The Nusantara Amsterdam Foundation conducted 17 interviews with young people whose family histories lie in former Dutch colonies as part of the Black under Orange project. After 13 interviews were conducted, a meeting was organised in which their stories were shared. Four more young people were then interviewed. A number of young people then embraced this initiative. Under the name Black x Orange, they organise various activities in which they link the colonial past to contemporary social themes such as remembrance, freedom and racism.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1980 – 2017.
They mainly talk about the Netherlands. Themes include colonial history and influence
of family history on one’s own life.

Website Nusantara Amsterdam: https://nusantara-amsterdam.nl/

When Nusantara Amsterdam Foundation was established in 2006, it was decided to work with Zieraad Foundation to record the life stories of visitors to the session afternoons organised by Nusantara Amsterdam Foundation. Within this storytelling project, 11 interviews were conducted. Video and audio recordings of the interviews were made by Ben and Ineke Vink. 10 of the interviews formed the basis for the book Antara Nusa, life stories of elderly people from the East Indies/Indonesia (2018) compiled by Yvette Kopijn (Zieraad foundation) with the cooperation of Hanoch Nahumury, secretary of Nusantara Amsterdam Foundation and Armando Ello, photographer. During the writing process, several follow-up interview sessions were held of which no recordings are available.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1930 – 2017. They mainly discuss Indonesia, Java, Sumatra, Ambon and New Guinea and the Netherlands.
Themes include colonisation, struggle for independence, Japanese occupation, World War II, Indonesian revolution, migration, RMS, upbringing, childhood, identity, class society, loss, displacement, uprooting, resilience, courage, racism.

Relevant links: Website Nusantara Amsterdam: https://nusantara-amsterdam.nl/
Facebook page Zieraad Foundation: https://www.facebook.com/StichtingZieraad/

Over the years, a lot has been written about settling and processing the end of the Dutch East Indies. The voice of the totoks (white Dutchmen) has been strikingly dominant in this. This book wants to offer the reader an alternative, multi-voiced perspective. It features elderly people of Indonesian, Moluccan, Timorese, Indonesian-Chinese and Surinamese descent.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Moluccans’ residence in the Netherlands in 2001, then-minister of Major Cities Policy and Integration, Roger van Boxtel commissioned a study on Moluccans in the Netherlands, the study Stayed in the Netherlands. 173 interviews were conducted with Moluccans in the Netherlands. In addition, 17 more interviews were conducted in two subprojects, namely in a sub-study on the organisation Interkerkelijk Contact Comité Ambon-Nederland (ICCAN) in 2004 and in a study on the Genapium residential resort and the Moluccan neighbourhood in Gennep in 2004 – 2005.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1930 – 2006.
They mainly discuss the Netherlands and Indonesia, the Moluccas and New Guinea.
Themes include churches, church organisations, self-care, Bouwburo Molukse kerkgebouwen, GIM, fights, housing, neighbourhoods, RMS ideal, kumpulans, repatriation, political organisations, polit, RMS talks, RMS struggle, unity state, states politics, students, KNVB, football, BP, ICCAN, foundations, organisations, Köbben Commission, Tjandu, Muhabbat, mission, contract pensions, Islam, identity, religion, religion, education, rituals, mosques, civil war, neighbourhood life, CAZ, self care, minorities, government policy, housing, IWM, labour, minorities note, Verwey-Jonker committee, residential settlements, training, education, Action Wassenaar, KPK, walking marches, cultural differences, marriages, mixed, hostage-taking, weapons, welfare, relief, racism, radicalisation, marechaussee, POW, KNIL, Police Actions, crossing, RMS commemorations, RST, KST, Westerling coup, aircraft, training, soldier life, disbandment of KNIL,  SPMT, family life, political organisations, violence, evictions, police action, conspiracies, occupations,  mayors, women’s organisations, Korans, philosophical education, integration, repatriation, orientation trips, Joint Committee, travel organisations, RMS organisations, Mission Military, FAA, Joint Committee, pensions, Indo-Europeans, ICCAN, foundations, CAZ, Facilities Act, Moluccans Note, Through the Centuries Allegiance Foundation (DDET).

Study – on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of their stay in the Netherlands in 2001 – of the history of the 12,500 Moluccans, mainly soldiers of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army and their families, who arrived in the Netherlands in 1951.

The Living Memories/Menghayati Kenangan Foundation recorded life stories as part of Het Gebaar (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, 2000). The aim that this would ensure that the colonial part of history would not be forgotten. The life stories of the interviewees were largely recorded chronologically.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1930 – 2007.
They mainly discuss the Netherlands and Indonesia. Themes include Japanese occupation, ‘bersiap’, Indonesian revolution, repatriation wave 1962, experiences in the Netherlands, resistance.

The aim of the interview project was to capture life stories of the first generation. They were asked about their experiences in the first 20 years in the Netherlands.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1930 – 1991 with an emphasis on 1951 – 1976. They mainly discuss the Netherlands, Indonesia, the Moluccas.
Themes include government policy, integration, resistance, domestic governance, RMS government.

Sometimes there are several inventory numbers per person.

The main questions for the interviews with former Moluccan residents are: What was daily life like before World War II? How did you experience the migration? How did you experience your time in residential Schattenberg. What was daily life like? How did you experience moving to the neighborhoods? Some of the interviews include ego documents and photographs.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the 1930s – present.
They mainly discuss Indonesia and the Netherlands. Themes include World War II, Indonesian revolution, migration, reception in the Netherlands, daily life in Schattenberg residential area, upbringing, Moluccan neighborhoods, education, food, religion, Dutch culture.

Moluccans in Camp Westerbork is a beautiful reading and viewing book with over 300 photographs, documents and drawings. It provides a fascinating picture of a Moluccan world on the Drenthe heath. Numerous former residents, both Moluccans and resident staff, speak out and recount daily life in the camp. Bystanders also talk about their contacts with another culture. For most of those involved, Schattenberg residential camp was an unforgettable experience, which they remember with warmth and often nostalgia. On March 22, 1951, the first Moluccan families arrived at the former Westerbork transit camp. These former KNIL soldiers and their families had come to the Netherlands from the former Dutch East Indies by order of the Dutch government. The name camp Westerbork was changed to Schattenberg residential facility. Over the years, more than 3,000 Moluccans would come to live there. There was a school, a hospital, a theater, a cinema and a bathhouse. Gradually, many contacts with the Dutch population developed. For example, traders offered their merchandise or opened a store in Schattenberg after the introduction of self-care. The stay in the residential resort was to be temporary. But the promised return to their homeland turned out to be an illusion, and so the Moluccan history of habitation became the longest in the camp. The last Moluccan families did not leave until 1971.

Jarenlang lag de nadruk in Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork op de periode 1939 – 1934 en de overgang naar het kamp als interneringskamp.
Eind jaren 1990 vindt er een kentering plaats. Het uitgangspunt wordt de gehele geschiedenis van de plek. Er komt onder andere meer aandacht voor de Indische periode, de jaren 1950 – 1951, waarin het kamp als opvangcentrum of repatriëringskamp voor Indische Nederlanders fungeerden die net waren aangekomen in Nederland. In maart 1951 werd De Schattenberg ontruimd. De bewoners verhuisden naar hotels en pensions.

De interviews gaan in op gebeurtenissen en ervaringen in de jaren 1930 – heden. Er wordt voornamelijk over Indonesië en Nederland gesproken. Thema’s zijn o.a. Tweede Wereldoorlog, dagelijks leven, interneringskamp, opvoeding, bevrijding, Indonesische revolutie, migratie, ontvangst in Nederland, relatie met Indonesië.

Documentatie over het leven van en interviews met in 1950 naar Nederland gerepatrieerde Indische Nederlanders in het opvangkamp ‘De Schattenberg’, het voormalige doorgangskamp ‘Westerbork’.

Een vergeten periode in de geschiedenis van kamp Westerbork en een onderbelichte tijd uit het verleden van ons land is die van de gerepatrieerde Indische Nederlanders. Vanaf 1950 kwamen zij naar Nederland, eerst gehuisvest in contractpensions en  opvangkampen. Een van deze kampen was het voormalig Judendurchgangslager Westerbork dat toen de naam ‘De Schattenberg’ kreeg.
In dit achtste Westerbork Cahier wordt een beeld gegeven van de Indische wereld, de overtocht en de opvang van gerepatrieerden in Nederland. Tal van oud-bewoners van De Schattenberg komen aan het woord en vertellen over het leven in het kamp maar ook van hun latere geschiedenis. Het is een verhaal ‘van sambal goreng tot frikandel, van zonnesteek tot kippevel’.”

The material is a donation from E.H. (Rita) Vreugdenburg. It concerns interview material by artist Dane Beerling and Indo working group Westcoast.

Objective: to record the history of the Indian Buiten- en binnenkamp children from the pre-war period to the present for the project Ons boek.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1930 – 1990.
Mainly Indonesia and the Netherlands are discussed. Themes include World War II, Indonesian revolution, migration, Japanese internment camps, outdoor camp children, Indo working group Westcoast.

The interviews were conducted in 2012 during the opening of the photo exhibition Moluccans in the Netherlands where the book Kenang Kenangang, Herinneringen, Molukkers in Zwolle was also presented. The book contains personal memories of life in the Dutch East Indies/Indonesia, the migration to the Netherlands in 1951 and the stay in the residential areas in Laarbrug and Eerde and the settlement in the Holtenbroek neighborhood in Zwolle.

These interviews are not included at Collection Overijssel. The interviews conducted during the book presentation feature third generation Moluccans. Questions include: Where did you grow up? How are your ties with (family on) the Moluccas? How are you approached as a Moluccan by non-Moluccans?
Which typical Moluccan customs and habits play a role in your life?

The Dutch government did not fulfill the promise made to return to the Moluccas and so the temporary stay became permanent. In the 1960s a group of Moluccans settled in Zwolle and the Moluccan neighborhood in Holtenbroek came into being. The booklet tells how the Moluccans fared in Zwolle and how a third generation of Moluccans is now growing up in the city. For many people, the story of the Moluccans is unknown. With the booklet and the exhibition, the HCO wants to draw attention to the special history of this population group in Zwolle.

Oral history of Curaçao migrants who left for Cuba in the early 20th century to work in Cuban sugarcane fields.

“Ta Cuba mi ke bai” is the result of a study of the emigration of children from Curaçao to Cuba. This emigration peaked at the end of 1917 until 1921. Many Curaçao workers moved to Cuba to work in the sugar cane fields. There they met workers from other Caribbean islands, including Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados and also from Aruba, Bonaire and the islands above.

In a few years, some 2,300 Curaçaoans emigrated to Cuba. Rose Mary Allen visited old Curaçaoans who went to Cuba during that time and then returned to Curaçao. They were old, but could tell her a lot about Cuba and also about the reasons why they had gone to Cuba. And these were almost always economic reasons. There are still Curacaoans living in Cuba who went there at the time and stayed. That group intrigued Rose Mary Allen and she felt that her research would not be complete if she had not also visited these people in Cuba.

To get as complete a picture as possible of emigration to Cuba, the research was expanded by comparing testimonies with information from documents, such as official letters and newspapers.