students of the Revolution School were children of fighters. I will try to list the different ways through which they entered the school.
1. The first group, in no particular order, were like all those who, during the 1970s and 1980s, were filled with the spirit of the struggle and went to the field, but were told that they were too young and were sent to the Revolution School.
Most of them, and it would not be an exaggeration to say almost all of them, were pulled out after one or two years, told that they had grown and become mature, and sent into the war while under 15 years of age. Many among them gave their lives at a very young age in the mountains of Sahel and Barka. For these students, the Revolution School was a temporary holding place.
2. I will place in the second group those young children who, in 1977 or 1978, when many Eritrean towns were under the control of the two organizations, were organized under the name “Red Flowers.” When the withdrawal took place, they were gathered together and taken to the field. These children met the same fate as those in the first group.
3. I will move to the third group. The third group consisted of those who went to the field with their families during the withdrawal and entered the Revolution School when they reached the age of seven. I belong to this group. Many from this group were also pulled out at the age of twelve or thirteen and assigned as operators, to the naval force, to engineering, and to other areas. We have among us those who were taken in this manner and who perished in the war.
4. The fourth group were the children of fighters. Many of them were separated from their parents before they had even reached one year of age, while they were still infants only a few months old. They entered the children’s center and, through that system, entered the Revolution School when they reached the age of seven. Although the war that ended in 1991 did not reach many of them, that is, although many did not enter the war themselves, many returned home alone because their mother, their father, or both parents had died in the war. Tragically, in the Eritrean post-independence wars, many of these children followed in their parents' footsteps and lost their lives.
5. I will move to the fifth group. In Sahel and, if I am not mistaken, also in Barka, students were gathered with the stated intention that they would be educated in Tigre in their own villages. They were then collected and brought to the Revolution School. Their fate was similar to ours.
6. The sixth group may be new information to many people. We also had students from the TsibaH (ጽባሕ) School of ELP. I believe most of them were in my age group. In 1987, when the EPLF merged with Sagem, some students from the TsibaH School came and joined us. We actually have Eyob Zemhret with us today, representing those students.
7. Regarding the different ways students came to the Revolution School, we had reached six groups. Now, when I think back, the seventh and eighth groups are the ones that touch my heart most deeply. The seventh group consisted of those who were rounded up from their villages.
During the 1980s, it was common for young people to be rounded up from their villages and taken into the armed struggle. What many people do not know, however, is that very young children were also torn from their mothers’ arms and brought to the Revolution School. We are talking about children under ten years of age.
At one point, the students who came to the Revolution School after being rounded up in this manner became very numerous, more than those who joined the Revolution School through other means. If you recall students from 03, 04, and 05, the majority of them were brought to the Revolution School forcibly. Eventually, as you all know, because pressure from the teachers, caregivers, and leaders of the Revolution School on the EPLF leadership became significant, the military divisions themselves began rounding up children and opening their own Revolution Schools. Treating them like eggs in a hatchery, they kept the children in holding camps, pulling them out whenever they pleased only to cast them into the fire of war. The number of young children treated this way was not small; we are talking in the thousands.
8. The last group I want to discuss is the eighth group. Most of them were in my age group. During the withdrawal, they were taken as very young children from different towns and villages and brought to the Revolution School. What made them different was that, when they arrived, they were too young even for the Revolution School. Therefore, they first entered the children’s center. We are speaking about children from approximately two or three years old up to five or six years old.
Some among them were brought completely alone. They had no brother with them, no sister, no mother, and no father. They were taken and brought by themselves. Although every case should be studied properly and individually, in general they were taken without their parents’ knowledge and experienced a sorrowful childhood. After we entered Asmara, some of them found their parents living inside Asmara.

There may have been others who entered the Revolution School in different ways. I will end here regarding the different ways in which we entered.
If this was how students entered the Revolution School and if they left while still at a very young age, then one is compelled to ask, "What was the purpose of establishing the Revolution School?"
It is obvious that I do not believe anyone has seen a document stating, “This was the organization’s purpose,” or that there is anyone able to testify directly to such a written purpose.
The organization was secretive by its nature. However, when we examine what was repeatedly done in practice, it becomes clear that practice reflected the objective. The Revolution School served as a holding place for the organization. Young children remained there until they grew, and then the organization pulled them out whenever it wanted and used them to strengthen its ranks. It would not be an exaggeration to describe it in that way. It was exactly like a revolving door. Children aged seven or eight entered through one side, and children aged twelve to fifteen continuously left through the other.

When I say this, however, I do not mean that our teachers, caregivers, and leaders did not exert pressure on the organization. On the contrary, as we recall, because of the intense pressure from our leaders, the organization was forced, against its wishes, to open programs known as the Education Campaign Program and the Technical School program. Among the many who pressured the organization out of love for their students and because of the vision they had were people such as Beraki Gebreslasie, Bitweded Abraha, and Gurja, among others.
For this reason, we honor and remember them. We remember those who struggled to make the Revolution School a real school and who loved their students. What I mean is that our respect is not for the rocks, valleys, and mountains.
All right, then.
We have examined how we arrived. We have also considered what the purpose of establishing the Revolution School may have been. Finally, I will try to answer the question I raised earlier:
Were the students of the Revolution School brainwashed by the organization and recruited to become replacements and successors for the regime? I will try to explain this through examples and by describing what was actually seen on the ground.
Within the organization, students of the Revolution School were known as rebellious, disobedient, doing whatever they wanted, and the 10th nation. They were also known for their desire to fight and for their dedication. These characteristics are not the qualities of an obedient person. In practice, we also loved people such as Bitweded Abraha, Andom Iyob, and others who frequently disagreed with the organization’s conduct. I remember one occasion when Andom saw us gathered to listen to the Voice of the Masses radio station. He said to us: “Why are you gathering to listen to this lying radio station? Get rid of it.” Had it been someone else, he might have been imprisoned or executed by the EPLF. But to us, Andom was our friend. People like them also trusted us. There are countless examples, but I am sure many of you can elaborate on what happened on the front lines better than I can.
Viewing students of the Revolution School with suspicion was not limited to Eritreans. Let me tell you a short story. To save time I will only provide one example. When I first came to America, there was a man in Atlanta named Beyene. May he rest in peace; he died a few weeks ago. When he first met me, he was surprised and said: “You were in the Revolution School?” When I asked him why, he told me the following. He said that once, in the early 1980s, while he was in an Arab country, I believe it was Saudi Arabia, he read the following in a newspaper of that country. The writer said, "The EPLF is raising children in a wilderness called Sahel. These children do not know God, they have not seen any civilization, and they have become like wild animals. Tomorrow, they will be a danger not only to Eritrea, but also to us, the neighboring countries." Beyene added: “At that time, even though I myself was part of the mass organizations, I became frightened. I wondered, ‘What is this organization going to bring upon us?’”

It is understandable that, observing our upbringing from a distance, someone could reach such conclusions. But were we really like that? In my opinion, although we came from among the people at a very young age, we grew up resembling our teachers and caregivers, if not like the general population. In particular, we resembled those who were closest to us.
We have already seen how we arrived at Revolution School, what the purpose of the school might have been, and how many Eritreans and some outsiders viewed us. However, one critical question we still need to answer is: how did the EPLF leadership view the students? Here again, I will provide just one example to conclude within my allotted time.
Contrary to what people think, let me provide an example showing that we did not become loyal servants of the regime. The father of one of my classmates was a senior official who worked alongside figures like Wedi Ephrem. According to my classmate, when the Air Force was first being established, the original proposal was: 'Let us build it using students from the second and third rounds of the Winna Technical School program, as well as other Revolution School students studying at Tsabra.' However, some officials opposed this idea. Their reasoning was simple: 'If they are all Revolution School students, it will be difficult for us to control them.' They knew we would eventually rebel. Therefore, they decided to mix other recruits in with the students, and as a result, some of us were assigned to continue working in other ministries.

What does this show? It shows that the organization viewed students of the Revolution School with suspicion rather than as loyal servants. When I say this, I do not mean that every one of us is the same. Just as some wood is dry and some is green, not all Revolution School students were cut from the same cloth. Looking at us now, some ended up becoming loyal servants, while others of us did not. Sharing the exact same background does not mean we all share the same perspective, a reality we see reflected across the general Eritrean population.
In conclusion, I said earlier that perhaps we came to resemble the teachers and caregivers whom we loved. They were our first influences in the wilderness (meda). They challenged the purpose for which the Revolution School had been intended and, despite all the difficulties that existed, helped us develop the way of thinking that we have today.
We remember the Revolution School through the image of people such as Bitweded and Beraki, people like them who believed in truth and justice and stood firm. As I explained earlier, we remember the Revolution School because it taught us to express our thoughts without fear and to stand for the truth as shown in the banner. This may be a culture that we inherited from our courageous teachers, caregivers, and leaders. However, merely remembering the people who helped us develop the way of thinking we have today, and remembering our peers who perished in those valleys and mountains while still very young, is not enough.
Just as they influenced us and set an example by courageously standing for the truth against all pressure, I urge all of us to be a positive influence on this new generation. We must inspire them to hold their heads high and stand for justice and change, so that the sacrifices of our many fallen brothers and sisters may finally find their true meaning.

I thank you for listening attentively.
Thank you.
You can find the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLYUs--PTmI