The Indo Project asked its followers on social media, “How did your mother or oma instill Indo culture in you?” TIP is pleased to share some of its followers’ responses below. Look for the Good in People Look for the good in people, my mom said. ~ Nicky Thornton Guerrero Always…
by Astrid Berg, PhD During childhood, I had little connection to my Indonesian roots. I rarely heard Maleis (Malay) or Javaans (Javanese) spoken. I only had a slight relationship to Indo/Indische customs and culture. Both my parents appeared European. My mother is Dutch, and the Indonesian influences were subtle in…
The following is a written adaptation of a monologue performed by Ingrid Dümpel on International Women’s Day at Nia Domo (a community center) in Boekel, Netherlands. “I felt like a bird with too little flying experience being thrown out of the nest! And in my husband’s world, I remained the…
by Sjoekje Sas(a)bone, LCSW, EMHA Click here for a word from the author. At eighteen years old, my father was a P.O.W. KNIL soldier during WWII Japanese occupation (approximately 3.5 years). At nineteen, he witnessed a civilian diagonally sliced (shoulder to waist) with a samurai sword by a Japanese soldier…
Maria and Holland International Market With the opening of its doors, Holland International Market, Inc. started a new era of Dutch culture and specialty goods in Bellflower, California. The former local Dutch store, Holland American International Specialities closed for good in June 2014. It was the premier distributor of fine…
A Cultural Awakening By Barbara (Babs) Coert My sister and I are as different as two people can be. Not only do we live in different states, we are also very different in how we express and connect to our Indo culture. I’m more social in my connection. Maybe holding…
By Ronny Geenen (IndoWorld) Roots in the Dutch East Indies My youngest sister Peggy Geenen was born in Padang, in the former Dutch East Indies, during World War ll in 1943. Over 50 years later, in 1996, she, her friend Jaap, and six others decided to take a trip through…
A Search for the Truth Interview with Thomas Watson by Patricia Teunisse, Secretary of The Indo Project. Also published in Moesson International. On October 31, 2021, The Indo Project and Moesson attended the Netherlands premiere of The Past Ended on Mango Street. The documentary is the vision of Thomas Watson,…
A Young Indo Woman Displays Courage, Cunning, and Hope By Sally Brandle The author notes that Iris passed away early December 2021, just short of her 98th birthday before this article was published. Iris, the little girl on the left, and her brothers are the descendants of an Indo maternal…
by Maureen Welscher The Bombing of Pontianak When I was 8 ½ years old, I lived in Pontianak, the capital of Borneo, Indonesia. On the morning of December 19, 1941, I visited a friend who lived opposite the military barracks. We sat in the lounge facing their barracks. We heard…
by Grieko Enter A Family Connection Inspired by TIP To her surprise, my wife Henny Haarlem recognized “Oma Filon” in the Indo Profile of Charles L. Pieters from April 20, 2021 TIP story. When her husband Maurits Pieters died in 1954, Erna Madeline Filon married Opa Dirk Kuipers (the second…
When The Indo Project posted on social media, “Please share with TIP your family photo in traditional Dutch clothing and the story behind your precious photo. When? Were you in the NL?”, its followers responded! Read below! Joan Schusler Williams and her sister Maudy Schusler Kehrer in Volendam, 1965 Volendam…
By Ralph Ockerse When The Indo Project posted on social media, “TIP wants to know: Tell us about your Omas and Opas! What did they mean to you? What did you learn about Indo culture from them?” , many Indos responded including Ralph Ockerse responded with this riveting story about…
The Indo Project posted on social media, “TIP wants to know: Tell us about your Omas and Opas! What did they mean to you? What did you learn about Indo culture from them?” Ingrid Johannes responded sadly, “Wish I had that opportunity.” Many Indos can empathize with those feelings. With…
by Ingrid Dümpel My name is Ingrid Dümpel and I was born and raised in Indië or the Dutch East Indies. Both my parents are ‘Indisch’—with paternal ancestors from the west and maternal ancestors from Indonesia. I realized what a privilege it was to have grown up there, when I…
Introduction The Indo Project asked its followers on social media, “How did your father or opa instill Indo culture in you?” TIP is pleased to share some of its followers’ responses below. Language, Food and Family Language of Dutch with Indonesian words mixed in and of course food and family…
by Sjoekje F. Sas(a)bone, LCSW, EMHA Loving an Indo Parent with Borderline Personality Disorder I consider myself lucky to have loving, talented, hard-working, and attentive parents. They ensured I had the best opportunities for a solid education to establish a career and secure a future. They fostered a creative environment…
By Vivian Boon For me, he was my Opa Tjalie April 22, 1974 is the day my grandfather died. For me he was my Opa Tjalie. To this day I regret not getting to know him – I was only a toddler when he passed away. From what my parents,…
by Charles L. Pieters Aloha, my name is Charles L. Pieters, and I was born in Alkmaar, Netherlands in the early sixties. I have one sister and a brother. My father left Batavia now called Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1957 to go to Netherlands and was settled by the Dutch government…
by TIP volunteer Sylvie Waxman Definition Cultural identity is the identity of belonging to a group. It is part of a person’s self-conception and self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality, or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture. (Wikipedia) The…
My name is Jennifer Ripassa. Born in Southern California, I’m true SoCal Indo. My parents are Dutch-Indonesian; both born in Surabaya, Indonesia, and came to this country with their parents, looking for a brighter future. I remember Oma Monod, born in Amsterdam, telling me about a letter she received from…
Read TIP’s Indo Profile about war camp survivor and musician Hannie Blaauw. Hannie Blaauw is my very special friend. I met him about twenty years ago when I moved to Arizona. Born and raised on Java, he is eleven years older than I, so he was a teenager during the…
Indo Sjoekje F. Sas(a)bone, LCSW, EMHA, encourages resiliency in her mother and aunt during the COVID-19 pandemic with strategies that can help Indo families and loved ones. The Calm Before the Rona Storm Pre-pandemic, my family titles were “technology repair person,” “phone call mediator,” “forms completer,” “‘can you get something…
Dries Holten, also known as Andres, has passed away at the age of 84 on April 15th, 2020. Dries represented The Netherlands at the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing in 4th place with 106 points. Dries Holten was born on January 30, 1936 in the former Dutch East Indies (now…
Indo Henk Muller describes his family’s first winter in the Netherlands after repatriating from Indonesia after World War 2. My First Winter I was five years old. It was snowing and it was freezing cold. My mom had wrapped me up with clothes I’d never worn before. We got them,…
Third and final article about luminary Indo scientist Edward E. E. Frietman known both in the Netherlands and United States for his extensive work in academia, sciences, and outstanding career. 1940 – 2020: My Life in a Blink of an Eye Part 3: Education, Research, and Career (1963 – 2020)…
Part 2 of 3 articles about luminary Indo scientist Edward E. E. Frietman known both in the Netherlands and United States for his extensive work in academia, sciences, and outstanding career. 1940 – 2020: My Life in a Blink of an Eye Part 2: Netherlands (1952 – 1963) By Edward…
Edward E. E. Frietman is a luminary in the Indo community known both in the Netherlands and the United States for his extensive work in academia, sciences and outstanding career accomplishments. Who is Edward E. E. Frietman? The recent death of Eddie van Halen and the passing of a number…
In memory of my parents Hendrik Marinus Kakebeen (1916-1979) and Myra Eleanore Middleton/Kakebeen (1920-1993) I always felt that Mom and Dad were very special people and wished they would have shared the stories about their childhood, their parents (Oma and Opa), their education, their war experiences, Holland experiences, but we…
My Indo grandparents left Indonesia in the 1950s after the Indonesian Revolution. They settled in the Netherlands and raised four children, one of whom is my mother. My mother grew up in the Netherlands, but later moved to London with my father, who is British. Growing up, my mother and…
This is a letter by Titia Bouma, my great auntie, to Jetze Bouma, her brother born in 1902 in Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia). She wrote this letter at a Red Cross refugee camp in Singapore. Jetze in turn sent this letter from Singapore to Tanjung Priok to Jan Sluijter who…
By: Oscar Micola Von Furstenrecht, Born 1929-December-03 in Malang, Indonesia (Java) At a very young age, growing up in Malang, I was admitted into a military hospital with Bacilary Tifus. After a difficult time, I slipped into a coma. I received the last rites after the doctors said they couldn’t…
by Han Mouthaan FOREWORD For clarification purposes: The Dutch civilians of the former Dutch East Indies endured two types of camps during AND after WWII. The first type were the WWII Japanese concentration camps, 1942-1945. The second type of camps were internment camps during the Bersiap period 1945-1947, a tumultuous…
By Dr Kathryn Pentecost, edited by Sierra Jacobs The series is based on PhD thesis (2013) entitled: Selamat Jalan, sampai jumpa lagi (Farewell, until we meet again): Transcultural family stories from colonial and postcolonial Indonesia Click here to read Part 1 Section Two: INTRODUCTION Our metis (mixed) family composition –…
By Dr Kathryn Pentecost, edited by Sierra Jacobs The series is based on PhD thesis (2013) entitled: Selamat Jalan, sampai jumpa lagi (Farewell, until we meet again): Transcultural family stories from colonial and postcolonial Indonesia Section One: INTRODUCTION We live our lives in the shadow of other people… Conversely, other…
By Eric Morgan John, speaking at the 2016 Herdenking Ceremony During the August 2016 Herdenking Ceremony held at the Los Angeles National Cemetery, longtime Southern California Indo John von Bargen was asked to give the Invocation, as well as give some words of remembrance. He spoke eloquently of how forgiveness…
By Leroy Moorrees In July 1962, my parents, two brothers and I, left Vught / ‘s-hertogenbosch, the Netherlands for America. I remember very little from the ship, the Groote Beer that took us from Rotterdam to New York, just getting sick once on board, and the food wasn’t great. Once…
By: Priscilla Kluge McMullen. Grave # BB12. Ereveld Kembang Kuning,Surabaja, Indonesia. June 21 has always been a difficult day for the Kluge family, a supposedly joyful day announcing the start of the Summer, that somehow was often overshadowed by a touch of sadness in our family. This grave belongs to Constance…
By Charlotte Van Steenbergen ©2003 Oh, America, when I first came and saw your beauty entering the harbor in New York. Shivers of excitement and anticipation went through me, upon seeing a Lady beckoning us holding high her torch— The Statue of Liberty. Oh, a symbol so powerful speaking of,…
By Eric Morgan An Interview with Charlotte Van Steenbergen I had the good fortune to be invited to hear an Indo lady named Charlotte Van Steenbergen, speak before a professional women’s networking group, on December 10th, at Laguna Niguel, CA. Charlotte spoke very openly of her life-altering experiences during her…
By Suzanne Murphy. Mukden, Manchuria: Japanese Prisoner of War number 124 was interned in the infamous slave labor camp for a total of forty-four death defying months. This teen-aged, American U. S. Army, soldier’s name was Sigfreid “Siggy” Schreiner, a first generation Austrian-American who hailed from New Britain, Connecticut. He innocently…
By: Charlotte Van Steenbergen ©2007 A chance meeting with a young boy and his bravery in the concentration camp. Witnessed on a daily basis for some three plus years impacted many of us enduring extreme hardship systematic starvation and daily punishments inflicted by the guards for all kinds of…
By Eric Morgan Interview with Kees Kunstt on Wednesday, November 4, 2015. Oom Kees has always been an active voice in the SoCal Indo community. He and his wife Tante Margie, who are coming up on 45 years of marital bliss, have also been part of the team in helping…
By Susannah Palk First Published in The Underground The Hague, Edition#4 May/June 2015 Smiling seductively as she winks playfully at the camera, the fresh-faced image of Dido Van Soest betrays little of the audacious woman underneath – the young, charismatic model turned resistance fighter, whose life would ultimately end in…
By Sierra Jacob A special thanks to my cousin, Rachael Woodie; your detailed note-taking made this article possible. Preface: Beneath the large presence of the Washington Monument, groups of summer campers, young families, and old couples mirror the hurried fountains at the center of the World War ll Memorial in…
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…
Author: Kathryn Pentecost © 2013 The following is a story about my great-aunt Doddy. Was she named after Louis Couperus’s Doddy in his famous novel, De Stille Kracht (The Hidden Force), I ask myself? If not, then there are still many parallels about her and the novel’s character, who…
By Kathryn Pentecost ©2013 ‘Communities can be distinguished, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined’. (Benedict Anderson, 1991:6) On 17 August 1945, after over three hundred years of Dutch colonial rule, (and several years of the British interregnum 1811-1816), Indonesia was proclaimed ‘merdeka’ (independent)…
By Inez Hollander – June 3, 2013. My mother strongly advised against it. Everyone in my family knew that her cousin, Harry, had seen horrors during the war in the Dutch East Indies that neither he nor his mother, ever talked about it in private or public. As a family,…
By Walter Ben von Stockhausen, April 2013 In the period of 1957-1958, a major migration of Dutch Indonesians from Indonesia to the Netherlands took place. The major cause for this was the worsening political climate for the Dutch and Dutch Indonesians living in Indonesia primarily orchestrated by the first president…
By Louise Rouwhof-Krancher. Jan 12, 2013. I was encouraged by my brother Jan A. Krancher who lives in the US, to commit some of my Indies memoires to paper. He is an author in his own right and has compiled and edited 24 stories in 1996 in a book on…
Read as an Indo refugee treasures prized possessions from Indonesia as her family repatriates to the Netherlands and then eventually immigrated to the USA. Like many other Dutch-Indonesian refugees, our family took only a few meager possessions with us when we made the journey across the Atlantic from Holland to…
By Maja S. Mortensen Nanning Life Changing Moments in America Keeshonden (The national dog of the Netherlands) are part of our family. A Korean veterinarian who completed his internship in the Netherlands opened a practice in town. His experience and medical knowledge made us loyal clients. During the 14-year span…
By Jan Krancher Book: Ambushed under the Southern Cross Author: Capt. George W. Duffy Highly decorated Capt. George W. Duffy has authored the book “Ambushed under the Southern Cross . . . The Making of an American Merchant Marine Officer and His Ensuing Saga of Courage and Survival”. Among several…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert USS Wichita (CA-45) Ship’s Chief Petty Officers listen to the radio broadcast of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s address to the Congress requesting a declaration of War against the Axis powers, circa 8 December 1941. Note phograph of President Roosevelt on the bulkhead. The Good and the Bad…
By Jan Krancher, California, USA Overview of the Japanese Imprisonment Experience The Japanese High Command on Java attempted to coerce the Indo-European members of the former Royal Netherlands-Indies Army, Navy and Air Force to enlist in the Japanese army. A goodly number of Indos who refused were summarily executed and…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert, Washington, USA An article appeared in the magazine NOW! Bali August 2010 about a Dutch lady who has lived in Indonesia her entire life. They were kind enough to let me share their findings with you readers. Milly On the outside she looks Dutch but on the…
[Featured photo: Doc Hekking Reunion with former POW’s 1957 Texas Courtesy of Lost Battalion Association] By Bianca Dias-Halpert, USA Heroes are lost in the annals of history. Doc Hekking and the incredible bond with his fellow POW’s is an inspirational story that awaits rediscovery in the Indo community and…
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…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert It was with great pleasure to interview Jeannette Lambert from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Our Skype connection but for one tiny glitch went smoothly and we had a nice chat about our mutual heritage. Jeannette is a jazz singer, artist, mother, wife from Canada who was born in…
[Featured photo: March 1952 Family Buiskool on board Johan Van Oldenbrneveld] By Helen Buiskool, North Carolina, USA I’m so excited to now be able to learn more about my heritage, thanks to The Indo project. It is long overdue for many of us of my generation who have hungered for…
[Featured photo: Merriman’s] By Bianca Dias-Halpert It was with great pleasure to finally talk with Kimo Huybrechts, a diverse musician from Hawaii of Indo heritage. His music group Ranga Pae was formed in 1995. Ranga Pae means “encircling the earth” in the Maori language. The name came about when…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert and Carol Norwood, USA Do you remember your “Poezie Album” ? This is an autograph book which belongs to Carol’s mother. It was a tradition to have family members, classmates, neighbors write something in it such as well wishes. This particular book contains autographs from her classmates…
[Featured photo: Early 1900’s Sumatra Railroad Construction Through Jungle] By Frans Krajenbrink, California, USA (My grandpa is the smallest guy and it seems he is pointing at something with his right hand.) When my mom was a little girl in the early 1900’s she lived in Palembang on the island…
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…
[Featured photo: Ship approaching Hobokan port New Jersey] By Johannes Adriaansen, Oregon, USA The Decision I was ten years old sitting at the dinner table when Dad came “outa the blue”and brought up the idea of going to “Amerika” and asked us for a vote! Unanimously we voted for…
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…
By Robert Vanderwaall, Texas, USA It was 1930, my mother, Godefreda Gertruda van Grafhorst was 6 years old and lived, at the time, in Surabaya, Dutch East Indies, known today as Indonesia. her mother’s maiden name was Godefreda Theodora,Jacoba Bokelman and her father was Johannes Cornelius van Grafhorst. My mom…
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.…
By Robert Vanderwaall, Texas, USA Indo Robert Vanderwaall recounts his father’s childhood story about hunting a tiger in the Dutch East Indies. This is just one of many stories my father told me of his childhood, growing up in the Dutch East Indies. He and his brother, my uncle “Oom”…
By Jan Krancher The word “diaspora” has been used throughout the web site of The Indo Project. Most readers are undoubtedly acquainted with this Greek term referring to the dispersion or scattering of Jews outside of Palastine after the Babylonian exile or, to put it another way, the area outside of Palastine settled by…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert After WWII ended in 1945 there was a power vacuum in the Dutch East Indies as the former Japanese captors were disarmed and the Indonesian revolutionists picked up momentum. Because of the lack of manpower in the Dutch military the Allied Forces sent British-Indian troops to…
By Frans Krajenbrink There was a lot of confusion in our neighborhood about what we were supposed to do. My grandpa went throughout the neighborhood to ask if people wanted to evacuate. Two families agreed to go; our next door neighbor Mr. and Mrs. Schwab and their daughter Ilse, and…
[The van Broekhuizen family on the Maasda ship 1961 from NL to USA] By Ray and Ludy van Broekhuizen The van Broekhuizen family arrived in the cold “kikkerland”, the Netherlands, in November 1957 from warm and tropical Jakarta, Indonesia. At that time, the family consisted of dad, Charles Louis van…
By Nicole Maureen Vanderwaall In the living room of a small American ranch-style house in suburban Phoenix, a little girl sat at her Grandma’s feet, munching on a cookie. She tilted her head back, looking imploringly up at the sweet, elderly woman who told such wonderful stories. “Grandma, tell me…
[Featured photo: Hut Where Anne Frank Stayed in 1944] By Patricia Tiber, Arizona, USA In September I took my annual trek to the Netherlands and decided to spend some time in Drenthe, a province I had never visited before. My request for exploring the ancient “Hunebedden,” (burial mounds-50 centuries’old megaliths); …
By Zita Rasid, Massachusetts, USA On September 26, 2010, the Rasid family celebrated their 50th year in America at the Twin Hills Country Club in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, USA. Our parents have passed on but we could not let this milestone go unnoticed. We wanted to thank so many people who…
[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…
[Featured photo: Royal Dutch Marines 1944 Courtesy of Mr. James E. Stewart Jr. of Montford Point Marines National Museum] By Bianca Dias-Halpert, Washington, USA This story is a hidden gem in the history of Dutch-American military relations surrounding WWII. I had the good fortune of finding this organization and talking…
[Featured photo: Opa, Oma, Mother, Aunt the night before departing Holland 1927] by Tim O’Callaghan, Chicago, Illinois, USA Even though the East Indies had been dominated by the Dutch, for its access to spices, since 1602. It wasn’t until 1796 when the VOC filed for bankruptcy that the Dutch administration…
[Featured photo: 1961 Natick, Massachusetts, USA – The Vanderwaall Family, father Charles, mother Trudy, Jerry, Grace, Eddy, Robert and baby Hans] by Robert Vanderwaall of Massachusetts, USA “May of 1961” It was May of 1961 We arrived by boat from Amsterdam. A voyage that my mind refuse to leave behind.…
Excerpt by Kathryn Pentecost (van der Poel family) of Adelaide, South Australia On my mother’s side, I come from an enormous family of van der Poels – some of whom migrated to the Netherlands Indies in the early 1800s. The van der Poel clan dates back before 1600; some members of…
[Featured photo: 1931 Bandoeng, Tim’s Mum in front of door] by Tim O’Callaghan of Chicago, Illinois USA My name is Tim O’Callaghan and I am the youngest son of Maria Gerichhausen who left the Netherlands at age 11 months with her family to begin a new life in the Dutch…
As told by Robin Kalhorn, Texas, USA Date: Circa 1938. Place: Java (most likely Surabaya, perhaps Malang). Event: John Kiliaan and His Band promotional appearance at a Studebaker dealership. Band leader Kiliaan is the man with the saxophone, resting his foot on the base drum. Editor’s Note: Robin Kalhorn has…
As told by Carol Ann Von Kristeinberg, Mallorca, Spain This photo was taken in Djakarta at the Jl. Gunung Sahari, our home, around 1951. I was 3 years old and my sister was 4. I was born in Djatinegara, my sister in Djakarta, my mother in Makassar and my Dad…
As told by Friedje van Gils of New Mexico, USA In the late 1950’s the Van Gils family arrived in the USA starting off in Akron, Ohio and eventually spreading out all over the country. They arrived with a group of friends and family. There was a “Dutch Club…
As told by Carol Norwood of Pennsylvania, USA The photo from the home page slideshow is of Carol Norwood’s mother named Cita at the age of 2 in January of 1930. They were walking with their baboe (nanny) with mother and baby. Carol’s German grandfather worked for a Dutch company…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert, Washington, USA Several years ago I received a big envelope with old family photos from a tante (aunt) in Holland. She had been researching our family geneology and heard that I was interested. I never knew this tante until we met in 2005. All the children…
By Jack Profijt, Ontario, Canada When I was growing up in Canada, I always had the impression that I was not quite the same as everyone else. For the most part I grew up in small farming communities in Southern Ontario, so things that were out of the ordinary were…
By Jack Profijt, Ontario, Canada I guess the best way to start would be an introduction. My name is Jack Profijt and I live in Ontario, Canada, and there is no Dutch-Indonesian Community here to speak of. I live in a small city in Southern Ontario, which has a very good…
By Oscar Halpert Between the ages of 9 to 13, my father used to take me to Delta Park in Portland, Oregon (USA) to watch soccer games. There were three soccer fields. One of the teams I remember was called “Hollandia” and the players wore orange shirts. I remember all these…
