Travelling by train from Bandung to Yoygyakarta, the production team got off at the village of Kebumen round midnight. As there are no taxi cabs in this tiny town, two ojek's were hired to drive the 50 kilometer to the old garrison town of Purworejo. When in Java, do as the Javanese. The next day, the former kampung Afrikan was visited where remarkably all the former houses of African soldiers and their families are still standing. Several new houses have been added, but the old houses of the Klink, Land, Cordus, De Ruiter, Beelt and Artz families next to many others, can still be admired. The owner of house number 28 near the sawahs asked the team if they were interested in purchasing her asli home.
Next, the European cemetery, called kerkop, offered a very sad sight. Practically all the old graves of African KNIL soldiers and their sons and daughters have been demolished. Any remembrance of the old colonial times has been wiped out here. With many marble plates gone, the team still was able to track down seven graves of Indo-African inhabitants. Considering that this cemetery used to be one of the most beautiful in the island of Java with marble graves and statues, the current sight of it is very depressing. With the Indonesian history starting at August 17, 1945, when Sukarno proclaimed the independent republic, the history of the Black Dutchmen has become an almost forgotten episode in Indonesia.
DICTIONARY
ojek - small motor bike
kampung Afrikan - African neighbourhood
asli - authentic
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1 opmerking:
This kerkop is not the only one, Peneleh in Surabaya is just as bad
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