Warga Negara
After the Indonesian Republic had been officially established, everyone had to choose a nationality.

Chinese Han Sie Dhian Ho: “My parents could choose Dutch, Chinese or Indonesian nationality. Given that we had no ties with China any more and didn’t know the Netherlands, we chose Indonesian nationality. We became Warga Negara. We never doubted our decision. Our family had lived in the East Indies for generations; it was where we belonged.”

Silver lining
Dolf Leidelmeijer’sDutch East Indian family chose to hold on to their Dutch nationality. It made life in Indonesia very difficult.

“I was fired because I was Dutch. My job was taken over by an Indonesian. We wanted to go to the Netherlands but were refused permission. We became poorer and poorer and were going hungry. Luckily, when my wife contracted TB, she was allowed to go to the Netherlands to recover. My four children and I had to stay behind. A Dutch social worker intervened and made sure we were eventually allowed to return to the Netherlands after all. We did have to prove that we were Dutch nationals under the 1892 act, and we had to pay for our trip ourselves. We didn’t have a penny left, but fortunately we were able to get away.”

Moluccan soldiers in trouble
The Moluccan KNIL soldiers found themselves in a difficult position. The Indonesians considered them traitors, and the Netherlands was hardly welcoming them with open arms.

Moluccan Ferry Kaihatu: “The Indonesians considered my father to be a traitor. He was blacklisted. Our family had to leave instantly. We were promised a return to our own country, the Moluccas, but that never happened. My father was given an honourable discharge in the Netherlands. He was told to claim his pension from the new government in Indonesia.”

Warm clothes in Ataka
Overflowing ships departed for the Netherlands. The regular stopover was in Ataka on the Suez Canal, where the ‘repatriates’ were given warm clothing. Seven-year-old Dutch girl Ineke Kuijktravelled to the strange, cold mother country with her mother and younger brother. Her father was murdered by the Japanese.

"Our suitcases were our only possessions. We came from Central Java via Semarang to Batavia. There, we had to wait in a refugee camp for four months. We were given warm clothes, like a scarf and a woolly hat, during a stopover in Ataka. We needed them immediately in the Netherlands. At the end of April 1946, it was cold and grim.”

Crying on the afterdeck
Dutchwoman Bep Stenger had been imprisoned because of her resistance work. In January 1946, she found a place on a ship sailing for the Netherlands by signing on as a cleaner.

“But the vomiting women and the stuffy conditions in the hold made me ill. Then I became a potato peeler on deck. (...) I was very sad to say goodbye to the East Indies. When the ship left I was crying on the afterdeck. It was my country, too! The reception in the Netherlands was terrible. The first thing my uncle said was: Don’t bother telling us your stories, it's been much worse here.”