Conclusions

The extreme violence that broke out after the proclamation of Indonesian independence, which became known in the Netherlands as the bersiap period, came as an utter shock to the great majority of Dutch, Indo-Europeans and Moluccans who had lived through the Japanese occupation in or outside the prisoner-of-war and civilian camps. For many, the news of the Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945 was literally a matter of life and death. The fact that this message was followed, two days later, by the announcement that the Republic of Indonesia had proclaimed its independence was barely comprehensible to them. Many found it completely inconceivable that Indonesians would turn against the Dutch regime, and that they would be willing to take up arms to defend the young Republic. For example, J.J.C.H. van Waardenburg, a former internee from Bangkinang men’s camp in Padang (Central Sumatra), wrote about a ‘minor incident on the fourth day after the liberation’:

On that day, we were ordered to lower the national flag. We refused, of course. By the way, the reason for the request – that the Dutch flag might vex our brown brothers – struck us as so absurd that we couldn’t stop laughing. Vex the people, ha ha, those people with whom we were on the friendliest terms! Who offered their goods for sale from early in the morning until late at night, and who were only interested in making money. ¹