When Holland abandoned Indonesia, all Indonesians of Dutch ancestry were expulsed. Many of the Dutch colonial people had never seen the mainland. Many families had been living in Indonesia for hundreds of years. Some were given a chance to emigrate to the U.S.A. or Australia and started a new life in those countries. There were many Dutch Indonesians who immigrated to California.
I knew some Dutch colonials like Mr Sperling in Lagos. They loved Indonesian food and hated Japanese with a ferocity rarely seen among good Dutch folk.
So these people, of Dutch and mixed ancestry, who had never laid eyes on the Netherlands in many cases, were shipped 'back' to a country they had never seen. Why is this relevant? South Africa maybe?
10 comments:
Being sent "home" happened many times in the 20th century - the "Volksdeutsche" , the Muslims of India and the Hindus of Pakistan, the Greeks of Turkey and the Muslims of Greece,the French of Algeria, etc. etc. - million were displaced in the 20th century this way and sent to countries that were unfamiliar to them because of their race or nationality. And of course the anti-Semites of Poland (and the rest of E. Europe) insisted that the Jews had to go to Palestine (this is one case where we should nave listened). What is interesting is that of all these groups, only the "Palestinians" are still trying to recover their lost homeland - all others have accepted their fate and moved on with their lives.
I pray that you are wrong for the white S. Africans. They have been in Africa for many centuries - long enough that their language is as different from Dutch as Yiddish is from modern German.
K
Can we get a cite?
The White South Africans break down into two groups. First there are the English descended Whites that could be repatriated to Britain. Second there are the Boer, who speak a relative of Dutch. The problem is that Boer have known no other home than Africa, having been there for almost five centuries.
Anonymous: Is is all public knowledge. Maybe because it happened during my generation, I feel it is almost personal experience and didnt include a source. Indonesian independence was followed by sanguinary ethnic cleansing. The Bandung Conference of Colonial Countries mada a big impact in ARgentina.
J.
My father's family was one of the Indo-Dutch natives abroad. My uncles, father and family never longed to go back and only spoke lovingly about their old country wrt to the wildlife or the non-stressful way of life there. The Japanese war and the camp period probably made them lose love for the country, especially the people they had lived with for centuries and turned on time so harshly. My grandfather ran a school there; my grandmother was a nurse. (Her whole family was born and raised in Indonesia, it could be argued she had truly become Indo-Dutch.) During internment, my grandfather almost died of dhiarrea, was kept away from his family and my grandmother had to see her oldest two sons sent to a separate 'boys camp'. (My uncles hate the Japanese to this day. I don't, btw.) They saw many people die, good friends too, in the most brutal way. (E.g., digging a hole, putting someone in it, digging them in, leaving only the head above ground and then putting them there for days in a menacing sunlight, animals sniffing at them, giving them no water, no food..)
AFAIK, most Dutch natives from Indonesia weren't like the Boers, who feel South Africa to be their true homeland. Many of them [Indo-Dutch] were born in the Netherlands and just lived Overseas, similar to the children of Shell operatives who live in Oman today -- expats, basicly. The Whites of Indonesia were a motley crew of Belgians, English, Dutch and others, not just Dutch.
Here in the Netherlands, we're proud of our colonial history, but in a mixed way. Sure, the Dutch developed Indonesia, made it a big power too (at least potentially), but there's always the stain of colonial white rule attached to this. Post-war Europeans don't feel good about that.
Anyway, most of this stuff is two, three generations back in time. It's history now. There will never be a Dutch East Indies again.
"The ...war and the camp period probably made them lose love for the country, especially the people they had lived with for centuries and turned on them so harshly."
Where have I heard this before? Unfortunately, one man's tragedy is another man's opportunity. If the political situation suddenly made it possible for the person who cleans your house to OWN your house, don't you think that they might be tempted to take advantage of this?
You can see the brainwashing is complete - despite the fact that Outland should feel nothing but pride at how his grandparents educated and cared for and brought modernity to a backward people, he has officially been trained to not "feel good" about this - who are you going to believe - me or your own lying eyes?
K
I am one of the very few people who feels nothing but pride about how small numbers of Europeans colonized and civilized huge swathes of the earth's territory.
Having grown up and spent time in several Southern African countries, I can tell you the blacks benefited enormously from colonial administrations.
This progress is in the process of being erased, at least in Africa. In the East, I think the populations can sustain a reasonable level of civilization on their own, but they till owe a huge debt to Europe.
Some bad things happened but the good was absolutely overwhelming, and the white guilt is just a mixture of ignorance, stupidity and frank, evil manipulation by the Left.
Anon.
Her whole family was born and raised in Indonesia, it could be argued she had truly become Indo-Dutch.
So there was an ethnic group called the Indo Dutch. They were brutalized by the Japanese and ethnically cleansed following independence. I just dont understand how two or three generations could erase all that so the current generation has "mixed feelings" about it. They underwent a deep brain washing and now they feel guilty about ... what?
"So there was an ethnic group called the Indo Dutch."
Sure. Most Indonesian immigrants (KNIL soldiers, often Maluku), half-breeds and Indo-Dutch (including Indonesian wives) became a new ethnic group in the Netherlands after repatriation. Most Indo-Dutch, half-breeds and Indonesians intermarried with the rest of us. Only the Moluccans are distinct to-day; others have completely assimilated.
"They were brutalized by the Japanese and ethnically cleansed following independence."
Yes, they were. But back in the old country they were seen as repressors of the colonies. After the war the Dutch tried to reconquer Indonesia from Indonesian nationalists. That was a pretty brutal affair as well. Many, many were killed; the Dutch still do not recognize how tough the 'politionele acties' were in practice. Also, the US eventually forced the Netherlands to let go of their colonies or they'd lose Marshall aid for built-up. Our leaders chose wisely; they chose the well-being of own country over the memory of a beloved colony.
"I just dont understand how two or three generations could erase all that so the current generation has "mixed feelings" about it.
Well, that's not the case. In the Netherlands, there's a wide variety of literature on this issue. Remember the Netherlands is just a small country, we're nothing like the US or UK; nations who can sell and publish their national histories globally. (Jonathan Israel, Jewish-Britsh historian, has written a lot about the Netherlands. You might like his 1000+ books, but I understand it if most people believe that effort to be a bridge too far.)
"They underwent a deep brain washing and now they feel guilty about ... what?"
Surely, my grandparents didn't feel guilty -- and I doubt most of their generation did. They just had enough of war, suffering and moved to the homeland (which welcomed them.) C'est ça.
The children of these Indo-Dutch have gone through Western schools and looked at the Indo-Dutch as most Europeans now look at European colonizers: conquerors, misguided, wrong.
Thanks for the comment. You are objective and without passion. After the war, Holland probably was in no condition to reconquer Indonesia. And tropical produce has lost its worth - except, maybe, the oil. Yet, it was an ugly, indiscriminate ethnic cleaning.
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