Overview:
Gilbert “Ton Jilbè” Jean, survivor of the 1937 Kout Kouto or Parsley Bloodbath, died July 1 at age 103. Jean, a humble farmer and dwelling archive of Haitian historical past, handed in Dosmond, Haiti—almost 90 years after escaping Trujillo’s demise squads. Regardless of his position as a historic witness, his passing was met with silence from each Haitian and Dominican officers.
OUANAMINTHE, Haïti— Because the physique of centenarian Gilbert Jean was laid to relaxation and not using a grandiose ceremony on the Cemetery of Our Woman of Perpetual Assist July 9, residents of this quiet farming neighborhood close to Haiti’s northeastern border felt the load of his passing..
The discreet burial of Ton Jilbè — Haitian Creole for Uncle Gilbert, as he was affectionately recognized by many — mirrored the destiny of many like him. That of survivors of Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo’s reign of terror in opposition to Haitians and Haitian-Dominicans — who lived and died in border communities like Dosmond, only a few miles from the Dominican Republic.
Alongside the 224-mile stretch that separates the 2 nations, generations of Haitian households have stored recollections of the 1937 bloodbath alive in silence, usually neglected by the authorities of either side that share this sophisticated historical past.
On July 1, Ton Jilbè, one of many final recognized survivors of the 1937 Parsley Bloodbath, died peacefully at age 103 in his modest dwelling, which he shared together with his daughter, Louise-Marie Jean—for over 15 years. His demise marks the passing of a dwelling archive of Haitian collective reminiscence and a poignant reminder of the generations who’ve died with out justice for the atrocities they endured.
Jean was 15 years outdated when Trujillo ordered the extermination of hundreds of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent dwelling close to the border that existed again then, primarily on paper. It was a seamless website. Households crossed backwards and forwards freely to go to work, marketplaces, church buildings, faculties, and many others., on one facet and residential on the opposite. Sprawling cattle ranches spanned the divide, and Dominicans and Haitians mingled and intermarried regularly.
“Ton Jilbè was an excellent and sincere man, but in addition a significant witness to our historical past.”
Jesula Blanc, Coordinator of the Northeast Gender Platform
The bloodbath, generally known as the Masak Kout Kouto in Haitian Creole and the Parsley Bloodbath internationally, claimed the lives of at the least 20,000 individuals between Sept. 28 and Oct. 2, 1937. Victims have been usually recognized by their pronunciation of the Spanish phrase perejil (parsley)—a chilling image of racial and ethnic profiling.
“Trujillo did it as a result of he hated us, as a result of he didn’t wish to see Black individuals in his nation,” Jean informed NPR in 2017, revisiting the painful recollections of the bloodbath many years later.
That hatred pressured Jean to flee together with his household, escaping into Haiti from their hometown within the Dominican Republic—the place he was born to Zanna Tavien and Wansithe Jean. Because of a tip from sympathetic native officers, he and his relations survived whereas many others have been killed. Jean carried these recollections with him for almost 9 many years.
A farmer, father and witness to historical past
After crossing into Haiti, Jean settled in Dosmond, the place he started a quiet lifetime of farming and livestock rearing. Over time, he turned a well-respected member of his neighborhood—a person of humility, laborious work and deep non secular religion.
His daughter, Julianise Jean, described him as a loving and principled father who by no means sought recognition.
“He didn’t need riches or energy. He simply wished to take care of these he beloved,” she mentioned.
Jean, like most survivors, not often spoke in regards to the bloodbath till later in life, when his testimony turned a useful useful resource for historians, journalists and human rights advocates. His recollections have been sharp, his voice regular.
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“He was like a dwelling library,” mentioned Louise-Marie.
“Ton Jilbè was an excellent and sincere man, but in addition a significant witness to our historical past,” mentioned Jésula Blanc, coordinator of the Northeast Gender Platform (PGNE). “Now that he’s gone, we should redouble our efforts to protect his legacy.”
Many see in Jean’s demise a legacy erased by silence and a tragedy in some ways.
“Trujillo did it as a result of he hated us, as a result of he didn’t wish to see black individuals in his nation. It was in his roots to be racist.”
Gilbert Jean, Survivor of the Trujillo-led bloodbath, deceased on July 1, 2025
Regardless of his symbolic significance, Jean’s passing went largely unnoticed by Haitian or Dominican officers. His funeral on July 9 at Our Woman of Perpetual Assist Church in Dosmond was a modest affair, attended solely by household, buddies and a few native residents.
“The passing of such a veteran must be collective mourning,” mentioned Blanc. “However virtually all survivors move unnoticed.”
A 2013 ruling by the Dominican Constitutional Court docket stripped hundreds of Dominicans of Haitian descent of their citizenship, reviving trauma from the Trujillo period. Whereas some bilateral commissions have mentioned reparations and joint remembrance initiatives, concrete steps—similar to official apologies or worldwide recognition of the bloodbath as genocide or crime in opposition to humanity—stay elusive.
Regardless of mounting historic proof and many years of oral testimony, the Dominican authorities has by no means formally acknowledged the bloodbath as against the law in opposition to humanity. The state has erected no monuments on behalf of the victims. No day of remembrance is nationally noticed. Haiti, for its half, has additionally didn’t institutionalize the reminiscence of the bloodbath past sporadic civil society efforts and tutorial conferences.
Underneath strain from the US, Mexico and Cuba, Trujillo paid an indemnity of $525,000 in 1938 to the Haitian authorities, which used a portion of the cash to construct communities for refugees from the bloodbath. Dosmond was a kind of communities the place most survivors discovered refuge. To at the present time, households there wrestle with poor housing, an absence of medical clinics and drinkable water.
In accordance with Human Rights Watch and Amnesty Worldwide, each governments have failed to handle the historic grievances meaningfully. The Inter-American Court docket of Human Rights has repeatedly known as on the Dominican Republic to revive citizenship and cease discriminatory deportations, however the bloodbath itself stays largely unaddressed in state coverage.
A peaceable passing, however no closure
Jean died round 1:00 p.m. EST within the arms of his daughter and caregiver, Julianise, after having fun with a bowl of his favourite dish—rice pudding. Although he suffered from prostate problems, he remained stoic, refusing to complain in his last days.
He was preceded in demise by his spouse of over 50 years, Cléanthe Paul, and is survived by 5 youngsters—Julianise, Louise-Marie, Thamara, Saint Julius and Verniau Jean—together with 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
“Per week earlier than his demise, we might see he didn’t need us to fret,” mentioned Julianise. “He stayed sturdy for us.”
Jean’s story is each distinctive and tragically frequent: a survivor of historic violence who lived with dignity, solely to move in silence. His life is a testomony to Haiti’s enduring power—and to the collective duty now resting on future generations to recollect, doc and demand justice.
In 2025, when the worldwide dialog round racial violence, historic accountability and reparative justice has grown louder, the silence surrounding the 1937 bloodbath feels much more deafening.
Of their waning days, the final survivors of the 1937 Parsley Bloodbath that killed greater than 20,000 individuals within the Dominican Republic nonetheless hope for justice
“That the final voices of this atrocity are dying out with out a lot as a symbolic gesture from both Haiti or the Dominican Republic is an ethical failing,” Johnson Bélance, a human rights advocate, informed The Haitian Instances from his dwelling in Orlando, Florida.
“That is compounded by geopolitical neglect, systemic anti-Blackness, and an unwillingness to confront the truths of the previous.”
“What can we do when the final voice goes silent?” mentioned Bélance, 44, and a local of Ouanaminthe—who studied engineering within the Dominican Republic.
“We write, we identify, we keep in mind. We owe them that a lot.”
“Ton Jilbè’s demise, then, just like the passing of different survivors earlier than him, is not only private. It’s a human rights travesty. It’s political. It’s historic. And it’s a collective name to recollect—and to behave—earlier than the whole story is buried with its final survivors,” Bélance mentioned.