Pacification Turned Mass Killings

The poor man suddenly turned pale when Westerling approached him in a corner of a coffee house in Makassar. "Do you remember what I told you?" said Westerling, drawing his revolver. Without a doubt, the gun went off. Bang! The man fell to the ground and faced his death instantly.

Westerling knew that the man was a Republican. A few days before his death, Westerling had forbidden him to come to the coffee house, but the man didn't listen. In return, Westerling didn't hesitate to kill him.

"My act was not unpremeditated. It was calculated for definite reasons, to produce certain results," said Westerling in his memoir, Challenge to Terror.

Meanwhile, Sitti Hasanah Nu'mang, a female fighter from Makassar, still remembers when her father, uncle, and brother were executed by Westerling. After being released from Parepare prison on the morning of January 4, 1947, Dutch soldiers took the family and other prisoners to a field. After some time, Westerling arrived in a jeep.

He walked towards Sitti's father and shouted, "This is the payback! Extremists! Robbers! Rebels! I'll finish you one by one!!" said Sitti, imitating Westerling's words in Seribu Wajah Wanita Pejuang dalam Kancah Revolusi ‘45 (A Thousand Faces of Women Fighters in the Revolutionary Scene).

Shortly afterwards, "there were gunshots, which I will never forget for the rest of my life," Sitti said. Those sounds were the sounds that brought her father and brother to death.

Sitti was furious. Westerling snickered while leaving the area. Sitti was then returned to the prison, where she faced another grim fate. A Dutch officer, Major De Bruin and his two men, raped Sitti.

"In solitude I lamented my fate. My father was shot, while I was tainted and helpless," Sitti recalled.

The Terror of Westerling

Westerling was flown to Makassar to defend South Sulawesi from falling into Republican hands. The results of the Linggarjati Agreement didn't include South Sulawesi in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia, but Republican guerrillas continued to harass the Dutch. To tackle the hassle, Westerling and his troops were brought to Makassar.

At night, Republican guerrillas entered the city, attacking the Dutch army headquarters. The situation in Makassar soon became a living hell for the Dutch. Fear gripped every Dutch citizen. Maulwi Saelan, a 1945 generation fighter from Makassar, said that no one even dared to leave their homes once the sun went down.

“Everything paused at night. When we walked in the suburbs, no Dutch dared to be there. They already lost hope," Maulwi said.

Before the Special Forces Depot (Depot Speciale Troepen or DST) led by Westerling arrived in Makassar, KNIL soldiers were always the target of guerrillas. Maulwi said that once in 1946, Republican guerrillas bombarded the headquarters of the Dutch army which was reinforced by three KNIL battalions and assisted by Australian troops. The attack made them flee and only dare to stay on ships that anchored on the coast of Makassar at nightfall.

The situation continued until December 7, 1946 when the Dutch government sent the Koninklijke Landmacht (KL) directly from the Netherlands to fight alongside the DST forces led by Westerling. Their arrival was followed by the Dutch government's decision to impose the Staat van Oorlog en Beleg (SOB) on December 11, 1946. The State of War Emergency was declared for Makassar, Parepare, Bonthain and Mandar. This, according to Maulwi Saelan, "changed the balance of power."

Pacifying the Guerrillas

The main responsibility of Westerling in South Sulawesi was to restore order, because the Dutch were overwhelmed by disturbances from Republican guerrillas throughout South Sulawesi. The command was directly given by the Dutch military authorities commanded by General Spoor.

In his memoir, Westerling criticized the way Dutch troops dealt with the Republicans before he came to Makassar. According to him, the Dutch always took the Republicans to the court to be punished only to be released again, just like scolding a naughty child who would repeat the misbehavior as soon as the sense of punishment was gone.

"They had proceeded according to the same policy of conciliation applied by the British in Java and Sumatra, and with the same bad results," said Westerling.

Seeing the "conciliation" policy as detrimental to the Netherlands, Westerling applied his own methods. His goal was to make people cooperate by establishing an emotional closeness, as it would make the people more open to providing information. However, Westerling still strongly thought that criminals or perpetrators must be punished. "Immunity for them could only be granted at the price of martyrdom of the common people on whom they preyed," he said.

Westerling considered Indonesian fighters to consist of extremists who admitted fighting in the name of Indonesia, but in reality, were nothing but criminals. To deal with this, Westerling chose the path of execution. "One execution of a criminal might mean the saving of hundreds of lives among the innocent," he said. "It was on this basis of protection for the common man, and inexorable justice for the real criminals, that I went to work on my task of pacifying the Celebes," he continued in his defense.

Cleansing Operation

Westerling started his operations from Makassar. The DST headquarters at that time was located in Mattoangin (now Mattoangin stadium). In the beginning of his operation, Westerling registered all Javanese people, especially those sent by the Indonesian government, who had just arrived in Makassar. The village chiefs in the interior were also required to report all Javanese passing through their settlement areas.

To ensure that South Sulawesi was free of Republican influence, Westerling conducted a cleansing operation within the police force. Police officers suspected of being "contaminated" by the Republic were immediately eliminated; some were even executed. Once "cleansed", the police became an effective force supporting Westerling's campaign.

To scare people into stopping supporting the Republic, the Dutch launched a pacification operation on a larger scale: mass killings. Pacification took place in four waves, starting in Makassar on December 11-16, 1946 and ending on March 5, 1947 in Maros, Pangkajene, Sigeri, Tanete, Barru, Parepare, Polewali, Mandar, Sidenreng and Rappang.

Westerling always conducted his operations at night and never used public roads. "Sometimes we crossed rice fields, sometimes we ploughed through swamps, sometimes we glided among the trees of a wood, but always we sought to reach the village undetected, to surround it, and then go directly to the spot where we knew the bandit chief customarily slept," said Westerling.

At the time they scattered leaflets from the air, announcing that my friends and I were dead. In reality, I was hiding.

Once, in a village, Westerling ran out of ideas to get information on the whereabouts of the guerrilla leaders. He tried everything, but the stubborn villagers remained silent. Westerling then ordered his soldiers to bring four of the strongest village youths, announcing that the four would be shot if the villagers still refused to open their mouths. After shooting the four young men, DST continued by shooting the next four. In no time, twelve young men were killed, but not a single piece of information was obtained by Westerling from the villagers.

According to Maulwi, the villagers' determination not to reveal the guerrillas' whereabouts was a form of support for them. He believes that Westerling was very aware that the villagers were all pro-guerrilla, thus giving him a hard time capturing guerrillas hiding in the forests or mingling with the villagers. "Westerling knew we had a lot of support, that we must be separated. If we were not with the people, we wouldn't be able to eat, and wouldn't get any information," said Maulwi.

Maulwi himself was one of the guerrilla leaders targeted by Westerling. Desperate not being able to capture him, Westerling employed a psychological warfare tactic. "They scattered leaflets from the air, announcing that my friends and I were dead. In reality, I was hiding," Maulwi recalled while pointing to the leaflet displayed in his office at Al-Azhar Syifa Budi School, Kemang.

Psychological warfare tactics were also employed to terrorize the people to provide information on the guerrillas' whereabouts. The Quran was placed on the head of the villager being questioned. Westerling took advantage of the villagers’ faith. They had no choice; either to confess and be killed, or to lie under the Quran and commit sins in return.

The terrified villagers who submitted to Westerling were often used as shields by Westerling's troops. The villagers were ordered to walk at the front of the line when they were searching for guerrillas. Pasoso, which means to search in Buginese and is used as a term to call those villagers that submit to Westerling, were usually placed at the front of the KNIL members. It was the pasoso who had to search and face the guerrillas directly.

"It was a dilemma. If we fought, we were fighting the people," Maulwi recalled. The guerrillas were in a tight position. "It's better for us to retreat to the forest. We stayed away."

The End of the Atrocity

After almost a year in South Sulawesi, Westerling's actions started to be detected by the international press, drawing condemnation from the European public. He was considered the most heinous war criminal after World War II. Civilian victims were countless; the version with the largest number mentions a total of 40 thousand victims.

However, George McT Kahin in Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia, estimates the number of victims at around 11 thousand civilians, 500-1000 of whom were killed by Westerling himself.

"It was incalculable. People were gathered. Anyone who had anything to do with the insurgency was gathered and shot," said Maulwi. "They were all animals!"

Heavy international pressure forced the Dutch to ultimately withdraw the DST from Sulawesi in March 1947, ending Westerling's adventure in Sulawesi. In his memoir, he never had the slightest regret over his actions. "The point is that I wanted to shock public opinion," said Westerling.

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