On this date in 1947, Dutch troops fighting (vainly) to keep Indonesia under colonial sway perpetrated one of the most notorious massacres of the Indonesian War of Independence.
During a Dutch offensive, Royal Netherlands Army forces fell on the West Java town of Rawagede (today, Balongsari) on December 9, 1947 and demanded to know the whereabouts of an Indonesian rebel they were hunting.
The villagers didn’t know, but the Dutch were convinced that they did — and so they began marching men and boys as young as 13 years old to nearby fields. Squatting and kneeling row upon row, the men were shot one by one. The Rawagede Massacre claimed 431 victims, according to the villagers.
In 2011, the victim’s survivors — and there’s a stunning picture of a 93-year-old Javanese widow of the massacre in this NPR story — won a legal judgment against the Netherlands. In the ensuing settlement, the Dutch paid €20,000 apiece to plaintiffs and issued a formal apology.
“Today, Dec. 9,” the Dutch ambassador said in a ceremony at the village six years ago today, “we remember the members of your families and those of your fellow villagers who died 64 years ago through the actions of the Dutch military.
“On behalf of the Dutch government, I apologize for the tragedy that took place.”
On this day..
- 1920: Joseph Usefof
- 1988: Sek Kim Wah, thriller
- 2014: Robert Wayne Holsey, despite a drunk lawyer
- 1754: Eleanor Connor, rogue
- 1578: Kort Kamphues, outlaw judge
- 1937: Douglas Van Vlack
- 1727: An Irish deserter at Gibraltar
- 1999: James Beathard, on the word of a known liar
- 1603: The men of the Bye Plot, but not those of the Main Plot
- 2007: Seven Tuareg and Arab civilians
- 1783: The first hangings at Newgate Prison
- 1793: Sydney Carton posing as Charles Darnay