ak. A new archival guide treating in particular the role of the SWAPO Party in Namibia’s struggle for Independence was launched in Windhoek last Wednesday. The guide was published by the Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BAB), also known as the Namibia Resource Centre and South Africa Library, housing one of the biggest archival collections, on and about SWAPO from the 1960’s to 1990 but also on Namibia’s Liberation struggle in general, outside the country. Thus the collection includes a wide variety of primary printed materials, periodicals, press releases, leaflets, announcements, letters, reports and papers from workshops and meetings "from SWAPO" as well as press material, booklets and pamphlets "about SWAPO".

The 322-page book, "Guide to the SWAPO collection in the Basler Afrika Bibliographien", is an enlarged and revised edition of an archival guide published in 1994 being half of the size than this second edition. The decision to publish this second edition was lead by the steady flow of new acquisitions and changes in archival patterns after the transition of power in South Africa in 1994 Giorgio Miescher, the highly experienced historian who compiled the archival guide, emphasized at the book launch. When Nelson Mandela became new president of South Africa and also the struggle against colonialism and apartheid in southern Africa was in the end phase many in Europe situated solidarity and anti-apartheid groups lost their base of existence and subsequently disbanded. The material collected by these groups or individuals was thereupon offered to archives if it had not already been destroyed by the groups, Giorgio Miescher pointed out. Because much of SWAPO material was banned inside the country during the liberation struggle, most of the material was produced, distributed and collected abroad. This was the reason why the groups owned so much material on and about SWAPO.

According to Giorgio Miescher, every collection has its own face value and the specific face value of the BAB’s SWAPO collection is characterised by Carl Schlettwein, founder of the Basler Afrika Bibliographien.

He cultivated contacts with all involved parties in the Namibian Liberation struggle enabling him to gather this vast collection, broad in coverage and showing several perspectives of one specific event. In the guide each document of the SWAPO collection in the Basler Afrika Bibliographien is listed and further explained with a short description of the respective content.

In addition an extensive list of 650 book titles with reference to SWAPO from BAB’s library and an index of personal names are included in the inventory. The archival guide, meant to serve as a researching aid not only for BAB’s archive but also for the National Archives and Libraries of Namibia will be sold for N$50. For further information please contact BAB by e-mail: bab@bluewin.ch.