Dozens of commemorations for Dutch East Indies victims of WWII to be held this week

The chairman of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch Parliament, Martin Bosma, has commemorated the war victims who fell in the Dutch East Indies with a poem. During the annual commemoration at the Indian plaque in the Tweede Kamer, he recited the poem Ik lijd om u het meest, which means I suffer for you most in English by Willem Brandt. Commemorations will be held in dozens of places in the country this week.

In the poem, Brandt, who was imprisoned in various camps, expresses his grief for a loved one who is also imprisoned. "I suffer for you most; how they taunt me and beat me and kick me, worse than a beast, I can hide myself deep within myself, but I suffer for you who are far away most."

The Kamer chairman said that poems and stories like this contribute to the collective memory of what happened during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. "May they always stay with us," Bosma added. The Tweede Kamer chairman often recites poems to open Tweede Kamer meeting days.

Bosma, Senate President Jan Anthonie Bruin, and Thom de Graaf, chairman of the National Remembrance Foundation, August 15, 1945, laid a wreath at the plaque. This was followed by a parade along the wreaths.

The Japanese surrender in World War II is commemorated every year on August 15. This also happens a day before in the Tweede Kamer.

Although the Netherlands was freed on May 5, 1945, it took months for this to happen in the Dutch East Indies. Japan's capitulation on August 15, 1945, ended the war on the entire Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb will give a speech in the city on Thursday at the Indies Monument on the Boompjes. The flag will also be hoisted, and everybody present will observe a two-minute silence. Afterward, wreaths will be laid at the monument. The events in the Dutch East Indies will also be commemorated on Friday at the Monument Indië Nederland on the Olympiaplein in Amsterdam.

Places like Groningen, Den Helder, Amersfoort, Vlissingen, Den Bosch, Eindhoven, and Vught are also hosting commemorations. Alkmaar will have its first commemoration this year.

The number of local commemorations has risen sharply, according to the East Indies Memorial Center. "There is a lot more attention for that part of Dutch history than, let's say, ten years ago," said director Yvonne van Genugten.

She thinks this is partly due to the research that the government commissioned in 2022 into the violence during Indonesia's decolonization. "It is a positive development," said the director about the increased attention. I do think that it will need a few more years to mature fully because there are still many people who know little about that history.

Van Genugten has also noticed that the public at the commemoration is younger. "They have heard stories from their grandmothers and grandfathers, and then they go to the commemoration together."

According to Van Genugten, attempts are being made to involve the younger generation in various ways, for example, through spoken word or dialogue sessions. "Young people like that, and you see that it has an impact. But as an organization, you need to keep looking for ways to stay relevant in the future." She also thinks that it is essential that the subject is not only discussed on August 15.

The National Commemoration is on Thursday night in The Hague. Write Yvonne Keuls will give a speech at the ceremony at the Indian monument in the Scheveningse Bosjes. Prime Minister Dick Schoof, chairman of the Tweede Kamer and the Senate, and The Hague mayor Jan van Zanen will also be present.

The Japanese surrendered during World War II took place in 1945, and Indonesia declared independence soon after, leading to a four-year revolutionary war against the Netherlands over the fate of the Dutch East Indies.

Researcher Adrian Vickers figured that between 45,000 and 100,000 Indonesian people serving in the military died during the conflict, as did 25,000 to 100,000 civilians. At a minimum, researchers from Leiden University and KITLV estimated that 100,000 Indonesian people died, while Dutch military losses were estimated at 4,600, about half of whom died from disease or accidents.

The Dutch eventually caved to international pressure, and Indonesia became a sovereign nation during the final days of 1949. The Netherlands apologized for its part in the war in 2013, and how it handled Indonesia’s declaration of independence. Further apologies were given by King Willem-Alexander during a State visit to the country in 2020.