Soejono Family, Heroes for the Dutch and Indonesians

In early 2020, while Indonesia commemorated its 75th anniversary of the proclamation of independence, Europe already commemorated three-quarters of a century of their liberation from Nazi-German occupation. The commemoration, however, didn't exclude Indonesians, who made considerable contributions especially in the Dutch resistance to Nazi-German occupation during the Second World War. At the end of January 2020, at two venues in Leiden, Irawan Soejono's centenary was commemorated along with the 75th anniversary of the Indonesian student's death by a bullet from a Wehrmacht soldier, the Nazi-German occupation force.

Irawan Soejono's name has been known in the Netherlands since May 4, 1990, when the Amsterdam city government inaugurated Irawan Soejonostraat (Irawan Soejono Street) in Osdorp, West Amsterdam. In the Soejono family, Irawan wasn’t the only one who was involved in the fight against the Nazi-German occupation in the Netherlands. Besides Irawan, there was also Mimi Soetiasmi, Irawan's older sister who married Maroeto Daroesman, a PKI figure who later became minister of state without portfolio in Amir Sjarifuddin's cabinet in 1947. Not only that, in London there was also Raden Adipati Ario Soejono, Irawan and Mimi's father who sat in the Dutch cabinet in exile, under Prime Minister Pieter Gerbrandy. It made Soejono the only native Indonesian to be appointed a minister in the Dutch cabinet.

Several Dutch historians have written about Irawan Soejono and his father R.A.A. Soejono. Unfortunately, both historians Harry Poeze and Herman Keppy deal with them separately. The father and his two children indeed fought separately: the father in London, while his children in the Netherlands. However, it is clear that they were fighting for the same goal: liberation from the grip of fascism, racism, and other reprehensible right-wing politics, as well as the independence of Indonesia.

The Real Intention

As soon as Nazi-Germany occupied the Netherlands on May 10, 1940, Queen Wilhelmina and her cabinet fled to London and established the Dutch government in exile. Two years later, R.A.A. Soejono arrived in London from Australia with Lieutenant Governor Huib van Mook. They were fleeing Indonesia as Dai Nippon troops started to invade territories. Shortly afterwards, when Van Mook was appointed minister of colonies on May 21, 1942, the Council of Assistance for the Dutch East Indies was formed, in which Soejono served as the vice-chairman. 

After his appointment, Van Mook proposed changing the name of the "Department of Colonies" to "Department of the Dutch East Indies, Suriname and Curaçao", the three Dutch colonies in the Nusantara archipelago and the Caribbean. This proposal was refused by Queen Wilhelmina, who said that the change could only happen if there was parliamentary approval. Because the Dutch parliament didn't flee to London, the name change wasn't carried out. 

However, Van Mook didn't give up easily. Shortly afterwards, he demanded that Soejono be appointed as minister, as it would emphasize to Indonesia and especially to the United States that there was no longer difference between the Dutch and Indonesians. As minister, Indonesians would also have a say in government policy. In other words, although the name of the department he headed still contained the term "colony", the existence of an Indonesian in a ministerial position meant that Indonesians were considered equal to the Dutch.

Again, Queen Wilhelmina objected on the same exact grounds as the name change. But after Van Mook's constant pressure, Wilhelmina could no longer sustain her objections. A week later she signed a royal decree appointing Soejono as the second minister without portfolio (Michiels van Verduynen was the other minister without portfolio) in the Gerbrandy II cabinet. 

Meanwhile, in America there was a growing realization that colonial regimes, such as the Dutch East Indies or British India, were outdated. This opinion wasn't only entrenched among government officials, but was especially prevalent as a popular opinion, something Van Mook himself encountered during his stay in the US. On the other hand, the Americans were also tasked with driving the Dai Nippon army from Indonesia because Indonesia at that time was included in the South-West Pacific Area under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. 

However, the Dutch government in exile remained uncertain about the future of Indonesia, its largest colony. This indecisiveness caused complications, which were exacerbated by the stubbornness of Queen Wilhelmina, who believed that she wasn't bound by anything. According to historian Lou de Jong, if the cabinet decided "yes" then Her Majesty could still say "no". Wilhelmina was known for not wanting to let go of Indonesia. She was unwilling to sign the recognition of sovereignty in December 1949, and preferred abdication rather than relinquishing the largest Dutch colony. The signatory of the sovereignty recognition was none other than her daughter, Juliana, who was inaugurated as queen of the Netherlands on September 3, 1948.  

This showed clearly that the motive for appointing the only native Indonesian as minister was impure. Soejono reached the highest office only because the Dutch government in exile feared that the Americans would be reluctant to free Indonesia from Japanese occupation, which meant that the Dutch had no real intention of ending colonialism or upholding the dignity of the Indonesian people. This became clear when Soejono put forward his plans for the future of Indonesia in a cabinet meeting. He proposed that the Dutch government recognize the right of the Indonesian people to determine their own path. This was a radical change in stance for Soejono, who had worked his way up the colonial bureaucracy. How did this change come about?

Raden Adipati Ario Soejono was born in 1886 in Tulungagung, East Java, as a Javanese nobleman. He was among the few natives who managed to achieve a major diploma of Dutch ambtenaar or civil servant. In 1915 he married Sasanti, a 16-year-old daughter of the regent of Purwodadi, Central Java. That same year, Soejono was appointed regent of Pasuruan, a position he held until 1927. All four of his children were born in Pasuruan: after two daughters, Loes Soepianti (1916) and Mimi Soetiasmi (1918), there were two sons, Irawan (1920) and Idajat (1921).

In 1920, while still regent of Pasuruan, Soejono was appointed by Governor-General Johan Paul van Limburg Stirum to the Volksraad, the unelected parliament of the Indies. As a member of the Volksraad, in 1930 Soejono, who had finished serving as regent, received a study assignment in the Netherlands to explore agricultural, livestock, and fisheries policies. That year, when Irawan was 10 years old, the family moved to The Hague. Two years later, in 1932, they returned to Batavia, but in 1934 they left again for The Hague because Soejono was appointed advisor to the Dutch delegation in the international rubber negotiations that took place in London. In 1939 Soejono and his wife returned to Batavia, as he was appointed to the Council of the Indies, the highest advisory body to the colonial authorities. His four children remained in the Netherlands to continue their studies. 

At this point, it was clear that Soejono's career took place entirely within the colonial bureaucracy, and that Soejono always cooperated fully with the Dutch East Indies authorities. However, since the 1920s, there were also people or groups who refused to cooperate with the colonial authorities by, for instance, turning down seats in various representative institutions. This group was convinced that the Dutch couldn't be relied on in order to obtain the right to self-determination. They called themselves the non-cooperatives, as opposed to Soejono who was said to belong to the cooperative group.

The threat of Japanese fascism and the eventual occupation by Dai Nippon forces brought changes. The split between cooperative and non-cooperative groups shifted to a consensus that the Netherlands should recognize Indonesia's right to self-determination. At the end of 1942, in a meeting of the Dutch cabinet in exile in London, Soejono as a minister passionately urged the Dutch government to grant autonomy to Indonesia, but not a single minister agreed, not even the progressive Labor Party ministers. It was clear that Queen Wilhelmina was reluctant to the idea of an independent Indonesia, but also all the cabinet members. In his memoir, Londense Dagboeken 1940-1945, Minister of War O.C.A van Lidth de Jeude wrote that there was no way the Netherlands would simply give up its sovereign rights over Indonesia. Soejono was deeply disappointed and shocked knowing that his ideas were rejected. Some even noted how pale he looked when reacting to the rejection. Soejono later died of a heart attack on January 5, 1943, not even a month after Queen Wilhelmina gave a speech about the future of the three Dutch colonies of Indonesia, Suriname, and Curaçao. There were no words of 'independence' or 'autonomy' in the speech, as Wilhelmina only addressed that in the future there would no longer be "differences in treatment based on race and origin".

The queen was simply being anti-Nazi-Germany who indeed were practicing racist politics, and there wasn’t any mention of Indonesia's independence at all. Minister of War Van Lidth de Jeude was appalled to hear the news of Soejono's death. Van Lidth de Jeude, unlike some other ministers who saw Soejono as a traitor, sympathized with him. Van Lidth de Jeude even invited Soejono to have dinner together, but unfortunately Soejono's death came first.

Minister Soejono was buried in a Muslim cemetery in Woking, Southwest of London. Queen Wilhelmina was not present at the funeral, but was represented by Dutch Ambassador to the UK Michiels van Verduynen. Major General Pfaff attended on behalf of Prince Bernhard, Princess Juliana's husband. Prime Minister Gerbrandy was also present, including Foreign Minister Eelco van Kleffens, Justice Minister Jan van Angeren and Piet Kerstens who was trade minister. Prayers were done by several Indonesian sailors, led by an imam. None of Soejono's family members came, as there were no traffic links between Britain and mainland Europe, which was mostly occupied by Nazi-Germany.

In memory of the only native Indonesian minister, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands' largest museum, from the end of March 2020 installed a painting of Soejono by artist Anton Abraham van Anrooy in its permanent exhibition. "He was an important figure, an Indonesian who sat in the Dutch cabinet," says Harm Stevens, curator of the Rijksmuseum. "Until now, he was also the only minister in the Dutch cabinet who was a Muslim," Stevens adds. The curator points to what he calls an "interesting paradox" in Soejono. Despite being appointed as a minister, the Dutch cabinet rejected his proposal to recognize the Indonesian people's right to self-determination. This is the reason that prompted the Rijksmuseum to install Soejono's painting.

The Spirit of Liberation

Ario Soejono's life story is quite different from his son's, Irawan Soejono. After graduating from Dutch high school in 1940, Irawan was accepted as a student of sociography (now sociology) at Leiden University. Like many other Indonesian students, Irawan became a member of Perhimpunan Indonesia (PI), a leftist progressive group, fighting for the independence of his homeland. The Nazi-German occupation brought about a change in the PI. They saw fascism as an obstacle to Indonesian independence and decided to cooperate with the Dutch verzet (underground resistance). The struggle for Indonesian independence was not forgotten, but was temporarily pushed to the back burner. The motto of the PI at that time was Eerst Nederland bevrijden, dan Indonesië, meaning "Free the Netherlands first, then Indonesia".

It is interesting that the use of the word bevrijden which means liberate, clearly meant liberation from Nazi-German occupation for the Netherlands. Did it only mean liberation from the occupation of the Dai Nippon forces for Indonesia? Definitely not, but the PI members deliberately didn't use the word merdeka in Indonesian or onafhankelijk in Dutch because it would impede cooperation with the Dutch. As seen in Ario Soejono's appointment, many Dutch people didn't agree with Indonesia becoming independent. In order to make cooperation with the Dutch go smoothly and for Indonesians to be accepted in the verzet, the slogan liberation of Indonesia was used, which at first glance meant the same thing as liberation of the Netherlands. 

Irawan was involved in three resistance activities. When he moved to Amsterdam because Nazi-Germany closed Leiden University, Irawan together with Slamet Faiman (another PI member) found a hiding place for Jewish children, so that they would not be transported to concentration camps. Returning to Leiden in early 1944, Irawan was in charge of the technical affairs of De Bevrijding (the Liberation), a periodical published by Indonesian students. In addition, he was a member of an Indonesian martial arts unit called Soerapati, which was part of the Dutch resistance unit called Binnenlandsche Strijdkrachten (Interior Forces). After Irawan died, this unit changed its name to Irawan.

On that fateful Saturday afternoon, January 13, 1945, Irawan was cycling with a stencil printing machine through de Breestraat, a street with shops in Leiden. The stencil machine, covered in a sack, had just been repaired to print the periodical De Bevrijding. Irawan was suddenly caught in a raid by the Wehrmacht, the Nazi-German army that rounded up men between the ages of 18 and 40 for labor in Germany. Realizing that he would be arrested if he was caught carrying a stencil machine, Irawan turned into the small street de Boommarkt. Unfortunately, a Wehrmacht soldier saw him and mercilessly opened fire, hitting Irawan in the left temple. Irawan was killed instantly. Mimi Soetiasmi, Irawan's sister, took care of Irawan's burial in the Groenesteeg Cemetery in Leiden. In November 1946, Irawan's body was cremated and his ashes were brought home to be buried in Tanah Kusir, next to his mother, Sasanti. 

On Friday afternoon, January 24, 2020, a memorial was held in Leiden in memory of Irawan Soejono. That day was exactly 100 years ago since he was born, and 75 years ago since he died. The commemoration, which took place in two places, at the Boommarkt (where he died) and at the Groenesteeg Cemetery (where he was once buried), was organized by the Werkgroep (working group) Merapi, an organization of descendants of Indonesians who had been involved in the verzet, or resistance to Nazi-Germany.

Irawan, who was also known by his pseudonym Henk van de Bevrijding, may have left no writings or publications, but those who knew him praised and appreciated him. Soeripno, the editor of De Bevrijding who worked with Irawan wrote, "Good weather or bad, dangerous or not, even late at night, Henk was always ready. He conscientiously carried out his duties, making himself one of the most praiseworthy members of Perhimpunan Indonesia, and the life of 'the Liberation'," Soeripno wrote in his obituary remembering Irawan Soejono, or also known as his pseudonym Henk van de Bevrijding.

In contrast to Irawan, Mimi Soetiasmi published writing. Until now, we have only found one article by Mimi, published in the June 1945 edition of Jeugdland magazine, when the Netherlands was already free from Nazi-German occupation. It is not surprising that Mimi used her own name. The article gives the impression that Mimi was a seasoned writer, and it is likely that there are other articles by Mimi Soetiasmi, especially during the raging war. To discover her other works, we must first find out what her pseudonym was during the war.

In an article entitled "De Bevrijding van Indonesië" (The Liberation of Indonesia), 27-year-old Mimi called the attention of Dutch youth to the liberation of the Indies. Although in June 1945, the Netherlands had been free from Nazi-German occupation for a month, it didn't mean that the struggle was over. Mimi warned not to forget Indonesia that was still in the grip of Dai Nippon, fascist Japan. Mimi was clearly infuriated to see the Dutch youth reveling as if the war was really over. She emphasized that war was actually not over yet, so people should think about the liberation of Indonesia.

What is important in this article is that Mimi wasn't writing about Indonesian independence, but about the renewal of relations between the Netherlands and Indonesia. According to her, after the war, the relationship between the two was no longer colonial but one that "should no longer be determined by one side, but should be accepted voluntarily by both sides". The Netherlands and Indonesia, she argued, should stand on democratic equality. Clearly, Indonesia's full independence from the Netherlands hadn't been taken into consideration here, as both parties still seem to be thinking about how the relationship should be renewed. Mimi also reminded the readers of the bi-weekly magazine Jeugdland (Youthland), who were young Dutch people, that in a speech on December 7, 1942 in exile in London, Queen Wilhelmina already intended to renew the relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia, a relationship that should be based entirely on mutuality.

This was also the outline of the thinking of young Indonesians in the Netherlands in June 1945. They obviously hadn't considered independence at all, because they still thought that there was a future for the relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands, that the two countries would not completely separate. That's why Mimi also used the term bevrijding which means liberation, just as the Netherlands was free from German occupation. Even if words or terms such as zelfstandigheid (independence) or recht op zelfbeschikking (right to self-determination) appear, which Mimi seems to have acquired from her father, it doesn't necessarily mean full independence. Again, the Indonesian students in the Netherlands at that time wanted the abolition of colonial relations, which didn't automatically mean Indonesian independence.

The war and occupation indeed resulted in a lack of communication between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, its largest colony. This made Indonesians in the Netherlands unaware of what was happening in the country, apart from the Japanese occupation. Similarly, those in Indonesia had no idea what exactly happened in the colonizer’s country, other than, perhaps, that Nazi-Germany was occupying it. Undeveloped communication technology clearly played a big role in this mutual ignorance.

Mimi Soetiasmi was unaware that the Japanese occupation forces had inaugurated the BPUPKI (Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence) on April 29, 1945, which meant that preparatory steps towards independence had actually been taken. Independence was openly discussed, and the demand was no longer just self-autonomy, let alone the right to self-determination, as Mimi asked in her writing. On the other hand, it was certain that Indonesian people didn't know that Irawan Soejono had been shot dead by Nazi-Germany in January 1945. His activities, including the activities of other PI members who joined the verzet, were most likely unknown to people in the country.

During the war, Mimi returned to the Netherlands after studying French literature in Paris. As a member of the PI, she also took part in distributing illegal newspapers. Did Mimi know that in December 1943 the resistance paper Trouw published a special edition calling for a return to colonial relations once the war was over? Did Mimi and other Indonesians still intend to distribute this special edition of the daily if they know about that fact?

Maroeto Daroesman, in one of his articles published after the Netherlands was freed from Nazi-German occupation, quoted Vrij Nederland, another Dutch resistance paper that supported the liberation of Indonesia. "Our struggle in Indonesia must be measured against the same high values as the resistance against the Nazis here. Not recapture, not national greed, but freedom, justice, and humanity". Maroeto also wondered, after being colonized by the Japanese so ruthlessly, would the Indonesian people return to Dutch rule? As an Asian country, Japan must have also spread hatred towards the Western world among the Indonesian people. When the Westerners came, be it the Allies or the Dutch, would the Indonesians cooperate with them to expel the Japanese? Maroeto was sure that the Indonesians would prefer to handle it themselves.

On January 24, 1946, Maroeto Daroesman married Mimi Soetiasmi. In the newspaper announcement, they gave their Amsterdam address and Maroeto added that he was a doctorandus or PhD student in indologie, the precursor to today's Indonesian studies. The two were acquainted during the Nazi-German occupation, and were both active in the verzet. It is understandable that as newlyweds, they both decided to return to their homeland, fighting for an independent Indonesia. In 1948, Maroeto, who was involved in the Madiun affair, was executed along with Amir Sjarifuddin and several other communist figures, leaving Mimi and their two children behind. To Soe Hok Gie, Mimi, under the pseudonym Sundari, talked about her husband. In 1950, Mimi married Jusuf Mudadalam who was also active in the verzet in the Netherlands, and they were blessed with two children. Mimi Soetiasmi died suddenly in 1976 at the age of 58, and was buried in Tanah Kusir.

A Victim Turned Perpetrator

Soejono's family proved that the Indonesian resistance truly fulfilled the motto Eerst Nederland bevrijden dan Indonesië, which was to liberate the Netherlands first, then Indonesia. The resistance first took place underground in the Netherlands: Irawan, Mimi and Maroeto joined the verzet, the Dutch resistance. Irawan died, giving his life for the liberation of the Netherlands. In addition, resistance also took place openly in London. As a member of the Dutch cabinet in exile, Soejono actively fought for the Indonesian people's right to self-determination. Failing to convince the Dutch cabinet, Soejono died of a heart attack. Although perhaps not as heroic as his son, who died two years later, Soejono still deserves to be called "fallen in the struggle".  

After the Netherlands was liberated from Nazi-German occupation, Mimi and Maroeto, who by then were married and still continued to fight for Indonesian liberation, returned home. Although Maroeto was executed in Madiun, his struggle for Indonesian independence was undisputable. Their struggle at home was no longer against the Japanese occupation, but against the Dutch who tried to re-colonize Indonesia. The Soejono family proves that the struggle for Indonesian independence only took place after the Netherlands was freed from Nazi-German occupation. The struggle wasn't actually against Japanese fascism but, ironically, against the Dutch who were trying to reclaim the colony. This also shows that the Netherlands, which was a victim during the Nazi-German occupation, turned into a perpetrator in the case of Indonesia.

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