The Diary of Prisoner 17326: A Boy's Life in a Japanese Labor Camp

Images

Our house in Semarang. (See Chapter 2.) The family Stutterheim at their home. Semarang, 1929. (See Chapter 2.) In 1938 we sailed aboard the Marnix van St. Aldegonde, which was used as a large troop transport in “Operation Torch,” the landing of U.S. troops in Oran, North Africa, in 1942. She was torpedoed by a German plane close to Gibraltar on her way home. (See Chapter 3.) Author in native dress. Semarang, 1931. (See Chapter 2.) Lampu lantern. (See Chapter 3.) Native boy, a katjong, driving long-necked ducks home. (See Chapter 3.) Allied navies around Java. (See Chapter 5.) Key — — — Dutch flotilla and two U.S. fourstackers attempted to stop the Japanese landing at Bali. 嘺 The Battle of the Java Sea was lost by the combined forces of the British, Australian, Dutch, and U.S. navies. ................. After picking up survivors, the hospital ship Plancius set course for Makassar, where the Japanese navy boarded her and took over the ship. Captain Tuizinga protested in vain. — • — • — Escape of the cruisers Houston (U.S.) and Perth (Australian). The Japanese sank them in the Strait of Sunda. That same night three Dutch freighters tried to escape, and two were sunk. Several survivors swam ashore. Some were killed by the natives; the rest were taken prisoner by the Nippon. 佡 Areas where the Japanese landed. Trip to Kesilir through eastern Java. (See Chapter 7.) A native conductor providing coconut milk to thirsty toddlers on the railroad platform in Semarang, 1943. (See Chapter 9.) This may look like an ordinary train station, but one has to realize the emotions of the women and children who passed through its gates during their deportations. (See Chapter 9.) Semarang, 1944. (See Chapter 10.) The tokè. (See Chapter 10.) Page 21 of my diary, November 1944. The dashed line indicates the fields we had to work in, and the thick line extending downward from it is the road we constructed. It starts at Djalan Siwalan, named after the fruit of the lontar palm, shown on the cover of the book. No. 7 is Camp Bangkong and No. 9 is Lampersari. No. 10 is the ravine through which I escaped in September 1944, dodging bullets fired by the revolutionaries . I visited in 1993 and saw all that fields were built on, except Dj Siwalan, and part of Lampersari had been bulldozed. At the Cloister, Bangkong, I was shocked to learn that nobody in the local populace knew it had been a concentration camp. (See Chapter 12.) The plot of Bangkong. The 55 nuns lived at the hospital, marked as ++++. The church, in the top center, is where the 12-year-olds lived. The square: Aula, for the 10-year-olds. BD = 14 bathrooms for 1,400 people. On the right, the number of the classrooms we slept in with the commons in front. Room no. 5 was my brother’s and mine with 38 boys. II is the gate we marched through. AF = lean-to over the kitchen wood fires. (See Chapter 12.) Singing women, rhythmically pounding rice. (See Chapter 13.) Hauling supplies. (See Chapter 13.) My secret rolled-up diary. (See Chapter 14.) Writing helped my anxiety. (See Chapter 14.) While waiting for the water to be turned on, I felt depressed and dirty after cleansing the dead for burial during the noon temperature of over 100º F. Bangkong, 1944. (See Chapter 15.) Bangkong. A tjikar had arrived to remove our dead. Coffins from the female camps were already stacked inside. A teenage boy is trying to read the names on the headboards of the coffins. (See Chapter 15.) Outside kitchen facilities in Camp Bangkong. Notice boy with fan. We used oars for stirring. (See Chapter 15.) Bangkong’s gate, seen from the parade grounds. From left to right: Church, death room and guard house, gate, and the two-tiered classrooms. Above it all is the woven bamboo with barbed wire. Once we stood there for over 24 hours dressed only in shorts. That evening it rained and the mosquitos ate us alive. No wonder malaria was rampant. (See Chapter 15.) The road we built. In May 1945, a...