5.5 Shades of Grey (interview)
Description
Both propaganda and history books tend to make a sharp distinction between enemies and allies, but the reality was more nuanced. The father of Mrs S.J., who is Javanese, was a KNIL sergeant but he could not progress further up the ranks because of his ‘native’ status. Mrs S.J. attended Dutch schools but felt Javanese. In the colonial period, she was in a scouting group that flew the Indonesian flag. But she was suddenly removed, as her father’s reputation was at stake. During the Japanese occupation, she became convinced that Indonesians need to free themselves from both Japanese and colonial oppression. When the revolution broke out, her father joined the Republican army without a moment’s hesitation. Mrs S.J. talks about her experiences and about her father, who later switched back to the KNIL. During the war, she married a Dutch soldier and emigrated with him to the Netherlands.
Anonymized interview with Mrs S.J. SMGI 1314.1 (14), 1998.
Transcription
SJ: “My mother and I had to go to Yogyakarta [the capital of the Republic]. We walked for three nights and three days. There wasn’t any transport. We had to go to my father.”
I: “Was your father back with the KNIL then?”
SJ: “No. He was with the TNI then. He’s got a TNI uniform in his cupboard, as well as a KNIL uniform.”
I: “So your father...”
SJ: “...switched sides to the TNI. When the Japanese left. He applied to them and was taken on. He was promoted a rank, because those KNIL guys had experience and the Javanese didn’t. Then all of a sudden my father was a TNI captain!”
I: “Can you remember how your father arrived at that decision to join the TNI?”
SJ: “He’s an Indonesian. That’s an easy decision.”
I: “He’d really got a feeling that the Dutch should never return?”
SJ: “Yes. But when the Dutch arrived, they had hope again, and then he immediately switched back to the KNIL.”
I: “And when did he return to the TNI again?”
SJ: “Only later, after the Dutch had left.”
Anonymized interview with Mrs S.J. SMGI 1314.1 (14), 1998.
Transcription
SJ: “My mother and I had to go to Yogyakarta [the capital of the Republic]. We walked for three nights and three days. There wasn’t any transport. We had to go to my father.”
I: “Was your father back with the KNIL then?”
SJ: “No. He was with the TNI then. He’s got a TNI uniform in his cupboard, as well as a KNIL uniform.”
I: “So your father...”
SJ: “...switched sides to the TNI. When the Japanese left. He applied to them and was taken on. He was promoted a rank, because those KNIL guys had experience and the Javanese didn’t. Then all of a sudden my father was a TNI captain!”
I: “Can you remember how your father arrived at that decision to join the TNI?”
SJ: “He’s an Indonesian. That’s an easy decision.”
I: “He’d really got a feeling that the Dutch should never return?”
SJ: “Yes. But when the Dutch arrived, they had hope again, and then he immediately switched back to the KNIL.”
I: “And when did he return to the TNI again?”
SJ: “Only later, after the Dutch had left.”