Takashi Shiraishi : The Phantom World of Digoel

The Phantom World of Digoel Author(s): Takashi Shiraishi Reviewed work(s): Source: Indonesia, No. 61, Pramoedya Ananta Toer and His Work (Apr., 1996), pp. 93-118 Published by: Southeast Asia Program Publications at Cornell University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3351365 . Accessed: 05/04/2012 06:20 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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THE PHANTOMWORLD OF DIGOEL TakashiShiraishi

revoltsin Javain 1926, In thefinalyearsofitsimperialruleafterthe"communist" the Dutch Indies colonial regimeestablishedan infamousmass internment camp, New Guinea on the fringeof the Boven Digoel, in theheartof themalaria-infested empireto forceits inmatesto live a normallifeunderabnormalconditions.1Boven Digoel,UpperDigoel,so calledbecause itwas locatedup theDigoel river,was nota was nota studiouslymade clear,internment penal colony.As theIndiesgovernment invoked an administrative but sanction measure, by governorgeneral's penal to requiretheinterneeto live in a certain rechten, powers,exorbitant extraordinary place. was a long-established and forthatmatterexternment, Internment, practiceofthe a Central In twentieth Soerontiko state. the Indies Samin, Javaneseand centuryalone, the founderof the religionof Adam,was internedin WestSumatrain 1907.Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo,a Javanese,was requirednot to stay in theJavaneselanguage regionsof Centraland East Javain 1920 and thento live in Banda Neira in 1927. Communistleaders, startingwith Henk Sneevlietand A. Baars and including Semaoen,Tan Malaka,Darsono,Hadji Misbach,and Aliarchamamongothers,were eitherdenied theirrightto stayin the Indies or requiredto live in manydifferent places oftheeasternpartofthearchipelagoin theyearsfrom1919to 1926.It was only wereexiledin thesameplace. in theyearsfrom1927to 1940thatall internees Norwas Digoela concentration J.M. Pluvierremindsus, camp,theDutchhistorian "in the way in which the fromthe Nazi concentration forit was different camps inmateswere treated:no one in Digoel was mistreatedor killedas in the German inher 1 Thetitleofthisessayis takenafterHannahArendt's"ThePhantomWorldoftheDarkContinent" new 186. York: A Totalitarianism 1975), classicTheOrigins (New edition, Book, Harvest/HBJ p. of

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he shouldhaveadded,justletinmates concentration camps."2The Indiesgovernment, die,go insane,orbe broken. Indonesiansunderstoodbetterwhatit meantto be exiledin Digoel. Therewas no in theIndiesaboutDigoel.Virtually to shortageofinformation everynew internment in new release from it were and reported Malay languagenewspapers, Digoel every oftenaccompaniedwith internees'lettersto theirrelativesand friendsand their let Indonesiansknow about Digoel,no doubt,to scare interviews.The government was so terrified in a Sukamiskinprisoncell in them.Soekarno,always imaginative, 1933at thethoughtoflivingin Digoel,away fromhis motherand perhapswithouthis wife,thathe asked forthegovernment pardonin exchangeof his quittingpolitical if withthegovernment.3 and his activities necessary cooperation Itwas Soebakat,however,whoperhapsunderstoodthepoliticalmeaningofDigoel best. A founderof the revolutionaryundergroundpolitical party,PARI (Partai in which RepublikIndonesia),he inventeda code forits internalcommunications, "General Hospital" signifiedDigoel, while "Hospital" meant prison and "Abu" police.4In his imaginedpoliticallandscapeoftheDutchIndiespolicedby "Abu" and dottedwith"Hospitals,"Digoel was theterminaldestinationforrevolutionaries-in colonial Dutch parlance, onverzoenlijken, die-hards-recalcitrants, incorrigibles, fear which the of would make them real revolutionaries. Soebakat killed suppressing himselfbeforebeingsentto Digoel to denythesecretpolice a chanceto extractfrom himanyusefulinformation aboutthePARI.Butifhe had notkilledhimself, he would have found that Digoel, completenot only with its own prison,police, military but also with its own second garrison,vigilantegroups, spies, and informers, internment for at Tanah was camp Tinggi onverzoenlijken, a metaphorfortheIndies,the colonialregimetheDutchfashionedin thefinalyearsoftheirrule. Establishing a Camp in Digoel

The establishment ofa massinternment campwas decidedon at an extraordinary of the of the council Nederlands-Indies (raad van Nederlandsch-Indiie) meeting convened on November18, 1926,less than a week afterthe "communist"revolts startedin WestJavain thenightofNovember12.5The questionGovernorGeneralde 2J.M. Pluvier,Overzicht vandeOntwikkeling derNationalistische inIndonesie indejaren1930tot Beweging 1942('s-Gravenhave: W. van Hoeve,1953),pp. 42-43. 3 See Soekarno'sletters R.J.M. Verheijen toProsecutor inR.C. Kwantes,De Ontwikkeling vande inNederlandsch-Indie: Nationalistische De Ontwikkeling: Beweging Aug.1933-1942[hereafter Aug.1933-1942] Nationalist Wolters-Noordhoff, 1982),pp. 37-43;JohnIngleson,RoadtoExile:TheIndonesian (Groningen: 1927-1934(Singapore:Heinemann EducationalBooks,AsianStudiesAssociation ofAustralia, Movement, SoutheastAsia Publications Series,No. 1),pp. 218-221. 4 Assistant ofPolice(MarinusVisbeen),ProcesVerbaal[Soebakat], Commissioner Vb.6-8-30B18. 5 Themeetingwas chairedbyGovernor GeneralA. C. D. de Graeff and attendedbyK. F. Creutzberg, ofthecouncil;J.W. vanderMarel,P. W. Filet,Ch. J.I. M. Welter, and A. M. Hens,council vice-president GeneralSecretary G. R. Erdbrink; ofWestJava,W. P. Hillen; members; (algemeenesecretaris) governor director ofjustice,D. Rutgers; ofinternal director administration A. H. Maas (binnenlandsch bestuur), Prosecutor General(procureur H. G. P. for Geesteranus; generaal) Duyfjes;government representative at theVolksraad, and deputyadvisorfornativeaffairs, E. Gobee.See J.J.Schrieke; generalaffairs

The PhantomWorldof Digoel

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whethermeasuresshould be Graeffpresentedto the meetingwas straightforward: taken"to fightthe communistexcesseswhichtookplace in the past week and to as faras possible,"and ifyes,whatmeasures? prevent[theirrepeat]in thefuture to He said thathe had decidedbeforeconveningthemeetingthatitwas imperative place "the dangerouscommunistleaders" in custodyas soon as possible forthe theprosecutor and had instructed interest ofpublicsafety, generalon November17 to in Javaand Sumatrato act on his decision. ordertheheads ofregionaladministration In his view, however,arrestcould serve only as a temporarymeasure,forupon thegreatmajority ofthosearrestedwould have tobe oftheirinvestigation, completion and thentheywould releasedforlack oflegal evidenceto supporttheirprosecution, renewtheiractivitiesonce again."Butthereappearsto be a way to preventthisfrom leaders theprincipalcommunist happening,"he pointedout,"namelythatofinterning on a large scale." De Graeffassured thatthe measureshould be applied only to wouldbe broughtintoa sameplace "principalleaders"and promisedthatall internees so faras possible.6 shouldstartwith The councilsupportedhisproposaland decidedthatinternment ofthoseheldin custodyelsewhere thosearrestedin WestJavaand thattheinternment receivedthe should followas soon as the prosecutorgeneral'soffice,hoofdparket, forthemeasure.It was also decided thattheprocedureand necessaryinformation be revisedand simplifiedto expediteits to be followedforinternment formalities decisionshouldbe succinct in internment the draft reasons given implementation-the and limitedto eightpoints,theessenceof whichwas thatthepersonto be interned was a memberofthePKI (PartaiKomunisIndonesia),thepartywhichjoinedtheThird thatthePKI theestablishedauthority; and was intenton overthrowing International, of illegal organizations;and thatits purpose was to workedforthe establishment to commitcrimesagainstthepropertyand life recruitbad elements,slechte elementen, and againstthesafetyofsociety. ofofficials GeneralDuyfjessenta telegramto the The nextday,on November19,Prosecutor themthat"in connection[with]unrest and informed heads ofregionaladministration is [in] variousregions,above all recentdisturbances[in]WestJava,thegovernment on a largescale againstcommunistleadersin [the] consideringto applyinternment entireDutchIndies,whose actionposes seriousthreatto publicquietand order[rust en orde]."A slightbutimportant changetookplace in a day to thecategoryofpeople no "the it was tobe interned: leaders,"as de Graeff putit, longer principalcommunist but "communistleaders" "whose actionposes serious threatto public quiet and order."7 stukmedio tweede inNederlandsch-Indie: vandeNationalistische R. C. Kwantes,ed.,De Ontwikkeling Beweging 475De Ontwikkeling: Wolters-Noordhoff, 1978), 1923-1928[hereafter medio 1923-1928] pp. (Groningen: 480. 6 "Verslagbg.vergadering 18nov.1926,"in Kwantes,De van de raadvanNederlandsch-Indie, 476-477. 1923-1928, medio pp. Ontwikkeling: 7 Ibid.,p. 478.

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On November24,thelistofquestionstobe askedat theinterrogation ofthosetobe All over the Indies,all internedwas sent to the heads of regionaladministration. would-beinterneeswere to be asked thesame questions:his/hername,age, birthplace,residence,education,and occupationalcareer;whetherhe/shewas aware that theprincipalaim ofthePKI was to overthrow theestablishedauthority; thatthePKI establishedillegalorganizations; and thattheobjectiveof theseorganizationswas to all sortsof crimes;whetherhe/she was a recruitcriminalelementsforcommitting memberof the PKI and/or one of its illegal organizations;and whetherhe/she in an actionthatposed a threatto quietand order.8 participated Thesequestionswerebased on thetheorythesecretpolicechiefA. E. van der Lely revolts.In a preliminary reporthe submittedto the put forwardaboutthecommunist prosecutorgeneralhe argued that"behindthe seeminglyclumsyand incoherent ofresistanceagainsttheestablishedregimeexistsa centralidea," as formulated efforts in Tan Malaka's Naarde Republike Indonesia (TowardtheRepublicofIndonesia),that leaders the and theiractions.The prosecutorgeneral, communist informed guided based on thistheory, arguedin his letterto thegovernorgeneraldated November21 for"an extensiveapplicationof extraordinary powers upon the kern,the core,the leaders the behind scenes,to preventa repeatof the [hoofdleiders] working principal recentevents."9In the circularhe sent to the heads of regionaladministration on would lose itseffectiveness, December31,he wrotethat"thislarge-scaleinternment if a new group of leaders could come to the foreuntroubled."It is the task of the and police,he continued,"timelyto discernthesignificance administration and the influence of new and choose the to best moment to threatening propagandists neutralize them in the same way as theirpredecessors."10Depending on the interpretationof the local chief, anyone identifiedas communist leader or propagandistcouldnow be interned. In themeantime, oftheMoluccasJ.Roestdescribed Digoel,whichdeputygovernor as "an inhospitablebarrenenvironment not withoutdanger,""isolated," "thinly as a place ideal forthemass populated,"with"limitedaccessroutes,"was identified "insulated as internment as possiblefromtherestofsociety,severed camp completely of contactwith it as much as possible-and separatealways and forlife.""11 On December10,1926,thearea up theDigoel riverwas separatedfromthesub-division ofSouthernNew Guineaby government decreeand was made a new (onderafdeeling) sub-divisionofBovenDigoel withTanahMerahas itscenter.12 administrative Shortly afterthat,Captain L. Th. Becking,instrumental in crushingtheNovemberrevoltin 8 Ibid., p. 480.

Generaal[Duyfjes]toGovernor General[de Graeff], November27,1926,Mr. Weltevreden, 9 Procureur 1174x/26. 10"Procureur Generaal(H. G. P. Duyfjies)aan hoofdenvangewestelijk bestuur,"in Kwantes,De 520-521. medio 1923-1928, Ontwikkeling: pp. 11ThequotationsarefromtheletterofDeputyGovernor oftheMoluccasJ.Roesttothegovernor general datedDec. 18,1929,citedin Kwantes,De Ontwikkeling: 1923-1928, medio p. 521. 12"Overzicht vande Inwendigen Politieken Toestand(1924-15April1928),"inMededeelingen derRegeering Enkele vanAlgemeen omtrent 1928),pp. 9-10. Onderwerpen Belang(Mei1928)(Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij,


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Banten,was sentto Digoel withhis largelyAmbonesesoldiersand convictworkersto batchofinternees scheduledto arrivein builda campin timeforthearrivalofthefirst March1927. WhileCaptainBeckingwas on his way to Digoel,thefirstgovernment secretary senta letterto deputygovernoroftheMoluccasand spelledout "theDigoel regimeof order": measure is achieved with the ... The purpose intendedwith thisextraordinary

in theplace designatedas theirresidenceand therefore arrivaloftheinternees any coercionwithrespectto theirpersonwhichis inevitablein implementing [this] administrativemeasure should be terminatedunless there arise special In theirplace ofresidencethesepeople enjoythesame rightsand circumstances. whichthelaw guaranteesor imposeson all free aresubjecttothesameobligations and itsorgansshouldrefrain[from residentsand in normalcases thegovernment than keepingvigilantsupervision[over doingmorewithrespectto theinternees] them]... [On the otherhand] it is the governorgeneral'sopinionthatthe abnormal

circumstance that so many people . . . are brought together in an as yet

inhospitableplace at the government'sorderas well as by the government's thatgoes withit[sorder]forthelifeand welfareofthesepeople can responsibility be a legitimate groundforspecialmeasureson thespotand in particularformore To this [administrator]. thannormalpolice power of the Captain-gezaghebber but themselves internees the not be should of order only subjected regime also theirfamilies... naturally viewthatinternees' itshouldbe advisableinHis Excellency's In thisconnection familiesfollowas soon as possiblein case theyhave notaccompaniedthemyetin orderto encouragea regularfamilylifeand perhapsgraduallyto replace[their] presentpoliticalambitionwith interestin affairsof more domesticand social kind.13 In thisletterGovernorGeneralde Graeff'svoice is muffledby the government thefirst-person carefulbureaucratic pronounfor language.Butsubstitute secretary's can hearhis we then "His and "thegovernorgeneral," "thegovernment," Excellency," of these clearervoice. De Graeffsays thathis goal is achievedwiththe interment shouldbe allowedto live a normallifein theinternees and thattherefore communists no is reasontobe cynicalabouthis concernfor There Indies. in the elsewhere as Digoel his decisionto internthem,and he was it was After welfare. theinternees'lifeand all, He agreed withthe aware thathis decisionwould forceon themmanysufferings. a specialregimeof fortheneedtoinstitute oftheMoluccas,therefore, deputygovernor order in Digoel, but made it clear thatit should be kept to a minimum.He wanted to see the interneesand theirfamiliesfound a colony togetherwith the government-he talked about colonization in Digoel elsewhere in the letter-and starta new regular and normal familyand social life.He was seeing Digoel, as J.J.Schrieke,government oftheMoluccas,January 5, 1927,in Kwantes,De toDeputyGovernor Secretary 13FirstGovernment 1923-1928, medio pp. 521-523. Ontwikkeling:

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forgeneralaffairsto the Volksraad,once wrotein early 1925,as a representative "humane" projectto give a way out to "communistleaders and propagandistsfor no choicebut thatbetweenpropagandaand prison,"to whom therewas practically createa littlepeacefulIndies,an outpostof civilizationin thedarkisland,insulated and closelymonitoredby thestate, fromtheoutsideworld,undisturbedpolitically, usefuland shouldnotwastetheirlifeforthe wheretheinterneescould do something sake ofuntenablepoliticaldreams.14 Its History Captain Beckingwithhis men and convictworkersarrivedin Tanah Merah in 1927and in twomonthsbuiltbarracks, warehouses,a hospital,a radiostation, January a post office,and a large and solid bath raft(badvlot)on theriverforsoldiersand convicts.The firstbatchof interneesand theirfamiliesarrivedin March;therewere internees, includinga Chinese,and thirty familymembers,everyonedressedup fifty in for colorful costume withcleansocksand shoes,a felt the occasion tropical correctly and an umbrellaunderthearm.15 hatand a briefcase, M. A. The populationin Digoelincreasedsteadilyfromthatpoint.Whencontroller in with the batch Tanah seventh of Merah on internees, Monsjou arrived,together man of October 30, 1927, to replace Captain Beckingas the Digoel gezaghebber, with or 930 internees and was 538 382 the administrator, authority camp population It with 666 and members. reached internees 473 1,139, family familymembers,in W. P. of 1928. the When member council of theNetherlandsIndies, Hillen, February visitedDigoel in April1930,thecamp populationwas at its peak, withabout 2,000 people,including1,308internees.16 Hillen'svisitwas theculmination ofa seriesofgovernment intothe investigations conditionsof Digoel, triggered by thearticlesM. van Blankenstein publishedin De NieuweRotterdamsche Courantin Septemberand November1928,in whichhe argued that therewere innocentvictimsinternedin Digoel by error.17In response,the in November1928thattheinternees had announcedin theVolksraad were government deonverzoenlijken, classifiedintothreecategories, therecalcitrants, de the ha-slachtigen, and dewelwillenden, thewell-meaning, and thatitwas prepared to release half-hearted, thethirdcategoryofinternees, thewell-meaning, iftheirinternment was notbased on 14ForSchrieke'sproposal,see myAn inJava,1912-1926(Ithaca:Cornell Radicalism AgeinMotion: Popular Press,1990),p. 311. University 15I. F. M. Salim,Vijftien inNieuw-Guinea, Bakermat vandeIndonesische JaarBoven-Digoel: Concentratiekamp (Amsterdam: Boven Contact, 1973), 78-84; Verslaggever pp. Digoel[MasMarco Onafhankelijkheid Boven in Persatoean no. (IV)," Indonesia, 36, 1,1930. "Riwajat Digoel January Kartodikromo], 16"Overzicht van de Inwendigen Politieken Toestand(1924-15April1928),"inMededeelingen derRegeering (Mei1928),p. 12,and "Rapportvanhetlidvande raadvanNederlandsch-Indiei, W. P. Hillen,overde aan de Boven-Digoel, 22juli1930[hereafter interneringskampen RapportHillen],"in R.C. Kwantes,De vandeNationalistische inNederlandsch-Indi~: derde stuk1928-Aug.1933[hereafter De Ontwikkeling Beweging Wolters-Noordhoff/Bouma's Boekhuis,1981),p. 463. Ontwikkeling: 1928-Aug.1933](Groningen: 17Kwantes,De 1933,pp. 165-166. Ontwikkeling: 1928-Aug.


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The governorgeneralhad sound groundsand iftheybehavedwell in TanahMerah.18 in the of the Moluccas December 1928 to report"on their instructed also governor in shorton everythingthat can give an behavior,theirattitude,theirmentality, the as of whether theycan stillbe seen as a threatto impression regards question in theirplacesoforigin."19 and order case are returned to they publicquiet Hillen'sjob was to observethegeneralconditionsin Digoel,to interviewthewellthosewho could be released.He stayedin Tanah Merahfor meaning,and to identify internees twentyto twenty-five days,visitedTanahTinggi,and interviewed forty-nine a day, totaling610. He wrotein his reportthatat a glance Tanah Merah looked prosperous-the houses looked well-kept,all covered with galvanized iron, the electriclighting theroadswellmaintained, alongthemainroads, gardenswell-tended, twoschools,a hospital,a smalltelephonelink,and a simplemovietheater.The native populationhe metbehavedwell,calmly,and in an orderlymanner,thoughhe noticed aftera shortwhilethatthereweresomewho he feltignoredhimand did notwantto to do withhim. have anything Butthesituationwas notas idyllicas itlooked,he wrote,becausethereweremany wereunwillingto workforthe as a matterofprinciple, who,opposingthegovernment material conditionsconsiderablyby their if could even they improve government, and shifting groups, doingso. The camppopulationwas dividedintomanydifferent and divided between those and ethnic defined and lines, alongpolitical parties cliques and thosewillingto work.Digoel reports who refusedto work,thosehalf-hearted, Hillenreminded weretoo optimistic, had sentto thecentralgovernment local officials his readers.ShortlyaftertheResidentof AmboinavisitedDigoel and submittedan he pointedout,severalinterneeswere optimisticreporton theinternees'mentality, and all thebridgesin thecampwere labor to corvie their refusal for perform punished Tidemanreportedin March1929 the Moluccas Governor in retaliation. of destroyed in the followingmonth,sixty-nine in but that"a good spirit"prevailed the camp, interneeswere sent to Tanah Tinggi,and in his subsequentAugust 1929 report remainedhostileto the Tidemanhimselfhad to admitthatabouthalfoftheinternees ofmanyofthosewellthe "conversion" whether he not was sure and that government was meaning genuine.20 Hillen argued,however,thattherewere not a few formerpeasants and small tradersin Digoel who knew littleabout communismand what the PKI and the SR (SarekatRakjat)were all about. He recommendedthat412 out of 610 interneeshe ofTanah Tinggias the could be released,whilesuggestingtheretention interviewed He also had a serious for the (recalcitrants). second internment onverzoenlijken camp He argued thatits Tanah Merah. at doubtabout thefutureof theinternment camp of thesoil and malariashould be weighed "greatdisadvantages"such as infertility November8,1928,p. 1649. fromHandelingen Volksraad, 18Ibid.,p. 338,originally derMolukken(J.Tideman),27 dec. 1928,"in Kwantes, aan gouverneur 19"le Gouvernements-secretaris De Ontwikkeling: 1933,p. 167. 1928-Aug. 20"RapportHillen,"in Kwantes, De Ontwikkeling: 1933,pp. 460-463. 1928-Aug.

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againstthe advantageof its isolationwhen it came timeto decide on thefutureof sensible." appearsto mepolitically Digoel and that"a timelyretreat have been returned,the settlement in Afterthewell-disposed[goedgezinden] Tanah Tinggican be abolishedand its populationbe combinedwiththose in theprocessofselectionshouldalso Tanah Merah.In thenew place ofinternment whose those for continueof changes thebetter,so thateventuallythe mentality can be countedby tensand numberofthosewho have to be keptin internment not by hundreds.Then,perhaps,thisnew place ofexilecan also be abolishedin can be put in small the not too distanta futureand theremainingincorrigibles in in the various where can archipelago, places they stayin themiddleofa groups apatheticpopulation.21 politically De Graeffclearly saw his "humane" project failing. He acted on Hillen's recommendationsimmediately.The camp in Tanah Tinggi was made an official He agreedwithHillenaboutthedesirability internment of camp fortherecalcitrants. internment to else under the the somewhere of the transferring camp government Moluccas and instructedthe directorof internaladministrationto appoint a commissionto studythe matter.In December1930 he also decided to release 219 to institute interneesfromDigoel.22Butthetimeleftwas tooshortforde Graeff a new new of internment. in Bonifacius 1931, governorgeneral May regime Appointed in September1931.In January Cornelisde JongecametotheIndiestoreplacede Graeff 1931he decidedtoretainDigoelas theinternment camp.23 Yet a bureaucraticprecedencewas set with de Graeff'sdecision to release internees.Notwithstandingthe shiftin Buitenzorgfrom liberal de Graeffto authoritarian de Jonge,interneeswereregularlyreleasedafterthatand theinternee showed cabinet steadydeclinefrom1930to 1936.J.Th.PetrusBlumberger, population ofcoloniesin TheHague and theforemost chiefofthedepartment on the native expert in thenotehe sentto movementsin theIndiesin his time,gave thefollowing statistics ofcoloniesin October1937.24 theminister

21Ibid.,pp. 464,469-470. 22 Kwantes,De 1933,p. 470. Ontwikkeling: 1928-Aug. 23 Kwantes,De Ontwikkeling: decisions Aug.1933-1942, p. 319. Itwas perhapsone ofmanyinsignificant de Jongemadeas Governor Mr.B.C.deJonge vanJhr. metbrieven General,forinhismemoir, Herinneringen uitzijnnalatenschap Wolters-Noordhoff, 1968),hedoes notmentionthisdecisionevenin (Groningen: passing. 24ThenumbersforMay 1930arefrom "RapportHillen"inKwantes,De Ontwikkeling: 1928-Aug.1933,p. Kabinetvanhetdepartement van koloniian, 15okt.1937,"in 463;therestis from"Notavan de afdeling Kwantes,De Ontwikkeling: Aug.1933-1942, pp. 468-469.


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TheInternee Populationin Digoel As of May 1930 Jan.1931 Jan.1932 Jan.1933 Jan.1934 Jan.1935 Jan.1936 Jan.1937

Total 1308 1178 793 553 440 416 419 446

in TanahTinggi 70 82 69 66 60 60 71 64

oftheinterneesat notedin his reportthataboutthree-quarters PetrusBlumberger Hillen's time had been released by January1937,while about one hundrednew interneesarrivedin Digoel in theseyears.We can tellfromthenew arrivalswho the saw as mostdangerousenemiesofthestate.In theyearsfrom1930 Indiesgovernment to 1934 theystillincluded"PKI and SR leaders and propagandists"internedafter havingservedtheirprisonsentencesbecause of theirinvolvementin the revoltsin More prominent less importance. were 1926and 1927.Buttheywere of increasingly the Sarekat Kaum Boeroeh the "red" trade union of members central, leading Indonesia (SKBI, IndonesianTrade Union), internedin 1930,and above all PARI "leadersand agents"suchas Soenarjo,Mardjono,Sarosan,DjamaloeddinTamin,Daja bin Joesoef, Kandor,and manyothers,internedfrom1931to 1934.Indeed,afterthe its membershipmeantan almost discoveryof the PARI underground, government in wake ofthegovernment in the the 1930s. ticket to sureone-way Then, clamp Digoel such as in 1933-1934, non-communists nationalists down on the"non-cooperationist" Permi(PerhimpoenanMoesliminIndonesia,IndonesianMuslims'Association)and PSII (PartaiSarekatIslam Indonesia,IndonesianIslamicAssociationParty)leaders fromWest Sumatra(MoechtarLoetfi,Ilyas Jacob,JalaloeddinThaib and several others),Hatta,Sjahrir,and theirfiveotherPendidikanNasionalIndonesia(PNI-Baru, Indonesian National Education) friends,Partindo (Partai Indonesia, Party of Indonesia)leadersfromNorthSumatra(MoehidinNasoetion,Abdul Hamid Loebis and severalothers)wentto Digoel. And finallya new generationofPARI,PNI-Baru, and Moesso's PKI-Mudaleaders(JahjaNasoetionand Dawood ofthePARI,"Moscow agent"AmirHamzah Siregar,AhmadSoemadiand DjokosoedjonoofthePKI-Muda, Moerad and BermawiLatifofthePNI-Baru,amongmanyothers)again swelled the in 1936. rankofDigoel internees also made two importantdecisionsto fineIn 1936-1937theIndies government Hatta tuneitsinternment policyand practice.In thefirstplace,in decidingto transfer and SjahrirfromDigoel to Banda Neira in early 1936, the governmentin effect As trained"intellectuals." concludedthatDigoel was notappropriateforuniversity Dr. Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemoand Mr. Iwa Koesoemasoemantriwere internedin Banda Neira and Ir. Soekarnoin Ende,thishad been a practiceas old as Digoel,but to Banda, thissegregationof "intellectual"interneesapart from withtheirtransfer


Digoel became an establishedpolicy.As residentof theMoluccas observedin April "becauseoftheireducation, 1936,thoseforwhomtheDigoelregimewas inappropriate somewhere else.25 orbirth"weretobe interned refinement Stachouwerreplacedde Jonge afterA. W. Tjardavan Starkenborgh Second,shortly as governorgeneral,theprosecutorgeneral'sofficeinvestigatedin August1936 the releasedfromprison.The study and 2,500ex-communists situationof800ex-Digoelists and 180ex-PKIconvictswerestillunderclosepolice foundthatforty-five ex-Digoelists surveillancebecause of theirpotentialthreatto public order,but thatfew posed a The prosecutorgeneral threatseriousenoughto warrantinternment/reinternment.26 but concludedthatitwas desirabletoreleaseinternees steadily, at thesame timemade even afterthe itclearthatthosewho triedto developtherevolutionary underground the communists was PARI measure against implemented-namely government leaders and propagandistsand Moscow trainedCominternagents-as well as the in TanahTinggihshouldnotbe releasedfromDigoel at all. interned recalcitrants hisnotetominister ofcoloniesWelterfor submitted BythetimePetrusBlumberger become an had review, therefore, Digoel long indispensablecomponentof the policy Indies politicalpolicingregime,an internment camp inappropriateforuniversitywho could a correction educated "intellectuals," camp forall sortsof recalcitrants, the behaved for their in well and release if, government's judgment,they only hope theirwillingness demonstrated to cooperatewithitday in,dayout,formanyyears.By thenDutch officialshad long stoppedtalkingabout Digoel as a projectto createa normalcolonyin an isolatedoutpostoftheempire.Not verymanyperhapsbothered to get trouble-makers about it. It was simplythere,conveniently, out of sightand, to from scare trouble-makers potential becomingtoo troublesome. equallyimportant, Yet therewas lifein Digoel,normalon thesurface,butin factprofoundly perverted, thesole meaningofwhichwas revealedbyliberation fromitone fineday. A TourofTanah Merah Digoel was ideallyisolatedfromtheIndies'policingpointofview.Tanah Merah, centerand thesiteof themaininternment theadministrative camp,was located455 from to Tanah Merah river-the the river's kilometers the distance mouth up Digoel 25 "ResidentderMolukken(B.J.Haga) aan 15april1936,"in Kwantes, (De Jonge), gouverneur-generaal De Ontwikkeling: p. 337. Aug.1933-1942, 26Butthisdoes notmeanthatno ex-Digoelists werereinterned. "Promoters and cadres[kernleden]" of whatprosecutor in criminal and Kediri Madiun were generalMarcellacalleda communist organization reinterned in 1935.FirdausHaroenrasjid, former protegeofHadjiMisbachand chiefeditorof toDigoelin 1935becauseofhis journal,Adil,inSolo,afterhisrelease,was returned Moehammadijah attackon thegovernment inhispublication. those Among ex-Digoelists placedunderpolicesurveillance wereMoefandialias BoediardjoinSolo becauseofhiscontactwithAmirHamzahSiregar,"a Comintern agent"senttoJavabytheBritish Malaya-basedAnti-Imperialist League;OesmangelarSoetanKeadilan who was sentencedto threeyear'simprisonment in WestSumatrabecauseofpressoffenses; oneexconvictsuspectedofhiscontactwiththePARI;abouttwenty and ex-convicts who ex-Digoelists sixty inWestSumatrawhojoinedthePSII,thePermi, joinedthePartindoand thePNI-baru;and 45ex-convicts theHPII,and theMoehammadijah.Procureur Generaal[hereafter PGJ(H. Marcella)aan G G (Tjarda Starkenborgh-Stachower), Sept.4, 1936,Mr.262x/37.

ThePhantom WorldofDigoel 103

was equal to thedistancefromBataviato Semarangor fromAmsterdamto Paris-in theheartofthethickand hostilejungleand rightin themiddleofNew Guinea,closeto theborderwithAustralianNew Guinea.TanahTinggi,thesecondinternment camp, kilometers river from it.It fromTanahMerah,locatedfifty was isolatedyetfurther up tookthreeand a halfdays to travelfromtheriver'smouthto Tanah Merahby the police ship,Albatros,and fivemorehoursto journeyfromTanah Merah to Tanah Tinggibymotorboat. hot and humid, barren,and very sparsely The area was malaria-infested, populated-the internees'neighborsbeing "head-hunters"and "cannibals" in the In itsearlyyears,twomenweresnatchedintothe jungleand crocodilesin theriver.27 water by crocodiles when bathing, one of whom was internee "no. 528," former guruofIslamAbangan,who emergedon centerstageofthe Mangoenatmodjo, movementtogetherwith Hadji Misbach and Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo in the in theheadyyearsof1919and 1920.28 Surakartan countryside theinternment Therewas no barbedwireencircling camp,no watchtowers.On the wire.The interneeswere barbed lived behind their families and soldiers the contrary, radiusfromthecamp. kilometer freeto wanderaroundand staywithina twenty-five as west and in the Butone couldgo nowhere south, anyonewho everattempted north, to escape learnedfromhis "deathmarch."If therewas evereven a slightchancefor escape, the routehad to be to the east-going overlandthroughthe thickjungle, withPapuans,crossingoverthecrocodile-infested Mandobo, avoidinganyencounter There in the Australian River the and and Kaoh, territory. Muyu rivers, reaching Fly internees in which at escape from1929to 1943,Salimsays, weresixteenattempts sixty Merah.29 Tanah from rest the and from Tanah about Tinggi forty participated, Najoan, who Salim calls "JunglePimpernel,"made altogetherfourattemptsat escape,thelastin 1942,less thana yearbeforethecampwas closed,onlyto disappear in the jungle. Dahlan and Soekrawinata,two formerleaders of the revolutionary in Batavia,werekilledby Mappi-Papuansin thejungle.Butonlyone-third committee and mostof theescapees who of theattemptsto reachtheFlyRiverweresuccessful, to ThursdayIsland,handed sent succeededwere arrestedby theAustralianpolice, overtotheDutchpolicethere,and shippedbacktoDigoelbythepoliceship.The most successfulwas a groupled by Sandjojo,who crossedthe Torresstraitby boat and reachedtheThursdayIsland withoutanyassistancefromtheAustralianpolice.They stayedthereforsome timeand even opened a barbershop. But one of themsenta letterto his familyin Javaone day to ask formoney.A secretpolice agentwas sent fromJavainsteadofmoney.The escapeeswerearrestedby theAustralianpolicewith 27Salim,Vijftien BovenDigoel[Marco],"RiwajatBoven JaarBoven-Digoel, pp. 68,81,125;Verslaggever November no. 15,1929, Indonesia, 33, Digoel(1),"inPersatoean 28 Mangoenatmodjo on November from the 13,1928.See Mr.1140x/1928.Forhis camp disappeared in An see a as a career Motion, of leader, pp. 197-203. Age my pergerakan description 29Mrizeksaysthereweretwenty RudolfMraizek, 1935. 1927 and between at Sjahrir: attempts escape 1994),p. 130. The sectionon Digoel andExileinIndonesia Politics (Ithaca:CornellSoutheastAsia Program, inthisbook(pp. 128-153)is thebestavailableinEnglishaboutDigoel.


his assistance,handedoverto theIndiespolice,and shippedbackto Digoel.30No one, The freedomofmovement succeededin escapingDigoelin itsentirehistory. therefore, and residencein Digoelwas a farce.It onlymeantone was freeto getlostin nature,in thejungleinhabitedbyparasitesand hostilePapuans.31 Tanah Merah consistedof threedistinctareas separatedby small rivers:the terrain(bestuursterrein) wherethecivilianofficialslived,themilitary administrative and theinternment terrain, camp.Fora tourofTanahMerah,we have ChalidSalimas an excellenttourguide.He witnessedalmosttheentirehistoryofTanah Merahfrom July1927 to its closure in 1943 and knew everycornerof the place because he wanderedabout thereeveryday,forfifteen years,as a workerof themalariacontrol service,lookingforbreedinggroundsofanopheles.In his memoirhe startshis tourof TanahMerahfromthedockon theDigoelRiver.32 Fromthe dock ran a wide gravelroad,gentlysloping,up to thehill. Along the road, on the right-handside, was a long shed for "motorists,"staffhired for and past it wereseveralwell-keptstonehouses forthelowmotorboats, maintaining and all surroundedwithneatsmallgardens,on theleftcivilian policestaff, ranking forsailors,thebuilding hand side. Then,therewas a new guesthouse,pasanggrahan, wheresilentfilmsfeaturing whichused to be a civilianclubhouse,burgersocieteit, the likes of Tarzan, Tom Mix, and Douglas Fairbankswere shown with a simple projector.33 To theleftoftheguesthousewas a tenniscourtforciviliansand soldiers,thenthe well-kept"OranjePark"alongthelane,wherestoodthelargeand pompousresidence, almosta smallpalace, fortheadministrative head,an assistantresidentin the1930s, and nexttoitthemoremodesthouseforthemilitary a captain. garrisoncommander, To therightoftheguesthouserana wide gravelroad,alongwhichstooda power a civilprisonand a Catholicchurchwithitsmissioncenter. station,a telephoneoffice, Furtherdown thegravelroad was a shootingrangeon therightand a largeempty fieldwhichborderedtheinternment camp to thenorth,wherein thelate 1930san air fieldwas built.34 theirlabor At thesmallpowercenterand thetelephoneofficeworkedinternees, in of those civil to the offices. the functioning Discipline prisonwas lax indispensable Salimrecalls.In thelate1930swhenhe was doinga routineroundas a and easy-going, 30Salim,Vijftien JaarBoven-Digoel, pp. 293-304. 31Ibid.,pp. 144-145;TimPenyusunPembuatan BukuSejarahPerintis Kemerdekaan SosialRI Departemen Ex Digul(Jakarta: CitradanPerjuangan Perintis Kemerdekaan Tahun1976/1977, Direktorat SeriPerjuangan BantuanSosialDepartemen Sosial,1977),p. 75. Jenderal 32ChalidSalim,bornin 1902inWestSumatraand a brother ofanti-communist CSI-PSIleaderHadji Agus Deliandbanishedto Salim,was arrestedinMedaninOctober1927whenhe was an editorofPewarta DigoelinJuly1927. Beforehisarrestand exile,he was activein thePKI and theSR,as an editorofWest Hindia,and thenSurabayanPKI newspaperProletar (underMoesso'schiefSumatranPKI organ,Halilintar JaarBovenDigoel,pp. 27-28. editorship).Salim,Vijftien 33Ibid.,p. 123. 34Ibid.,p. 124.

The Phantom WorldofDigoel 105

workerof themalariacontrolservice,Salim saw one of two police agentson prison withinmates,whileall guarddutysittingon a matand playingthecardgame,"tjeki," thecelldoorsstoodwide openand theothermanon dutyhappilydozed. Shortlyafter was coming.In an instantthematwas that,theguardalertedthepeoplethatan officer rolledup and putaway,theinmateswerebackto theirown cells,and whentheofficer arrivedand walked along thecells,he was by theguardwho reportedin a greeted routinevoice:"Nothingspecialtoreport, sir."35 If one walked the originalwide gravelroad to the northfromthe intersection wherestoodtheguesthouseand thepowerstation,one would cometo a well-stocked sidecorner.Itsfirstowner,Tan Toey,who was a small Chinesestoreon theright-hand toopen twostores, a concessionfromthegovernment in obtained shopkeeper Ambon, in the internment terrainand theother one in theadministrative camp. He made a small fortunethroughhis commercialmonopolyon Digoel and thenreturnedto twoChinesestoreownerswereinvitedto open up shop; Ambon.Afterhis departure, it was hoped competitionbetween themwould forestallthe establishmentof a Tan Toey'sstores,eventually openeda monopoly.One ofthem,Tan Tjo,who inherited witha pool tableand servedbeerwithice.36 "modern"restaurant firstbuiltin 1927for Nextto Tan Tjo's storewereresidencesfornativeofficials, Sundanesewedana(districthead), Soeria Atmadja,and his Minangkabauassistant, Furtheralong the gravelroad was the administrative office,whereseveral Bitek.37 a few (commiezen), interneesworkedalongsidetheadministrative head, two officers this in tried were cases Criminal his assistant. wedana and the Ambonese clerks, mainly to do with had head as judge; thecases mostly building,too,withtheadministrative butmattersinvolvingwomenand,once in a while,violentcases were minoroffenses, judged thereas well.In thebuildingwas a specialsecludedroom,theDigoel archives, fattened wheredossiersofall internees, provided by constantstreamsofinformation classifiedand on theirconduct,wereneatlyand systematically by spiesand informers stored.38 churchin themiddle To thenorthoftheadministrative buildingstooda Protestant turned road the east,were the of a grassfield.In frontof thechurch,where gravel Further civiland policeofficers. housesfortheonlydoctorin Digoeland high-ranking down along the road extendeda large grass field,"reclaimed"originallyfromthe jungleforricecultivationat theorderof an assistantresidentto make Digoel "selfsupporting."This riceprojectwas disaster.The fieldwas leftemptyformanyyears, cultivatedvegetablesand plantsthere,whichmade Digoel butin lateryearsinternees in vegetables.39 self-sufficient 35 Ibid.,pp. 125-126. 36Ibid.,p. 126. were makessense,giventhefactthattwolargestethnicgroupsofinternees 37Thisethniccombination fromWestJavaand WestSumatra. 38Ibid.,pp. 126-127. 39Ibid.,pp. 127-128.


The gravelroad thenled to a largeemptyfield,originally openedforan air fieldin 1937. That year a miningcompany,NederlandschNieuw Guinea, called simply "Goldmine,"cametoDigoeltoprospectforgold.ItbroughtchangetoTanahMerahby in Digoelhad livedfortenyearsand breakingthe"deadlycalm"in whicheverybody openinga new windowto the"civilized"world;beforethistime,theinternees'only "window"to theworldhad beenprovidedbykapalpoetih, thepoliceship,whichcame to TanahMerahonce a monthand,in 1933,onceeverysixweeks.Manyforeignships came to Tanah Merah withthe "Goldmine."Enormousquantitiesof materialwere landedat thedockand transported bylorriestotheemptyfield.An air fieldwas built withhangarsand houses forthestaff.The "Goldmine"also builtitsown post office, radio station,and residentialquarter,wherelivedabout230 people-Dutch officers, Javaneselaborers,and Dayak gaugers-headed by CaptainBecking,thefirstmilitary administrator in Digoel. Buttheexplorationdid notgo well.In 1939,in less thantwoyearsafteritsarrival, the companydecided to pull out. Most of the buildingswere dismantledand its materialcarriedaway.The airfieldwentbacktoan emptygrassfield.Digoel returned to a solitary, calm,outpostoftheempirein themiddleoftheprimevalforest. stiflingly The populationinsidetheadministrative terrainwas backagain to about 120,though manyPapuans regularl' stayedthere,wanderingaroundforseveralmonthsbefore tothejungle. returning Ifone followedthegravelroadtothenorthinsteadofgoingstraight to theairfield, one passed a small bridge to reach the militaryterrainand, furthernorth,the internment located,in betweentwo small camp. The military camp was strategically terrainand the otherfromthe creeks,one separatingit fromthe administrative internment terrainhad to show camp. An interneewho wentto theadministrative his/herpass to thearmedguardsstandingat theentrancepostof themilitary camp. The entirecamp,called tangsi,was encircledwithbarbedwire and guarded witha watch post at its everycorner.As Salim says, the militarycamp, more than the internment Thiswas truefora good reason.. camp,lookedlikea concentration camp.41 As a 1928 government reportexplicitlystated,themilitaryterrainwas demarcated withbarbedwire fromtheinternment camp to protectsoldiersand convictlaborers frominternees'"extremist" propagandaand to preventunwantedcontactsbetween internees and thosewho livedin themilitary and administrative terrains.42 In themilitary thegarrisoncommander'soffice, a campwerethesoldiers'barracks, a munitionsdepot,a radiostation,a canteen,a prison,kitchens, a women's sick-ward, quarter,and a smallexercisefield.The originalcamp facilitieswerebuiltin hastein 1927, made of wood and covered with thatchedroof,in time for the arrival of internees.In 1934,however,GovernorGeneralde Jongedecided to make thecamp semi-permanent, despitethefactthathe was frantically cuttingback on government 40 Ibid.,pp. 129-131. 41Ibid.,pp. 132-133and 144. 42"Overzicht vande Inwendigen Politieken Toestand(1924-15April1928),"inMededeelingen derRegeering (Mei1928),p. 13.

ThePhantom WorldofDigoel 107

expenditureselsewhere to cope with the financialcrisis caused by the Great Depression.Thoughhis 1932decisiontoretainDigoelwas notknownto theinternees, camp thattheinternment camp had theylearnedfromtherenovationof themilitary a establishment.43 the as beenredefined government semi-permanent by housedfiveand laterseveninfantry Themilitary platoons,each garrisonoriginally or native men under a with sixteen to European sergeant.Their twenty platoon missionwas to maintainthelocal quietand orderin Tanah Merah,to takeon guard duty periodicallyat Tanah Tinggi,and to patrol the entireDigoel region. Like anywhereelse in theIndies,soldiers'familiesalso lived in the camp, in a separate officers, soldiers,theirwives barrack;thusEuropeanand nativenon-commissioned and children,and convictlaborersformeda small world of theirown inside the apartfromtherestofDigoel.44 garrison, camp and crossinganothersmallbridgeovera creek,the Passingby themilitary wide gravelroadled to and ranstraight camp,dividingitinto throughtheinternment side two sections.Once a personenteredthecamp,thefirstbuildingon theleft-hand WilhelminaHospital.Alongthemainstreetwere was a smallclinicfortheinternees, on thejungletothenorth,KampungC, situatedon the KampungsA, B,and bordering leftside ofthestreetand backedbytheDigoelRiver. In theearlyyearsinterneeslivedseparately, segregatedalong ethniclines.To the was river the on northend of the camp, side, kampungUdjung Sumatra,whose inhabitantswere predominantly Minangkabaus.Acehneseand Lampongerslived and Sundanese-gatheredin their PeoplesfromJava-Madurese,Javanese, separately. own quarters.Bantenese,most of themparticipantsin the 1926 revoltin Banten, formedyetanotherseparategroup.Conflictsoftenarose betweentheJavaneseand Sumatrans.Sumatransfoundit ludicrousto see a Javaneseinternee-official being followedby anotherinterneewitha parasol.Theyalso dismissedtheJavanesearts, Javanesepoems),dance(tandak), wayang(shadowplay),and ketoprak (reciting tembang and moreinterneeswere returned as more and went As time as feudal. theater, by less became ethnic differences patterns.45 home,however, pronouncedin residential locatedon the right-handside of the main A congressbuilding,congresgebouw, for a theatre as used was street, showingfilmsand as a gatheringplace on festive becameapatheticand deeply demoralized internees when occasions.In lateryears, due to theirprolongedisolation,itwas leftunusedand desolate. Houses were relativelywell built,made withwood and zink roofs,some with plasteredwalls and raisedfloors.An interneefromJeparaeven decoratedhis house withfinewood carving.The schoolwas in KampongB,whereinterneeteacherstaught in Indonesianand Dutch.Salimdescribeslisteningtoschoolchildrensinging"merry, oftheschool.46 typicalDutch,ballads"as he stoodin front 43Salim,Vijftien JaarBoven-Digoel, pp. 133-134. 44 Ibid., pp. 135-136.

45Salim,Vijftien JaarBoven-Digoel, pp. 225-226. 46Ibid.,pp. 137-139.


was in KampungB. It was headed by The mainofficeforkampungadministration and then and had itsown policeforce,namedtheROB, Gondojoewono Boedisoetjitro Rusten Orde Bewaarders(Quietand OrderGuards).TheROB workedcloselywiththe and itspoliceforceand was headed in itsearlyyearsby Soeprapto local government fromSalatiga.47 A small mosque, built in 1928,was in KampungC. Shortlyaftertheirarrival, leaders Haroenrasjidand AhmadDasoeki,bothHadji Misbach'sprotegesand former of the Islamic Communistmualiminmovementin Solo, established a mosque ComiteMasigit,to opena sectionin thenearbyforestand build a mosque. committee, Natar Zainoedin,Hadji Datoek Batoeah,Hadji AchmadHatib,and otherreligious leaders fromWest Sumatraand Bantenestablishedanotherassociation,Al Islam In Marco's and supportedthemosque committee. Association(Al Islamvereeniging) was an associationto unifyMuslimsand the words,"theAIV [Al Islamvereeniging] CM [ComiteMasigit]became its executivecommittee."The local governmentthen issueamongMuslims.The proposedto fundpartoftheproject,creatinga contentious moneyforbuildinga mosque. The Al majoritydid not want to acceptgovernment dissolved.Buttheminority wentahead IslamAssociationwas splitand subsequently a and built Their leaders were then anyway,acceptedgovernment subsidy, mosque. as Marco wrote officials, appointed government contemptuously. Haroenrasjidbecame religioushead, of themosque.Hadji Emed becamea tukang,workman,to penghulu, and AhmadDasoeki becamea memberof swearin interneesas government officials, theROB.48 Not farfromthemosquewas a tenniscourtthatBoedisoetjitro had builtto showto no one Dutch but used. the main were street severalstoresrun officials, visiting Along in The the was that of Tan and later of Tan Tjo, but Chinese. largest camp by Toey therewere smallerstores,warungs(stalls),and photo studiosowned by internees. Englishwords were oftenused forsignboards-"Englishteacher,""Barbershop," and "Laundress."49 "Hairdresser," In theeveningpeople gatheredhereand therein frontofhouses,enjoyingcool air and smokingklobot(cornhusk)-rolled cigarettes.Sounds of guitar,mandolin,and sometimesviolinwereheard.Salim'shousewas in KampongB. It consistedofa small frontverandahand a smallroomand a bedroominside.Therewas a rattanchairon the verandah,a small table with two stools in the room,and a sleeping couch Dutchcoloredmosquitonetin thebedroom.Drinking overhungwitha red-white-blue, watercould be had fromthewater-butt nearby,butin thedryseasonone had to go to theriverforbathing.In theevening,Salimrecalls,he read booksunderthelightofa petroleumlamp. He boughtbooks at the auctionsdepartingcivilianand military 47Ibid.,p. 139;Verslaggever Indonesia, BovenDigoel(Marco),"RiwajatBovenDigoel(I)," Persatoean November15,1929,No. 33;TimPenyusunPembuatanBukuSejarahPerintis Citradan Kemerdekaan, Perintis Kemerdekaan Ex 75. Seri Perjuangan Perjuangan Digul,p. 48Verslaggever BovenDigoel(Marco),"RiwajatBovenDigoel(IV),"Persatoean no. 36,January Indonesia, 1, 1930. 49 Salim,Vijftien JaarBoven-Digoel, p. 140.


109

He also benefited fromHatta'sarrival,forHattabroughtwith officers held regularly. of cases books.50 himtoTanahMerahfifteen in TanahMerah,likeanywhere A lelang, auction,was a greatoccasionforinternees else in theIndies.It was always held in theevening.Aftera day's work,internees, terrainin dressedas elegantlyas theycould,wentto themilitaryor administrative the armed need to show their to did not such On occasions guard passes they groups. at the entranceof the militarycamp. Theywere guests,and merrilymingledwith werepassed around. civiliansand soldiers.Drinkswereserved.Cigarsand cigarettes was played.And thehostwas alwaysveryniceand friendly.51 TheGramophone Anothergreatoccasionwas theQueen Wilhelmina'sbirthday.The OranjeHouse was a symbolof theempire,and in thosedays herportraitswere hung all over the Indies, in governmentand business offices,in the houses of practicallyevery European,Chinese,and nativenotable,and in manyvillagesin thefrontverandah in Digoel. On herbirthdaya (pendopo)of thevillageheadman.So wereherportraits delegationwentto thehouse oftheassistantresidentearlyin themorningto express in the name of all internees.A soccermatchwas held in the theircongratulations in the and afternoon, eveningorange-cladpeople organizeda lanternprocessionand in Tanah to see a play. In Oranjefestivities wentto thecivilianclub,burgersocieteit, also the thosewho refusedto workfor Merahnota fewnaturalisten, government, withthosewillingtoworkforthegovernment.52 together participated Interneesestablishedmanyassociations:theopera club "Orient,"themusicand theSundanesetheatrical Pasoendan,the troupeKebinangkitan operagroup"Liberty," Moedo (led and by a Solonese Matojo Javaneseketoprak wayangorangtroupe,Langen and Mohamad headed Samsoedin a and Jasin internee), Katjamata by group kroncong of final to the lasted which fromMedan. The mostimportant club, days Digoel,was the Kunsten Sportvereeniging Digoel, Digoel Artsand SportsAssociation.It was establishedin 1928 under Winanta'sleadership;Abdul Xarim'sjazz band, Digoel Concert, belongedtothisclub.53 To thenorthend ofthemainstreet, borderingon thejungle,wereremainsof the long-abandonedKampungUdjung Sumatraon the riverside, and next to it, the tillthelastdays of thecamp.Those who graveyardwhichwas keptwell-maintained werealso buriedthere.Many Marco and Aliarcham, died in Tanah Tinggi,including werevictimsofmalaria.54 The main streetturned east there.Along this stretchwere the remains of Kampungs D, E, F, and G, by the late 1930s overgrownwith weeds and being 50Ibid.,p. 141. 51Ibid.,pp. 141-142. 52Ibid.,pp. 231-233. BovenDigoel(Marco),"RiwajatBovenDigoel(IV),"Persatoean 53 Ibid.,pp. 237-238;Verslaggever Citra Kemerdekaan, no.36,January 1,1930,;TimPenyusunPembuatanBukuSejarahPerintis Indonesia, 84. Ex Kemerdekaan Perintis danPerjuangan SeriPerjuangan Digul,p. 54Salim,Vijftien JaarBoven-Digoel, p. 142.


"reclaimed"by nature.Thesequarterswereabandonedone by one in theearly1930s and thecamppopulationdeclinedfrom wheninternees startedtobe releasedregularly thepeak of 2,100in 1929to less than1,000by themid 1930s.The populationof the internment camp at the end of 1939was 580 in total,355 men,66 women,and 159 children.55 The PhantomWorldof Digoel socialand familylifewith So therewas lifein Digoel,noteasy,butlifenonetheless, itsown smallhappinessand messiness.Digoel,withitsown smallpalace,OranjePark, and thenativequarters,lookedlikeanyothersmalltownin the themilitary garrison, a It was this"perverted even little Butlifein Digoelwas perverted. Indies, Buitenzorg. if which can be identifiedas the normalcy," we use RudolfMrizek's precisewords, hallmarkofDigoel.56 To see how perverted lifewas in Digoel,we onlyneed to thinkaboutChalidSalim, our tourguide of Tanah Merah,who has leftpowerfuldescriptionsof lifein Digoel whichat timesremindus ofGarciaMarquez's OneHundredYearsofSolitude.A wellmanin hismid-twenties whenhe was sentto Digoelin 1927,Salim educatedintelligent workedforthe malariacontrolservice,lookingforbreedingplaces of anophelesmalarialmosquitoes-dayin,day out,movingfromone ditchto anotherand fromone to another,forfifteen notwhathe wantedto do in his watertank years.Itwas certainly life-he was and perhapswantedto be a journalist-buthe perseveredbecause this was his way of keepinghis sanityin Digoel and disciplininghimselfbothphysically and mentally.No doubthe was awarethathis cooperationmightimprovehis chance to be releasedfromDigoel,butat thesame time,he could notaffordto entertain any real hopes for release because that would make his life in Digoel even more weretherein Digoel in ordernotto unbearable.Salimwas notan exception.Internees be there,to returnhomeone fineday.Or theyweretheretosuppresstheirhope notto to themselves be thereas the signthattheyhad notcapitulatedand to demonstrate thattheyhad notgivenup something whichmadetheirlifemeaningful. butdeeplyinstitutionalized. was notjustpsychological, Thispervertedness Salim theinterneelifein Digoel.It consisted talksabouta setofcategorieswhichstructured offourmaincategoriesin TanahMerah. thewilling-to-work. The firstwas de werkwilligers, Theyworkedin manydifferent in and clerks the local as chiefs governmentoffice,nurses in the kampung jobs, clerksand coolies in the harbor workers for the malaria control service, hospital, in the center and the telephoneoffice,and technical workers warehouses, power in All manual laborers the fields. in thiscategorywere government employed.The lowliestpaid were fieldworkers,theirwage being 40 centsa day, about f.10.50a in the morningto one o'clock in the afternoon. month,forwork fromseven thirty Clerksand technicalworkerswerebetterpaid, a monthlysalaryfromf.18.75to f.30, officewho obtainedf.90a month.The and thebestpaid was a clerkin thegovernment 55 Ibid., p. 143. 56 See Mrazek,

Sjahrir,p. 141.


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werewillingto workforthegovernment, oftheinternees because they greatmajority was confirmed their after Hillen's believed fromthe beginning-and expectation visit-thatitwould improvetheirchancestobe releasedfromDigoel.57 The second categoryof interneeswho had less chanceof being releasedwas de storeand warung theself-employed-fishermen, vegetablefarmers, eigenwerkzoekenden, (stall) owners,barbers,bakers,tailors,shoemakers, privateteachers. photographers, a man untiltheycould rice 18 were food month, rations, kilogram per given They the or invalidswas de steuntrekkers,relief-recipients supportthemselves.The third people with serious chronicillness such as incurablemalaria and tuberculosis, neurosesand insanitycaused in mostcases by theirlongisolation,greatsolitude,and homesickness. so calledbecausetheyrefused thenaturalists, was denaturalisten, Thefinalcategory free foodrationsin naturafrom received and the for work toperform government any as them undesirable"extremists," local authorities the Since thegovernment. regarded theywerenaturaltargetsofspieswho weremany,and theirconduct,bothfabricated In the and real,was regularlyand systematically reportedto thelocal government. sent and arrested were a few not naturalists the of suddenly camphistory, earlyyears in Tanah for the internment recalcitrants, to thesecond Tinggi. onverzoenlijken, camp had no chancetobe returned home,and theywereawareofit.As such The naturalists men of "principle,"theirpresenceremindedthe restof internees,above all those that thattheyhad somehow "capitulated,"an acknowledgement willing-to-work, resentment.58 often more but elicited sometimes admiration, is lowthislastcategory,theonverzoenlijken, thecategory, In Salim's explanation, fact the be influenced his account the into assimilated and naturalisten; by may keyed this add If we Merah. in Tanah internees the thathe speaks mainlyof category, similarto thatgivenby Hillen in his 1930 however,his explanationis remarkably report.Accordingto Hillen,theDigoel interneeswere classifiedintofivecategories: 110 total,who which included the employed,geemploieerden, the willing-to-work, workedas policemen,telephoneworkers,teachersand so on,and werepaid monthly 380 men and women,who worked forthe dagloners, salary,and the day-laborers, 225 in total,who mainlyin agriculture;the naturalists,naturalisten, government, refusedto workand receivedfoodrations;therecalcitrants, onverzoenlijken, seventy and and men 350 the women; in Tanah interned finallythe men, Tinggi; self-employed, total.59 invalids,forty evolvedearly and theinternees, sharedbothbythegovernment Thisclassification, thefirstman of in thehistoryofDigoel.Whenthecampwas stillunderconstruction, Becking,was investedwithpowerswhichincluded, Captain-administrator authority, among others,the power to search internees,to hold morningroll-calls,and to require

57Ibid.,pp. 217-218. 58Ibid.,pp. 221-225.

in 1933,p. 463. See also OngkoD's statement 59"RapportHillen,"inKwantes,De Ontwikkeling: 1928-Aug. Charles an with introduction translated Out Soetan Exile, by Sjahrir, of Sudyono,PKI Sibar,pp. 71-72; Wolf,Jr.(New York:TheJohnDay Company,1949),pp. 53-54.


corvielaboreverydaywiththepay off.31.50a month.After each interneeto perform the visit of the governorof the Moluccas in July1927,however,this regimewas changed,perhapsto keep "special measures"to a minimum,followingde Graeff's In a new regulationwhichwas to stay tillthe end of the morestrictly. instruction camp, the interneeswere allowed to choose whetheror not to work for the each internee was tobe givenallowanceoff.0.72a day innatura;and only government; werepaid additionalf.0.30a day in cash.60 thosewillingto workforthegovernment as well as theothertwo thosewillingto workand thenaturalists, The twocategories, and theinvalids,resulteddirectlyfromthis auxiliarycategoriesof theself-employed regulation. The new regulation,however,was met with interneeresistance.Under the was leadership of formerPKI centralleaders, a kampungcouncil (kampungraad) central in and as their the each CRD. Centraal Raad body, organized kampung Digoel or Digoel CentralCouncil,was formedby thekampungcouncilrepresentatives with PKI as the former and a former leader of the chairman, chairman, Soemantri, Sardjono, SemarangsectionofthePKI, as theexecutivehead. Marcowrotein his report,which was smuggledout in 1929and publishedin thePNI organPersatoean in late Indonesia 1929and early1930,in thesewords: When controleur[controller]Monsjou replaced Captain Bekking[sic] as [administrator] [in November 1927], the CRD and the kampung gezaghebber onderstand[allowances];2. Give us councils demanded: 1. Give us sufficient worktools. sufficient Such were the people's demands. They can put Digoel in good order by themselves. The only duty of the governmentis to provide its begrooting[budget]; [doctor].For[ourown] domesticaffairs responsibleforhealthshouldbe thedokter To [our]schoolsthegovernment we appointofficials. mayonlyprovidesubsidy. At thattimepeopleunderstoodand wantednottoreceiveonderstand permanently, butwantedto liveas freemen[orangmerdeka]. Theirpositionwas thattheydid notwanttobecomeworkersofwhateverkind boeroeh [kaoem apasadja]. [Their]good intentionwas always obstructedfromwithinand withoutlike CooperatieCD [CooperatieDigoel],PVD [Particuliere VeiligheidsDienst,Private SecurityService] and so on...61

Ifwe borrowAbdoelXarim'swords,theCRD and thekampungcouncilsthuswanted tocreate"New Australia-NewAmerica,"a colonyoffreemen,in Digoel.62Butnotall interneessupportedthe CRD, as Marco reported.Many werkwilligen feltthreatened

because they were under pressure to join the CRD and a kampung council but were 60Verslaggever BovenDigoel(Marco),"RiwajatBovenDigoel(IV),"Persatoean Indonesia, 1,1930; January Salim,Vijflien JaarBoven-Digoel, p. 237. 61Verslaggever BovenDigoel(Marco),"RiwajatBovenDigoel(III),"Persatoean Dec. 15,1929. Indonesia, 62AbdoelXarimM.S.,PandoeAnakBoeangan (Medan:Uitgevers "Aneka,"1933),p. 4. Genootschap


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afraidthatit mightjeopardizetheirchancesof release.R. M. Gondojoewono,former thenestablisheda vigilantegroup,PVD and memberof thePKI centralcommittee, withthegovernment.63 calledfortheircooperation On May 1, 1928,controller Monsjoudecidedto destroytheCRD and thekampung councils.Marcoagainwrites: Digoel withoutrelyingon thegovernPeople who could develop [memadjoekan] mentpowerwerearrestedand are now in exilebecause ofslander[fitnahan] ... on the to are who while leaning government prepared developDigoel by people so thattheyare soon returnedto theirold places [mendjilat] powerand flattering bythegovernment.64 As Marcosays,leadingmembersoftheCRD and thekampungcouncils,including Aliarcham,Dahlan, and Marco himself,were Sardjono,Soemantri,Boedisoetjitro, internment arrestedand sentto a temporary camp,Gudang Arang,southof Tanah Merah.It was notwell-locatedfora camp,however,foritwas floodedwheneverthe isolatedfromTanahMerah. waterleveloftheDigoelRiverrose.Norwas itsufficiently resistance against the their demonstrate to internees It was also possible for there.One day in March1929,thegovernorof theMoluccas,Monsjou's government his way to Tanah Merah for an inspectiontour. When his ship on was boss, stoodon theriverbankin a row,withtheir approachedGudangArang,itsinternees their backto theriver,pulleddown pants,and greetedhimwiththeirbarebuttocks.It to weretransferred was too muchforhim.Shortlyafterthat,GudangAranginternees outof kilometers TanahTinggi,forty up riverfromTanahMerahand thuscomfortably sight.65 oftheCRD, thebackboneofinterneeresistancewas broken. Withthedestruction and kampungchiefs soonthereafter was introduced "A normalvillageadministration" the local government: were appointedfromamong the leading cooperationists by for and Daris, Soeprapto KampungsA, B, Gondojoewono,Hamid Soetan,Soehirman, C, D, and E respectively.Gondojoewono's PVD, Private SecurityService, was intotheROD, Quiet and OrderGuards,and attachedto the kampung transformed the undersurveillanceand informed chiefs.It placed internees, especiallynaturalists, second and arrest for their of troublemakers, onverzoenlijken, government potential at TanahTinggi.66 internment was a rebelprince,Diponegoro, ofthenineteenth-century a descendent Javanese 63Gondojoewono, 1923to from committee central the a of member Moluccas,PKI, party leadingmemberoftheTernate, to in 1924. established union and dockers' the seamen's of chairman first the and According 1926, Ruth in 1923. in to Communism and Alimin Moesso converted he prison Tamin, Tjipinang Djamaloeddin Communism Press,1965),pp. 155,183,424,426, (Ithaca:CornellUniversity T. McVey,TheRiseofIndonesian and 461. 1,1930. Indonesia, BovenDigoel(Marco),"RiwajatBovenDigoel(IV),"Persatoean January 64Verslaggever 65Salim,Vijftien 269-270. JaarBoven-Digoel, pp. van de is from"Overzicht 66Thephrase,a normalvillageadministration [eennormaal dorpsbestuur] derRegeering Toestand(1924-15April1928),"inMededeelingen Politieken (Mei1928),p. 15. Inwendigen


From the governmentperspective,the whole point of the matterwas how to in the enforcethenew regulationand to introduce"a normalvillageadministration" internmentcamp. In its eyes, those who offeredresistanceto its effortwere FromMarco'sperspective, thequestionwas how to createa space for onverzoenlijken. in Digoel,and theirenemywas above all thosewho theirown freelife(hidoepmerdeka) with the government,flatteredit, and slandered them. Eitherway, cooperated however,thesame dividinglinewas drawnbetweenthoseonverzoenlijken/principled The constitution of the category,the and those werkwilligers/ass-lickers/slanderers. recalcitrants-andthe second internment camp forthiscategoryof onverzoenlijken, in for Tanah Merah-was indispensable introducing"normalcy"in Tanah people forthepoliticalpolicingoftheIndiesand makingits Merah.As Digoel was instituted colonial ordernormal,so was Tanah Tinggineeded forpolicingTanah Merahand makingitsordernormal. filledthelifein thetwo camps.In Tanah mentalities, therefore, Entirelydifferent Merahthosewilling-to-work formedthegreatmajority. wishedtobe Theydesperately releasedfromDigoel.The bettertheybehavedand themoretheycooperatedwiththe thebetterchancestheyknewtheyhad to returnhome.Theirexpectations government, AfterHillen'svisit,thosewho contributed were metby thegovernment. mostto the ofnormalcyin TanahMerah,Gondojoewono,Soeprodjo,and Soeprapto introduction among them,were released as early as 1931. Boedisoetjitro,who repentedhis in TanahTinggi,returned to TanahMerahand replacedGondojoewono incorrigibility as kampungchiefin 1931.In a fewyearshe toowas allowedto returnhome.67 The lifein TanahMerahin thepost-Hillendays thuscenteredon a tensemoment whenthelistofthenamesofthoseto be releasedwas put up on board in frontof the officeof kampungadministration. As thelistwas put up, manyinterneescrowded aroundtheboard to read it.Occasionallya jubilantvoicewas heard,but manymore wenthome disappointed,feelingtheywere "forgotten," and thenwaitedforanother tensemomenttocomein a fewmonths.68 The interneementalityin Tanah Tinggiwas different. It was the place forthe or it as Salim more those who were nekat,determined, onverzoenlijken put neutrally, and recalcitrant. their home stubborn, principled, Theysuppressed hope ofreturning and perseveredin thehellishlifein ordernotto capitulate.Aside fromregularfood rationsthegovernment to themselves. Therewas no provided,theywereleftentirely In 1930 therewere 115 inhabitants, 70 interneesand 45 kampungadministration. familymembersin TanahTinggi.The houses,43 in total,Hillenwrote,werebuilt"in places wherevertheychose,separatefromeach other,in the forest,surroundedby a short badlykeptgardens."The onlyroadtherewas theone builtby thegovernment, entranceroad leadingto TanahTinggi,and sincetheinternees refusedto makeroads on theirown,therewereevenno pathsto linkhouseswitheach other.An official sent See also Verslaggever BovenDigoel(Marco),"RiwajatBovenDigoel(IV),Persatoean Indonesia, 1, January 1930.Thestatements ofOngkoD and Nurutcanbe foundinSudyono,PKI-Sibar, pp. 68-69,92-93; 67WiroS. Miardjo'sstatement can be foundinSudyono,PKI-Sibar, p. 73. 68Salim,Vijftien JaarBoven-Digoel, p. 254.


115

fromTanah Merahstayedin a simpleguesthouse to keep his eyes on theinternees, buttheyshunnedhimexceptwhentheyreceivedfoodrationstwicea week.69 When Hillen visitedTanah Tinggi,he had an occasion to talk with Najoan, a formerleader of theVSTP, railwayunion,and a memberof thePKI since its ISDV Indies Social DemocraticAssociation) (IndischeSociaal-Democratische Vereeniging, wrote: He days. The notoriousNajoan declaredin earnest:"Lifeis reallyquiethere[Hetis daarwel rustigwonen]."Thismanhas lived in manyplaces in theArchipelagoin various Now he findsit "reallyquiet"in Tanah jobs and has also visitedtheNetherlands. Tinggi. This shows an abnormal psyche, and perhaps there are various .. . Whatevertheymaybe, theresidentsof amongtheonverzoenlijken psychopaths forthemomentforreturnto thefree TanahTinggido notcomeintoconsideration society.70 No doubtHillenthoughtNajoan,who eventuallydisappearedin thethickhostile junglein 1942in his fourthand lastattemptat escape,was crazy.Perhapshe thought thatNajoan and his fellowinmateshad succumbedto natureand were reducedto a naturewas theundisputedmasterin TanahTinggi.Hillen partofnature.Undoubtedly musthave feltthattheinmatescould not possiblycreatea humanworld,a human reality,there and that thereforenature remained,in all its majesty,the only unrealand towhichtheyappearedtobe phantoms, overwhelming reality-compared ghostlike.Damped in TanahTinggi,theyappearedto Hillento be reducedto natural human the specifically humancharacter, humanbeingswho lacked thespecifically from their different not real in naturalisten, very Papuan neighbors, reality, short, thoughwithouttheirfreedomand innocence.But the were not. They kept their humanrealityin thatphantomworldofDigoel. ghostlike The interneesin TanahTinggiweredividedintothree"cliques"in themid-1930s. Therewerepeople who continuedto see Aliarchamas theirleader,an examplethey manshouldbe like,longafterhis deathin 1931. shouldfollowforwhata communist Anothergroup was led by Sardjono,Ngadiman,and Winanta,who ran theirown coursesin thisphantomworld.The thirdgroupwas led by cadretraining communist three Moscow returnees,"Hadji Moskow," Waworoentoe,Daniel Kamoe, and and insistedthatall the ClementiWentoek,who wereproudoftheirMoscowtraining books otherthanthosepublishedin Russiawerefakes.In 1935thethreegroupsmet, and aftera longdiscussion,concludedwitha "convertie [anti-Digoelanti-pendigoelan not their mutual the in essence internment convention]," antagonisms, pledge,despite "the that and in recalcitrance his 1937, to capitulate.ButSardjonorepented arguing Merah. The to Tanah the transfer for asked his the means," group goal justifies Thus remainedin Tanah Merahonly Moscow hadjisfollowedsuitshortlythereafter. in total-who somehowmanagedto of those"truefollowers Aliarcham"-twenty-five 69"RapportHillen,"inKwantes,De Ontwikkeling: 1933,pp. 467-468. 1928-Aug. 70 Ibid., 470. p. 71See in thisconnection TheOrigins Arendt, ofTotalitarianism, p. 192.


survive until the camp closure in 1943, at which time they were evacuated to Australia.72 It shouldbe clearbynow whyDigoel withitsperverted normalcywas a metaphor fortheIndies.As we have seen,TanahTinggiwas neededto createnormalcyin Tanah Merah as Digoel was institutedto establishnormalcyin the Indies. Normalcywas theinsertion achievedin theIndiesand in Digoel,becauseofthisisomorphic structure, ofDigoel in theIndiesand thatofTanahTinggiin Digoel.One wondersthenwhatwas this normalcyin the Indies if the normalcycreatedin Digoel was fundamentally forifone can notsaythatTanahMerahwas normalwhileTanahTinggiwas perverted, abnormal,one can not say eitherthat the Indies was normalwhile Digoel was abnormal.Instead,normalcyappeared in relativity:the Indies appeared normal comparedto Digoel,as Tanah Merahappearednormalcomparedto Tanah Tinggi.It was notjustisolation,butisolationin theheartofthehostile,overwhelming, majestic naturethatthreatenedto reduceanyoneto a partof nature,naturalhumanbeings in Tanah Tinggi,whereHillen thought devoid of the specificallyhumancharacter, psychopathswere theonlyformof "human"existence.Comparedto Tanah Tinggi, morehuman,morecivilized,and morenormal,and so was TanahMerahwas infinitely in thissense, theIndiescomparedto Digoel.The Indiescolonialorderwas constituted, on thephantomworldofDigoel,and therelaythemostimportant meaningofDigoel. of theIndies/Digoeland It shouldnotbe surprising, then,thatthisisomorphism with another was accompanied isomorphicsocial mapping.We Digoel/TanahTinggi have seen thattheinterneeswereclassifiedintothethreecategoriesof werkwilligen, of Tanah Tinggiin Digoel and and onverzoenlijken and thattheinsertion naturalisten, thecreationof normalcyin Tanah Merahcomparedto thephantomworld of Tanah We have also seen that Tinggiwas made operativeon thebasis of thisclassification. thissetofcategoriesemergedinDigoelinnegotiations betweenthestateand internees. In theIndiesoutsideDigoel,anothersetofcategories-cooperatists, non-cooperatists, in the same years,again in negotiations and revolutionaries/extremists-evolved between the Indies politicalpolicingregimeand Indonesians,withoutwhich the ofDigoelin theIndiesforthecreationofnormalcy insertion therewould nothavebeen as effective and operativeas itwas. Thismeansthatwe can understandabove ground Indonesiannationalistpolitics,both cooperationistand non-cooperationist, in the Indiesonlyifwe also look at revolutionary however underground politics, phantomlike theywere,just as we can understandTanah Merahwithits werkwilligen and naturalisten look Tanah at Lifein onlyifwe also Tinggiand itsghostlike onverzoenlijken. Digoel was pervertedin a profoundly politicizedway, and it is in themirrorof its wherewe can see theperverted normalorderin theIndiesreflected. pervertedness Its ClosingYears WhenTjardavan Starkenborgh Stachouwerreplacedde Jongeas governorgeneral in 1936,and especiallyafterWelterbecameminister ofcoloniesin 1937,Digoel afterso 72 The statementsof Wiro S.

Miardja and Nurut,in Sudyono,PKI-Sibar,pp. 74-76, 96-98. Wiro S. Miardja and Nurut,as well as Ongko D., whose statementis also included in Sudyono's book, survived in Tanah Tinggiuntilits closure.


117

manyyearsonce again becamea majorissue in The Hague and Buitenzorg.It was partlybecause Digoel was partof Welter'spast-he participatedin the decisionto createa mass internment camp in late 1926whenhe was a memberof thecouncilof whenitdiscussedHillen'sreport theNetherlands Indies,and he was itsvicepresident werechangingfast, situations becausetheinternational in 1930-but moreimportantly invasionbegunin China. withtheNazis in powerin Germanyand Japanesemilitary toWelterwas theearliestsign submitted Thenoteon DigoelwhichPetrusBlumberger in thequestion. ofhisactiveinterest fordrafting his letterto In December1938,Weltersenta noteto PetrusBlumberger from thegovernorgeneral,in supportofhisrecentdecisiontoreleasetwentyinternees for of exile the to abolish this on the further "a as except place way step Digoel He thenwrote: 'onverzoenlijken."' shouldbe madetoliquidatethisplace ofexileas fast Thatin myviewtheeffort as possible. ofa distinctinternment That... I am ofopinionthattheestablishment camp ... measure as an shouldbe regardedas permissible exceptional only overtheIndiesderivesits ThatI am ofopinionthattheNetherlands authority and humaneadministrative greatmoralprestigein theworldfromits effective I believethat]thesooneritcan do withouttheexceptional methodsand [therefore thebetter. meansofa specialplace ofinternment, method WelterthussuggestedthatDigoel shouldbe replacedwiththetraditional withinterneesto be dispersedwidelyin in thenot too distantfuture, of internment becauseoftheir manyareaswheretheycouldnothope to have anypoliticalinfluence be abolished should in and thatthe internment camp Digoel linguisticdifferences "withtheexceptionofthatofthe'onverzoenlijken.'"'73 The Indies government, however,receivedhis suggestionswithoutenthusiasm. The prosecutorgeneral,forinstance,arguedthatthetraditionalmethodwould not as it used to because ofthespreadofMalay in theIndiesand the workas effectively increasedpossibilitiesof contactwiththeoutsideworldonce interneeswere placed ofDigoelwas decidedon at a meetingofthecouncil outsidethecamp.74The retention in December Indies oftheNetherlands 1938,thoughin thefirsthalfof1938,118 more werereleased,reducingtheinternee internees populationinDigoel to345byJuly1938, in Tanah 42 internees Tinggi.75 including in the his disappointment In May 1940Welteronceagainwrotea note,expressing slowprogressofDigoel'sliquidation. 23 dec. 1937,"in Kwantes,De Ontwikkeling: vankoloniien [Welter], Aug.193373"Notitievande minister was senttothegovernor general,datedDecember29,1937. 1942,pp. 474-485.Basedon thisnote,a letter 9 74"Procureur-generaal Stachouwer], [H. Marcella]aan gouverneur-generaal [TjardavanStarkenborgh 552-554. 1933-1942, nov.1938,"inKwantes,De Ontwikkeling: pp. Aug. 75Kwantes,De Ontwikkeling: pp. 552and 556. Aug.1933-1942,


A departurewas made in 1927 [fromthe long establishedinternment practice] then.Thus was because hundredsof people had to be internedsimultaneously thecamp in New Guinea.But it is in contravention witha long born,perforce, traditionand with the experiencesgained thereby,to use the Boven Digoel normalin thesensethatthey concentration camp againfor"normal"internment, will for now took and take and In my always place perhapspermanently. place view theold tradition shouldbe followedforsuchinternment.76 Fourteenyears afterits establishment, one of the foundersthus admittedthat was a not even for"normal"internment, concentration let alone fora Digoel camp, normallife.Yet it survivedforthreemoreyears,until1943,two yearsafterthemost in partof theIndieswas occupiedby theJapanese.ThatyeartheIndiesgovernment exile in Melbournebecamesufficiently worriedabout thepossibilityof theinternees so itdecidedto liquidateitaltogether and to evacuate beingliberatedby theJapanese, all interneesto Australia.Evacuationwas carriedoutby Ch. 0. van der Plas and the campclosedin 1943. Thus thehistoryoftheDigoel concentration campcame to an end and withit the last remnantof thepoliticalpolicingregimetheDutchfashionedin theIndiesin the finalyearsoftheirrule.The post-revolt yearsfrom1927to 1942can be understoodin thissense as the age of Digoel, forthe normalcyin the Indies in these yearswas constitutedfundamentally on the phantomworld of Digoel. Digoel and its camps functionedboth to refractand to reflectthe normal,thatis Digoel by definition demarcatedtheboundariesbetweenthenormaland abnormal,thecooperativeand the recalcitrant, separatingtherationalcolonialorderand thepsychopathic thereby fringe and in and doing so it mirroredthe veryregimethatinstitutionalized population, was on it. thus a of contingent complexapparatus policing marginalized Normalcy and signs. thatmarkedand partitioned colonialterritories, subjects, 76"Notitievan de minister vankoloniein [Welter], May6, 1940,in Kwantes,De Ontwikkeling: Aug.19331942,pp. 744-745.

Takashi Shiraishi : The Phantom World of Digoel

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