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 America. I was almost 4…
When the Dutch government eventually granted independence to their former colony, the Dutch (Netherland) East Indies in 1949, a large community of some 200,000 Indos were forced to find a new homeland. They were the offspring (descendants) of former Dutch and other European settlers, who often intermarried with women of Indonesian or other mixed ancestry. …
Once again the Dutch and Indo community of greater Los Angeles are coming together to celebrate their shared cultural heritage. The Holland Festival in Long Beach has become an annual reunion for many families, who bring their blankets and picnic folding chairs to sit on the lawn. Different vendors selling Dutch and Indonesian products and…
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 many ended up in camps. …
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” Piet, were trying to make…
[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…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert, Washington, USA In 2004 my quest for English language literature about the Dutch East Indies came to a screeching halt when I discovered this wonderful book. Disguised A teenage girl’s surival in World War II Japanese prison camps, by Rita la Fontaine de Clercq Zubi published in 2001 is a treasure to…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert I had the good fortune of interviewing Tamara Fielding as our first Indo Profile of the month. On the east coast, she has carved out a life path by integrating her love for drama and her Indo heritage. Born in a military town Chimahi, West Java, she spent her childhood in Bandung. …