Militaire Ooggetuigen – Nederlands-Indië 1941-1949

In this book, several authors describe, based on the testimonies of over a hundred Dutch East Indies veterans, how they experienced the battle against Japan and the subsequent decolonisation war. The authors also go into how the veterans fared after returning or coming over to the Netherlands, how they played an important role in the development of the veteran policy, how they identified themselves as veterans and how they related to the rest of society. The Indies veterans in this book tell their story openly and honestly, with perception, place and time playing an extremely important role. The interviews are from the Dutch Veterans Interview Collection of the Netherlands Veterans Institute.
“On the one hand people were angry because we had lost the Indies, on the other hand people were angry because we had fought there.”
The book Military Eyewitnesses: The Dutch East Indies 1941-1949. Beleving, terugzicht en doorwerking counts 376 pages and is richly illustrated, with a number of previously unpublished pictures. The authors, Gielt Algra, Jacco Duel, Martin Elands, Jos Groen, Yvon de Reuver, Marjolein van der Werf and Jeoffrey van Woensel, are attached to the Expertise Centre of the Netherlands Veterans’ Institute. Rein Bijkerk works as an independent historian.