THE HAGUE (August 12, 2022) – The Indonesian ambassador will play a prominent role during the upcoming Dutch East Indies commemoration, by laying a flower arrangement at the Indies Monument immediately after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s wreath. The board of Stichting Herdenking 15 Augustus 1945 has decided that, as confirmed by several sources surrounding the commemoration. As a result, the administration succumbs to intimidation and violence. The change is experienced by many (Indo) Dutch as an outright provocation, because they suffered heavily from Indonesian racism and terror during World War II and the subsequent Bersiap.
The adjustment is a new step in the further Indonesianization of the Dutch East Indies commemoration. In doing so, the board tramples over sensitivities experiences by many victims and relatives. It is an open secret that (Indo) Dutch have long expressed great difficulty with the presence of the Indonesian ambassador at the Dutch East Indies commemoration, especially because Indonesia to this day denies, trivializes or condones its role in the Second World War and the subsequent Bersiap. To this day, Indonesian war criminals are honored as heroes every year in Indonesia. How the board managed to come to this rash action is a mystery. Incidentally, the prominent role for the Indonesian ambassador is not the only concession to the activists. This year the banner march of the Van Heutsz regiment will not be broadcast live. The green jungle hat, so characteristic of the regiment, is also being replaced by a different headgear.
When he was appointed two years ago, the then brand new chairman Thom de Graaf (D66) assured that he would under no circumstances tamper with the commemoration of the Dutch East Indies, which is sacred to (Indo) Dutch. So he does now anyway. The board thus succumbed to intimidation and violence from a small group of radical activists, who have been trying to hijack the Dutch East Indies commemoration for years. Two years ago, the Indies Monument was even defaced with insulting and racist slogans the day before the National Dutch East Indies Remembrance Day. The cowardly attack caused a shock wave within the Indo Dutch community and the call to permanently secure the monument. De Graaf’s organization turned against that wish and also refused to file a report. “Then you get a situation like with Jewish institutions, I don’t think we should go there,” said board member John Sijmonsbergen. Two years later, the activists’ demands are casually anchored in the ceremony.
Victims and relatives fear that tinkering with the ceremony will dilute the core idea behind the commemoration even more. De Graaf himself does not see this and believes that he is taking a “middle road” with the changes. In fact, he now mainly focuses on appeasing to radical activists. This concerns the select group of activists, who operate under various names such as Aliansi Merah Putih, De Grauwe Eeuw, #Geen4MeiVoorMij and the Dekolonisatie Netwerk Voormalig Nederlands-Indië, but also the controversial activist Lara Nuberg and the outspoken pro-Indonesian Professor Remco Raben. They have been lobbying for years for the so-called “decolonization” of the Dutch East Indies commemoration, in which Indonesian violence is often denied, downplayed or even condoned. That it is precisely these radical characters that have now been able to leave such a big mark on the commemoration is an affront for many involved.
Moreover, it appears that the changes have not been discussed with victims and surviving relatives of World War II. Earlier this year, the same tone-deaf and blunt approach was applied to fundamentally change the National Remembrance Day. A few minutes before the start of the commemoration, the Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei announced that the official text, about whom we commemorate on 4 May, was changed. This made it possible that this year for the first time the “colonial war in Indonesia” and “all Dutch and Indonesian victims” were commemorated. The latter group also includes Indonesians who fought for the enemy at the time, including Bersiap-war criminals, a historical fact that the committee itself denies. Few would have held possible that (Indo) Dutch victims and surviving relatives are now brushed aside at their own Dutch East Indies commemoration as well. It puts the question of whether the board of Stichting Herdenking 15 Augustus 1945 has any eye for the interests and emotions of its target audience at all, more topical than ever.
Every year on August 15, the Netherlands commemorates the capitulation of Japan on August 15, 1945 and thus the end of World War II. During the war in Asia, the (Indo) Dutch were persecuted by Japan and conspiring Indonesians under the motto “Asia for Asians”. In total, an estimated 25,000 Dutch people are said to have died in captivity in the infamous Japanese concentration camps. The number of Buitenkampers – (Indo) Dutch who were left to fend for themselves outside of the Japanese concentration camps in a country engulfed in Indonesian resentment, intimidation, violence and extremist fervor – that did not survive the war is unknown. Even after the capitulation of Japan, Indonesian (para-)military organizations and gangs sowed death and destruction among (Indo) Dutch people because of their Dutch and/or European origin. The adage during the then present zeitgeist was “Indonesia for the Indonesians”. The exact number of Dutch (civilian) victims killed by Indonesians during the Bersiap is still unclear to this day. Estimates vary between 5,000 and 30,000 dead and 15,000 missing. Chinese, Moluccans and other groups were also victims, although it is unclear how many.
