The Camps
Tjihapit
Much of the story told in the book, Tjideng Reunion, deals with the large women and children’s camp, Tjihapit, in Bandung.
Tjihapit started off being called a “protected area,” a euphemism designed to encourage European civilians, considered undesirable by the occupying army, to move willingly into a designated part of town to form what might best be described as a ghetto.
Within two months of the start of the incarceration process, the area had been enclosed by a wall and “voluntary internment” had been replaced by “forcible internment.” This area is thought to have accommodated about 1500 citizens before the Japanese occupation began, but with time its population grew to over 13,000 (some even say 14,000).
After August 1944 a camp liquidation process began. The graph presented below illustrates this process over time:
The graph is labeled “net population” because throughout the period a human sieve was applied. Typically a mixture of older men, women and children arrived, either rounded up with army trucks, or transported to Tjihapit from other internment camps in western Java, while at the same time the camp was periodically “cleansed” of older males, the lower age limit dropping steadily from 17 years to ten years old. There were increasing incidences of death and not a few inmates were transferred elsewhere as punishment. The total number of people who at one time or another stayed in Tjihapit exceeds the population totals of this graph by a considerable margin.
By the end of the war only 33 women remained in the camp to “tidy up” (refer to the Book Four Years until Tomorrow—the account by Amelia de Visser). After the Japanese capitulation this camp was once again used to house European refugees from elsewhere on Java.
Tjideng
Tjideng was a suburb on the western fringe of Batavia and consisted of a mixture of single family dwellings, ranging from three bedroom houses to some that might best be described as subsistence housing for the poor.
This area was first designated as a “protected area for European women and children” in September 1942, but during the early stages the population remained modest. As was the case in Bandung this phase saw the forcible eviction from the area of non–European citizens, and their replacement by Europeans with the exception of civilians holding Axis passports. By September 1943 a policy change took effect and thereafter the population grew, reaching a peak of 11,000 by the time the war ended (some quote a total of 10,000).
The above graph can not do justice to the situation without considering the 33% reduction of the surface area of the camp during the period discussed. Most of that reduction took place by removal from the camp older, better quality homes located towards the city centre.
As a result the population density grew to 100–150 persons per standard family dwelling resulting in a collapse of sewage and water supply and leading to a catastrophic deterioration of hygiene and a skyrocketing incidence of mortality.
The above two graphs are based on population movement data presented in the Asia Maior publication: Geillustreerde Atlas van de Japanse Kampen in Nederlands Indie (2000).
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
My Great-grandmother, Elly Cornelia, along with my Grandfather, Hans, and the late Eleonora were held in the Tjideng women and children’s POW of war camp during the second world war by the Japanese soldiers. I have learnt many things from my Grandfather about what occurred during the camps and what hell that they had to endure. My Great-grandfather was separated and sent to a different camp where he suffered terribly. To me my Grandfather and his parents along with his sister that died in the camp are all heroes. Rest in peace to all those who suffered throughout the horrific internment camps, you will not be forgotten…
I was born in Bandoeng on Feb 26 1942, and three months later my mother and I became prisoners of war at Tjihapit camp. The last camp where my mother and I were interned, was Tjideng. I believe we lived there until my father returned at the end of the war. We then returned to Holland on a freighter that did not display the war colors of grey, but was white with a black hull, The name was Bloemfontein. I have lost my parents since then. My Mother’s name was Adriana Aaltje Joon. (Also known as Ada Joon.) My Fathers name was Louie Johan Joon.
To Boudewyn van Oort.
When my mother Ada Joon and I were prisoners of war At Tjideng
my nickname was Attie Joon. I remember a Journalist taking a picture of me and another boy at that time. That picture was taken in 1946. I also remember kids leaving their toys behind, when they left
the camp, for the kids that were still left at the camp. There were two teddy bears that I wanted, but they wound up in the sewer, and I wound up with an Indian headdress instead.
Hello Adriaan, the indian headdress and accompanying costume for a brief moment (25 August 1945) belonged to me, but had obviously already made a circuit through the camp via other youthful recipients. The costume was far too hot to wear, and I suspect that the daisy chain of recipients all had the same opinion. It most certainly was left behind when we left the camp in October 1945
Boudewijn