For the Moluccan community in Breda, it was a festive day on Saturday: 62 former soldiers of the Royal Dutch-Indian Army (KNIL) have been awarded an award posthumously. It is intended as a tribute and appreciation for this forgotten group.
It happens more often that former soldiers of the KNIL are posthumously honored. The fact that it is now such a large group is due to the efforts of the initiative group Vrijdoon Moluccan KNIL soldiers Breda. They are the descendants of Moluccan soldiers, who had to leave their land in 1950 after the Netherlands had recognized the independence of Indonesia.
How did the Moluccans end up in the Netherlands?
During the Second World War, the KNIL soldiers fought together with the Dutch armed forces against the Japanese occupation. After the war, during the Indonesian struggle for independence, they were part of the Dutch troops fought against the Indonesian independence fighters.
When the Netherlands eventually recognized the independence of Indonesia, the KNIL soldiers were evacuated to the Netherlands. The intention was that they would return later, but it became clear in the 60s that this would never happen.
This broken promise led to years of tension between the Moluccans and the Dutch government. It would even end in the 70s with a series of controversial hostage actions that sharpen the country.
One of the Moluccans who award on Saturday received Is Panoes Salampessy. His father fought in the Moluccan army and Panoes was born in the Netherlands in a concentration camp after the arrival of his family. His father didn’t tell much about his experiences, but the humiliations felt like a dagger stitch in his back, he told Omroep Brabant earlier.
“Better late than never.”
On Saturday afternoon, Panoes received the honorary sign of order and peace on behalf of his father. “He is now officially recognized as a military war veteran. The only thing he always longed for,” said Pamoes a day earlier. “Too bad he can’t experience it himself. But better too late than never.”
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Last year the initiative group received recognition for the first time. The municipality of Breda took over the burial rights from the KNIL soldiers buried in Breda. Name plates and in Park Valkenburg a monument was set with a text that refers to the broken promise about the return.
The group also went to work with reparation for the soldiers, who were never distinguished for their efforts. And so with the help of the Ministry of Defense, for 62 of them it was possible to bring the details of their service together again.