Photos recount WWII horror<\/p>\n
=================
\nTantri Yuliandini
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta
\n-----------------<\/p>\n
A casual visitor might simply regard it as an odd assortment of
\nblack-and-white photographs of grim-faced, bare-chested, old men.
\nBut a closer look will award them greater insight; it is the
\nstory of war victims.<\/p>\n
Each of the 24 men in the photographs, displayed at the
\nErasmus Huis Dutch cultural center until the end of this month,
\nhas a profound, yet dreadful story to tell. That of the horror of
\nlife along the Burma and Pekanbaru railway lines during World War
\nII.<\/p>\n
It was the early 1940s, and the Japanese were winning the war
\nin Southeast Asia. For their campaign against Allied forces in
\nBurma they planned to build a railway line linking Thailand and
\nBurma, spanning 420 kilometers (km), for use as a supply route.<\/p>\n
To fuel its war machinery, the Japanese also needed easy
\naccess to Sumatra's rich coal fields, and planned to build a 220-
\nkm railway line linking Muaro Sijunjung in the west to Pekanbaru
\nin the east.<\/p>\n
In both places the railway lines had to penetrate inhospitable
\njungle, swamps and rivers.<\/p>\n
On the Thai-Burma line the Japanese put to work some 60,000
\nAllied prisoners of war (PoW), of which about 18,000 were Dutch,
\nand 160,000 romusha (Asian forced laborers). About 100,000
\nromusha, most of them Javanese, and 6,500 POWs, were put to work
\non the Muaro Sijunjung to Pekanbaru line.<\/p>\n
Relentless, hard labor on inadequate rations caused huge
\nlosses and, according to historians, more than half did not
\nsurvive.<\/p>\n
\"It was much worse for the romusha than it was for us (PoWs),
\nbecause they were tricked into working on the lines. The Japanese
\nlied to them,\" former PoW George Voorneman, who attended the
\nopening of the exhibition, said.<\/p>\n
The suffering of the PoWs and romusha moved Dutch photographer
\nJan Banning to photograph survivors and research their stories.<\/p>\n
Beginning with his father, Frans Banning, who had worked on
\nthe Pekanbaru railway in 1944, the younger Banning successfully
\nlocated 24 other survivors within a timespan of one-and-a-half
\nyears. These comprised 16 Dutch and Eurasian survivors and eight
\nformer romusha, now living in Sumatra and Java.<\/p>\n
\"I started in Holland with my father and with my father's
\nfriends,\" Jan Banning said on the opening night of his
\nexhibition. He said that he also placed an announcement in a
\nmilitary veterans' publication in Holland to grab the attention
\nof more people.<\/p>\n
Banning said that many people telephoned him to set up an
\ninterview, but some later canceled the appointment because it
\nwould dredge up too many unpleasant memories: \"They became very
\nemotional and started crying\".<\/p>\n
Through old acquaintances and a local non-governmental
\norganization that had done research on jugun ianfu (comfort
\nwomen), Banning got in touch with eight former romusha.<\/p>\n
The exhibition at Erasmus Huis showcased the results of many
\nhours of interviews and lots of unpleasant memories of the
\nvictims. Each man was photographed bare-chested.<\/p>\n
\"Because that was how they worked. See the men as they are
\nnow, but undressed as they were when they worked on the railway.
\nIt was a connection between the past and present,\" Banning said.<\/p>\n
Beside the large-format, black-and-white photographs are
\ntestimonials of the men.<\/p>\n
Frans Banning, born in Makassar, South Sulawesi, in 1921, was
\ntaken prisoner while a military conscript and sent to work on the
\nPadang to Pekanbaru railway. When the war ended he became an
\nexpert in textile chemistry.<\/p>\n
\"In the end ... we could only try to stay alive, forage for
\nfood, try to prevent others from stealing it; the rest ... no
\nhope! That's what numbed the mind. Everything was the same. There
\nwas no news of developments outside the camp. We didn't know
\nabout the development of the war or when it would all end.\"<\/p>\n
Damin, born in Blitar in 1916, became a romusha and worked on
\nthe Pekanbaru railway. After Independence he became a cassava
\nfarmer and was known as Mbah Ubi (Cassava Grandfather).<\/p>\n
\"People died or lived, just like pebbles that got caught in a
\nsieve. And I was like a grain of sand that escaped.\"<\/p>\n
The stories of these 24 men can also be found in Jan Banning's
\nbook, Sporen van oorlog. Overlevenden van de Birma- en de
\nPakanbaroe-spoorweg published by IF Ipso Facto, Utrecht, 2003,
\nwhich can be bought at Erasmus Huis.<\/p>\n
George Voorneman was 20 years old when he became a PoW and was
\nsent to work on the Burma to Thailand line. He lost his right eye
\nin a shell blast.<\/p>\n
\"I live by following God's will,\" 84-year-old Voorneman said.<\/p>\n
Tracks of War photo exhibition is open until Feb. 28 at Erasmus
\nHuis Jakarta, Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav. S-3, Kuningan, Jakarta
\n12950.<\/p>",
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