The Doctor on the Death List

Soemarno Sosroatmodjo, a practicing doctor at a hospital in Kandangan, South Kalimantan, took leave from his job and went to visit Banjarmasin. Along with his family, he stayed at the house of R. Sosrodoro Djatikoesoemo, a private doctor. One day, in the middle of a conversation, someone came to Soemarno and Sosrodoro delivering a letter they found out later to be a circular requesting for donation as the Christmas gift for the Dutch who were interned by the Japanese.

When Sosrodoro passed the circular letter, Soemarno was reminded by the kindness of C.M. Vischer, head of the zending (mission) hospital in Barimba, Kuala Kapuas, who was living in the internment camp. Soemarno remembered Vischer as someone he had learnt so much from, so he intended to make the donation.

"I perceived that many of my old friends wanted to send out Christmas packages. I myself wished to reunite with my former boss during my years of service at the Barimba mission hospital," said Soemarno in his autobiography, Dari Rimba Raya ke Jakarta Raya.

However, Soemarno changed his mind as he suddenly remembered the beheading of the Dutch in Kandangan by the Japanese soldiers. "I have to be cautious at all times," said Soemarno, who later became the governor of DKI Jakarta. Soemarno eventually refrained from including his name in the list of donors.

"You're not donating?" asked Sosrodoro.

"No, Brother, I am personally not familiar with the committee behind this circular," answered Soemarno.

Hearing that, Sosrodoro reconsidered and ended up not donating. "Maybe another time," said Sosrodoro to the letter carrier.

Soemarno glanced at the list of donors in that circular, and noticed the name of dr. Soesilo, the Health Inspector and the Residency (Karasidenan) doctor in Banjarmasin.

A Malaria Specialist

Raden Soesilo was born on 19 March 1891. He was the brother of dr. Soetomo, founder of Boedi Oetomo. Soesilo studied at Hollandsch-Inlandsche School (HIS), Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (MULO), and later enrolled in School tot Opleiding van Indische Artsen (Stovia), the medical school for bumiputera in Batavia.

After graduating from Stovia on 22 July 1913, Soesilo was posted to a region on the west coast of Sumatra. In 1916, he married Mary Puvis, a Padang-born woman of a British family with whom he had two children: Brenthel Soesilo and Lillah Soesilo.

Later in 1922, Soesilo continued his study at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, specializing in bacteriology and health. He obtained his doctorate degree in the following year. Two years after that, under the mentorship of W.A.P. Schuffner, a malaria epidemiology researcher, Soesilo was awarded doctor of medicine after completing a dissertation on parasite found in the rats roaming in the city of Amsterdam, titled “Vergelijkende studie van enkele pathogene leptospiren en de leptospiren afkomstig van de rattenbevolking van Amsterdam en omgeving”.

Upon his return to Hindia, Soesilo worked at Centrale Burgerlijke Ziekenhuis (CBZ), the present-day Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National Central Public Hospital in Jakarta. From there, he had a brief career at Centraal Geneeskundig Laboratorium or Central Medical Laboratory from 1925 to 1928. The laboratory was later turned into Eijkman Instituut (Eijkman Institute) in 1938.

<div class="strect-width-img"><figure><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/624557d225b6cc7cf07c90ef_pic2.jpg" alt="img"></div><figcaption>The main entrance to the Health Laboratory of the Central Civil Hospital (CBZ) in Weltevreden, Batavia, around 1920 to 1925. (Tropenmuseum).</figcaption></figure></div>

The research carried out at the Eijkman Institute was not limited to the nutrition study as they  also examined the danger of tropical diseases such as malaria that struck the Europeans in Batavia in the 18th century. This disease remained a specter for the people of the Dutch East Indies until the subsequent century.

Unfortunately, the eradication and prevention efforts of malaria were still done sporadically and haphazardly. It was only after the 20th century when serious efforts were put in, backed by preliminary in-depth research that delved deeper into the breeding grounds of anopheles.

The research and control of malaria centralized in the Central Medical Laboratory attracted interests from the world's renowned pathologists. Among them were Robert Koch, a German bacteriologist and Samuel Taylor Darling, an American malaria expert and member of the Malaria Commission of the League of Nations (now United Nations) who conducted a malaria microscopic survey in Java collaborating with Dutch scientists such as W.A.P. Schuffner and Nicholas H. Swellengrebel. Their contribution on the research of the character of the anopheles mosquito, taxonomy, and malaria epidemiology had pioneered malariology in Asia.

J. Kevin Baird, director of Eijkman-Oxford Clinical Research Unit in Jakarta and Sangkot Marzuki, former director of Eijkman Molecular Biology Institute revealed in Eksperimen Keji Kedokteran Penjajahan Jepang: Tragedi Lembaga Eijkman & Vaksin Maut Romusha 1944–1945 that what was more extraordinary and incomparable in that era was the presence of the native Indonesian scientists at the Central Medical Laboratory (Eijkman Institute) who were working and contributing in a fair work environment. Among those native scientists was Soesilo, who later led the Eijkman Institute's research group to eradicate malaria until the year of 1934.

<div class="quotes-center font-g">Malaria remained a specter even after Indonesia’s independence. On 3 May 1958, to honor Soesilo’s great contribution, the Ministry of Health initiated a branch of Malaria institute for South Sumatra in Telukbetung, Lampung, named “Dr. Soesilo Institute”.</div>

Soesilo, along with his mentors such as W.A.P Schuffner, Nicholas H. Swellengrebel, E.W. Walch, J.C. van Hell, and J. Bonne-Wepster, pioneered the arduous work of studying the variety of mosquito species anopheles that caused malaria and threatened the entire archipelago of the Dutch East Indies.

"With that research, they introduced the identity of the mosquito species to science and public health, and such input became a crucial element in the world of medicine and tropical hygiene until now," wrote Kevin and Sangkot.

To eradicate malaria, the Dutch East Indies government established Centrale Malaria Bureau or Central Malaria Bureau, a subdivision of the Public Health Department in 1924. To maximize the effort, another branch was opened in Surabaya in 1929 to serve the eastern area, and later in Medan, aiming for the Sumatra region.

On several occasions, Soesilo was dispatched to regions that were struck by malaria. Once, he was sent by the government to study the spreading of malaria in Nias Island and Simaloer Island (Sinabang). "Hopefully the assignment and the work of the doctor would bring glad tidings," wrote Pertjatoeran, 22 January 1927.

Aside from Sumatra, Soesilo was also dispatched to Nieuw Guinea for a similar mission. From there, he visited Surabaya, "where the physician later acted as the head of the newly established office to eradicate malaria spread in the eastern area," wrote Swara Publiek, 7 August 1929.

Soesilo conveniently climbed his career ladder. In 1931, he was appointed to lead the malaria eradication mission in the entire Dutch East Indies. He also succeeded Dr. J.G. Overbeek as the head of the Malaria Control Division of the Public Health Department in 1935.

In addition to studying and identifying the anopheles mosquito, Soesilo also applied a malaria control method called "species sanitation", detailing methods of identifying the mosquito species, how it develops in nature, and at the end, finding out its weaknesses. In “Malariabestrijding in den Oost-Indischen archipel”, Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië Feestbundel: 45-72, 1936, Soesilo discussed the species sanitation program and mentioned that from the 40 identified species of anopheles, eleven of them were categorized as dangerous.

As the head of the Malaria Control Division, Soesilo had the chance to meet many people, including several health experts who joined the malariology course held by the League of Nation in 1935. There were a total of seven participants partaking in the course.

"All of the arrangements such as travel, hotel, and so forth were made perfectly and economically by dr. Soesilo,” wrote Major W.J.F. Craig from the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) in a report titled “Malaria Prevention Methods in Java”, published in Journal of the R.A.M.C., Vol. 67, No. 4, 1936.

<div class="strect-width-img"><figure><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/624557e3264ca65426b504ca_pic4.jpg" alt="img"></div><figcaption>Dr. Soesilo Malaria Institution in Telukbetung, Lampung, established on 3 May 1958. (Repro of Mendjelang Dua Tahun Kabinet Karya, 9 April 1957-9 April 1959).</figcaption></figure></div>

Craig and the other course participants met Soesilo, who elaborated methods in controlling malaria carried out by his subdepartment. According to Craig, the Malaria Control Division was very centralized and had a head office and research laboratory in Batavia. The head office sent malaria specialists and trained teams to various epidemic districts on that island whenever they're needed, from which the results were later communicated at the head office.

"The system might be the most efficient method in recent times to deal with the malaria epidemic in this vast tropical colony," wrote Craig.

In 1936, Soesilo chaired the meeting between Indonesia's delegations in Sumatra with a malaria expert team from the League of Nations led by Emilio Pampana, a malaria expert with international reputation.

Soesilo, similarly, enjoyed his reputation as a prominent malaria expert. His work in malaria research was honored through the naming of an anopheles species, Anopheles papuae var. soesiloi. Besides researching, Soesilo also consistently shared his knowledge by writing articles about malaria.

"Between the period of 1926 to 1936, he wrote many articles, particularly about malaria," wrote Gelanggang Riset Kedokteran di Bumi Indonesia, edited by Leo van Bergen, Liesbeth Hesselink, and Jan Peter Verhave.

Malaria remained a specter even after Indonesia's independence. On 3 May 1958, to honor Soesilo's great contribution, the Ministry of Health initiated a branch of Malaria Institute for South Sumatra in Telukbetung, Lampung, named "Dr. Soesilo Institute".

The Highest Title

In 1938, Soesilo was appointed as the Health Inspector in Palembang, South Sumatra. A year later, he relocated to Banjarmasin.

"The position [Health Inspector] was very significant that it was rarely filled by Indonesian doctors, although they were Arts, a Netherlands graduate," said Soemarno.

The book Sejarah Kesehatan Nasional Indonesia Volume 1 explains, the native Indonesian doctors commonly worked in lower or middle echelon, while the highest function attainable for them such as the Health Inspector was only given to two doctors: Soesilo in Banjarmasin and Mangkoewinoto in Palembang.

The Health Inspector mainly collaborated with the Residency doctors who led the health businesses in the regencies and cities. A lot of these Residency doctors were of the native Indonesians.

Brilliant in his medical career, Soesilo was also actively participating in the national movement by joining the Great Indonesia Party (Parindra). His joining Parindra was most likely due to the fact that the party was established and led by his brother, Soetomo. However, all political organizations and parties, including Parindra, were frozen during the Japanese occupation.

Despite that, Soesilo still held his position as the Health Inspector in Banjarmasin. When dr. Kalthoven, a Residency doctor in Banjarmasin was suddenly missing and most likely was interned, the position of the Residency doctor was taken over by Soesilo.

He was also the one who arranged the transfer of dr. Kariyadi from Martapura and dr. Sutopo from Barabai to Java. To replace the position of dr. Kariyadi, Soemarno was chosen. However, since the guncho (wedana or district chief) of Kandangan, Nadalsyah, insisted to have Soemarno there, it was dr. Rahardjo who was eventually moved to Martapura, while Soemarno stayed in Kandangan.

In the beginning of the Japanese occupation, all seemed to go well, but once the Japanese military took off their mask and showed their ruthlessness behind it, everything turned into chaos. In response to the situation, Soesilo joined the people of Banjarmasin in organizing a resistance, with the Governor of Kalimantan B.J. Haga as the leader.

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The Haga Plot

After the Dutch surrendered, Haga initially planned to evacuate to Java, but the Japanese abruptly took the cities in South Kalimantan under their control. Running out of time to prepare his flee, Haga was forced to change the route and run away to Puruk Cahu in the upstream of the Barito River.

Shortly after their flee to Puruk Cahu, in the early April of 1942, Haga and his party surrendered to Japan in Banjarmasin on the grounds that the women and children couldn't stay there for longer. Moreover, making Puruk Cahu as the resistance base would only exacerbate the situation. All of the refugees were then interned in Banjarmasin.

Wajidi Amberi, history researcher at the Regional Research and Development Agency (Balitbangda) South Kalimantan and author of Penumpasan Komplotan Gubernur B.J. Haga oleh Tentara Pendudukan Jepang di Kalimantan Selatan 1943-1944 explained that in the beginning, the internees received humane treatment at the camp, and the Japanese soldiers' surveillance over them wasn't really strict, which allowed them to freely communicate with the outside world. Haga saw this loose surveillance as a golden opportunity.

"Haga and his followers, both the civilian and the military, secretly reconsolidated their force to take over the control from Japan with the help of the Americans and British, who based on the espionage contact, would launch aerial bombardment over Banjarmasin city," said Wajidi.

The unconstrained guarding also allowed doctors to freely enter the internment camp. Two of those frequent doctors at the camp were Soesilo and dr. Vischer, the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and chief of Baseler Mission, a Swiss missionary organization that established the hospital in Barimba, Kuala Kapuas.

To help Haga and the internees, Soesilo joined Santi Pereira Fund, a fundraising body initiated by A. Santiago "Santi" Pereira, a Dutch-Eurasian who once worked as a government employee at the Dutch East Indies Financial Inspectorate.

According to Dutch historian L. de Jong in The Collapse of a Colonial Society: The Dutch in Indonesia During the Second World War, A. Santiago "Santi" Pereira established the Santi Pereira Fund with a permit from the Japanese authority to collect funds from the Dutch-Eurasians, Chinese, Arabs, and even from a Japanese doctor. Through Santi Pereira Fund, a small group of people had their way to smuggle money, supplies, and medicine into the camp.

"The group was led by nurse C.J.M. Reichert, head of a psychiatric hospital, along with the region's Health Inspector Raden Soesilo, and an Indian named Abdullah who successfully brought in money and supplies into the camp ten times," wrote de Jong.

The collected fund was carefully managed by Santi Pereira as the money was expected to be compensated by the colonial government after the war. "He kept the list of names and addresses of everyone who donated money, along with the amount," wrote de Jong.

Besides Soesilo and Vischer, the covert contact was also established with Ir. A.A.G.P. Makaliwij who was the head of the agriculture division in nomu kakaricho. Before the war, he was an agricultural and forest engineer working at the agricultural research center in Banjarmasin concurrently with his job in Politieke Inlichtingen Dienst (PID) or Political Intelligence Service.

With Makaliwij, Soesilo came to Pontianak to meet the leaders of the underground movements to report the situation in Banjarmasin and discuss their resistance plan against Japan.

It seemed at first that the clandestine movement was running without obstacles, until it was detected by the Japanese authorities.

The Arrests

The anti-Japanese movement known as The Haga Plot was uncovered by Iwao Sasuga, the chief of the Japanese police who led a series of massive searches and arrests.

On 10 May 1943, at the women camp, the Japanese police confiscated all found documents and detained a group of women, including Haga's wife. The raid was followed by three other waves of arrest in June and August. During the biggest one in June, the Japanese tanks roamed the street of Banjarmasin and the bombers flew over the city, in an effort to intimidate.

"There was a total of 250 people arrested, including Santi Pereira, nurse Reichert, and Soesilo," wrote de Jong.

From the arrest, the Japanese police found evidence such as clandestine contact with the internees, radios, Dutch flags, and firearms. However, all that evidence was not enough to be brought before the court. Unwilling to give up, Sasuga told his superior officials about his conviction regarding the anti-Japanese movement that was secretly planned in Kalimantan. Sasuga was sure that the underground organization would take action once the Allies arrived. Sasuga, as noted by de Jong, ordered his subordinates to dig into what he said as the evidence of the rebellion.

Until the very end, all of Haga's documents regarding the contacts made with the Allies could never be obtained by Japan, but according to the book Republik Indonesia: Propinsi Kalimantan, Mrs. Haga admitted the plot several days before being executed. "The plan was that in June 1943 Banjarmasin would be bombed by the Allies, and it would be a sign for the conspirators to launch their revolt against Japan," wrote the book, which was published by the Ministry of Information.

At last, the Japanese police obtained what could be used as the proof of the insurgence, namely, as noted by de Jong, secret letters containing clues to the revolt, broken radios whose parts allegedly used as a transmitter and telephone, a journal containing Japanese caricatures, and a letter owned by governor Haga's wife on which a report was written: "The news was incredible, keep your courage up".

Meanwhile, at the men camp, Haga with ten other officials were suspected of writing documents about postwar administrative reform in Kalimantan. In order for that plan to succeed, Haga was anticipating the arrival of the Allies.

The other proof of the uprising was money worth 40,000 gulden given by Vischer to his treasurer to fund the rebellion. Half of the fund was coming from the subsidy from Basel, Switzerland, while the other part was the colonial government's fund. Moreover, during the raid in the hospital in Barimba where Vischer worked, the Japanese soldiers seized around 400 firearms.

"So, it was very reasonable to conclude that Vischer was siding with the Dutch. That action, based on Japan's regulation, was punishable by beheading," said Wajidi.

He added, Japan mentioned that Vischer and Soesilo had a long-standing friendship with Haga, and both of them later joined the plot against Japan as the leader or the head of espionage.

"It was mentioned that the espionage was committed through ostensible activities relating to nursing care, religion, and education, all centralized in Barimba," said Wajidi.

Not only with Vischer, Soesilo was also accused of committing espionage with Makaliwij. "Japan reported that Soesilo and Makaliwij were the liaison between the anti-Japanese conspiracy in South Kalimantan and its counterpart in West Kalimantan," said Wajidi.

<div class="flex-content-podcast"><figure class="img-left"><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/62455805fe9636425494a6d9_podcast-left.jpg" alt="img"></div><figcaption>The mass grave of the victims of the Japanese soldiers in the Ulin Airport, Banjarmasin. (Doc. Wajidi Amberi).</figcaption></figure><div class="img-right"><div class="podcast-container"><img alt="person" class="entered loaded" data-ll-status="loaded" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/6245580b2eb71a34686b5fca_podcast-right.jpg"><div class="audio-podcast"><audio controls controlsList="nodownload"><source src="url_mp3" type="audio/mpeg">Your browser does not support the audio element.</audio></div></div><div class="caption"><span><b>Wajidi Amberi</b><br>History researcher at the Regional Research and Development Agency (Balitbangda) South Kalimantan.</span></div></div></div>

Tortured and Beheaded

To obtain confession, the Japanese authority brutally tortured the detainees by kicking, beating with a baton and pistol grip, electrocuting, and tormenting with water. Soesilo was no exception.

A warden who testified during the trial against Iwao Sasuga, former chief of the Japanese police in Batavia Military Court in 1948 recalled, "I heard Soesilo's interrogation behind the closed door. The sound of the beating could be heard from inside. He was begging for mercy, and I could hear his voice from time to time through his screams."

"Confess or you'll die!" forced the interrogator.

"Then I was summoned and that doctor lying unconscious on the floor was doused with water. He was dragged, and after another round of interrogation, Soesilo passed out when he returned to his cell," explained the warden. "On many occasions I saw the detainees bruised and swollen after their interrogations."

Every coerced confession from the detainee always led to another arrest, even in distant locations such as Surabaya, Tarakan, and Balikpapan.

The Haga Plot conspirators were then summoned to the Navy court. On the first day of his trial, Haga collapsed and died of a heart attack. "He passed away because of the severe torture he received from the Japanese," said Wajidi.

Meanwhile, the other 25 people alleged to be involved in the plot were sentenced to death and were beheaded at the Ulin Airport (now Syamsuddin Noor International Airport) in Banjarmasin on 20 December 1943. "Among them were Pereira, Soesilo, ten Dutch officials, Vischer and his wife, an Indonesian radio mechanic, Haga's wife, nurse Reichert, and two other women," wrote de Jong.

According to Kevin and Sangkot, Japan beheaded Soesilo for an unlikely allegation, which was communicating with the U.S. submarines hiding at Barito River, East Kalimantan. There was another possibility that it was because Japan considered Soesilo and the other Stovia doctors, both men and women, as intelligent politicians, thus posing a danger to the authority.

"As a result, they were all ill-fated and greatly suffered during the Japanese occupation. Japan executed at least 19 Stovia doctors," wrote Kevin and Sangkot.

De Jong mentioned that the Haga Plot case, with or without trial, had claimed around 150 victims consisting of 33 Chinese, several Arabs including a leader of the Arab community in Banjarmasin along with his two sons, and 12 Ambonese and Manadonese.

On the other hand, the book Republik Indonesia: Propinsi Kalimantan mentions that there were 150 skulls found at the Ulin Airport. It was identified that 30 people were dead due to extreme torture in the prison and 26 people, including five women and eleven government employees, were executed on 20 December 1943. The number of the executed Dutch was no less than 250 people, while the number of Indonesians, Chinese, Indians, and Arabs who comprised the largest number of victims was uncertain.

The death sentence given to the Haga Plot conspirators was announced in Borneo Shimbun on 21 December 1943.

Soemarno stated that the newspaper, which was published by Japan in Banjarmasin, reported that the conspirators received severe punishment due to their involvement in a conspiracy to overthrow the government. Still in that same newspaper, there was a photograph featuring a row of firearms confiscated from the conspirators.

Soemarno was surprised to hear that all names included in the list of donors in that circular he received the other day were arrested and executed by Japan. "All of them were killed, including dr. Soesilo," said Soemarno.

"God still protected me and my family," said Soemarno, "my hesitation in writing my name as the donor apparently saved my life."*