The Price of Independence: Two Other Massacres by the Dutch

CORPORAL Kees complained in his journal. As a young Dutch man, he deplored having to continuously face upsetting situations during his service in Indonesia. His frustration culminated when he witnessed two young girls weeping while clasping to the cold bodies of their mother and younger sister inside a ditch.

"Both were killed by one same bullet," said Kees, as quoted by Gert Oostindie in Serdadu Belanda di Indonesia 1945–1949.

Although there is still no definite number, the victims on the Indonesian side were estimated to be 100,000 people. "The number might be uncertain, but what is certain is that most of the victims were civilians who sometimes were clueless why they had to die," said Gert to Historia.

The Netherlands has officially admitted excesses of extreme violence against Indonesia, avoiding the much severe term ‘war crimes’ as defined by the Geneva Convention. It was first mentioned in the Excessennota (List of Excesses) of 1969, an official compilation ordered by the Dutch government reporting about crimes committed by the Dutch, that one of the 110 cases of violence involving the Dutch soldiers in Indonesia including tortures and arbitrary shootings, was committed against a civilian.

Ironically, the executed civilian wasn't confirmed to be siding with the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) as accused by the Dutch. An Indonesian veteran guerrilla fighter Atjep Abidin revealed his experience witnessing the Dutch military herded a group of civilians who never had any association with the TNI to be executed. "They were just the innocent ones that got caught up in a fight between two giants," Atjep said.

Two of the most known incidents in regard to the 'excesses' were the massacre led by Captain R.P.P. Westerling in South Sulawesi (1946-1947) and the mass shooting of civilians by Dutch conscripts in Rawagede, Karawang, West Java on 9 December 1947. Aside from those two, there are actually many more unrevealed cases of violence committed by the Dutch military against the Indonesian civilians, two among which happened in Takokak (West Java) and Temanggung (Central Java).

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Takokak: The Execution Center

There are at least 68 anonymous graves lining up neatly on that upland. Rasamala trees were towering around it, shading the old white tombs from harsh sunlight and heavy rains.

"Almost every one in Takokak knows that those buried in Cigunung Putri Hill are the victims of the massacres carried out by the Dutch army during the war," said Andin Soebandi, former village chief in Takokak. 

Takokak has been infamously known as the center for the execution of Indonesians from Sukabumi and Cianjur. Yusup Soepardi (92) recalls, after most of the soldiers from Siliwangi Division moved to Yogyakarta and Central Java in 1948, massacres were growing frequent in Takokak.

"If someone was brought to Takokak, that person would certainly never return," said Yusup, former member of a paramilitary unit assigned in Takokak.

There were several execution spots in Takokak, namely at Jalan Lima, Puncak Bungah, Ciwangi, Pal Dua, Pasir Tulang, and Cikawung. Yusup became one of the witnesses as well as the evacuators of five victims executed in Ciwangi. "Most of them died with a bullet wound on their nap," said Yusup.

Atjep Abidin, leader of the Veterans' Legion of Indonesia in Takokak, tells his own story. As an ex-soldier, he knows that those executed in Takokak were mostly civilians. "They were taken with military trucks from Van Helden prison in Gunung Puyuh, Sukabumi," he said.

The leader of the executors was a pure Dutch. People in Takokak knew him as The Westerling.

Upon arriving in Takokak, the captives were put in a sub-district office or in a Dutch military post in Bunga Melur. After one or two hours, they were transported to several spots mentioned above to be killed.

"The leader of the executors was a pure Dutch. People in Takokak knew him as The Werling. He was muscular but not too tall, and often used a green beret," Atjep explained.

With his own eyes, Atjep saw around 15 men, chain-tied, herded into Jalan Lima by The Werling and one of his bodyguards into the forest. "At that time I was lurking from afar and saw those people were pulled harshly from the military trucks at a fork in Pasawahan," he recalled.

How many civilians fell victim to the Dutch military massacres in Takokak? There is still no definite number until now. However, both Yusup and Atjep believe that the total number amounted to hundreds of people.

"Sixty-eight skeletons buried in Cigunung Putri are only the victims from Puncak Bungah. There is no digging yet at the other locations," said Atjep.

Temanggung: the Bridge of Death

The old bridge looks somewhat chilling, in addition to its already frail structure. Holes are evident almost everywhere, showing the Kali Progo (Progo River) that flows about 50 meters beneath. The stream runs calmly, but nobody knows the actual depth of the water. "Many say this area is extremely haunted," said a pecel lele seller who opens his stall nearby the bridge.

Around two meters from the bridge, a murky white memorial stands tall as a remembrance for the victims of the mass killings committed by the Dutch military at the end of 1948 until mid 1949. The memorial exhibits several lines that read: 

Aku ta’ ketjewa, aku rela… Mati untuk tjita-tjita sutji nan mulja: Indonesia merdeka, adil, makmur dan bahagia. (I am not dismayed, I'm ready... to die for the holy and noble purposes: the free, just, prosperous, and peaceful Indonesia). Temanggung, 22/12-48, 10/8-49

The lines on the memorial may say so, but the truth was, most of the lives lost during the massacres were taken arbitrarily. Bambang Purnomo, former combatant of Temanggung, revealed that the majority of people executed were civilians who were suspected by the Dutch military to be the collaborators of the TNI, although these accusations were not always proven right.

"They came to villages, markets, and the houses of the villagers who were arbitrarily considered as the accomplices of TNI. These people were brought to the bridge and were immediately executed," said Bambang, who is also the brother of Commander of Central Java Division III Colonel Bambang Sugeng.

Parto Dimedjo, one of the eyewitnesses, also confirms the truth. Parto said, ever since the Dutch military started to attack Temanggung in December 1948, executions were always carried out at the bridge. "On my way to school, I saw splatters of blood almost every day along the bridge of Kali Progo," he recalled.

One day, before dusk, while shepherding ducks, Parto saw a bunch of Dutch soldiers torturing a man whose eyes were covered with a black cloth. Curious to see what would happen, without much thinking, Parto ran as fast as he could, leaving his ducks behind. "But not long after I started running, a shot was heard... and I never knew what happened to that poor man," Parto explained in Javanese.

There is no official record on the names of the victims executed around the Kali Progo. Most of the villagers would mention that the casualties were approximately hundreds or even thousands, while the memorial mentioned 1,200 people.

Parto himself refrained from estimating the number of the victims. All he can remember is, at that time, the sound of gunshots was very familiar to his ears. "Almost once every two days, people near the bridge, including me, would hear gunshots."