Hark Olufs’ selvbiografi

Dansk tekst (Kjøbenhavn 1747)

Uddrag af Harks livsforløb:

1724 mar. 10 (?) on the way from Nantes to Hamburg captured by the Algerians at the Scilly islands, later on sold at Algiers as a slave, and finally bought by the bey of Constantine

1724-1727/28 lackey of the bey of Con­stan­tine

1727/28-1735 gasnadal (treasurer) of the bey

1732 june/july visit of a Saxonian expedition under the direction of dr. J. Hebenstreit

between 1728 and 1732 appointed commander of the bey’s bodyguard

1732-1735 agha ed-deira (commander-in-chief of the cavalry)

1732 sep. participation in the siege of Oran (?)

1732/33 pilgrimage to Mecca

1734 journey to Marrakech

1734 attempt for ransom by Oluf Jensen

1735 sep. 04 battle of Smendja and later on conquest of Tunis

1735 oct. 31 release and return via Algiers, Mar­seille, Lyon, Paris and Hamburg

1736 apr. 25 arrival at Amrum

Fundet via Illustreret Videnskab Historie

Som det fremgår var Hark Olufs en af ´de cirka 1 million europæiske slaver, som muslimerne havde bortført til Nordafrika.

Jeg har tidligere skrevet om det hvide guld, en bog der handler om drengen Thomas Pellows uhyggelige oplevelser i Marokko som hvid slave for sultanen. Envidere er der bogen The Scourge of Slavery, hvori der blandt andet står:

“It is estimated that possibly as many as 11 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic (95% of which went to South and Central America, mainly to Portuguese, Spanish and French possessions.  Only 5% of the slaves went to the United States). 

However, at least 28 million Africans were enslaved in the Muslim Middle East.  As at least 80% of those captured by Muslim slave traders were calculated to have died before reaching the slave markets, it is believed that the death toll from the 14 centuries of Muslim slave raids into Africa could have been over 112 million.  When added to the number of those sold in the slave markets, the total number of African victims of the Trans Saharan and East African slave trade could be significantly higher than 140 million people.”