By Tim O’Callaghan
Originally posted in October 2010 by Tim O’Callaghan http://flattiresandslowboats.com/2010/10/24/santa-maria-in-tjideng/
Tjideng was a prison camp for European women and children who lived in what was then the Dutch East Indies. I visited for the first time in 2005 and even though I have no experiences to call my own, in regard to camp life, the emotion that was generated during my time there was powerful.
I have discussed life at Tjideng with my mother and aunts, who were interned in 1942, and have read several accounts from others. I feel I have some knowledge of Tjideng, and what went on there, however coming to grips with the reality of the ground upon which I walked was difficult. I assumed that the charge of emotion I felt last time would not be repeated during this second visit.
I was wrong.
Prior to the Japanese invasion of Indonesia, Tjideng along with Menteng, had been developed as residential areas for the more affluent Dutch. The houses were large in comparison to other areas and on Laan Trivelli the houses contained 3 bedrooms, a large living room, a study, a kitchen, a veranda, and gardens front and back.
For a single family these houses were spacious, and comfortable. They announced to the world a certain status. The houses on the side streets were smaller.
It’s difficult to describe the feelings that began to flood over me as I traced my route around the camps perimeter; down Jalan Kampar and to the house where my family had been imprisoned.
Anticipation, anxiety, sadness, and a calming sense of gratitude. Grateful for the fact that I can return to this place that is part of my family heritage, and sad because of what Tjideng represents to my mother and many others around the world.
Grateful that so many people (especially my family) were able to come through this experience, and sorrow that so many others did not.
My mother is the most positive person I know yet she has said many times about many situations; “people can be so cruel”. It is cruelty that describes Tjideng however it is perseverance of spirit, by those held captive, that I believe defines it and many other camps just like it.
As I walked around I tried to imagine what it was like.
I could feel the heat, but I could only imagine the hunger and illness. Over 10,000 women and children crammed into an area that took me a total of 15 minutes to walk around.
The smaller houses on the side streets becoming home to six families. Laan Trivelli becoming home to tenko, fear, and the rantings of a madman during full moon.
I don’t know a lot about Sonei.
I do know he was volatile and in command. This is not a good combination under any circumstances. His brutality earned him a post surrender execution.
In Tjideng right by the corner of Laan Trivelli and Musiweg is a church. In 2005 I spent time in this church having a word to whomever was listening, I did so again today.
My mother’s name is Maria, the name of the church is the Santa Maria.
Thank you so much for this website. My mother, Amaryllis “Lis” Glaser Berends was also at this camp during the war. I wept when I read this entry about visiting the site as I will have opportunity to visit it this upcoming year. I am 61 years old and it’s taken this long for me to read more factual detail and stories, thanks to my daughter’s (Anneke Meinhardt) deligent research.
I just came across this site and read your story. I was interned in Tjideng as a child, with my mother and sister. I was 3 when I went in and 6.5 when it was over. I am 80 now but I have very vivid memories of the camp. It was good to read your account.
I have made a visit back to the site and wandered through the area. That was a very emotional visit for me. We were last in the house next to the house that was later converted into the church that you refer to. An American lady was there during the camp days and I believe she was instrumental in establishing the church there after the war. Actually, immediately after the war was over she was repatriated back to the USA.
My Mother, her sister, and my Oma were all held at Tjideng. I’m 43 and a United States Marine. I’m planning to visit Indonesia again because I’m stationed in Japan right now. I’ve been before but only as far as Surabaya. I came across your site as I was browsing through photos of the camp. I must say I got chills from the short reading I did. I just wanted to say thank you for posting it. I’m so proud of my heritage and what my mothers family and everyone else were able to endure.
Much like you, I just came across this site that mentions the camp in which our families were interned. My Oma and Opa, my mother and her younger brother were all placed in Japanese POW camps. Oma and my mother were in Tjideng as was your family. My mother came to the United States and refused to ever speak of the camp or of much of her life in the Indies – she said she only wanted to look forward. She died of dementia in 2011, and now I am making my first trip, a spur-of-a-moment cruise, to Indonesia having little knowledge of their life there except photo albums and names of cities. My family’s last name was Tortike. I had no idea Tjideng was in present day Jakarta. I hope to find the exact location so I can walk the area during my one day there – do you know the location? I live in the Washington, DC area and wish you and your family health and happiness.
I am writing a book of my husband Onno VanDemmeltraadt’s memories as a child in Bandung during WWII.
I’d like to use some text from the Indo Project website and am asking your permission.
The text I’d like to use is information about the civilian camps, particularly Tjideng.
Thank you.