There is little awareness in the Netherlands of what happened in the former Dutch East Indies. Both the younger and older generations know very little about it. Former Minister Bussemaker of OCW said on the radio show News & Co.. Today, a special commission has been formed under her leadership to promote knowledge of the history of the Dutch East Indies.

According to Bussemaker, the legacy of the Indies has been long and far. “This has something to do with World War II. People thought what happened here was worse than what happened there.” But she also blames the lack of knowledge on colonialism. “Indonesian independence has the necessary black pages for the Netherlands,” she says. “That colonial history makes it hard to talk about.”

That is why the Council of Ministers made available more than 20 million euros last year, among other things, to make the heritage of the Indies more visible. According to Bussemaker, there is also a lot of historical material available, but it is difficult for many people to find it.

The committee therefore aims to collect this material and present it to a wider audience in an attractive manner. “The history of the Dutch East Indies is the history of the whole of Holland,” said Bosemaker.

Earlier we had a look at the Indonesian War of Independence: