To the Paradise
In 2010 we started at the UPF. The facilities were very good. We worked hard but we also had daily contact during the breaks for a coffee and together we went out for lunch. I think that we all enjoyed this work situation and we worked with pleasure on the ESS data. Partially this work could also be used for chapters of the dissertations. Irmtraud and I once invited the whole group for an evening in the Lyceo, the opera house of Barcelona. Normally the tickets were very expensive but we had detected that performances for children were often nice and very cheap (10 euros). Together we went to the performance of the Carnaval des Animaux which was very amusing and the music was nice. We all enjoyed it.
The most exciting event this year was certainly that we got an invitation from Toni Toharudin of the Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung, Indonesia, to teach a course in Survey research in Bandung. We did not have to think for a long time to say yes because we very much liked to visit this country because the mother of Willem came from Indonesia.
The Indonesian paradise
My mother was born in Indonesia. The family Henrichs had lived there for many generations. We were always told that Indonesia was like “paradise” before the Second World War, before Indonesia was occupied by Japan. There were also nice stories written about the life in Indonesia, for example, by Couperus, but of course also critical stories about the colonial occupation and exploitation of Indonesia by the Netherlands. Multatuli described this situation very well in his book Max Havelaar. The famous Indonesian writer Ananta Toer wrote several books about the colonial regime of the Dutch. One dealt with the life in the area where my grandparents lived and my mother went to school. When my mother later read this book, she was shocked about what she read. She never had realized at that time what the life was like for the Indonesian people. It is now incredible that such a small country, The Netherlands, at the other side of the world, was in power during 3 centuries in the fourth largest country of the world.
The relationships between Indonesia and The Netherlands were for a long time very tense. Therefore, there was for some time no possibility to go to Indonesia for Dutch people. However, when we received an invitation to teach in Bandung, we immediately accepted this invitation. We did not want to miss the opportunity to see this former “Paradise” of my mother´s family. However before we tell this story I want to tell the story of the “hell in Indonesia” during the war.
My mother was born in Indonesia. The family Henrichs had lived there for many generations. We were always told that Indonesia was like “paradise” before the Second World War, before Indonesia was occupied by Japan. There were also nice stories written about the life in Indonesia, for example, by Couperus, but of course also critical stories about the colonial occupation and exploitation of Indonesia by the Netherlands. Multatuli described this situation very well in his book Max Havelaar. The famous Indonesian writer Ananta Toer wrote several books about the colonial regime of the Dutch. One dealt with the life in the area where my grandparents lived and my mother went to school. When my mother later read this book, she was shocked about what she read. She never had realized at that time what the life was like for the Indonesian people. It is now incredible that such a small country, The Netherlands, at the other side of the world, was in power during 3 centuries in the fourth largest country of the world.
The relationships between Indonesia and The Netherlands were for a long time very tense. Therefore, there was for some time no possibility to go to Indonesia for Dutch people. However, when we received an invitation to teach in Bandung, we immediately accepted this invitation. We did not want to miss the opportunity to see this former “Paradise” of my mother´s family. However before we tell this story I want to tell the story of the “hell in Indonesia” during the war.
The hell of Indonesia
My mother lived with her parents and 3 sisters and two brothers in a nice area close to Surabaya. The picture shows a typical colonial family. This was in the time before the war. My grandfather went with pension in 1937 and he decided to go with his wife, my mother and the youngest son to the Netherlands. My mother went to The Netherlands to study biology at the University of Leiden while her brother Frans would go to the secondary school. The oldest son of the family, Henk, was already in the Netherland studying in Delft and remained in Europe.
My mother lived with her parents and 3 sisters and two brothers in a nice area close to Surabaya. The picture shows a typical colonial family. This was in the time before the war. My grandfather went with pension in 1937 and he decided to go with his wife, my mother and the youngest son to the Netherlands. My mother went to The Netherlands to study biology at the University of Leiden while her brother Frans would go to the secondary school. The oldest son of the family, Henk, was already in the Netherland studying in Delft and remained in Europe.
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When the war broke out in Indonesia the "hell" started for the Dutch people who were still there. Japan occupied Indonesia and forced all European people to go to detention camps. There were camps for women (with young children) and camps for men. There was a minimum of food and severe discipline by the Japanese commanders. These camps were not like the German camps but life was, nevertheless so bad that many people died. The oldest sister of my mother, Truus, was one of them. She was married with uncle Joop and they had 4 children. Truus ended up with her young children and her youngest sister, Fiet, in one of the camps for woman. When Truus died in the camp, Fiet took over the care of her four children for the next 4 years of the war. Aaf , the second sister of my mother was married with uncle Wim and they had two sons. They also ended up in separate camps. Aaf had to care for herself and the two sons while uncle Wim went to a different camp. He came out of the camp rather well. On the other hand Joop, the man of Truus, was not so lucky. If I remember correctly, he was sent to work on the Birma railway (now a tourist attraction) but at that time one of the worst places to be. He came out of the war as a broken man.
When the war was finished all came to the Netherlands. They had lost everything. They were taken care of by my grandparents as I reported earlier. Wim and Aaf could not stand the life in the Netherland and went back to Indonesia and stayed there till Indonesia became definitely independent. Fiet and the four children of Truus stayed in The Netherlands together with their sick father, Joop. When the children were grown up, she went with her own child and her husband Joop to live in Majorca because she thought that the climate in Majorca was better for the health of her husband and her son, who was also not very healthy. They both died there but Fiet remained in Majorca. Living in Barcelona, we were her closest family members, therefore we went several times to Majorca to visit her.
Although, all these life histories were not very nice, the general feeling of all of them was that Indonesia was a paradise compared with The Netherlands. Therefore we had to see it.
When the war broke out in Indonesia the "hell" started for the Dutch people who were still there. Japan occupied Indonesia and forced all European people to go to detention camps. There were camps for women (with young children) and camps for men. There was a minimum of food and severe discipline by the Japanese commanders. These camps were not like the German camps but life was, nevertheless so bad that many people died. The oldest sister of my mother, Truus, was one of them. She was married with uncle Joop and they had 4 children. Truus ended up with her young children and her youngest sister, Fiet, in one of the camps for woman. When Truus died in the camp, Fiet took over the care of her four children for the next 4 years of the war. Aaf , the second sister of my mother was married with uncle Wim and they had two sons. They also ended up in separate camps. Aaf had to care for herself and the two sons while uncle Wim went to a different camp. He came out of the camp rather well. On the other hand Joop, the man of Truus, was not so lucky. If I remember correctly, he was sent to work on the Birma railway (now a tourist attraction) but at that time one of the worst places to be. He came out of the war as a broken man.
When the war was finished all came to the Netherlands. They had lost everything. They were taken care of by my grandparents as I reported earlier. Wim and Aaf could not stand the life in the Netherland and went back to Indonesia and stayed there till Indonesia became definitely independent. Fiet and the four children of Truus stayed in The Netherlands together with their sick father, Joop. When the children were grown up, she went with her own child and her husband Joop to live in Majorca because she thought that the climate in Majorca was better for the health of her husband and her son, who was also not very healthy. They both died there but Fiet remained in Majorca. Living in Barcelona, we were her closest family members, therefore we went several times to Majorca to visit her.
Although, all these life histories were not very nice, the general feeling of all of them was that Indonesia was a paradise compared with The Netherlands. Therefore we had to see it.
Our course in Indonesia
Toni Toharudin of the Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung had asked us to teach a course in Survey research in Bandung. Bandung was a famous place for Dutch people because there was the Governmental palace and the climate was milder than in Jakarta.
We flew to Jakarta and went first to a famous tropical garden. My mother was very impressed by this garden, therefore we had to see it. It was indeed nice but not that impressive as we expected.
Toni Toharudin of the Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung had asked us to teach a course in Survey research in Bandung. Bandung was a famous place for Dutch people because there was the Governmental palace and the climate was milder than in Jakarta.
We flew to Jakarta and went first to a famous tropical garden. My mother was very impressed by this garden, therefore we had to see it. It was indeed nice but not that impressive as we expected.
Thereafter we went to Bandung for the course. On the walls of the hotel, where the course would be held, there was still a billboard of the president of Indonesia who had been in the same hotel the week before. But now there was also a billboard of our course. There were quite a number of participants, which seemed to be interested in this course. The timetable was a bit different than normal because at different times the Muslim people in the audience wanted to pray and then we made a break. The second day I was not feeling well but fortunately that was the day that Irmtraud would take over of me and so the course could be continued as planned. The next days there was no problem and all went well.
Looking outside the hotel we did not have the idea of a paradise. There was so much traffic of cars and motor cycles that it was no fun to go outside the hotel. Nicer was it when we went with our hosts to a volcanic lake and a valley full of tea plants where people were working.
Looking outside the hotel we did not have the idea of a paradise. There was so much traffic of cars and motor cycles that it was no fun to go outside the hotel. Nicer was it when we went with our hosts to a volcanic lake and a valley full of tea plants where people were working.
Our tourist trip
Later on the way down to Yogyakarta, we saw more of these beautiful landscapes, which had impressed the Europeans in the past so much that they spoke of the paradise.
The Borobudur an old Buddhist Monument in this now Muslim country was the attraction close Yogyakarta. It is an impressive monument with lots of decorative art. But we were as much surprised about the girls who wanted to get on pictures with foreign people. This time it was my turn for such a picture.
Later on the way down to Yogyakarta, we saw more of these beautiful landscapes, which had impressed the Europeans in the past so much that they spoke of the paradise.
The Borobudur an old Buddhist Monument in this now Muslim country was the attraction close Yogyakarta. It is an impressive monument with lots of decorative art. But we were as much surprised about the girls who wanted to get on pictures with foreign people. This time it was my turn for such a picture.
We also went to Bali. One has to see it if one visits Indonesia. We stayed in Ubud a well-preserved traditional town full of temples and palaces. It was a nice experience, except for the brutality of the monkeys who walked through the hotel.
Herewith ended our trip to Indonesia, the birthplace of my mother. We had expected more when we came, however when we look now at the many pictures, I have made, it looks nicer than I had it in mind.
Herewith ended our trip to Indonesia, the birthplace of my mother. We had expected more when we came, however when we look now at the many pictures, I have made, it looks nicer than I had it in mind.
In Jakarta we said goodbye to our hosts and talked about the possibility of cooperation between our two universities. One of our host Prabu Buana visited our University a year later for a longer period. It was a pleasure that we could do something in return for all the efforts they did for us.