Indonesia has a small Jewish population. In the 19th century, most of the Jews in the Dutch East Indies (now called Indonesia) were Dutch Jews from the Netherlands. The rest of the Jews in Indonesia were mainly immigrants from Iraq and Aden. The memories of wartime Indonesia (formerly known as the Dutch East Indies) were overshadowed by…
The former Netherlands (Dutch) East Indies is present-day Indonesia. The Japanese military occupied the Dutch colony in 1942 during the Pacific War, then placed Dutch nationals in internment facilities and prisoner-of-war camps (90,000 civilians, 40,000 military personnel). Some officials of the Japanese military forcefully transferred Dutch women and women of mixed race from the concentration camps…
The annual commemoration ceremonies ‘herdenkingsceremonie,’ was held on Saturday, August 12th at the National Cemetery of Los Angeles. Around 50 people came together out of respect for the fallen forces and civilians, who lost their life in the former Dutch East Indies during the Japanese occupation and the bersiap period. Unfortunately, the number of attendees…
The First of its Kind in the English Language by Inez Hollander OK. I am biased. When Los Angeles-based entrepreneur and food writer, Jeff Keasberry, asked me to proofread his Indo Dutch Kitchen Secrets manuscript, the first cookbook for Indo Dutch cuisine in English, I said yes and found myself quickly immersed in his interesting family history and the…
By Linda Kimbrough Happy news from Heddy Emanuel of Anaheim, CA. Last month, her son Colonel Frank D. Emanuel was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. A luncheon to celebrate this promotion was held at the Sacramento Military Department, Sacramento, CA on Friday April 1, 2016. Both of Frank’s parents were born in the Dutch…
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 the long running “De Indo”…
By Willem ten Wolde I was researching books written in English about the Japanese prison or internment camps in the former Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, when I found Annelex Hofstra Layson’s autobiography Lost Childhood: My Life in a Japanese Prison Camp During World War II. I was intrigued because it was—so far—the only one…
By Jeff Keasberry As of this month we are adding a new category to our TIP site: Food. Eating and cooking are at the core of our culture and talking about it equally so. The objective is not to create another recipe box per se, as there are plenty of those sites already, but more…
By Jamie Stern Photo: Jamie as a toddler with her Mother, Oma, Opa and Tante – 1989. Congratulations to all the new grandparents this year and to all the grandparents who received more grandbabies! The Indo Project’s very own newsletter editor, Ingrid McCleary, is celebrating her new grandson, Baby Ben. (Congratulations Ingrid!) This Sunday happens…
By Sierra Jacob. What of the children? Once resting swollen in our wombs, the weight we carried between the yawning of our hips. Tasting the salt air like we did, pushed up against the hunched horizon in liberation ships to Holland—to Australia—to the United States. How we thought we could forget the dark slash of…