The Indisch
Monument
“A place where you can pass on
to your children the part of
your childhood spent in the Dutch
East Indies”
This publication was made possible with the support of the municipality of the Hague,
International City of Peace and Justice.
Foreword
This publication was initiated by the Stichting Herdenking
15 Augustus 1945 (15 August 1945 Commemoration Foundation) in
honour of the inception and 20th anniversary (in 2008) of the Indisch
Monument. It describes the importance of this monument to those who
once lived in the Dutch East Indies and their offspring, and the history
behind it.
We would like to thank the M.A.O.C. Gravin van Bylandt Stichting, the
Nationaal Fonds voor Vrijheid en Veteranenzorg NFVV, the BankGiro
Loterij, the Lotto, the Netherlands Railways NS, the World Forum
Convention Center WFCC and Mr. M. Viets for their financial support.
Photos were provided by Marianne Domisse, the Oorlogs Graven Stichting, KTOMM Bronbeek,
the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation NIOD, the Netherlands National News Agency
ANP, Amsterdam Municipal Archive, Stichting Herdenking Gevallenen Z.O.-Azië 1941–1949,
Stichting Herdenking Gevallenen en Slachtoffers in Nederlands-Indië and Gonne Palm at the
request of the Stichting Herdenking 15 Augustus 1945.
Design: www.makingwaves.nl
Text editing: www.betertelezen.nl
Translation: www.plainenglish.nl
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From Urn to Monument
In the twenty or thirty years following the transfer of sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to
Indonesia (1949) the political climate in the Netherlands was marked by sensitivity in relation to
Indonesia and a sense of shame about the Netherlands’ colonial past. As a result it took a long time
before there was any interest in the war victims of the former Dutch East Indies colony.
Before the Indisch Monument in The Hague was finally built, war victims from South East Asia were
remembered in various other places in the Netherlands. For example, an urn was placed in the
National ­Monument on Dam square in Amsterdam, and there was a Royal Dutch East Indies Army
(KNIL) monument in Enschede, a Women’s Monument in Apeldoorn and an Indisch Plaque in the
hall of the Lower House of Parliament in The Hague.
The Monument on the Dam
The National Monument on Dam square in Amsterdam was the first war monument to
­commemorate not only Dutch war casualties from the Second World War in Europe, but others fallen during the same war in South East Asia as well.
Twelve urns have been built into the rear wall of the temporary and existing National Monument. Eleven of which – with earth from places where executions took place in the former eleven
­provinces of the Netherlands – have been placed behind the provincial coats of arms. The twelfth
urn – filled with earth from 22 war cemeteries from various parts of the Indonesian archipelago
– has been mounted behind the Netherlands’ coat of arms: the lion holding a sword and a quiver
of arrows. The twelfth urn is a ‘symbol of the spirit of sacrifice of all, both servicemen and civilians,
without regard to race or nationality, who fell in the battle against Japan and for peace and justice’.
Only on May 4th, 1961, during the national war commemoration ceremony at the National
­Monument on Dam square, the text ‘those who gave their lives in the Dutch East Indies’ was added
to the existing memorial text ‘in remembrance of all those who since May 1940 have fallen for their
fatherland’.
The Women’s Monument in Apeldoorn, now in Bronbeek
During the 1960s there was renewed interest in the Second World War. Relations with Indonesia
had also improved due to the transfer to Indonesia of New Guinea, and President Suharto taking
over from President Sukarno. In this new political and cultural climate, a number of women from the
camps wanted to erect a monument to honour the women who suffered during the war in the East
Indies.
The Women’s Monument was unveiled in Apeldoorn in December 1971. Frans Nix (who died in 2008),
a former camp child, designed the monument in the tradition of strong women: it portrays strength
and resistance, in the form of the protesting, protective and strong mother. This was consistent with
the image of a woman and child as the symbol of victory and liberation in the monument on Dam
square. Following damage to the statue in 1984, it was moved a year later to Arnhem (Bronbeek).
▲
Urn filled with earth from the 22 war cemeteries in Indonesia placed in the temporary monument on Dam
square in Amsterdam
Dam, Amsterdam, temporary war monument until 1956. Ceremonial placing of the Indisch urn on 29 April 1950 ▼
The Indisch Plaque and Roll of Honour of the Fallen
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On August 15, 1985 a bronze plaque was unveiled in remembrance of all those who fell during the
Second World War in the former Dutch East Indies. The plaque was presented to the chairman of
the Lower House of the States General on 16 December 1985. Since then the plaque has been on
display in the hall of the former building of the Lower House of Parliament (Binnenhof 1a) in the
same room as the Roll of Honour of the Fallen 1940–1945. This list contains 18,000 names of the
soldiers and merchant seamen who died all over the world.
Every year, on August 14, the Stichting Herdenking 15 Augustus 1945 (15 August 1945 Commemoration
Foundation) holds a short private ceremony of remembrance at the plaque. A wreath is laid by the
chairman or a member of the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament and the Chairman of the foundation. This takes place in the presence of members of the Lower and Upper Houses and representatives
of organisations affiliated with and sympathetic to the 15 August 1945 Commemoration Foundation.
Finally - an Indisch Monument in The Hague
▲ Indisch Plaque, Lower House of Parliament building The Hague
▼ Monument on Dam square (photo: NIOD, Ben van Bohemen)Monument to Japanese Women’s Camps in Bronbeek ▼
A full-scale commemoration of the end of the Second World War in Asia took place for the first time,
25 years later, on August 15, 1970. It was attended by 10,000 people, Her Majesty Queen Juliana,
HRH Princess Beatrix and HRH Prince Claus and representatives of the government. It was not until
1980 that this ceremony was repeated, in the presence of 11,000 people, Queen Beatrix and HRH
Prince Claus, members of the government and the Indonesian Ambassador. This was the start
of the annual commemoration of the end of the war in South-East Asia. The organisation of the
annual commemoration ceremony was placed in the care of the Stichting Herdenking 15 Augustus
1945, which was set up on March 15, 1980 by 24 Indisch organisations.
Initiative
The idea to erect an Indisch Monument in The Hague was put forward in 1988 by the Advisory
Committee on War Commemoration Monuments which was part of the then Ministry of Public
Health, Welfare and Culture. This committee was chaired by Harry Verheij, a former Amsterdam
alderman, who also was a member of the Benefits Council which ruled on the payment of benefits
to victims of war or persecution (WUV benefits). It was through this work that he learned of the
suffering in the war in South-East Asia and the lasting impact that it had on the lives of those concerned. The Indisch Monument Foundation was established to realise his idea.
The monument was to be a monument in ‘the national style’, one which was in keeping with the
commemorative tradition of the urn (on Dam square) and the Women’s Monument in Apeldoorn/
Arnhem. It should be something which at least four groups of people affected by the war in the
period 1941–1945 could identify with: military personnel, women and children from the civilian
­prison camps, prisoners of war and Indo-Europeans who largely remained outside the camps, and
the ‘romushas’, the most severely affected group of Indonesians used for forced labour.
Source: Dr. Elsbeth Locher-Scholten ‘Van Indonesische urn tot Indisch Monument: vijftig jaar
Nederlandse herinneringen aan de Tweede Wereldoorlog in Azië’ Bijdragen en mededelingen
betreffende de geschiedenis der Nederlanden 114 (1999) 192-222.
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The Indisch Monument
Meaning, unveiling and origins
The Indisch Monument on Teldersweg in The Hague commemorates all victims of the Japanese
occupation of the Dutch East Indies, which followed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on
­December 7, 1941. Her Majesty Queen Beatrix unveiled this impressive monument on August 15,
1988. It was designed by Jaroslawa Dankowa, a Dutch artist of Bulgarian origin, who until her death
in 1999, lived and worked in The Hague.
The commission
The commission by the Indisch Monument Foundation awarded to Jaroslawa Dankowa for the
design was as follows: ‘The monument should be a place of acknowledgement and recognition
of everything which all those who were affected by the Japanese occupation went through in the
former Dutch East Indies, for the present and future generations.
Recognition through a representation of the struggle and the conquest. The humiliation, the
­repression, hardship, pain and despair. But also the hope, perseverance, courage and solidarity.
Acknowledgement through a portrayal of our understanding today of the causes, the
­circumstances and consequences of that suffering.
The monument is being erected, first and foremost, for all those who experienced these events:
Dutch and non-Dutch, the indigenous population, men, women and children, servicemen,
­prisoners of war. Those inside and outside the camps, during the war and immediately thereafter.
The post-war generations also form part of the target group, because they have had to deal with its
impact in their lives.’
▲ Model of the Indisch Monument
▼ Jaroslawa Dankowa
The work in progress ▼
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The suffering:
(left) the stretcher with
the deceased flanked by
grieving female figures
(right) the liberation...
Description and symbolism
Jaroslawa Dankowa herself described the work and its symbolism as follows: “The monument
­commemorates in a figurative manner the victims of the war fought by the Netherlands against
Japan from 1941 to 1945 in the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).
Seventeen bronze figures of various ages are portrayed, in front of a high mesh structure or steel
fence around a stretcher. The figures represent the many faces of suffering: the pain, the despair
and the protest. The high mesh symbolizes solidarity to one, the bars behind which people were
imprisoned to another. The deceased lie on the stretcher in the middle, flanked on either side by
grieving female figures. The outermost figures signify the liberation. They have been awakened and
with raised head and clenched fists they resolutely face the future. To the far left stands a mother
with her child, the new generation, which she is urging forward towards better times.
Through the few scant clothing references, like a sarong, cut-off trouser legs and the rags which
were typical of the time and place, the scene becomes unmistakably ‘Indisch’ and specific to the
Monument.
The different forms which the figures take – men, women and children – leave room for personal
identification by the visitor.’
Source: Sonja van Proosdij, an interview with Jaroslawa Dankowa
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Inscriptions
The inscription on the left of the monument − 8 Dec. 1941–15 Aug. 1945 − refers to the declaration
of war on Japan by the Netherlands (1941) and the capitulation of Japan following the American
atom bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945). In the centre of the
monument there is a map of the (former) Dutch East Indies.
The inscription on the right on the monument – THE SPIRIT OVERCOMES – is almost identical to
the inscription on the memorial stones at the eight war cemeteries in Indonesia and the other war
cemeteries in South-East Asia and Australia where Dutch war victims are buried. These distant war
graves are difficult to visit from the Netherlands because of the distance and the cost involved and
that is also why the Indisch Monument in The Hague is so important to all those who have loved
ones who lie buried in these remote war cemeteries.
Earth from the seven war cemeteries in Indonesia has been placed in an urn which, since 2005, has
been mounted in a small column in front of the monument. In the Autumn of 2008 an urn with
earth from the Galala Tantui war cemetery on the isle of Ambon was placed behind the column.
Information is provided on top of this column about the unveiling and the design. On its sides,
the meaning of the group of figures is described: ‘The Indisch Monument signifies the suffering
that people experienced, and symbolizes the battle against repression and terror’ and ‘Countless
servicemen, resistance fighters and ordinary people of all ethnic backgrounds, inside and outside
the prison camps, gave their lives.’
The Indisch Monument is a place of remembrance, prayer and meditation, an impressive place
where, every year on August 15, the victims of the Second World War are remembered, as well as
the end of the war for the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Flowers and extra attention
The many flowers which always lie at the foot of the monument come from funerals and ­cremations
of survivors of the war in the Dutch East Indies and their offspring. Flowers are also laid when
family occasions are celebrated. The Indisch Monument has received extra public a­ ttention since a
­miniature of it was placed in Madurodam in 2005, just a stone’s throw away.
...facing the future ▲­
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The Indisch Bell
In 1995 a bronze bell was mounted behind the monument. The Indisch Bell was first rung during
the remembrance ceremony on August 15, 1995, in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of
the Netherlands. The bell underlines that the Indisch Monument is a sacred spot. The money for the
bell was raised because it was felt that the monument should also have a sound, a voice.
A voice which not only commemorates the victims of that war, but which also inspires us always to
strive for peace, now and in the future.
Victims of WWII in the Dutch East Indies
The Japanese took some 42,000 military
prisoners of war, about 20% of whom died.
More than 100,000 civilian men, women
and children were also locked up in civilian
prison camps. Approximately 13% of them
died. In 1930 the European population was
240,000 people. Of these, 208,000 were
Dutch. In 1940 it is estimated that roughly
300,000 Europeans lived in the Dutch East
Indies. Therefore, about 160,000 Europeans
remained outside the camps. How many of
these people died is unknown.
The number of Indonesians put to forced
labour by the Japanese, known as ‘Romushas’
(Romusha is the Japanese word for ‘work
soldier’) ranges from 400,000 to 4,000,000 (according to Indonesian sources). It is estimated
that between 50% and 80% of them perished.
The Indonesian population was around 69.5
million people. During the period of the war a
disproportionately high number of them died
(1.7 million, roughly 2.4%).
All of them are remembered at the
­commemoration ceremony on August 15.
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What is commemorated?
Although the Netherlands was liberated on May 5, 1945, the war in the former Dutch East Indies
ended only on August 15, 1945, with the Japanese capitulation. But the battle continued due to
the declaration of Indonesian independence two days later by the Indonesians Ir. Sukarno and
Dr. Mohammed Hatta: the battle for independence had begun.
Forced departure
The transfer of sovereignty to Indonesia by the Netherlands on December 27, 1949 meant that
many people were forced to choose between the Netherlands and Indonesia: they had to decide
whether to stay or to leave. And thus until the 1960s some 300,000 people left Indonesia and
settled in the Netherlands. Although they were Dutch citizens, many of them had never been to the
Netherlands before.
Despite their own (often dramatic) war experiences, these migrants soon realized that the
Netherlands had been through its own war, and that there was no room for stories about the war
in ‘far away Asia’. For many people from the Dutch East Indies, their emigration to the Netherlands
amounted to a loss of property, status, homeland and even identity. Those concerned tried to fit
into the prevailing culture of their new homeland as well as they could.
First own commemoration
The focus of the National Commemoration on May 4, was mainly concentrated on the war against
Nazi Germany. The day after was a celebration of the liberation from Nazi occupying forces. But the
history of the people with a war background in the far East was so different that the ceremonies on
May 4 and 5, failed to meet the needs of this group.
A service of remembrance for their own dramatic war experiences in South-East Asia was held for
the first time, as we saw, on August 15, 1970 in The Hague, on the initiative of Mr. G.S. Vrijburg.
Many people felt the need for an annual commemoration ceremony and an opportunity to meet.
Therefore in 1980 the Stichting Herdenking 15 augustus 1945 (15 August 1945 Commemoration
Foundation) was set up with His Royal Highness, Prince Bernhard, as its patron. In 1980 there had
already been a large-scale commemoration in the presence of Queen Beatrix and HRH Prince Claus.
Thereafter the commemoration was organised on August 15, every year in different parts of the
country until Her Majesty, Queen Beatrix unveiled the Indisch Monument on Prof. Teldersweg in The
Hague. Since then the remembrance ceremony has always been held on August 15, at the Indisch
Monument in The Hague.
Commemoration 2007 ▲­
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“To reflect in silence”
“Emotions made visible and so close by”
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Pay tribute
In 1999 the national goverment under PM Wim Kok designated the date of August 15, 1945 as
the official end of the Second World War for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Since 2007 the
commemoration on August 15 in The Hague has been given a place amidst the two other official
commemorations of the Second World War: The National Commemoration day on May 4, and the
Auschwitz remembrance ceremony around January 27 (Holocaust Day), both in Amsterdam.
Many of the generation who experienced the war first hand have by now passed away. But the
annual ceremony on August 15 still attracts many people. People reflect on their own memories
of the period, or pay tribute to loved ones who did not survive this period. Representatives of the
Dutch government and parliament, of Indonesia and the former allies (the United States, New
Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia) also attend every year.
Young people too
More and more young people attend the remembrance ceremony. Often at the invitation of
their parents or grandparents, out of respect for their relatives or forefathers and also with a keen
interest in their own roots. To be able to understand their own background and the history of their
parents or grandparents, ever more young people want to hear the personal stories of those years,
stories which their own parents and grandparents often have not (yet) been able to tell them. The
Stichting Herdenking 15 Augustus 1945 (15 August Commemoration Foundation) is taking this
aspect into account when planning the programme for future commemoration ceremonies.
▲ Sea cadets help with the laying of the wreath
Youth programme ▲
▼ Students from VCL, a school which has adopted the Indisch Monument, also lend a hand with the laying of wreaths
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The Second World War in the Dutch
East Indies
In the 19th century the Netherlands made a modest contribution to Japan’s metamorphosis at that
time from a country cut off from the outside world to an important international industrial power.
This Dutch contribution was, among other things, expertise in the field of shipbuilding. Its rapidly
growing industrialization meant that Japan needed raw materials, which it could not provide for
itself.
Japan belittled
▲ The attack on Pearl Harbor
The surrender to Japan ▼
Following the example of the Western powers, who around 1900 obtained raw materials from
their colonies – the Netherlands fought for the oil-rich Aceh in the Indonesian archipelago – Japan
wanted to take Manchuria in 1905. This was not successful, due to pressure from Russia and the
Western powers. They did however agree to the Japanese colonisation of Korea and Taiwan.
This humiliation of Japan by the West offended the Japanese military. Following the death of the
Japanese Emperor Meiji in 1912, under whose regime Japan had so quickly developed industrially,
his son became Emperor. This man, who was neither physically nor mentally strong, also had a son,
Hirohito, who, from childhood, received a strongly military training and upbringing in the armed
forces.
Military dictatorship
When Hirohito became Emperor in 1926 – following the death of his father – the military saw their
opportunity, slowly but surely, to gain control of the Japanese nation. The result was a military
dictatorship imposed on Japanese citizens until mid-1945. Everyone was deemed to be willing to
give his or her life for the Emperor. This was why many soldiers had no feelings of shame or guilt
about the acts of war and the crimes they perpetrated in the name of the Emperor.
Build up to aggression
In 1931 Japan annexed Manchuria. The international community protested, but took no action.
In 1933 Japan deliberately left the League of Nations. Thereby withdrawing itself from the
international fleet treaties under which the international community aimed to block the expansion
of the Japanese fleet. Japan began to arm itself with the building of large battleships, powerful
torpedoes and highly manoeuvrable fighter planes. The army – hardened by years of campaigning
– was specialised in jungle combat.
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Aggression, but little success
Japan started the Second World War in Asia in 1937 when it took aggressive action in China. The
Western powers had also widened their influence here, but Japan felt that Asia should be for the
Asians. Despite several landings and mass executions, as in Nanking – when hundreds of thousands
of civilians were atrociously murdered in 1938 – Japan had little success in China. Therefore plans
were developed to take control of the entire South-East Asia region.
The first step, in spring 1939, was to occupy certain strategic islands south of China. Thanks to its
alliance with Germany, in July 1941 Japan forced the collaborating Vichy government in France to
give it free access to French Indo-China. This led to negotiations with the United States, which had
threatened an oil boycott if Japan did not withdraw from China and Indo-China.
Early in 1941 Japan had already sent a delegation to Batavia (Jakarta) to secure oil supplies from
the Dutch East Indies. The rejection by the government of the Dutch East Indies of the Japanese demands in late June 1941 and the oil embargo that the United States imposed in August 1941, were
seen in Japan as a conspiracy between the so-called ABCD countries: the Americans, the British, the
Chinese and the Dutch.
Frustration leads to attack
Japan planned an attack on Pearl Harbor to wipe out the American fleet in the Pacific in one
blow. This would leave the way open to take Malay, Singapore, the oil-rich Dutch East Indies, the
­Philippines and even Australia.
The attack was launched on December 7, 1941 with Japanese navy planes. The East Indies
­government was the first to declare war on Japan on December 8, 1941. The Japanese attack was a
great success, not in the least because in the days which followed the Japanese air force destroyed
half the American air force in the Philippines and with bombs and torpedoes sank the British battleships at Singapore. Japan quickly conquered Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies and the
Philippines.
Underestimation and surrender
The allies – including the Netherlands – had underestimated the power, technical capability and
determination of the Japanese military apparatus. The government in the Dutch East Indies had
also not expected that the local population would initially warmly welcome the Japanese as ‘liberators’. On the night of February 26, most of the Dutch fleet was destroyed in the Battle of the Java
Sea. On March 8, 1942 the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL in Dutch) surrendered.
▲ Area occupied by Japan
▼ KNIL (Royal Dutch East Indies Army) soldier
Indonesians waving flags to welcome the Japanese army ▼
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The Dutch East Indies
during the Japanese occupation
Prison camps
From early 1942 to around the end of 1943 some 100,000 civilians – men, women and children –
were imprisoned and 42,000 servicemen were taken prisoner of war. The men were separated from
the women and children. They were robbed of all their possessions. The conditions in the camps
were wretched: poor ‘housing’ in barracks and neglected sheds, buildings or prisons. The many transports carried out by the Japanese meant that the camps became increasingly overcrowded.
The Japanese also deliberately created a serious food shortage. Water was scarce, and hygiene
­seriously deteriorated as a result. Vermin started to spread, causing the outbreak of disease.
Because the camp commanders provided little in the way of medicine, tropical diseases also became
­prevalent.
Suffering
The prison camps
Due to the long-term malnutrition, long working hours and hard labour, the prisoners became t­ otally
exhausted. Many died: men, women and children. Young children died due to malnutrition and
­diseases which most certainly could have been treated.
Older boys and later even boys as young as ten years old were deemed to be adults by the J­ apanese
and taken from their mothers. Once taken to a men’s or boys’ camp, they were treated as adults and
subjected to a humiliating regime. Young women too were sometimes recruited as sex slaves or ‘comfort women’. This took place not only inside but also outside the camps, among all population groups.
The Japanese often and frequently punished and mistreated people for ‘misdemeanours’ such as
‘failing to greet’ and ‘not bowing low enough’. The punishments varied from standing to attention for
hours on end in the burning sun to floggings and no food or water whatsoever.
Prisoners of war
Prisoners of war were held in separate camps and forced to carry out extremely hard labour.
Notorious examples include the Burma railway, the Pakan Baroe railway on Sumatra and the mines
in Japan. Many perished due to exhaustion, starvation, ill treatment or disease.
Romushas
The Eurasian or Indo-European and indigenous population may well have remained outside
the prison camps, but they were also exploited. Under false pretences and with the aid of local
political leaders (Sukarno) they were put to forced labour. About 50% to 80% of them died due to
exhaustion, mistreatment and disease.
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Chinese
There were also ethnic Chinese (Pernanakan ) living in the Dutch East Indies during the occupation.
They were employed as workers in plantations, businesses or in shipping. Or they were engaged in
trade in which they had become very successful over the centuries. The latter were termed ‘Asia’s
Jews’, because like the Jews, the Chinese – in this case by order of the Dutch East Indies government – were not allowed to own land nor hold any positions of power.
The Chinese were often given preferential treatment by the Dutch, not least because they were
loyal to the Dutch authorities. But the Japanese saw them as supporters of the Dutch regime – and
as descendants of their archenemy China – also as an enemy in the East Indies.
Life outside the camps
The Indonesian population, the Chinese and most of the Indo-Europeans remained outside the
camps during the Japanese occupation. But they were also subjected to cruelty and the arbitrary
rule of the occupying forces. Families were torn apart when men were taken away to the camps (fathers and older sons, whether involved in military activity or not). Mothers and daughters outside
the camps were also not safe: they could be abducted by the Japanese and forced into prostitution
as ‘comfort women’. Above all, food and medicines were in short supply and it was d
­ ifficult to get
almost everything. To survive it was necessary to be very creative.
▲
The theatre of war
While the Japanese ruled as the lords and masters of the Indies archipelago, on its fringes they were
fighting the allies. The Japanese advance to the south in May and June 1942 was stranded. But they
ferociously defended their conquered territories, with great losses, also on the American side. Therefore the American supreme commander decided to advance on Japan itself as quickly as possible.
Small islands became of great strategic importance because bombers could be launched from
airfields there upon the next target and ultimately Japan itself. One such island is the notorious Iwo
Jima.
In four weeks’ time the Japanese occupation was retaken with huge losses and casualties on both
sides. This was because in the Japanese culture it was c­ onsidered dishonourable to surrender.
People would rather die fighting. These huge losses – and those incurred in retaking New Guinea
and the Philippines − made the American supreme c­ ommand realize that an invasion of Japan
would result in mass slaughter.
It was decided to deploy the first atom bombs: on August 6 and 9, 1945 the cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki were razed to the ground. The number killed at the time – and by radiation later – was
certainly fewer than the number that would have died had there been an invasion.
The shock effect on the Japanese was such that on August 15, 1945 the Japanese Emperor
­announced the capitulation; albeit against the wishes of the military.
Romushas
Inside a barrack of the women’s camp Tjideng ▼
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The capitulation
Although Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, because of the communications chaos caused by
the war, those in captivity only were informed on various dates towards the end of August. Often
the prisoners had no idea of what had gone on outside their camp. Rumours were c­ irculating in the
camps, but no one knew anything about the emerging nationalist feelings among the i­ndigenous
population or about the earlier liberation of the Netherlands.
Revolution, diplomacy and war
▲ The ignominy of surrender
▼ Sukarno with Hatta to the right behind him
Indonesian freedom fighters ▲ Although with the capitulation the Japanese had surrendered, fighting soon broke out again.
On August 17, 1945 Sukarno and Hatta made a unilateral declaration of Indonesian independence.
Because it was unclear who held authority after the Japanese, Indonesian insurgent groups began
fighting for freedom, initially in an unorganised fashion and later headed by their political leaders.
They did not want the Netherlands to re-impose its colonial rule on the country once more. The
initial months of this confusing and bloody period are known as the bloody Bersiap period. The
word Bersiap means: ‘Be prepared’.
During this period the few detachments of British troops that had by this time landed – together
with the Japanese – tried to protect and evacuate the Dutch. While the imprisoned men, women
and children wanted to get out of the camps so they could finally start looking for their family
members in freedom, they had to remain there for their own safety!
Anyone who went in search of mothers, fathers, spouses and children from other camps could not
be sure of their own safety. Many people ‘disappeared’ during this period. Even transports over land
taking evacuees to the harbours were attacked.
The Indo-Europeans and Chinese who had always supported the colonial government also could
not be sure of their lives. The Indo-Europeans had to flee into the camps or were interned by
­Indonesian Republicans.
By the end of 1945 the Dutch authorities were back in Batavia (Jakarta) and some parts of the
country were beginning to function normally again under Dutch rule. Although in many regions
the Indonesian government ‘in waiting’ already appeared to be exercising its influence from the
republican capital Yogyakarta.
Indonesia was becoming an independent country, but the Netherlands was still not ready to
acknowledge that. Therefore negotiations were opened and the Netherlands sent some 120,000
troops, most of them 18-year-old conscripts to the East Indies. Even though the Netherlands had
experienced many years of war and repression itself! After the failed negotiations and military
offensives – the Politionele Acties (police action) in July 1947 and December 1948, both broken
off under pressure from the United Nations – the Netherlands finally transferred sovereignty to
Indonesia on December 27, 1949. This brought 350 years of the Dutch presence in the Indies
­archipelago to an end.
This description is an edited and shortened version of the original: ‘15 augustus en de oorlog in
Zuidoost-Azië’ by Hans Liesker and Peter Slors.
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Other Memorials
The Netherlands
Besides the Indisch Monument in The Hague, there are other monuments elsewhere in the country
where commemoration ceremonies take place on August 15 or on other dates. There are a large
number of Indisch monuments on the Bronbeek estate in Arnhem, for example: the monument
to the Bangkong-Gedungjati Boys Camp, the Burma-Siam monument, the Japanese Women’s
Camps monument, the Victims of Japanese Sea Transports monument and the Dampit Penal Camp
­monument. Other important monuments include the Indisch Monument 1941–1949 in Enschede,
the Civilian Casualties in the Dutch East Indies monument in Roermond and the Indisch Monument
in Amstelveen.
▲ Monument to the Victims of Japanese Sea Transports
at Bronbeek by Anneriet Pijper
▼ Indisch Monument 1941–1949 in Enschede by H.L. Petri
▼ Indisch Monument at Amstelveen by Ella van de Ven
▲ The Bangkong-Gedungjati Boys Camp Monument at
Bronbeek designed by H.L.B. Mahieu and made by
Anton Beysens
36
Asia
Not only soldiers are buried in the Dutch war cemeteries in Indonesia, but also civilians who
­perished: men, women and children, Christians and Jews, Muslims and Buddhists.
There were originally 22 war cemeteries spread over the entire archipelago, which were laid out in
the period 1946-1952 by the Graves Department of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army. Earth from
these 22 war cemeteries – collected in an urn – has now become part of the National Monument on
Dam square in Amsterdam, behind the stone with the Dutch coat of arms on it.
Following the transfer of sovereignty to Indonesia, at the request of the Indonesian government,
the number of war cemeteries was reduced. The mortal remains were then brought t­ ogether in
seven war cemeteries on Java which are still managed by the Dutch War Graves F­ oundation.
These are the war cemeteries: Menteng Pulo and Ancol (Jakarta), Pandu (Bandung), Leuwigaja
(Cimahi), Candi and Kalibanteng (Semarang), Kembang Kuning (Surabaya), all on the island of Java.
British Commonwealth servicemen and 185 Dutch nationals are buried at the Galala-Tantui war
­cemetery on the isle of Ambon. This cemetery is managed by the British Commonwealth War
­Graves ­Commission, along with all the other war cemeteries in South-East Asia outside Indonesia.
▲ Menteng Pulo, Jakarta, gallery with urns from Japan
▼ Kranji, Singapore
Kanchanaburi, Thailand ▼
A total of 2.830 Dutch prisoners of war lie buried at the Kanchanaburi and Chungkai war cemeteries
in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Burma. They perished because of the terrible conditions under
which they were forced to carry out inhumanely hard work on the Burma railway line that ran
through Thailand and Burma. Other war cemeteries can be found in Singapore (Kranji), Hong Kong
(San Wan Bay), Yokohama (Hodogoya) and Perth (Karakatta).
In remembrance of the prisoners of war who died in the work camps, in 1945 Japan erected a cross
monument at Mizumaki (Fukuoka prefecture). The severely neglected monument was restored
around 1985 due to the efforts of the local villagers, Mr. D. Winkler and the Dutch War Graves
­Foundation. The monument was also extended at the time and inscribed with the names of the
871 Dutch people who died there. It is the only Dutch monument in Japan.
Wreath laying
Prior to the commemoration ceremony in The Hague each year, the Dutch Ambassador in
­Indonesia lays a wreath at the Menteng Pulo war cemetery. This takes place at the request and on
behalf of the Stichting Herdenking 15 Augustus 1945.
Once every five years – with the support of the Dutch embassies and the Dutch War Graves
­Foundation – wreaths are also laid at all the other war cemeteries in Indonesia, Australia and South
East Asia where Dutch victims of the Second World War lie buried. It will happen again in 2010.
37
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“You feel the emotions,
the sorrow and the wounds of your
family as if they were your own”
© 2010, Stichting Herdenking 15 Augustus 1945
Javastraat 52 • 2585 AR The Hague • P.O. Box 85747 • 2508 CK The Hague • The Netherlands
t +31 (0)70 – 330 5145 • f +31 (0)70 – 356 2809 • e [email protected] • www.indieherdenking.nl