An Olympian Life: Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek, Dutch IOC Member, a Man for all Seasons

Anthony Bijkerk — The

The disastrous social, political, and economic circumstances of World War II resulted in severe un- certainty for the world of international sport, including the affairs of the Modern Olympic Movement. The thirty year post-war period of the Olympic Movement (1945-1975) called for leadership featuring individuals of strong conviction, energetic character, hearty constitution, and steadfast willpower of the utmost calibre. Certain International Olympic Committee (IOC) names spring readily to mind: Sigfrid Edstrøm, Avery Brundage, Killanin, and others, among them the name of Herman Adriaan van Kar- nebeek. Long a sportsman in his native Holland, and involved in the nation’s Olympic affairs for more than a decade, Karnebeek was recommended for election to the IOC in 1970. Avery Brundage, as he did for most new IOC member-candidates during his tenure as IOC President (1952-1972), personally shepherded Karnebeek’s candidacy through the IOC electoral process. Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek, Junior Herman Karnebeek was born in the The Hague on 11 November 1903. He died 86 years later, on 13 July 1989, in the city of his birth. He was the eldest son of Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek, Senior.1 He spent his early youth in The Hague and, after fi nishing high school, matriculated at the Dutch Economic University in Rotterdam. He was an avid and skilled soccer-football player, a fi rst team member of one of the oldest and most distinguished football clubs in the The Hague, HVV (Haagsche Voetbal Verenig- ing, founded 1883, today known as Koninklijke Haagse Cricket en Voetbal Vereniging). For a time he was captain of the team. An all-around sportsman, van Karnebeek also played several other sports. He was an avid cricketer and fi eld-hockey performer, loved fencing, and played a strong game of tennis. His favourite sporting pastime was horseback riding. Some six months short of his eighteenth birthday, an event occurred which, in the end, had immeasurable consequence on the very preservation of his life, as well as his stature as a heroic fi gure in both military and sporting matters. That event is briefl y described below. Providence: The Karnebeek — Hirohito Connection In the year 1921, to be precise on 3 March 1921, Japan’s Hirohito2 departed Tokyo aboard the Japanese Imperial Navy pre-dreadnought Katori3 on an orientation visit to Europe. On 8 May 1921 the arrived in England, the Katori docking in Portsmouth, the home port of the British Home Fleet. After a visit to Great Britain of almost a month, the distinguished Japanese party crossed

230 the English Channel and journeyed to Amsterdam, arriving by train at the city’s Central Station on Wednesday, 15 June 1921. Hirohito visited the Netherlands for four days. On his arrival in Amsterdam the Crown Prince wore the full dress uniform of a Major in the Imperial Army of Japan, displaying the Grand-Cross of the Dutch Order of the “Nederlandse Leeuw” [Dutch Lion], which had been awarded to him almost two years previous by Queen Wilhelmina4 of the Netherlands on her state visit to Japan. in early May 1919. The Crown Prince was welcomed by Hendrik5 of the Netherlands, who wore the full dress uniform of a Grand Admiral in the Royal Netherlands Navy. The chest of his uniform coat was adorned with a variety of decorations, including the Japanese Order of the Chrysanthemum. On 16 June 1921, Crown Prince Hirohito departed Amsterdam for a visit to The Hague, where he had been invited for an offi cial dinner at the Palace of the Queen-Mother Emma. Queen Wilhelmina and the Prince Con- sort Hendrik also attended. After fi nishing dinner the Japanese party departed for the offi cial residence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek, Senior. At a soiree given in honour of the occasion, Herman van Karnebeek, Junior met Hirohito, spoke with him, and exchanged a handshake with the Crown Prince on the departure of the Japanese guests. A photograph was taken of the moment depicting Herman and Hirohito shaking hands. Herman’s father was also present in the picture. Together, each was frozen in time, indeed “immortalized” with the later of Japan. That soiree, that meeting, and especially the departure moment captured by the camera would make the dif- ference between life and death for Herman van Karnebeek, Junior some two decades later. Before exploring the consequences of the Karnebeek/Hirohito meeting, I offer a few remarks about Van Karnebeek’s life between 1921 and 1941. After studying economics in Rotterdam, Van Karnebeek visited the United States to gain experience in the oil industry. In the United States most of his time was spent in Oklahoma. In 1927 he joined the N.V. Standard Vacuum Petroleum Maatschappij (STANVAC Oil Company) in the Ne ther lands East Indies. His fi rst assignment was on the Island of Borneo. Later, he worked in ; much later, he became general manager in Batavia (today Djakarta, ). His sports career in Indonesia was limited to the occasional round of golf; but he was not without clout on the local sporting scene—he was elected president of the South Sumatra Football (Soccer) Association. In time, he became president of the Batavia Sport Club, as well as president of the Batavia Golf Club. These roles signifi ed the beginning of a dedicated volunteer career in sports-administration. On 17 November 1937 Herman van Karnebeek married Miss A.J.Th. Pauw van Wiel drecht. Their son Dick was born in 1939. “The Hirohito Photo” and World War II Herman van Karnebeek had been a reserve-offi cer in the Royal Netherlands Army (Field-Artillery); as a consequence he was nominated Commander of the “Landstorm,” the local ‘guard’ in Batavia, a semi- military organization. When the World War II started in the Pacifi c with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Van Karnebeek was summoned to active military service. The vast oil reserves of Southeast Asia, much of it owned and exploited by Dutch interests, quite naturally, were critical to the general Japanese military plan in the Pacifi c. Scarcely two months after the infamous Pearl Harbor event, in February 1942, the Japanese invaded the . Van Karnebeek was ordered to Sumatra to take charge of the destruction of oil-installations near Palembang, one of the most important oil fi eld regions in the South-eastern Hemisphere. He fulfi lled this diffi cult task with his usual effi ciency.

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Denied the critically important Palembang oil reserves, the Japanese invasion forces rapidly deter- mined who the perpetrator of destruction had been. In the intensive search that followed Van Karne- beek was taken into custody. In those early days of the war in the Pacifi c, the Japanese had few qualms about sentencing to death anyone who sought to deter their war effort. For those who performed acts of sabotage similar to that of Herman van Karnebeek, the swift punishment was the death penalty, usually carried out by having one’s head cut off with a Samurai-sword. Van Karnebeek was held in a “death- cell” while waiting for his sentence to be carried out. The Japanese commanding offi cer in Bogor, West Java was informed about the sentence, and told that among van Karnebeek’s personal possessions seized was a photograph where the condemned victim was pictured standing next to the now Japa- nese emperor, Hirohito, shaking his hand at the conclusion of the soirée in The Hague on 16 June 1921. Prompted by some uncertainty, the commanding offi cer arrived at a decision to intercede; he cancelled the death penalty proceedings. Any person who had “the good graces” of the Emperor had to be a very special person and certainly could not be killed in the name of an Emperor who might still hold special feelings for the condemned. Van Karnebeek was taken from his death-cell and transferred to the prison Struiswijk I in Batavia on Java. The Japanese, recognizing Van Karnebeek’s organizational abilities, made him the “representative commander” of the 3,500 internee’s of the Struiswijk prison. It soon became evident that the Japanese made a wise decision. Herman van Karnebeek was a born leader; he could and would stand up for his fellow-sufferers. In 1944 he was transferred to one of the largest internment-camps on Java; he be- came “representative commander” in the camp at Bandoeng. This camp, called “Tjikoe dapateuh”6 (also known as “Vijftiende Bat”), at the time interned over 10,000 male inter nees of all ages. This internment camp, in time, received some 860 boys, creating, a special “boys-town” for them. I was one of those unfortunate youths. Van Karnebeek was assisted with his immensely burdensome task by Johannes Dirk Thijs, an interpreter who originally came from the nearby ADEK-camp. Together, the two men were a formidable duo. Thijs was an outstanding interpreter of the Japanese language and traditions. He had been engaged as translator for the Dutch military authorities during the negotiations for the surrender of all Dutch and Allied forces in the Dutch East Indies. These negotiations had taken place on Sunday, 8 March 1942 at the airport of Kalidjati, near the city of Bandoeng.7 On 1 April 1944 all civilian internees came under the jurisdiction of the Japanese military forces; no longer were internees regarded as civilians, but rather as prisoners-of-war (POWs). In June/July 1944, following this change of policy, the Japanese authorities ordered that all military personnel “hiding” in the civilian camps should identify themselves as soldiers. Different treatment in other camps lurked be- hind the new order. Herman van Karnebeek requested a meeting with Lieutenant Suzuki, the Japanese commandant of “Tjikoedapateuh.” He told Lieutenant Suzuki that he, van Karnebeek, was a military soldier, and thus, he came under military jurisdiction. Despite this, Lieutenant Suzuki responded that van Karnebeek must remain in the camp as the “representative commander” for the entire internee complement. It is almost certain, though without substantiation, that Lieutenant Suzuki received his orders from a higher authority. That aside, however, a rhetorical question might be posed: could knowl- edge of the Van Karnebeek — Hirohito photograph have infl uenced Suzuki’s action? Much later it came to light that most of the military persons eventually identifi ed by the Japanese as “disguised civilians,” were transferred to the barracks of the 10th Battalion in Batavia, where they were ultimately transported to the infamous military internee camp at Pakan Baroe8 on Sumatra. Shipped in

232 An Olympian Life: Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek the Japanese vessel Junyo Maru9 in July 1944, the so-called Pakan Baroe “railroad-camp,” where intern- ees worked incessantly on railroad lines, can be compared to the equally infamous “railroad camps” in Burma, where thousands of Allied POW’s died in wretched circumstances. The Junyo Maru10 with its cargo of POWs, was discovered on its way to Sumatra by a British submarine. The ageing freighter was sunk by torpedoes on 18 September 1944 in the Indian Ocean near Benkoelen. Out of 6,500 POW’s who had boarded the ship, 5,620 were killed. Herman van Karnebeek was not among them. For the second time, it is almost certain that his life was saved by virtue of his 1921 meeting with the future Emperor of Japan. Throughout 1944 and 1945 the brutal terror infl icted by Japan’s military occupation forces increased substantially. In the camp “Tjikoe dapateuh,” it was especially harsh acts from a Korean non-commis- sioned offi cer by the name of Yoshitake that were the most appalling. On Sunday-evenings, usually drunk on sake, he walked through the camp armed with a bayonet. Many of the internee’s became recipients of his brutality. Even Herman van Karnebeek was powerless to end this terror. Indeed, on one fateful day it was he himself who became the victim of Yoshitake’s drunken atrocities. In the confrontation, Yoshitake’s bayonet stabbed Van Karnebeek near the heart. Fortunately, the stab wound was not fatal. The camp’s Japanese commanding offi cer interceded and implemented all possible measures to save Van Karnebeek’s life. Towards that end, he was successful. Yoshitake suffered for his conduct. He was ordered to submit to bodily punishment by caning. A large wooden stick infl icted both hurt and humiliation. Yoshitake, of course, had made the mistake of bayoneting a person who had shaken hands with the Emperor of Japan. His drunken act was unforgivable in the eyes of the Japanese authorities. This was to be the third time that the meeting with Hirohito in 1921 in The Hague saved Herman van Karnebeek’s life! For two years van Karnebeek and his closest associate, Thijs, stood fi rm for the 10,000 inmates. And, especially so for the 860 boys from ages 12 to 14 who, on 5 May 1945, were transported from the nearby Tjihapit camp for women.11 When the war in the Pacifi c came to an end on 15 August 1945, it was not until a full week later that the earlier rumours of the fi nal defeat of the Japanese forces became confi rmed for the inmates of the camp. The Japanese did not offi cially acknowledge their defeat until mere than a week later, on 23 August 1945. Finally, Dutch bombers based in Australia fl ew over the internment camps of the Dutch East Indies. The date was 4 September 1945. Leafl ets dropped from the planes informed the people on the ground that the war was over—Japan had at last been defeated. One week later, the bombers returned, this time loaded with foodstuffs of various kinds. These were dropped by parachute. The war’s end did not immediately bring peace. A spate of nationalism engulfed the Indonesian people. Patriotic marches and angry gatherings arose almost immediately as various factions wrestled with each other to fi ll the political vacuum recently occu- pied by the Japanese occupiers. It was not safe for the inmates of the internment camps to go outside without protection of the armed forces. Protection fi nally arrived in the form of British troops. Her- man van Karnebeek was relieved of his command duties and was reunited with his family (wife and young son) who had been interned throughout the war in the infamous Tjideng-women’s camp in Batavia. The Van Karnebeek family returned to the Netherlands via Australia and the United States, where they settled in The Hague, building a new life. Herman van Karnebeek resumed his duties for the STANVAC-Oil-Company. He was appointed general manager in the Netherlands for STANVAC,

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whose headquarters were located in The Hague. For his exemplary behaviour and bravery during World War II, he received the Resistance-Star East-Asia from a grateful Dutch Government.12 Sport and the IOC With his return to civilian life and the security of once again being home in the Netherlands, van Karne- beek renewed his interest in sport. He took up golf once again, and was elected President of the Hague Golf Club, serving in that position from 1950 to 1960. And then, in 1959, he began his Olympic journey. He was elected to the Executive Board of the Netherlands Olympic Committee. Two years later, on April 7, 1961, he was elected to the Committee’s presidency, taking over from the famous Dutch Olym- pic champion, Charles Ferdinand Pahud de Mortanges.13 Following a decade of service Karnebeek was elected IOC Vice-President at the IOC Session in Amsterdam in 1970. Van Karnebeek’s philosophy on concurrent NOC and IOC executive positions was “old school,” that being that the two positions should not be held at the same time by one individual. Therefore, shortly after his election to the IOC Vice- Presidency he personally selected his own successor as Dutch NOC President, C.L. “Kees” Kerdel.14 In February 1972 Herman van Karnebeek was once again challenged by a moral problem. As one of the Vice-Presidents of the IOC, he attended the Olympic Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan in 1972. There, he was awarded an esteemed distinction by the Japanese Government.15 In spite of his horrifi c experi- ences during World War II, he accepted the decoration with grace, putting aside his memory of personal injuries to him and his family sustained during those terrible years. That very same year, some six months later, he witnessed the Black September massacre events of the Munich’s 1972 Olympic festival. To many, the conduct of IOC President Avery Brundage during and following the tragedy was irreprehensible. Fol- lowing the Games, Van Karenbeek spoke to no-one about what happened at the IOC Executive Board meeting that produced the decision for the “Games To Go On.” “We remain silent,” said van Karnebeek. Pressed by alerted journalists of various Dutch newspapers, his retort remained consistent: “If anybody has anything to say about this, it will be President Killa nin. That is what we have decided.” Herman van Karnebeek was consistently conservative in his opinions; he made no bones about this. At the same time, his integrity, high moral standing, and organizational talents were recognised by all. As Vice-President of the IOC, he was among those involved in redrafting Rule 26 (the “famous” Amateur-rule) of the Olympic Charter. There is little doubt that Van Karnebeek held esteem for the ageing Avery Brundage. He admired him most for his tenacity. As cited by journalist Ruud Paaw in an interview with Van Karnebeek two years before his death, published in Kroniek Olympische Spelen, 1987, the aging Dutch Olympic fi gure reminisced: “Except for the last few years, Brundage had a strong grip on the IOC.” Van Karnebeek also reminisced to Paaw on the story of how he and Jean de Beaumont (IOC Member for France), after a long and strenuous day at an Olympic Congress, desired to have a drink with Brundage. They invited Brundage to a small party, announcing that the invitation was extended to help celebrate van Karnebeek’s birthday. Brundage accepted, showing up with two other IOC members. A few weeks later, a package arrived at the Van Karnebeek residence in The Hague. The package was from Brundage. It contained a silver chalice, suitably inscribed. The inscription read: “For Herman van Karnebeek, who ‘invented’ a birthday to have a small party.” Apparently, Brundage had studied the birth-calendar of the IOC members! Owing to many other energy-draining functions, among them, Presi dent of the American-Nether- lands Chamber of Commerce and President of the International Chamber of Commerce, Van Karnebeek

234 An Olympian Life: Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek retired from the IOC in 1977, accepting Honorary Member rank. Attending what turned out to be his last Olympic-related function, the IOC Congress in Baden-Baden in 1981, he encountered an acute tragedy. Arriving in Baden-Baden with his wife, a who had accompanied him many time on his IOC travels and shown herself to be an admirable ambassa dor for the Netherlands, at an inopportune time she had a severe fall and broke her hip, an injury from which she unfortunately never fully recovered. Herman van Karnebeek attended to his wife until she passed away a few years later. Herman Adriaan van Kar- nebeek, a Dutch national hero, a fi ne sportsman, and a faithful servant of the IOC during the stressful years of the 1960s and 1970s, died 13 July 1989 in the city where he was born and lived for most of his life while resident in the Netherlands, The Hague.

Endnotes

1 Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek senior; was born in The Hague on 21 August 1874 – and died in the same city on 29 March 1942. Civil servant, diplomat, and statesman, Karnebeek was a fi rm believer in a Dutch policy for independence. He began his career as a civil servant in the Dutch Department for Colonies. He was elected Mayor of The Hague in 1911, serving in that position for seven years, in fact, for the duration of World War I. After a distinguished career as Minister for Foreign Affairs [1918-1927], he resigned from this position in 1927, due mainly to the fact that the Dutch parliament rejected his pro- posed Treaty with . He served as Governor of the Province of South-Holland from 1928 until his death in 1942. For this information see the web site Wikipaedia. Note: This modest biography of Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek, Junior, was written in close cooperation with his son, J. D. “Dick” van Karnebeek (Master of Law). Further information on Van Karnebeek can be found in Kroniek Olympische Spelen, published in 1987 on the 75th Anniversary of the Netherlands Olympic Committee, especially the piece written by Ruud Paauw). 2 Hirohito (29 April 1901 – 7 January 1989) was the 124th emperor of Japan. He succeeded his father Yoshi- to as Taisho-emperor in 1926, hence becoming the longest reigning emperor in the history of Japan. The period of his reign is known in Japan as the period of “Showa” [enlightened peace]. Hirohito, as Head of State, was the “formal” sponsor of the infamous invasion of China in 1938, as well as Japan’s World War II activities, which, of course, will always be remembered as commencing with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Before the defeat of Japan by Allied Forces in 1945, Hirohito, as Commander of the Japanese armed forces was frequently pictured in military uniform atop his white horse. He consistently emitted a stern, unsmiling, god-like image, since in the Shinto religion the Emperor was thought to have descended from the Sun Goddess. Photographs that showed the Emperor smiling or laughing made him appear shorter than those around him (actually, he was slight in fi gure). Photographs of this type were forbidden for public circulation. As the Emperor did no public speaking, the sound of his voice was virtually unknown to the people of Japan. When Hirohito fi nally spoke on the Japanese radio to announce the surrender of all Japanese forces, the people, for the fi rst time, heard his voice. This was a shattering experience for most, and many cried, knowing that it was the end of the war and defeat had been the fi nal outcome. After the defeat, Hirohito claimed that he was not a mortal god, but a mere mortal, a mere man. He never again appeared in a military uniform, but rather in civilian clothing. Fol- lowing the war, his carefully moulded public persona refl ecting a stern countenance became instead that of a humble and smiling grandfatherly fi gure. See Wikipedia. The tale of the 1921 meeting between the Van Karnebeeks and the Crown Prince Hirohito has been noted by several authors, especially those who

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cooperated in writing In Naam van de Keizer (In the Name of the Emperor), a history on the boys in the Bandoeng and Tjimahi internment camps in Indonesia. This book, edited chiefl y by A. M. “Dolf” van Millingen de Wit, was based on a few surviving diaries (carefully hidden from the Japanese), was pub- lished in 1997. Also published in the book was a picture of Van Karnebeek drawn by C. L. Crawford, a fellow camp internee. The drawing shows a man with a drawn, lean, but determined face; that was how Crawford remembered him. Also in this book (In Naam vande Keizer) was an account written by Van Karnebeek in 1955 of his experiences in the Japanese camps. The “famous”picture of the Van Karnebeeks and the Crown Prince Hirohito has never come to light. It was never returned to van Karnebeek by the Japanese. A copy might possibly have been published in Japanese newspapers contemporary to the 1921 visit of the Crown Prince to Europe. 3 The pre-dreadnought Katori, most likely named after Katori Jingu (the Katori Shrine), was believed to of- fer protection to military men; it has been admired since the ancient times by the Imperial government and Samurai’s military government. The main hall (honden) and the two-storied gate (romon), both built in 1700, are today designated as National Important Cultural Properties. The pre-dreadnought Katori was launched in 1903 and scrapped in 1924. A light cruiser named Katori was launched in 1939 and sunk by a U.S. Naval Task Force in February 1943 during a battle near Truk in the Carolina Islands. See, for instance, US Navy: Battle Report, Volume IV – The End of an Empire (New York: Rinehart and Company Inc., 1948, pp. 154-155). 4 Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria, of Orange-Nassau (31 August 1880-28 November 1962) was born in The Hague. She was an offspring of the marriage between William III (1817-1890) and the German Princess Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1858-1934). After King William’s death in 1890, Princess Emma became Regent until Wilhelmina reached the age of 18. On 6 September 1898 Wilhelmina was crowned Queen in the Nieuwe Kerk [New Church] in Amsterdam. In 1901 she married Prince Hein- rich von Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1876-1934), who then became known as Prince Consort Hendrik der Nederlanden. Queen Wilhelmina stands as Dutch history’s longest reigning Chief-of-State of the King- dom of The Netherlands. On 13 May 1940 she fl ed the Netherlands and escaped to England, where she played an important role for the people in her German-occupied country as a symbol of the Free World. Shortly following the end of World War II, she abdicated the throne (3 September 1948) in favor of a new Queen, Juliana, her only daughter. Queen-mother Wilhelmina continued her life at “Het Loo,” one of the palaces belonging to the Royal Dutch Family, where she spent the last years of her life. She passed away on 28 November 1962 and was buried, like all members of the Dutch in the Royal Crypt be- neath the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft. See Wikipedia. 5 Heinrich Wladimir Albrecht Ernst, of Mecklenburg, Fürst of Wenden, Schwering, Ratzeburg, Count of Schwerin, Lord of the countries Rostock and Stargard, was born in Schwerin on 19 April 1876. He was the fourth child, third son of Friedrich Franz II von Mecklenburg-Schwerin and his third wife Marie von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Heinrich’s brother, Adolf Friedrich zu Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was a German member of the International Olympic Committee from 1926 to 1956. See Wikipedia. 6 The internment camp “Tjikoedapateuh” originally was the garrison barracks of the 15th Battalion of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army. It was situated in the centre of the City of Bandoeng in West Java, and later was enlarged by including the Depot of the 1st Battalion. The camp was later renamed Tjikoedapateuh (in the Indonesian language, “the crippled horse”). Within the Japanese administration of internment camps, it was called Bunsho II Camp 1. During the Japanese occupation it featured two Japanese commanding offi cers: Lieutenant Suzuki (March 1944 to November 1944) and Lieutenant Takahashi (November 1944 to May 1945). After May 1945 Sergeant Tachibana was put in charge. For information on Camp Tjik- oedapateuh, see A. G. Warmer, Java 1942-1945: Kampschetsen Uit: Kesilir, Banjoe Biroe, Tjikoedateuh/ 15e Bat. in Bandoeg (Elmar, 1984).

236 An Olympian Life: Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek

7 For a description of the negotiations during the surrender of the Dutch troops to the invading Japanese Forces, see J.C. Bijkerk, Vaarwel, tot betere tijden! [“Farewell until better times”] (Wever, 1974). 8 The Pakan Baru railroad was initiated by the Japanese occupation forces. It was the intention to build a 220 kilometer-long railroad between Pakan Baru and Muara, through a dense jungle with stinking swamps, transversing small but deep chasms, and passing over two big rivers, the Siak and the Kwantan. Huge trees had to be cut down, bridges constructed, railroad ties (“sleepers”) and heavy rail laid, and all with available manpower only. A debilitating atmosphere of beatings, punctuated by very little food, existed daily. Working on the railroad were about 2,500 Allied POW’s – mostly British and Dutch. An estimated 80,000 so-called Romushas, Indonesian village-people, joined the work complement, at fi rst freely, later forcibly impounded by the Japanese. The work started in May 1943. At fi rst only Romushas toiled, building a railway station and a few kilometers of railway. A year later the fi rst POWs arrived. They were transported on old freighters to on Sumatra’s West-coast. The camps where the POW’s were housed were “open,” but escaping was useless. Survival in the heavy jungle would have been al- most impossible. On many an early morning POW’s noted the footprint-tracks of Sumatra’s most feared animal, the tiger. POWs wore only a so-called “tjawat” (a loincloth). Malaria and other sicknesses, par- ticularly dysentery, took a heavy toll. Each day the dead were buried, rolled into their “tikar” (sleeping mat). Because the Japanese did not allow burial for the Indonesian Romushas, their bodies lay alongside the railroad by the hundreds. After fi fteen months of pure hell, culminating on the very day of Japan’s sur- render on 15 August 1945, the railroad was fi nished and a Japanese offi cer drove the last spike into the last railroad tie. Almost simultaneously the news arrived that Japan had surrendered! The railway between Pakan Baroe and Moeara was never used. The railroad ties were eventually burned and the rail sold as scrap-iron. In some small villages along the track a lonely and dismantled steam engine can be found, a lingering and silent witness to the horror of that place some sixty years ago. See Dutch internet sources via Google, i.e., http://au.geocities.com/franstaminiau in English; and Henk Hovinga, Dodenspoorweg Dor Het Oerwojd [Death Railroad Through the Jungle] (Wever, 1976). 9 MV Junyo Maru was built in 1913 in Glasgow, Scotland by Robert Duncan Co. Its dimensions were 5,065 tons, 405 feet long, 53 feet wide, 27.2 feet deep, with 475 nominal horsepower. From the time of its origi- nal launch in Scotland, the ship has experienced the following owners: 1913-1917, owned by Lang & Ful- ton, named Ardgorm; 1917-1919, owned by Norfold North American Steam Shipping, Greenock, called Hartland Point; 1919-1921, owned by Anglo-Oriental Navigation Co. Ltd, Liverpool, called Hartmore; 1921-1927, owned by Sanyo Sha Goshi, Kaisha, Japan, called Sureway; 1927-1938, Karafuto Kissen K.K., Tokyo, Japan, called Junyo Maru; 1938-1944, Baba Shoiji K.K., Tokyo, Japan, called Zyunyo Maru. See Dutch internet sources, i.e., http://www.marionblloem.com/b4-nwsarchief and http://www.wikipedia. org/wiki/Junyo_Maru. 10 On 18 September 1944 the Japanese cargo ship Junyo Maru, traveling from Java to Sumatra (Indonesia), was torpedoed in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra near Mukomuko by the British sub- marine H.M.S Tradewind. The submarine commander could not have known the nature of the Japanese ship’s cargo … on board the 5,065 ton vessel were cramped, apart from the crew and Japanese guards, 2,300 Dutch, British, American, and Australian POWs,along with 4,200 Javanese slave laborers (Romu- shas). They were bound for work on the 220 kilometer Sumatra Railway Line between Pakan Baru and Muaro. Of the 6,500 wretched passengers, some 5,620 perished in the waters off southwest Sumatra, making the tragedy the most devastating maritime disaster of the war - if not of all time. The “good for- tune” of the 880 survivors was employment on the railway line. Many of them did not live to witness the end of the war. The overall survival rate for the Pakan Baru “death-railway” was about 66 % for POWs; for the Romushas is was about 20 %. Approximately 100 Dutch nationals survived the sinking of the Ju- nyo Maru, and 10 of these died on the railway. See Dutch internet sources, i.e., http://www.cofepow.org. uk/remembrance/Junyo_mary/index.htm and http://www.geocities.com/douwes_2000/JunyoMary.html.

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11 Author’s note: I happened to be one of those approximately 860 boys who walked from the Tjilatjap-wom- en’s camp to the Tjikoedapateuh-men’s camp in Bandoeng on 5 May 1945. On that day I must have seen Herman van Karnebeek for the fi rst time. I was then 14 years old, very much depressed and tired from the walk to our new surroundings. We walked carrying our personal luggage, all luggage a boy of that age could carry over a distance of some fi ve kilometres. Many of those who knew little about life in the Pacifi c Theater’s POW and Civilian Internment Camps, later wondered if there had been any sports or recreation- al activities present in the daily routine, such as were commonplace in POW camps in Western Europe and North America during World War II. The answer to that “wondering” is that the only thing mattering for the inmates was daily survival! “Playing,” in any form, simply did not fi t into this sort of life. Life in the camps centered on getting food and/or working on tasks where more food could be obtained. The youths in the boys-camp were no exception’ there was neither time nor inclination for sport. In the scarce free time that existed, many boys tried to get an education through instruction given by older internees, even though that possibility was strictly forbidden by the Japanese. The boys were allowed to visit the men’s camp, but only during fi xed periods of time. There are no traces to be found in any camp on Java that sports were played. During my later life, as an Olympic hobbyist, collector, and historian, I met Herman van Karnebeek. I told him that once I had the “honour” of being in the camp under his leadership. During my last meeting with him, when he and his successor as NOC President and later an IOIC member, Kees Kerdel, visited my offi ce in Leeuwarden to view my Olympic collection, we discussed the possibilities for an Olympic Museum in the Netherlands. Each of my guests was positive about such a prospect. 12 Herman Adriaan, van Karnebeek was invested with the “Verzetster Oost-Azië 1942-1945” by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands by Royal Decree number 46 of 23 May 1950. 13 Charles Ferdinand PAHUD DE MORTANGES (13 May 1896 – 7 April 1971) was co-opted to the IOC (Member #196) on 4 September 1946 (he served until 8 October 1964), replacing Schimmelpen- ninck van der Oye. Pahud entered the Military Academy as a cadet for the Cavalry Corps in October 1915, graduating in 1918 to join the Third Regiment Hussars in stationed in The Hague. Two years later he was attached to the Second Regiment Hussars, where he learned to train horses. He did this so well that he was transferred to the Military Riding School in Amersfoort to take the instructors-course. As a young cavalry offi cer his abilities as an master equestrian came to the attention of one of his superior offi cers, who took Pahud under his charge. Patience and endurance, together with a true insight in the psychology of the horse, made Charles Pahud de Mortanges into an “equestrian of world-stature,” win- ning no less than four Olympic Gold medals and one Silver medal over a period lasting twelve years and four Olympic Games (1924-1936). The most famous horse he owned was Marcroix. Pahud himself trained Marcroix, an animal he had imported from the Dordogne in France. This fantastic horse lived to the age of 32, fi nally succumbing in the 1950s. With the advent of World War II and the capitulation of all Dutch forces on 15 May 1940, Pahud was requested to start a revalidation-centre for wounded military personnel. KAREOL, located in Aerdenhout, became a famous institute both in healing and in the social rehabilitation of its inmates. During two long years Pahud was the commanding offi cer of KAREOL. He later described this period as one of the most rewarding in his life. In May 1942 all Dutch offi cers were taken prisoner of war by the German Occupation Forces and Pahud was sent to a POW camp in Poland (Stanislaw). He arrived in the camp with a wrist injury, the extent of which necessitated his return to the Netherlands for medical treatment. He had given his word of honour that he would return when his treat- ment was concluded. After successful treatment, he presented himself to the German authorities. They promptly put him aboard a cattle-wagon bound for East-Poland; but he had prepared himself. He made a hole in the wall of his wagon with a small saw that he had concealed in his uniform. In the late evening, together with two friends (one of them a fellow-Olympian), he escaped through the hole and dropped from the train, just before the train crossed the German border. For many weeks he stayed concealed. He had to; as the nation’s most famous Olympic athlete to that time, he was quite famous and his face was known to many. He decided to try to escape to England and through contacts in the Dutch Underground,

238 An Olympian Life: Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek

received the necessary papers. After a long and hazardous journey through Belgium, France, and over the Pyrenees, he fi nally reached Barcelona in Spain. He fi nally received a new Dutch passport in Madrid and then reached Gibraltar to wait for transportation to England. By special orders from London, Pahud was placed on a fl ight to England and there he waited for almost a month before British Intelligence started his interrogation. In spite of the fact that he was a well-known sportsman, Intelligence offi cers screened him thoroughly. After his release, he was given a choice of military assignment. He chose the Royal Irene Brigade. This Brigade was formed in 1940 and consisted of free Dutchmen from all over the world. Pahud became second in command of this brigade. The Brigade commenced rigorous training for the invasion of the European continent. Pahud de Mortanges fought with his Brigade from Normandy, through France to Belgium, and fi nally, to his home-country, which his unit helped liberate from German occupation. The Brigade was involved in the famous battle for the bridges of Arnhem. When the war ended, Pahud fi rst stayed for a time with the Brigade to assist in the return of its people to their respective countries. In 1948 he was appointed by Prince Berhard as Chief of Staff for the Inspector General of the Dutch Armed Forces. Two years later he was promoted to Inspector for the Cavalry. On 18 May 1953 he was nominated ADC [aide-de-camp) and also became Deputy to the Chief of the Military House to Her Majesty, the Queen of the Netherlands. One year later he became Chief of the Military House and Grand Master of Ceremonies for the Queen. During these years of service he was promoted to major-general, and fi nally, to lieutenant-general. He retired from active service in 1962. The last fi ve years of Pahud’s life were spent in a wheelchair. Rheumatism impaired his health and brought him much pain. He had mar- ried in 1920 to Irma, Baronesse Snouckaert van Schauburg. This marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1949. From this marriage came one son, killed by the Germans in 1942 near Besancon, France. Pahud married again in 1949 to Mrs. Resi Hamaker-Daamen, a widow. 14 Cornelis Lambert Kerdel (19 March 1915 – 8 November 1986) ultimately became an IOC member (#319) on 15 June 1977, serving until 8 November 1986. He died while still an active IOC member. 15 The three Vice-Presidents of the International Olympic Committee were invested with the Second Order of Merit of the Order of the Sacred Treasure. See Offi cial Report on the XIth Olympic Winter Games, Sap- poro 1972 (Tokyo: Published by the Organizing Committee, 1973).

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