PDF hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen The following full text is a publisher's version. For additional information about this publication click this link. http://hdl.handle.net/2066/18623 Please be advised that this information was generated on 2021-09-28 and may be subject to change. ^INT MEUNto VCLKS SfCl ^ S t l i ï O i Indië herinnerd en beschouwd Humphrey de la Croix (e.a.) Sociale geschiedenis van een kolonie (1930-1957) r « m VMCA hOTEL MOTft. ff MOTEi Stichting Arisan Indonesia / Arisan Indonesia Foundation General Information Origin The Arisan Indonesia Foundation has its origin in the Indonesian study association of the Catholic University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. At its inception, the association preoccupied itself with the organisation of training sessions in the Indonesian language. The Indonesian word arisan means informal club. The scope of attention of the Arisan Indonesia quickly broadened to incorporate other aspects of Indonesia and its relation with the Netherlands and Europe. For this purpose, the Arisan Indonesia organi­ ses public meetings(so-called kumpulan). at which experts on Indonesian culture, economy and society hold lectures. In addition, more and more businesses and institutions have made use of the expertise of the Arisan members. In 1996, yhe associations has become a full-fledged organisation, in short SARI. The activities of teh SARI ar supported by public donations. General objectives In general, SARI aims at fostering the exchange of knowledge about all aspects of Indonesian and Dutch society. Furthermore, SARI is involved in the promotion of Indonesian-Dutch cooperation in the field of business, scientific and cultural endeavours. Scope of activities The organisation of public lectures on Indonesia and Indonesian-Dutch relations, remains an important activity of the SARI. Furthermore, SARI provides services for various organisations an businesses in Indonesia and the Netherlands. SARI monitors recent trends and developments in Indonesia ans provides seporst on request. SARI assists in the promotion and production of publications on all aspects of Indonesian culture, society and economy. SARI supports educational institutions with the advancement and development of curricula and course material on Indonesian language and society. SARI advises Indonesian business and institutions which plan ventures aimed at the Netherlands and vice cersa. Who is SARI? SARI is aan association of Indonesia experts, with a background in history, linguistics, anthropology, biology and medicine. They are active in the field of training, research, consultancy, journalism and publishing. Furthermore, they all have working experience in Indonesia and the Nether­ lands. How to contact SARI? For more information on SARI and SARI services please contact: Mr P.H. van Riel, chairman Phone 31-24-3227623 (within the Netherlands: 024-3227623) or SARI Secretariat Phone 31-24-3586946 (within the Netherlands: 024-3586946) Mail adresses: SARI Appelternhof 6 6581 GW Malden Faxnumber: 31-24-3227623 (within the Netherlands: 024-3227623) E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Following abstract gives a summary of the book Indië herinnerd en be­ schouwd. Sociale geschiedenis van een kolonie (1930-1957), Amsterdam 1997. This book is written by SARI-members for the Vereniging Kinderen uit de Japanse Bezetting en de Bersiap 1941-1949. Humphrey de la Croix (e.a.), Indië herinnerd en beschouwd. Sociale geschiedenis van een kolonie (1930-1957), Amsterdam 1997 Summary The proclamation of the Republik Indonesia on 17 August, 1945 by nationa­ list leaders Soekarno and Hatta, meant the decline of Dutch rule over the Indonesian archipelago after more than 300 years. The independence of Indonesia was the result of a long process that started at the beginning of the twentieth century. In this book attention has been focused on the last thirty years, from 1930 to 1957. In this period the Netherlands East-Indies faced several important developments. First the worldwide economic crisis of the thirties, then the Second World War and the Japanese occupation and finally the transformation from the Netherlands East-Indies into the new republic and the complete elimination of Dutch influence. This study is an attempt to describe the social history of these last three decades. An important issue has been the way in which different social groups in late colonial society has been bearers of the great historical events. But understanding history can't do without the so called 'small history' of individual persons. Although it is the duty of historians to judge the past with a maximum of distance, denial of the personal witnesses of people living in that past would keep history too far away from us. So this study is, instead of making use of written sources, based on oral witnesses and completed with secondary literature. The people selected for the interviews have experienced material scarcity and unemployment in the thirties, humiliation by the Japanese occupants, and new uncertainties instead of liberation during the struggle of independence. Modern social history considers these personal experiences as essential as the more traditional approaches. Finally we want to avoid a merely Euro­ centric point of view by giving more attention to the Indonesian side: Indonesian witnesses of the great events will tell their stories. Neverthe­ less the greater part of this book is about the Europeans and the so-called Eurasians, people of mixed European and Indonesian origins, who had gained the European status in colonial social stratification. Indië herinnerd en beschouwd has been divided into four main chapters. The first chapter starts with the emergence of nationalism, the Japanese occupation and the struggle for independence. This part ha merely been based on orally acquired information. In this way we tried to discover if the assumption that most Dutch people didn't know anything about nationa­ lism and anti-colonial feelings until the declaration of independence was declared in 1945, was true. The second chapter gives a general description of the socio-economic developments. It's especially about material conditions during the thir­ ties, Japanese occupation and the period from 1945 until 1957. The third chapter is the main part of the book and shows how in colonial society ethnic origin determined social status, until the Japanese put an end to it by imprisoning all Europeans. In the end the founding of the independent Republik Indonesia eliminated a society in which a small upper class of whites was in power and in which the majority of natives were subject to foreign power. Therefore 'forgotten' groups as the natives, women and women's labour, and the social dimensions of the colonial army will get attention. Special attention is paid to the fact how women, imprisoned seperately from their husbands, coped with the difficult situation during the Japanese occupation and even played a role in resis­ tance against the Japanese. As far as the army is concerned we will see that this institution, in colonial time as wel as during the struggle of independence, was a way to gain higher social ranking. For example the former president Soeharto was one of those who were able to fight themsel­ ves out of humble Javanese conditions. Eurasians or Indo-Europeans will also be subject of study as this group constituted an intermediate group between the upper class of whites and the mass of the native Indonesians. When Indonesia got independent there was no place left for that privileged group between 'white' and 'brown'. Most of the Eurasians felt too much 'white' and decided to leave Indonesia in the period between 1950 en 1957 and repatriated to the Netherlands. The last chapter shows that during the period from 1930 to 1957 cultural life didn't vanish and colonial society knew its own expressions of art, music and literature. The loss of the colony couldn't stop the continuation of a specific East-Indian cultural life in the Netherlands. Nowadays new generations whose parents were born in the colony, are searching for their roots and this search is expressed in the emerging of a new literature and other ways of making art with a specific 'East-Indian' character. With this book Indie herinnerd en beschouwd we, the five authors, aim to stimulate new investigation of the social history of colonial society. Before writing this study we knew that a lot of subjects were waiting to be explored, especially the history of Eurasians, women, daily life and the typical colonial culture. We also hope to diminish the differences between competing approaches by offering this alternative, multi-disciplinary point of view. A dominant place is given to the so-called 'oral history' instead of the one-sided use of traditional written sources as archives and offici­ al documents. We hope to make the image of the past less static and more vivid by giving room to the individual 'small history' of common people, who together contributed more or less to the 'great' historical events. "Indië herinnerd en beschouwd" Sociale geschiedenis van een kolonie (1930 - 1957) Humphrey de la Croix Gerda Lamers Peter van Riel Kees Schepel Ernst Spaan Uitgever: Uitgeverij KJBB '41-'49 - Amsterdam i.s.m. SARI Lay-out/drukwerk: Offsetdrukkerij Peco BV, Amsterdam Verantwoording foto's omslag: foto 1: St. Melania Volkshuishoudschool, Buitenzorg, jaren dertig. foto 2: djawa baroe, 15.12.2603 (1943) no. 24 foto 3: Malang, 1949 Foto: studio Malang, Ong Kian Bie. De 'grote' geschiedenis heeft de onafhanke-lijkheid van Indonesië als rechtvaardig en onvermijdelijk beschouwd. Ook in de ogen van hen die daarmee hun zekerheden kwijtraakten en in Indonesië of Nederland hun leven opnieuw moesten inrichten. Over die grote geschiedenis gaat dit boek, maar ook over de persoonlijke levensloop van betrokkenen. INDIE HERINNERD EN BESCHOUWD. Sociale geschiedenis van een kolonie (1930-1957) beslaat een tijdspanne die voor velen nog vers in de herinnering staat: de hoogtijdagen van het kolonialisme, oorlog en revolutie en tenslotte de geleidelijke verdwijning van het Nederlandse element uit de Indonesische samenleving.