Applause and sounds of disbelief resound in the small reception area at De Zuiderhof cemetery. Funeral Foundation Hilversum takes care of the burial rights and the maintenance of the eight graves of the Hilversum marines of Moluccan descent for many days to come. For initiator Moz’ Latuheru it is a festive and emotional day. “I’m so happy with this. I didn’t expect this, but we got it anyway.”
It started in April last year when Latuheru sent a letter to Pieter Broertjes, who last month with pension went. Last year it was exactly seventy years ago that the Moluccans arrived in the Netherlands by boat. There was a lot of attention and recognition for that. A good moment to draw attention to the eight Hilversum marines of Moluccan descent, who have their final resting place in Hilversum.
“These marines have never been in the spotlight. So I thought: let me give it a try,” said 81-year-old Hilversummer, whose father Betoes is one of the men.
wildest dreams
Broertjes wrote a letter to alderman Arno Scheepers almost immediately and asked the alderman whether he could work on this together with Anita van Loon, director of the funeral home. And so Latuheru sat around the table with the two in June and it was quickly settled. The words and deeds of Van Loon and Scheepers yesterday surpass the wildest dreams of Latuheru.
After the two have addressed the audience, the initiator also takes the floor. Pride, joy and gratitude define his emotional speech. In addition to being a festive day for Latuheru and Moluccan society, it is above all a historic day, because finally there is recognition for his father and his comrades.
big day
“A big day has arrived for us as descendants”, the 81-year-old Hilversummer indicates. “Hilversum has the scoop by honoring our marines in this way. It is emotional for us that Hilversum embraces them.”
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Alderman Scheepers said that Hilversum cannot undo history, but that he wants to rectify something with the recognition for the Moluccan marines. It is more than time to get rid of the insulting term ‘native seafarers’ and give the eight proper names, namely veterans of the Royal Navy. “Hilversum is eight war graves richer and that’s how I really see it,” he said.
Naval Training Camp
After Latuheru’s father set foot ashore on March 21, 1951, Hilversum became the home base of the family after some wanderings. Betoes continued to work for the navy in the Netherlands. Moz’ remembers the daily bicycle ride from the small house on the Bosdrift across the moor to the naval training camp (MOK), next to Hilversum Airport.
While his coffee is getting cold, Latuheru tells frankly about the adventures of his father, who passed away in 2009 at the age of 98. He remembers well that in 1961 the naturalization was through. No longer going through life stateless and that his father could retire before he was fifty because of his tropical years as a marine.
“It is great that a decision has been made so quickly. It makes me emotional”
There was never any recognition for the ‘native seafarers’ who fought side by side with the Dutch. Despite their deeds, the Moluccans were not taken for granted for a long time. Latuheru states that the correct appreciation has taken a long time, but that he is very happy that Hilversum now honors the eight naval men who are buried at De Zuiderhof and the Noorderbegraafplaats.
energetic
He is surprised and delighted that the municipality and the funeral home have acted so energetically. “That a decision has been made so quickly is great. It makes me emotional,” he says with a glint in his eye.
Hilversum is the first of more Dutch municipalities, says Latuheru. There are now more requests to give the Moluccan marines the correct rating, such as in Wijdemeren. The word of the Hilversummer was spread via social media and with the help of a journalist with a Moluccan background. “I hope for a snowball effect.”
Temporary takeover
Latuheru actually gets more than he asked for. He has asked for some form of respect for the eight marines who are buried at De Zuiderhof and the Noorderbegraafplaats. He himself thought of temporarily taking over the burial rights. The municipality and the foundation take over the maintenance and burial rights for all eternity.
And it doesn’t stop there, because there will also be a monument on De Zuiderhof. Artist Barbara Houwers is going to make a work of art, which will be unveiled on March 21, 2023. The day the first Moluccan marines and their families arrived by boat in the port of Rotterdam. From next year, the funeral home will organize a commemoration meeting every year.