5.3 Hearts and Minds (interview)
Description
Mr D. grew up in Kampung Afrikan, a separate neighbourhood in Purworejo for descendants of African soldiers serving in the KNIL. In the nineteenth century, the KNIL had recruited these Africans via slave traders in Elmina on the coast of what is now Ghana. Their descendants, who were known as Belanda Hitam or ‘black Dutch’, usually had an African father and a Javanese mother. Many of these Indo-Africans followed in their father’s footsteps and joined the military as professional soldiers. However, Mr D. was called up for the KNIL in 1941 and was later held prisoner in Japan. When the archipelago was liberated, he joined the army again to help the British disarm the Japanese on Bali. Indonesian freedom fighters had recently started operating on the island. He talks about how his troops fought the revolutionaries on Bali and how the dividing line between the Indonesian combattants and civilians started to blur. At the same time, he was ordered to win the hearts and minds of the local population: a contradictory mission.
Anonyzed interview with Mr D. SMGI 1187.1 (13), 1997.
Transcription
I: “How did those actions work?”
D: “We were given the necessary information about the Indonesian freedom fighters. Then, towards dawn, we would surround those villages. At daybreak the troops would enter the villages and the freedom fighters would be taken prisoner. But it was a heavy-handed operation. Of course the villagers soon realized what was going on. That’s why the order was given not to flee. But I can imagine those people would have panicked and tried to flee anyway. They were simply shot down. That’s incredibly... that is really... That’s what happened every time. But of course there would inevitably have been innocent people who were shot down too. That is undoubtedly true. As a medic, I had to try and care for those wounded Indonesians.”
I: “Do you know why you were given that order?”
D: “Of course we were supposed to generate goodwill among the Indonesians. In Mengwi on Bali, there was an Indonesian outpatient clinic. I’d regularly help out there, giving medicines. Because the army had more medicines than the Indonesians. We’d also confiscated the medicines that the Japanese had. So I gave that to the Indonesians. The idea was just to generate goodwill, of course.”
Anonyzed interview with Mr D. SMGI 1187.1 (13), 1997.
Transcription
I: “How did those actions work?”
D: “We were given the necessary information about the Indonesian freedom fighters. Then, towards dawn, we would surround those villages. At daybreak the troops would enter the villages and the freedom fighters would be taken prisoner. But it was a heavy-handed operation. Of course the villagers soon realized what was going on. That’s why the order was given not to flee. But I can imagine those people would have panicked and tried to flee anyway. They were simply shot down. That’s incredibly... that is really... That’s what happened every time. But of course there would inevitably have been innocent people who were shot down too. That is undoubtedly true. As a medic, I had to try and care for those wounded Indonesians.”
I: “Do you know why you were given that order?”
D: “Of course we were supposed to generate goodwill among the Indonesians. In Mengwi on Bali, there was an Indonesian outpatient clinic. I’d regularly help out there, giving medicines. Because the army had more medicines than the Indonesians. We’d also confiscated the medicines that the Japanese had. So I gave that to the Indonesians. The idea was just to generate goodwill, of course.”