By Joyce Kater, New Mexico, USA LITTLE MOMENTS OF HUMANITY AT WARTIME Although this incident happened a lifetime ago in the Second World War in South East Asia, it still lingers in my memory. It took place in the months before our family was torn apart and put in different Japanese concentration camps on Java…
By Robert Vanderwaall, nephew Name: Pieter Hendrik van der Waall Born: July 3, 1921 Dutch East Indies Died: July 5, 1993 Zoetermeer, Netherlands POW: Thai-Burma Railway Pieter Hendrik van der Waall July 3, 1921 to July 5, 1993. He was the brother of my father Charles. During the war he was a mechanic in the…
By Tamara Fielding, New York, USA ADEK CAMP – BATAVIA (Jakarta) – August 1945 My mother was clairvoyant. She always seemed to know things before they happened and had telling dreams. News had penetrated Adek Camp that the Japanese had lost the war and freedom was near. A rumor which we had heard before, but…
By Maartien Van Genderen, Washington, USA Winds of change were unmistakably headed for my homeland, the island nation of the former Dutch East Indies. They came foreshadowed by foreboding events. The Netherlands, our fatherland, fell victim to the unbridled war of the expansion of Hitler’s Third Reich in May 1940. Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl…
[Featured photo: Source: Wikepedia A6M2 Zero fighter] By Frans Krajenbrink, California, USA On May 10, 1940 Germany without warning invaded Holland The Dutch Army was no match for the German Army – the war lasted five days. Queen Wilhelmina and the Royal family escaped to Great Britain. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japan…