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 Amerika !! The next thing I remember we were visiting relatives, Oma &…
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,…
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…
By Robert Vanderwaall, Texas, USA 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 “Om” Piet, were trying to make some money since they were recently put out on the street by their father for misbehaving. The…
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 the Jews. In that…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert How can you not love food if you were born above a restaurant ? So it was for Jeff Keasberry. His oma’s restaurant in Amsterdam, which opened in 1954, was called “Djokja” after the name of the town she was from in the former Dutch East Indies. Jeff said that the restaurant…
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 Mrs. Folkeringa and her four…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert After talking with Suza I couldn’t help but think of someone being at the right place at the right time. For starters, she lives in Ojai, California one of the most beautiful places in not only natural elements but also lifestyle. With a climate likened to the Mediterranean, Ojai is also an…
By Priscilla McMullen The Indo Project logo is a representation of the Indonesian Arjuna Wayang Kulit. The image is placed within Delft frame, representing the Indo connection to the Dutch, and turned to face to the East, the direction of Indonesia. Permission to use the original design of The Indo Project logo was given by…
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 Broekhuizen, mom, Nancy Cornelia Tency (van Slooten) and five children (Roy, Ray, Ruby, Rose, and Rene). They left…