The Last Moment of Wolter Mongisidi

Despite being 86 years old, the man still looks strong and dashing. His memory is intact, his voice is clear. During the interview with Historia.ID on Friday (1/5/24), he was able to tell his story smoothly. The man is Robby Herman Mongisidi, a retired soldier residing in Malalayang, Manado, North Sulawesi. One of the things he is proud of, apart from successfully being a soldier, is his first placement in the unit that bears his late brother's name: Battalion 720/Wolter Mongisidi.

Robby is the younger brother of national hero Robert Wolter Mongisidi, having a gap of ten years in age. Robby was still very young when his brother fought to defend Indonesian independence from the threat of Dutch recolonization. Fortunately, Robby knew someone who became one of the witnesses of Wolter's last moment before his death. Robby decided to meet that person, Pastor Purukan, one day in December 1974, when he visited his home in Malalayang.

December is a festive month in North Sulawesi. At that time, Robby was already a member of the Indonesian National Army (TNI) in Limboto, Gorontalo, with the rank of lieutenant. He was once a military sub-district commander or Danramil in Limboto.

Curious about the story of his brother, Robby took the time to meet Pastor Purukan.

"My family wanted to know," said Robby.

Fortunately, the 67-year-old pastor was willing to tell him the story, even record it with a tape recorder. This story from Pastor Purukan could at least give light to Wolter’s last seconds to Petrus Mongisidi's family.

Pastor Purukan's story of Wolter's last moment was also often told by Robby to his friends, one of them was Maulwi Saelan, Wolter's comrade who later became deputy commander of the Tjakrabirawa Regiment. Maulwi himself recorded the story of Wolter Mongisidi's execution in his memoirs, Dari Revolusi 45 sampai Kudeta 66: Kesaksian Wakil Komandan Tjakrabirawa (From Revolution 45 to Coup 66: Testimony of the Deputy Commander of Tjakrabirawa).

Maulwi's sister, Emmy Saelan, also fought alongside Wolter Mongisidi in Makassar. They were often seen together, leading some people to think they were Makassarese. However, according to Wolter's subordinate, Wim Tenges, they were not dating. Emmy, who was older, acted like an older sister among the Makassarese fighters.

Sentenced to Death

Tomohon has long been known as a city of students. The school for prospective evangelists here dates back to 1868. In the early 20th century, the school, that produced pastors, was known as School tot opleiding van Inlandse Leeraren (STOVIL, or School for indigenous teachers). STOVIL students came not only from Tomohon, but also from various regions throughout North Sulawesi. One of the students was Justus Dirk Purukan. After studying at STOVIL, they were deployed to various regions.

Purukan himself became a pastor and lived in Malalayang in the 1930s. He experienced a difficult war period, during which the Japanese army violently occupied North Sulawesi. Afterwards, he experienced the return of the Koninklijk Nederlandsch Indische Leger (KNIL) colonial army in North Sulawesi.

On August 1, 1948, Pastor Purukan, as mentioned by Benjamin Bouman in Van Driekleur tot Rood-Wit: De Indonesische officieren uit het KNIL 1900-1950, was appointed as a KNIL army chaplain for the 18th Infantry Battalion in Manado with the rank of reserve first class lieutenant. Pastor Purukan was then transferred to Makassar on April 23, 1949. He only stayed briefly in Makassar, as in September 1949 he returned to Manado. After the KNIL disbanded, he became a pastor for civilians. Pastor Purukan continued to live in Malalayang.

When Robby met him in 1974, Pastor Purukan tried to gather all his memories of the early hours of September 5, 1949 in Makassar, the city where he was a chaplain to the KNIL soldiers. Pastor Purukan told Robby everything.

On September 5, 1949 at around 12 pm, Pastor Purukan was preparing himself when suddenly a power wagon belonging to the KNIL army came and stopped on the side of the road in front of his house. The driver came up to him.

"Sir, please get on," the driver said.

Pastor Purukan climbed into the car and sat next to the driver. Behind them were soldiers who didn't wear epaulets. The power wagon circled the city of Makassar before stopping near the mosque for about an hour, before going out of town again. They finally arrived at a building complex in the Tello area around 4 am.

Attorney Hamzah came over and told Pastor Purukan to lead the worship service that took place before the main event of that past midnight, which was the execution of Robert Wolter Mongisidi.

Robert had been sentenced to death by a Dutch court in Makassar for terrorism. For the Dutch, he was considered to have spread terror and was therefore labeled an extremist.

In contrast, for many Indonesians in Makassar, especially those supporting the independence of the Republic of Indonesia, Wolter was regarded as a patriot and a warrior. He was known to be associated with the People's Rebel Army in Sulawesi (LAPRIS) and Harimau Indonesia.

Like Pastor Purukan, Wolter was also from Malalayang. The two were sort of neighbors whose houses were far apart. Wolter himself was the son of Bantik coconut farmer Petrus Mongisidi and Lina Suawa.

Wolter lived in Makassar after the Japanese army occupied Sulawesi. After 1945, Wolter was among the leaders of the anti-Dutch movement in Makassar, making him on the opposite side to Pastor Purukan.

The sky was still dark at the location of Wolter's execution. Pastor Purukan couldn't read anything from the Bible he was carrying, but as a graduate of STOVIL, he had memorized many verses and prayers, and one of them was Psalm 23:4.

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me...," uttered Pastor Purukan.

His Last Wish

Pastor Purukan prayed with his eyes closed in solemnity. When he opened his eyes, he couldn't see Wolter anymore, because the man was already kneeling, immersed with the prayer he heard. His clothes were smeared with mud because of the kneeling. After that, he was asked by the prosecutor of his last request.

"Yesterday Sunday I waited for my family to come to the last meeting, but no one came," said Wolter. Wolter's family in Makassar, and especially in Malalayang, could not attend. "Tell Papa and my family that I carry out this shooting sentence calmly."

Wolter then wanted to write, but he and the priest didn't have any paper and pen. The execution squad commander Sergeant Smit immediately asked him.

"What do you need?" Smit asked the priest in Dutch.

"A piece of paper," Pastor Purukan replied.

Smit then took the paper from his notebook and gave it to the priest, who then gave it to Wolter. The pastor also lent Wolter his pen.

Wolter, who had written many poems before, penned his last words onto the paper with his family on his mind. He wrote: Loyal until the end in faith. September 5, 1949. RWM.

Wolter also wished to be buried in Polongbangkeng, Takalar, south of Makassar.

"Because many of my friends died there," said Robby, repeating Wolter's words as conveyed by Pastor Purukan.

Polongbangkeng was an Indonesian guerrilla base, and it was often visited by Wolter and his comrades.

Wolter then interacted with the soldiers who were about to execute him. Despite facing death in front of his eyes, he didn't blame his enemy at all.

"You all are innocent, because you're only carrying out your duties," Wolter told his executors.

“I don’t want to be blindfolded. I want to witness the bullets of the colonizers hitting my chest.”

Loyal Until the End

After saying that, Wolter was led to a concrete pillar near the embankment. His feet were chained and his hands cuffed. Wolter leaned against the pole, and his waist was tied with a rope to it. After that, his left chest was marked with a red marker as the target for shooting. At first, Wolter's eyes were to be covered, but he refused.

"I don't want to be blindfolded. I want to witness the bullets of the colonizers hitting my chest," Wolter said. "After I shout 'merdeka' three times, you can shoot!"

Pastor Purukan watched the execution from 25 meters away. The firing squad was already in place. 

"Vuur," ordered the commander of the firing squad to his shooters, which means shoot

When he heard the order to shoot, Pastor Purukan closed his eyes, and only dared to open them after the shooting. He saw Wolter still standing at the pole, his body was still tied firmly to the concrete pillar, but his head was drooping.

The doctor and nurse then examined his body and reported to the army garrison commander in Makassar that Wolter was dead.

"There were eight bullet holes: 4 in the left chest, 1 in the stomach, 1 in the right chest, 1 in the left temple, 1 from the left armpit through the right armpit," explained Robby.

Wolter's body was put in a coffin and Pastor Purukan performed another service.

Wolter's stance didn't change until his very last moment. What Wolter wrote on the paper from Sergeant Smit with Lieutenant Pastor Purukan's pen was immortalized by Kodam Hasanuddin as their motto: Loyal Until the End.

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