Veteran Institute Interview 539: Dutch Soldier in Post-War Indonesia

A Dutch veteran's oral history interview from the Veteranen Instituut, archived by DANS Data Station Social Sciences and Humanities. The narrative describes his capture and forced labor by German occupiers in 1945, his subsequent release, and his service as a volunteer soldier in the Dutch East Indies from mid-1946. He was promoted to sergeant and led a section in Bandung from April 1948 before being seriously wounded by munitions during the second 'politionele actie' and repatriated.

Use Cases

• Analyzing personal experiences of forced labor under the Organisation Todt based on the description.
• Studying the motivations and deployment of Dutch war volunteers in Indonesia based on the narrative.
• Researching the experiences and injuries of soldiers during the Indonesian National Revolution based on the described events.

Strengths

• First-person historical account from a direct participant in significant 20th-century events.
• Provides specific dates (1945, mid-1946, April 1948) and locations (Bandung) for contextualization.
• Archived by a recognized national heritage institute (Veteranen Instituut) and a trusted data repository (DANS).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The single interview represents one perspective; data may reflect individual bias inherent to personal narratives.

Provenance

Source

Veteranen Instituut

Collection Method

Oral history interview.

Time Range

Covers events from 1945 to post-1948.

Freshness

Last updated 2025-10-24 03:32:29; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Netherlands (during WWII) and Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia).