Shocking testimonies of Dutch soldier's actions in independence struggle in Indonesia

Shocking testimonies of Dutch soldier's actions in independence struggle in Indonesia released by National Archive
The National Archives has released numerous documents, including those about the struggle for independence of the Dutch East Indies/Indonesia. These again contain shocking testimonies about activities on the Dutch side.

In 1949, for example, a section of the Indonesian Red Cross, the P.M.I., wrote about "four to ten men of the Dutch armed forces" who had entered a building of the organization in Surakarta and killed ten native people there, apparently with sabers and klewangs.

Another 11 people were killed in the building opposite this in the same way, the document reads. The killings, according to the statement "all absolutely defenseless civilians" looked like "slaughtered cattle in an abattoir.” According to the document, all this happened after a ceasefire order.

According to the prosecutor's office in Surakarta, shots were fired from the P.M.I. post and therefore a “storm attack” was indeed carried out.

According to statements made to the Military Court in the Field, Makel bin Kodja, who was suspected of murdering village chiefs, died a gruesome death with the KNIL under the ultimate responsibility of Dutch soldiers. After he had been painfully handcuffed and beaten and kicked for a long time, a Dutch soldier is said to have said: "Shoot him."

According to the account, he was thrown into a well, after which he was shot with a sten gun, and the job was finished with a hand grenade. The report on the case stated that he was shot while fleeing.

The files also include the Enthoven report on the South Celebes affair that took place in the winter of 1946 to 1947, with the much-discussed commander Raymond Westerling as the central figure. The battle against the fierce resistance in the area and also the criminality there was accompanied by purges and summary executions.

During one such purge, in which 15 people were eliminated, the wife of a gang leader and her father were exposed completely naked for twenty minutes in the light of a wood fire.