(Un)forgotten stories of Indo-Europeans
Soon after the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, one of the darkest chapters of Dutch colonial history opened. On August 17th, Indonesia declared its independence: it was the start of a long and dire conflict against the Netherlands, which did not want to lose its colony.
Conflict comes with displacement: between 1950 and 1951, more than 80,000 people left Indonesia for the Netherlands.
The Hague’s town hall is an impressive building. Despite its intimidating size, it looks light and airy because of its glasses and white metals. It is here that I meet Dr. Margaret Leidelmeijer. She has round eyes, a kind smile and the most Dutch English I have ever heard.
She has worked on the exhibition “To Holland: repatriation, migration or escape?”, along the Tong Tong association. The Indo-European culture is “ is not Dutch, nor Indonesian” she says. “Tong Tong works to keep it alive.”
Pictures and quotes on blue panels lead, towards the focal point of the exhibition: the sea, a white boat, and people waving goodbye to their loved ones.
In the picture, framed from above, those who leave and those who remain hold the two ends of the same tape: when the ship moves away the wires will tear and the heads will remain in their hands.
“They forgot about the Indo-Europeans”
Between ’45 and ’56, the tension in Indonesia was constantly skyrocketing. The country had known the horrors of war and of the Japanese concentration camps. Now the concentration camps were for the Indonesian and everybody lived in hunger. Abuse and discrimination against Indo-Europeans were widespread.
During the Second World War, the Japanese had asked the Indo-Europeans to forget their Dutch descent. Indo-Europeans are the descendants of Indonesian indigenous peoples and Dutch colonists, who hold European passports. Now, during the conflict for decolonisation, Indo-Europeans found themselves trapped between two cultures and two enemies, under fire from both sides.
“They had been educated and indoctrinated in the colonial school system. When in 1950 they were asked to decide between the two nationalities, many were faced with a very difficult choice.”
“People were required to abandon one or the other part of their identity.” But Indo-European culture is not just a mix of Dutch and Indonesian culture: “it is a complete and proper culture in itself, with all the variations and diversity of the case”, as Leidelmeijer explains.
This is how the Indo-Europeans were asked to give up themselves: “ You were not allowed to be yourself. You were not free to have your own identity “.
Many Indo-Europeans wanted to stay in Indonesia, where they were born and grew up. But they knew their children would have no future there: they would remain impoverished and discriminated against. So they undertook the journey towards the Netherlands.
Since 1945, there have been several migratory phases. The first to arrive in the Netherlands were the “white Dutch”: those who already had connections and families in Holland. Then the Indo-Europeans arrived. They had never seen the Netherlands before, and yet, because of colonisation, Holland was as much part of their culture as Indonesia.
The assimilation
People in Holland had just witnessed the end of World War II and was in the midst of a serious housing crisis. Many emigrated, others wondered:
“ why are the immigrants immediately given a roof and extra food, while I’m hungry and have been waiting for a house for years?”
Indeed too many are still wondering the same today. The response is now “Italians first”, “Americans first”, “French first”. Back then, some did not like the newcomers, but others already saw them as Dutch.
Newly arrived Indo-Europeans were given extra stamps for food and housing in single or double rooms to share with their families. “In the meantime, the government explored all possible ways to keep people in Indonesia,” where they were clearly in danger: an uncomfortable similitude with the safe country lists of many European states, and the EU’s deterrence-based migration policy of the last years.
“Those who arrived in the Netherlands had to be assimilated”. A policy that is still in vogue today: assimilation involves a minority becoming socially indistinguishable from other members of the society.
“ They had to follow Dutch cookbooks and housekeeping manuals,” tells Leidelmeijer. Everything, even the private and intimate spaces of a house, had to be managed according to Dutch customs.
“You had to leave behind everything that you did at home and adapt to the Dutch lifestyle.” You had to eat like the Dutch and follow the rules like the Dutch.
The government also sent social workers to check that families were following the directives. So, often “people pretended to be Dutch in public”.
Freedom and the future
When I ask her about Indo-European culture, Leidelmeijer tells me about the great diversity within it. “For me,” she adds candidly, “it is how my parents raised me: in a big family, full of music and freedom.” She decided to raise her children in the same way, but she also always felt Dutch. “I grew up here, my friends and my life are here.” It is no coincidence that, even in English, she speaks with all the most iconic Dutch expressions.
“ I don’t want to live in a closed community. I want to live freely, choosing for myself who I am and where I belong, “ says Leidelmeijer. The smile on her face suggests that she knows perfectly that such freedom is too often nowhere to be found.
“People were leaving Indonesia because it was the only way to give their children a future,” comments Leidelmeijer. As of today, 272 million people migrate abroad: we are talking about a population more than three times the size of Germany.
A lot changed since 1950, but the analogies with today are still many. Migration is a part of everybody’s story and looking back at previous experiences might help us to see more clearly the lessons that we should have learnt long ago. There are hope and resilience in these stories: when feeling powerless, they remind us that we can use history as a cheat-book to handle the present. We do have the means to do better, it is really up us to use them.
“Those who leave and those who remain hold the two ends of the same tape: when the ship moves away the wires will tear and the heads will remain in their hands.”
Originally published at https://www.31mag.nl on August 19, 2019.
Last updated on February 7, 2020.
