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
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THE PHANTOMWORLD OF DIGOEL TakashiShiraishi

in revolts Javain 1926, In thefinal ruleafter "communist" the yearsofitsimperial mass internment the Dutch Indies colonial regimeestablishedan infamous camp, New of Boven Digoel, in theheartof themalaria-infested Guinea on the fringe the conditions.1 Boven to force inmatesto live a normallifeunderabnormal its empire was nota Digoel,UpperDigoel,so calledbecause itwas locatedup theDigoel river, was made clear,internment nota As theIndiesgovernment studiously penal colony. sanction but an administrative measure, invoked by governorgeneral's penal to to rechten, requiretheinternee live in a certain powers,exorbitant extraordinary place. of was and Internment, forthatmatter externment, a long-established practice the a Central and In Soerontiko state. thetwentieth Indies Samin, alone, Javanese century in of of the founder the religion Adam,was interned WestSumatrain 1907.Tjipto a Javanese, was requirednot to stay in theJavaneselanguage Mangoenkoesoemo, regionsof Centraland East Javain 1920 and thento live in Banda Neira in 1927. Communistleaders, startingwith Henk Sneevlietand A. Baars and including were Semaoen,Tan Malaka,Darsono,Hadji Misbach,and Aliarcham amongothers, to eitherdenied theirright stayin the Indies or requiredto live in manydifferent 1919to 1926.It was only in ofthearchipelago theyearsfrom oftheeastern part places wereexiledin thesameplace. 1927to 1940that internees all in theyearsfrom reminds Norwas Digoela concentration us, J. camp,theDutchhistorian M. Pluvier "in the way in which the fromthe Nazi concentration forit was different camps or no inmateswere treated: one in Digoel was mistreated killedas in the German
of in World theDarkContinent" her after "ThePhantom 1 Thetitle this HannahArendt's of essayis taken newedition, A 1975), 186. classicTheOrigins Totalitarianism York: Harvest/HBJ (New Book, p. of

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he The concentration camps."2 Indiesgovernment, shouldhaveadded,justletinmates or die,go insane, be broken. better whatit meantto be exiledin Digoel. Therewas no Indonesians understood in ofinformation theIndiesaboutDigoel.Virtually new internment to shortage every in it and everynew releasefrom werereported Malay languagenewspapers, Digoel letters theirrelativesand friends to oftenaccompaniedwith internees' and their The government Indonesians let know about Digoel,no doubt,to scare interviews. was so terrified a Sukamiskin in them.Soekarno, always imaginative, prisoncell in in of 1933at thethought living Digoel,away from mother perhapswithout his and his in exchangeof his quitting thathe asked forthegovernment wife, pardon political withthegovernment.3 and his activities ifnecessary cooperation whoperhaps the Itwas Soebakat, understood political of however, meaning Digoel PARI (Partai best. A founderof the revolutionary underground political party, a in communications, which RepublikIndonesia),he invented code forits internal "General Hospital" signifiedDigoel, while "Hospital" meant prison and "Abu" political landscapeoftheDutchIndiespolicedby "Abu" and police.4In his imagined dottedwith"Hospitals,"Digoel was theterminal destination revolutionaries-in for colonial Dutch parlance, onverzoenlijken, die-hards-recalcitrants, incorrigibles, thefearofwhichwould makethemrealrevolutionaries. Soebakatkilled suppressing himself before from beingsentto Digoel to denythesecret police a chanceto extract himanyusefulinformation aboutthePARI.Butifhe had notkilledhimself, would he have found that Digoel, completenot only with its own prison,police, military but garrison,vigilantegroups, spies, and informers, also with its own second internment for at TanahTinggi onverzoenlijken, a metaphor theIndies,the was for camp in colonialregime Dutchfashioned thefinal the oftheir rule. years
Establishing a Camp in Digoel

The establishment a massinternment of campwas decidedon at an extraordinary of the council of the Nederlands-Indies (raad van Nederlandsch-Indiie) meeting convened on November18, 1926,less than a week afterthe "communist" revolts in 12.5 started WestJavain thenight November The question of Governor Generalde
2J.M. Pluvier, van Overzicht deOntwikkelingNationalistische der in in Beweging Indonesie dejaren1930tot 1942('s-Gravenhave: van Hoeve,1953), 42-43. W. pp. 3 See Soekarno's R. letters Prosecutor J.M. Verheijen R.C. Kwantes, Ontwikkeling de to in De van in Nationalistische De [hereafter Ontwikkeling: 1933-1942] Beweging Nederlandsch-Indie: 1933-1942 Aug. Aug. RoadtoExile: Indonesian The Nationalist Wolters-Noordhoff, pp. 37-43; 1982), John (Groningen: Ingleson, 1927-1934 Heinemann Educational AsianStudies of Association Australia, Movement, Books, (Singapore: Asia Publications Southeast No. Series, 1),pp. 218-221. 4 Assistant of Commissioner Police(Marinus Proces Verbaal Vb. Visbeen), [Soebakat], 6-8-30B18. 5 Themeeting chaired Governor was A. General C. D. de Graeff attended K. F. Creutzberg, and by by of P. Ch. and J. vice-president thecouncil; W. vanderMarel, W. Filet, J.I. M. Welter, A. M. Hens,council General G. of W. members; secretaris) R. Erdbrink; Secretary (algemeene governor WestJava, P. Hillen; director justice, Rutgers; of D. of director internal administration A. (binnenlandsch bestuur), H. Maas Prosecutor General H. G. P. Duyfjes; for Geesteranus; (procureur generaal) government representative affairs theVolksraad, J. at and advisor native for E. J. Schrieke; deputy affairs, Gobee.See general

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to was straightforward: whether Graeff measuresshould be presented the meeting excesseswhichtookplace in the past week and to the taken"to fight communist in as as and [their repeat] thefuture far possible," ifyes,whatmeasures? prevent that he the to He said that had decidedbefore convening meeting itwas imperative leaders" in custodyas soon as possible forthe place "the dangerouscommunist on 17 the and interest publicsafety, had instructed prosecutor of general November to to in administration Javaand Sumatra act on his decision. ordertheheads ofregional In his view, however,arrestcould serve only as a temporary measure,forupon the of would have tobe of investigation, great majority thosearrested completion their and thentheywould their releasedforlack oflegal evidenceto support prosecution, this activities once again."Butthere renewtheir appearsto be a way to prevent from leaders the communist he out,"namely ofinterning principal that happening," pointed assured thatthe measureshould be applied only to on a large scale." De Graeff into that wouldbe brought a sameplace leaders"and promised all internees "principal so faras possible.6 internment shouldstart with his The councilsupported proposaland decidedthat elsewhere the of in thosearrested WestJavaand that internment thoseheldin custody receivedthe should followas soon as the prosecutor hoofdparket, general'soffice, for information themeasure.It was also decided thattheprocedureand necessary to be to formalities be followedforinternment revisedand simplified expediteits decision shouldbe succinct internment reasonsgivenin thedraft implementation-the the to and limited eightpoints, essenceof whichwas thatthepersonto be interned which the Komunis of was a member thePKI (Partai Indonesia), party joinedtheThird that the on and International, was intent overthrowing established authority; thePKI and thatits purpose was to of workedforthe establishment illegal organizations; and to crimes slechte recruit elements, bad elementen,commit againsttheproperty life the of and ofofficials against safety society. to senta telegram the GeneralDuyfjes The nextday,on November Prosecutor 19, unrest that"in connection them and administration informed heads ofregional [with] is disturbances WestJava,thegovernment above all recent [in] [in] variousregions, leadersin [the] on to considering applyinternment a largescale againstcommunist to DutchIndies,whose actionposes seriousthreat publicquietand order[rust entire of but en orde]."A slight important changetookplace in a day to thecategory people as de Graeff it, communist "theprincipal itwas no longer tobe interned: leaders," put leaders" "whose actionposes serious threatto public quiet and but "communist order."7
tweede medio in van R. C. Kwantes, De Ontwikkeling deNationalistische ed., Beweging Nederlandsch-Indie: stuk De Wolters-Noordhoff, pp. 4751978), 1923-1928 medio [hereafter Ontwikkeling: 1923-1928] (Groningen: 480. 6 "Verslag vergadering de raadvanNederlandsch-Indie,nov.1926," Kwantes, De in 18 van bg. 1923-1928, 476-477. medio pp. Ontwikkeling: 7 Ibid.,p. 478.

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to On November thelistofquestions be askedat theinterrogation thosetobe of 24, was sent to the heads of regionaladministration. over the Indies,all All interned were to be asked thesame questions: would-beinternees his/hername,age, birthand occupational whether he/shewas aware that education, career; place,residence, theprincipal aim ofthePKI was to overthrow established the that authority; thePKI established and thattheobjective theseorganizations to of was illegalorganizations; for elements committing sortsof crimes; all criminal whether recruit he/she was a and whetherhe/she memberof the PKI and/or one of its illegal organizations; in to posed a threat quietand order.8 participated an actionthat werebased on thetheory secret A. Thesequestions the policechief E. van der Lely In forward aboutthecommunist he submitted the revolts. a preliminary to report put generalhe argued that"behindthe seemingly clumsyand incoherent prosecutor of a exists central efforts resistance idea," as formulated againsttheestablished regime in Tan Malaka's Naarde Republike Indonesia (TowardtheRepublicofIndonesia),that leadersand informed their actions.The prosecutor guided the communist general, to based on thistheory, 21 arguedin his letter thegovernor generaldated November of extraordinary for"an extensive the kern, core,the the application powers upon leaders[hoofdleiders] behindthescenes,to prevent repeatof the a working principal In he recentevents."9 the circular sent to the heads of regionaladministration on internment would lose itseffectiveness, December he wrotethat"thislarge-scale if 31, It a new group of leaders could come to the foreuntroubled." is the task of the and administration police,he continued, to and "timely discernthesignificance the influenceof new propagandistsand to choose the best momentto threatening neutralize them in the same way as theirpredecessors."10 Depending on the of the local chief, anyone identifiedas communist leader or interpretation couldnow be interned. propagandist In themeantime, of Digoel,which deputy governor theMoluccasJ.Roestdescribed barrenenvironment withoutdanger,""isolated," "thinly as "an inhospitable not accessroutes," was identified a place ideal forthemass as populated,"with"limited "insulated completely possiblefrom restofsociety, as internment as the severed camp of contactwith it as much as possible-and separatealways and forlife.""11 On December10,1926,thearea up theDigoel river the was separatedfrom sub-division ofSouthern New Guineaby government decreeand was made a new (onderafdeeling) sub-division BovenDigoel withTanahMerahas itscenter.12 administrative of Shortly after in instrumental crushing Novemberrevoltin the that, Captain L. Th. Becking,
to Generaal General Graeff], November 1926, Mr. [de Weltevreden, 27, [Duyfjes] Governor 9 Procureur 1174x/26. 10"Procureur Generaal G. P. Duyfjies) hoofden gewestelijk aan van in (H. De bestuur," Kwantes, medio 1923-1928, 520-521. Ontwikkeling: pp. are the of 11Thequotations from letter Deputy Governor theMoluccas Roesttothegovernor of J. general datedDec. 18,1929, citedin Kwantes, Ontwikkeling: 1923-1928, 521. De medio p. 12"Overzicht de Inwendigen van Politieken Toestand in der (1924-15 1928)," Mededeelingen Regeering April Enkele van omtrent 1928), (Mei1928)(Weltevreden: Onderwerpen Algemeen Belang Landsdrukkerij, pp. 9-10.
8 Ibid., p. 480.

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was sentto Digoel withhis largely soldiers and convict Ambonese to workers Banten, of for batchofinternees scheduledto arrive in a campin time thearrival thefirst build March1927. was on his way to Digoel,thefirst WhileCaptainBecking government secretary of to of senta letter deputy governor theMoluccasand spelledout "theDigoel regime order": residence therefore and as in arrival theinternees theplace designated their of any in whichis inevitable implementing to withrespect their coercion [this] person administrativemeasure should be terminatedunless there arise special and thesepeople enjoythesame rights In circumstances. their place ofresidence or the which law guarantees imposeson all free to aresubject thesameobligations and cases thegovernment itsorgansshouldrefrain and [from residents in normal thankeeping to [over vigilant supervision doingmorewithrespect theinternees] them]... [On the otherhand] it is the governor general'sopinionthatthe abnormal
measure is achieved with the ... The purpose intendedwith thisextraordinary

orderas well as by the government's place at the government's inhospitable of for that responsibility goes withit[sorder] thelifeand welfare thesepeople can for on for be a legitimate ground specialmeasures thespotand in particular more To [administrator]. this thannormalpolice power of the Captain-gezaghebber of order should be subjectednot only the interneesthemselvesbut regime ... families also naturally their internees' viewthat it connection shouldbe advisableinHis Excellency's In this them in have notaccompanied follow soon as possiblein case they as families yet to life a orderto encourage regular family and perhapsgradually replace[their] of in with interest affairs more domesticand social presentpoliticalambition kind.13 voice is muffled the government Generalde Graeff's Governor In thisletter by the Butsubstitute first-person bureaucratic careful pronounfor language. secretary's then and "His Excellency," we can hearhis "the "thegovernment," governor general," of clearervoice. De Graeff says thathis goal is achievedwiththe interment these life shouldbe allowedto live a normal in the therefore internees and communists that for abouthis concern in as elsewhere theIndies.Thereis no reasontobe cynical Digoel and to After itwas his decision intern welfare. them, he was life theinternees' and all, He aware thathis decisionwould forceon themmanysufferings. agreed withthe of a for of therefore, theneedtoinstitute specialregime governor theMoluccas, deputy
order in Digoel, but made it clear thatit should be kept to a minimum.He wanted to with the government-he see the interneesand theirfamiliesfound a colony together 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
De in of Governor theMoluccas, 5, to Government January 1927, Kwantes, Secretary Deputy 13First medio pp. Ontwikkeling: 1923-1928, 521-523.

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

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for to representative generalaffairs the Volksraad,once wrotein early 1925,as a leaders and propagandists "humane" projectto give a way out to "communist for no whom therewas practically choicebut thatbetweenpropagandaand prison," to createa little in peacefulIndies,an outpostof civilization thedarkisland,insulated and fromtheoutsideworld,undisturbed politically, closelymonitored thestate, by could do something usefuland shouldnotwastetheir forthe wheretheinternees life sake ofuntenable dreams.14 political Its History workers arrivedin Tanah Merah in Captain Beckingwithhis men and convict 1927and in twomonths built a a barracks, warehouses, hospital, radiostation, January a post office, a large and solid bath raft(badvlot) theriverforsoldiersand and on The first batchof internees their convicts. and families arrivedin March;there were a Chinese, and thirty dressedup internees, members, including family everyone fifty for costume withcleansocksand shoes,a felt tropical correctly theoccasionin colorful and underthearm.15 hatand a briefcase, an umbrella in M. The population Digoelincreased from point.Whencontroller A. that steadily in withtheseventhbatchof internees, Tanah Merah on Monsjou arrived, together man October 30, 1927, to replace Captain Beckingas the Digoel gezaghebber, of or administrator, camp population and was 930 with538 internees 382 the authority It and 473 family members. reached1,139,with666 internees in members, family of 1928.WhenW. P. Hillen,member thecouncilof theNetherlands Indies, February visitedDigoel in April1930,thecamp populationwas at its peak, withabout 2,000 internees.16 1,308 people,including Hillen'svisitwas theculmination a seriesofgovernment of into investigations the of conditions Digoel, triggered thearticles van Blankenstein M. by publishedin De NieuweRotterdamsche in Courant September November and 1928,in whichhe argued that therewere innocentvictimsinternedin Digoel by error.17 response,the In in in had announced theVolksraad November 1928that internees the were government intothree de classified the de the categories, onverzoenlijken,recalcitrants, ha-slachtigen, and the and it to half-hearted, dewelwillenden, well-meaning, that was prepared release thethird of the if internment notbased on was category internees, well-meaning, their
14ForSchrieke's see in Radicalism Java, 1912-1926 Cornell proposal, myAnAgeinMotion: (Ithaca: Popular Press, 1990), 311. University p. 15I. F. M. Salim,Vijftien Boven-Digoel: inNieuw-Guinea, Bakermat deIndonesische van Jaar Concentratiekamp (Amsterdam: BovenDigoel[MasMarco Contact, 1973), 78-84;Verslaggever pp. Onafhankelijkheid BovenDigoel(IV),"inPersatoean no. Indonesia, 36,January 1930. 1, "Riwajat Kartodikromo], 16"Overzicht de Inwendigen van Politieken Toestand inMededeelingen Regeering der (1924-15 April1928)," (Mei1928), 12,and "Rapport hetlidvande raadvanNederlandsch-Indiei,P. Hillen, van W. overde p. aan 22 in De interneringskampen de Boven-Digoel, juli1930[hereafter Hillen]," R.C. Kwantes, Rapport van in derde 1928-Aug. 1933[hereafter De Ontwikkeling deNationalistische Beweging Nederlandsch-Indi~: stuk 1933](Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff/Bouma's Boekhuis, 1981), 463. Ontwikkeling: 1928-Aug. p. 17Kwantes, De Ontwikkeling: 1933, 165-166. 1928-Aug. pp.

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and ifthey The behavedwell in TanahMerah.18 governor sound grounds had general the of instructed governor the Moluccas in December1928 to report"on their also in theirmentality, shorton everything that can give an behavior,theirattitude, as regardsthe questionof whether can stillbe seen as a threat to they impression in oforigin."19 and order case they returned their are to places publicquiet in conditions Digoel,to interview wellthe the Hillen'sjob was to observe general thosewho could be released.He stayedin Tanah Merahfor and to identify meaning, to TanahTinggi, interviewed and internees twenty twenty-five days, forty-nine visited a day, totaling610. He wrotein his reportthatat a glance Tanah Merah looked all prosperous-the houses looked well-kept, covered with galvanized iron, the electric theroadswellmaintained, well-tended, lighting alongthemainroads, gardens and a simplemovietheater. native The a a twoschools, hospital, smalltelephone link, he and he metbehavedwell,calmly, in an orderly manner, though noticed population himand did notwantto weresomewho he felt whilethatthere after short a ignored to have anything do withhim. becausethere weremany he as was Butthesituation notas idyllic itlooked, wrote, to the wereunwilling workfor of thegovernment a matter principle, as who,opposing conditions if theycould improvetheirmaterial even considerably by government, and was dividedintomanydifferent shifting groups, doingso. The camppopulation and dividedbetween those and defined lines, alongpolitical ethnic cliquesand parties and to who refused work,thosehalf-hearted, thosewillingto work.Digoel reports Hillenreminded were had local officials sentto thecentral government too optimistic, an of after Resident AmboinavisitedDigoel and submitted the his readers.Shortly were he pointedout,severalinternees on theinternees' mentality, report optimistic in to corvielaborand all thebridges thecampwere refusal perform for punished their in Governor theMoluccasTidemanreported March1929 in retaliation. of destroyed in the camp,but in the following that"a good spirit"prevailed month, sixty-nine were sent to Tanah Tinggi,and in his subsequentAugust 1929 report internees remained hostileto the had Tidemanhimself to admitthatabouthalfoftheinternees of the he and that was notsurewhether "conversion" manyofthosewellgovernment was genuine.20 meaning Hillen argued,however,thattherewere not a few former peasants and small and in traders Digoel who knew littleabout communism what the PKI and the SR he that412 out of 610 internees (SarekatRakjat)were all about. He recommended of the whilesuggesting retention Tanah Tinggias the could be released, interviewed He fortheonverzoenlijken (recalcitrants). also had a serious second internment camp at Tanah Merah.He argued thatits of doubtabout thefuture theinternment camp of such as infertility thesoil and malariashould be weighed "greatdisadvantages"
November 1928, 1649. from 8, Volksraad, p. Handelingen 18Ibid.,p. 338,originally in 27 der aan gouverneur Molukken Tideman), dec. 1928," Kwantes, 19"le Gouvernements-secretaris (J. De Ontwikkeling: 1933, 167. p. 1928-Aug. 20"Rapport in De 1933, 460-463. Hillen," Kwantes, Ontwikkeling: 1928-Aug. pp.

100 TakashiShiraishi

of againstthe advantageof its isolationwhen it came timeto decide on thefuture retreat to mepolitically "a and that timely sensible." appears Digoel have in After well-disposed the the [goedgezinden] been returned, settlement Tanah Tinggican be abolishedand its populationbe combinedwiththose in the Tanah Merah.In thenew place ofinternment processofselection shouldalso thosewhose mentality forthebetter, thateventually so continueof the changes can numberofthosewho have to be keptin internment be countedby tensand thisnew place ofexilecan also be abolishedin not by hundreds. Then,perhaps, a and theremaining can the not too distant future incorrigibles be put in small in variousplacesin thearchipelago, wherethey stayin themiddleofa can groups population.21 apathetic politically De Graeffclearly saw his "humane" project failing. He acted on Hillen's The camp in Tanah Tinggi was made an official recommendations immediately. He internment of camp fortherecalcitrants. agreedwithHillenaboutthedesirability to somewhere else underthe government the the internment of transferring camp to Moluccas and instructedthe directorof internaladministration appoint a In commissionto studythe matter. December1930 he also decided to release 219 But from left to for internees a Digoel.22 thetime was tooshort de Graeff institute new new governorgeneralin May 1931, Bonifacius of internment. regime Appointed cametotheIndiestoreplacede Graeff September in de 1931.In January Cornelis Jonge 1931he decidedtoretain Digoelas theinternment camp.23 Yet a bureaucraticprecedencewas set with de Graeff'sdecision to release the shiftin Buitenzorgfrom liberal de Graeffto internees.Notwithstanding internees wereregularly authoritarian Jonge, de releasedafter thatand theinternee showedsteady decline from 1930to 1936. Th.Petrus cabinet J. Blumberger, population in of of chief thedepartment colonies TheHague and theforemost on thenative expert in in movements theIndiesin his time, statistics thenotehe sentto gave thefollowing in of 1937.24 theminister colonies October

21Ibid.,pp. 464,469-470. 22 Kwantes, De Ontwikkeling: 1933, 470. 1928-Aug. p. 23 Kwantes, Ontwikkeling: 1933-1942, 319. Itwas De one decisions Aug. p. perhaps ofmany insignificant de Jonge madeas Governor for van Mr. met General, inhismemoir, Herinneringen Jhr. B.C.deJonge brieven uitzijnnalatenschap this evenin Wolters-Noordhoff, hedoes notmention decision 1968), (Groningen: passing. 24Thenumbers May 1930arefrom for Hillen"inKwantes, Ontwikkeling: De "Rapport 1933, 1928-Aug. p. is "Notavan de afdeling Kabinet hetdepartement koloniian, okt.1937," van van 15 in 463;therest from De Kwantes, Ontwikkeling: 1933-1942, 468-469. Aug. pp.

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TheInternee in Population Digoel As of May 1930 1931 Jan. 1932 Jan. 1933 Jan. 1934 Jan. 1935 Jan. 1936 Jan. 1937 Jan. Total 1308 1178 793 553 440 416 419 446 in TanahTinggi 70 82 69 66 60 60 71 64

of notedin his report aboutthree-quarters theinternees that Petrus at Blumberger Hillen's time had been released by January 1937,while about one hundrednew in the who the internees arrived Digoel in theseyears.We can tellfrom new arrivals In saw enemies thestate. theyearsfrom of 1930 Indiesgovernment as mostdangerous interned after to 1934 theystillincluded"PKI and SR leaders and propagandists" in servedtheir sentences because of theirinvolvement the revoltsin having prison More prominent less were 1926and 1927.Buttheywere of increasingly importance. membersof the "red" trade union central,the Sarekat Kaum Boeroeh leading in Indonesia (SKBI, IndonesianTrade Union), interned 1930,and above all PARI "leadersand agents"suchas Soenarjo, Tamin, Sarosan, Djamaloeddin Daja Mardjono, the 1931to 1934.Indeed,after from interned bin Joesoef, Kandor,and manyothers, meantan almost its of the PARI underground, membership discovery government in ticket Digoel in the1930s. to sureone-way Then, thewake ofthegovernment clamp such in non-communists as nationalists 1933-1934, down on the"non-cooperationist" MoesliminIndonesia,IndonesianMuslims'Association)and Permi(Perhimpoenan PSII (PartaiSarekatIslam Indonesia,IndonesianIslamicAssociationParty)leaders fromWest Sumatra(MoechtarLoetfi, Ilyas Jacob,JalaloeddinThaib and several NasionalIndonesia(PNI-Baru, Pendidikan and their fiveother Hatta,Sjahrir, others), Indonesian National Education) friends,Partindo (Partai Indonesia, Party of Abdul Hamid Loebis NorthSumatra(MoehidinNasoetion, Indonesia)leadersfrom of a wentto Digoel. And finally new generation PARI,PNI-Baru, and severalothers) and Dawood ofthePARI,"Moscow Nasoetion and Moesso's PKI-Mudaleaders(Jahja of AhmadSoemadiand Djokosoedjono thePKI-Muda, agent"AmirHamzah Siregar, LatifofthePNI-Baru, Moerad and Bermawi again swelled the amongmanyothers) in rankofDigoel internees 1936. decisionsto finealso the In 1936-1937 Indies government made two important to Hatta In tuneitsinternment place,in deciding transfer policyand practice. thefirst in and SjahrirfromDigoel to Banda Neira in early 1936, the government effect As trained "intellectuals." for concludedthatDigoel was notappropriate university were internedin and Mr. Iwa Koesoemasoemantri Dr. Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo as Banda Neira and Ir. Soekarnoin Ende,thishad been a practice old as Digoel,but internees of to withtheirtransfer Banda, thissegregation "intellectual" apart from

102 TakashiShiraishi

of Digoel became an established policy.As resident theMoluccas observedin April was "becauseoftheir whomtheDigoelregime inappropriate thosefor education, 1936, weretobe interned somewhere else.25 or refinement birth" A. Stachouwer de after W. Tjardavan Starkenborgh Second,shortly replaced Jonge theprosecutor office in August1936 the as governor investigated general, general's releasedfrom The study and ex-communists of situation 800ex-Digoelists 2,500 prison. convicts werestillunderclosepolice and foundthat ex-Digoelists 180ex-PKI forty-five to threat public order, but thatfew posed a because of theirpotential surveillance The prosecutor threat seriousenoughto warrant internment/reinternment.26 general to but it concludedthat was desirable releaseinternees steadily, at thesame timemade even after itclearthatthosewho triedto developtherevolutionary the underground was implemented-namelyPARI measure against the communists government and Moscow trainedComintern leaders and propagandists agents-as well as the in shouldnotbe releasedfrom interned TanahTinggih recalcitrants Digoel at all. his of for submitted notetominister coloniesWelter Petrus Blumberger Bythetime of the had longbecomean indispensable review, therefore, Digoel component policy for an Indies politicalpolicingregime, internment camp inappropriate universitywho a educated "intellectuals," correction camp forall sortsof recalcitrants, could behavedwell and fortheir releaseonlyif,in thegovernment's judgment, they hope withitday in,dayout,for their demonstrated willingness cooperate to manyyears.By about Digoel as a projectto createa thenDutch officials had long stoppedtalking Not verymanyperhapsbothered normal of colonyin an isolatedoutpost theempire. to get trouble-makers of sightand, about it. It was simplythere, out conveniently, to scarepotential from too trouble-makers becoming troublesome. equallyimportant, was lifein Digoel,normal thesurface, in fact Yet there on but profoundly perverted, thesole meaning whichwas revealed liberation of from one fine it by day. A TourofTanah Merah the Digoel was ideallyisolatedfrom Indies'policing pointofview.Tanah Merah, center and thesiteof themaininternment theadministrative camp,was located455 from river's the kilometers theDigoel river-thedistance mouthto Tanah Merah up
25 "Resident Molukken Haga) aan der 15 in (B.J. (De gouverneur-generaal Jonge), april1936," Kwantes, De Ontwikkeling: 1933-1942, 337. p. Aug. 26Butthis does notmeanthat ex-Digoelists reinterned. no were "Promoters cadres[kernleden]" and of whatprosecutor Marcella calleda communist inKediri criminal and Madiunwere general organization reinterned 1935.Firdaus in of former and editor of Haroenrasjid, protege HadjiMisbach chief in to his was Adil, Solo,after release, returned Digoelin 1935becauseofhis journal, Moehammadijah on attack thegovernment hispublication. in those Among ex-Digoelists placedunder policesurveillance wereMoefandi in alias Boediardjo Solo becauseofhiscontact with Amir "a HamzahSiregar, Comintern senttoJava theBritish agent" by Malaya-based Anti-Imperialist League;OesmangelarSoetanKeadilan who was sentenced three to in becauseofpressoffenses; exone year'simprisonmentWestSumatra convict ofhiscontact withthePARI;abouttwenty and sixty ex-convicts who suspected ex-Digoelists and and in Sumatra whojoinedthePSII,thePermi, joinedthePartindo thePNI-baru; 45ex-convicts West theHPII,and theMoehammadijah. Procureur aan Generaal PGJ [hereafter (H. Marcella) G G (Tjarda Mr. Starkenborgh-Stachower), 4, 1936, 262x/37. Sept.

ThePhantom World Digoel 103 of

or from Bataviato Semarang from Amsterdam Paris-in to was equal to thedistance in and and right themiddleofNew Guinea,closeto of theheart thethick hostile jungle the withAustralian New Guinea.TanahTinggi, secondinternment theborder camp, kilometers river from It locatedfifty it. from TanahMerah, was isolatedyetfurther up the tookthreeand a halfdays to travelfrom river'smouthto Tanah Merahby the Tanah Merah to Tanah and fivemorehoursto journeyfrom police ship,Albatros, Tinggi motorboat. by hot The area was malaria-infested, and humid, barren,and very sparsely and "cannibals" in the being "head-hunters" neighbors populated-the internees' intothe In twomenweresnatched in and crocodiles theriver.27 itsearlyyears, jungle water by crocodiles when bathing, one of whom was internee "no. 528," on who emerged center former stageofthe guruofIslamAbangan, Mangoenatmodjo, movementtogetherwith Hadji Misbach and Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo in the of in Surakartan countryside theheadyyears 1919and 1920.28 On the was no barbedwireencircling internment There camp,no watchtowers. the were livedbehindbarbedwire.The internees families and their thesoldiers contrary, the radiusfrom camp. kilometer a free wanderaroundand staywithin twenty-five to who everattempted as westand south, anyone in Butone couldgo nowhere thenorth, chancefor was evereven a slight If his to escape learnedfrom "deathmarch." there the escape, the routehad to be to the east-going overlandthrough thickjungle, overthecrocodile-infested withPapuans,crossing encounter Mandobo, avoidingany There the and and Muyu rivers, reaching FlyRiverin theAustralian Kaoh, territory. internees in whichsixty Salimsays, 1929to 1943, at weresixteen attempts escape from TanahMerah.29 from and from TanahTinggi therest aboutforty participated, at fourattempts made altogether Pimpernel," Najoan, who Salim calls "Jungle the less thana yearbefore campwas closed,onlyto disappear escape,thelastin 1942, leaders of the revolutionary two former in the jungle. Dahlan and Soekrawinata, in werekilledby Mappi-Papuans thejungle.Butonlyone-third in committee Batavia, and to of theattempts reachtheFlyRiverweresuccessful, mostof theescapees who sentto ThursdayIsland,handed succeededwere arrested theAustralian police, by and overtotheDutchpolicethere, shippedbacktoDigoelbythepoliceship.The most was a groupled by Sandjojo,who crossedthe Torresstrait boat and successful by the from Australian Island without assistance reachedtheThursday police.They any stayedthereforsome timeand even opened a barbershop. But one of themsenta in to letter his family Javaone day to ask formoney.A secret police agentwas sent The escapeeswerearrested theAustralian from policewith by Javainsteadofmoney.
27Salim,Vijftien Boven-Digoel, 68,81,125;Verslaggever Boven BovenDigoel[Marco], "Riwajat Jaar pp. no. 33,November 1929, 15, Indonesia, Digoel(1),"inPersatoean 28 Mangoenatmodjo For from campon November 1928.See Mr.1140x/1928. his the 13, disappeared see as ofa career a pergerakan leader, myAnAgeinMotion, 197-203. pp. description 29Mrizeksaysthere 1927and 1935.Rudolf at Mraizek, weretwenty Sjahrir: attempts escapebetween on Asia Program, Southeast in 1994), 130. The section Digoel and Politics Exile Indonesia (Ithaca: Cornell p. aboutDigoel. in is book(pp. 128-153) thebestavailable English inthis

104 Takashi Shiraishi

No handedoverto theIndiespolice,and shippedbackto Digoel.30 one, his assistance, The freedom movement of in itsentire succeededin escaping therefore, Digoel history. in to It one in and residence Digoelwas a farce. onlymeant was free getlostin nature, and thejungleinhabited parasites hostile Papuans.31 by areas separatedby small rivers:the Tanah Merah consistedof threedistinct terrain wherethecivilianofficials administrative (bestuursterrein) lived,themilitary we and terrain, theinternment camp.Fora tourofTanahMerah, have ChalidSalimas of almosttheentire tourguide.He witnessed an excellent history Tanah Merahfrom 1927 to its closure in 1943 and knew everycornerof the place because he July of as wanderedabout there years, a worker themalariacontrol everyday,forfifteen he of In his for service, grounds anopheles. his memoir starts tourof looking breeding the TanahMerahfrom dockon theDigoelRiver.32 Fromthe dock ran a wide gravelroad,gently sloping,up to thehill. Along the staffhired for side, was a long shed for "motorists," road, on the right-hand and stonehouses forthelowmotorboats, past it wereseveralwell-kept maintaining all withneatsmallgardens, theleftcivilianand policestaff, surrounded on ranking was a new guesthouse,pasanggrahan, sailors,thebuilding for hand side. Then,there clubhouse,burgersocieteit, silent where whichused to be a civilian films the featuring likes of Tarzan, Tom Mix, and Douglas Fairbankswere shown with a simple projector.33 and soldiers, of court civilians for To theleft theguesthousewas a tennis thenthe Park"alongthelane,wherestoodthelargeand pompousresidence, "Oranje well-kept in resident the1930s, almosta smallpalace, fortheadministrative head,an assistant housefor military the and nexttoitthemoremodest a commander, captain. garrison of To theright theguesthouserana wide gravelroad,alongwhichstooda power a and a Catholic withitsmission a telephone church center. office, civilprison station, Further down thegravelroad was a shooting and a largeempty rangeon theright the wherein thelate 1930san air fieldwhichbordered internment camp to thenorth, field was built.34 and thetelephone office their At thesmallpowercenter workedinternees, labor in thecivilprisonwas lax of to thefunctioning thoseoffices. Discipline indispensable In Salimrecalls. thelate1930swhenhe was doinga routine roundas a and easy-going,
30Salim,Vijftien Boven-Digoel, 293-304. Jaar pp. 31Ibid.,pp. 144-145; TimPenyusun Pembuatan BukuSejarah Perintis Kemerdekaan SosialRI Departemen Ex Citra Perintis Kemerdekaan Perjuangan Digul(Jakarta: Tahun1976/1977, danPerjuangan Direktorat Seri Bantuan SosialDepartemen Sosial,1977), 75. Jenderal p. 32ChalidSalim, bornin 1902inWestSumatra a brother anti-communist and of CSI-PSIleaderHadji Agus in was arrested MedaninOctober 1927whenhe was an editor Pewarta andbanished of Deli to Salim, 1927. Before arrest exile, was active thePKI and theSR,as an editor West his and he in of DigoelinJuly PKI and Halilintar PKI Proletar Moesso'schiefHindia, then (under Sumatran organ, Surabayan newspaper Salim,Vijftien Boven Jaar editorship). Digoel, 27-28. pp. 33Ibid.,p. 123. 34Ibid.,p. 124.

The Phantom of World Digoel 105

of Salim saw one of two police agentson prison worker themalariacontrol service, withinmates, whileall matand playing cardgame,"tjeki," the on guarddutysitting a dozed. Shortly after manon dutyhappily thecelldoorsstoodwide openand theother In the an was the the that, guardalerted peoplethat officer coming. an instant matwas own cells,and whentheofficer werebackto their rolledup and putaway,theinmates in walked along thecells,he was arrivedand by theguardwho reported a greeted voice:"Nothing routine specialtoreport, sir."35 If one walked the originalwide gravelroad to the northfromthe intersection one wherestoodtheguesthouseand thepowerstation, would cometo a well-stocked Tan Toey,who was a small Its side on Chinesestore theright-hand corner. first owner, to from government open twostores, the a in Ambon, obtained concession shopkeeper in theinternment and theother terrain one in theadministrative camp. He made a to his small fortune monopolyon Digoel and thenreturned through commercial wereinvited open up shop; to two his Ambon.After departure, Chinesestoreowners of the establishment a between themwould forestall it was hoped competition Tan Toey'sstores, Tan One ofthem, Tjo,who inherited openeda eventually monopoly. beerwithice.36 with restaurant a pool tableand served "modern" first for Nextto Tan Tjo's storewereresidences nativeofficials, builtin 1927for Sundanesewedana(district head), Soeria Atmadja,and his Minangkabauassistant, whereseveral the gravelroad was the administrative Further office, Bitek.37 along a (commiezen),few workedalongsidetheadministrative internees head, two officers in cases weretried this Criminal and thewedana hisassistant. Ambonese clerks, mainly head too,withtheadministrative as judge; thecases had to do withmostly building, cases were violent womenand,once in a while, but minor offenses, matters involving the was a specialsecludedroom, Digoel archives, as there well.In thebuilding judged of streams information fattened constant wheredossiersofall internees, provided by and classified and systematically wereneatly on conduct, by spiesand informers their stored.38 in church themiddle stooda Protestant of To thenorth theadministrative building thegravelroad turnedeast,were the where of of a grassfield.In front thechurch, Further civil in the housesfor onlydoctor Digoeland high-ranking and policeofficers. fromthe down along the road extendeda large grass field,"reclaimed"originally to resident make Digoel "selfat forricecultivation theorderof an assistant jungle for The fieldwas left was disaster. This riceproject empty manyyears, supporting." whichmade Digoel and plantsthere, cultivated butin lateryearsinternees vegetables in vegetables.39 self-sufficient
35 Ibid.,pp. 125-126. 36Ibid., 126. p. were of ethnic that the makessense, 37Thisethnic combination groups internees given fact twolargest Sumatra. and West West from Java 38Ibid.,pp. 126-127. 39Ibid.,pp. 127-128.

106 TakashiShiraishi

The gravelroad thenled to a largeempty in field, originally openedforan air field 1937. That year a miningcompany,NederlandschNieuw Guinea, called simply cametoDigoeltoprospect gold.Itbrought for "Goldmine," changetoTanahMerahby the in breaking "deadlycalm"in whicheverybody Digoelhad livedfortenyearsand thistime, internees' the openinga new windowto the"civilized"world;before only "window"to theworldhad beenprovided kapal thepoliceship,whichcame poetih, by to TanahMerahonce a month six and,in 1933,onceevery weeks.Manyforeign ships came to Tanah Merah withthe "Goldmine."Enormous of were quantities material to field. air field An landedat thedockand transported lorries theempty was built by withhangarsand houses forthestaff. "Goldmine" The also builtitsown post office, radio station, and residential wherelivedabout230 people-Dutch officers, quarter, and the laborers, Dayak gaugers-headed by CaptainBecking, first Javanese military administrator Digoel. in Buttheexploration notgo well.In 1939, less thantwoyearsafter arrival, in did its to pull out. Most of the buildingswere dismantledand its the companydecided carried wentbacktoan empty material grassfield. away.The airfield Digoel returned in of to a solitary, forest. calm,outpost theempire themiddleoftheprimeval stiflingly The population insidetheadministrative terrain backagain to about 120,though was aroundforseveralmonths before wandering manyPapuans regularl' stayedthere, to returning thejungle. Ifone followed gravel the roadtothenorth instead goingstraight theairfield, of to one passed a small bridge to reach the military terrainand, further north,the internment The military was strategically in located, betweentwo small camp. camp and the otherfromthe terrain creeks,one separatingit fromthe administrative internment An internee who wentto theadministrative terrain had to show camp. at his/her pass to thearmedguardsstanding theentrance postof themilitary camp. The entirecamp,called tangsi, withbarbedwire and guarded witha was encircled watch post at its everycorner.As Salim says, the military camp, more than the internment lookedlikea concentration Thiswas true a good reason.. for camp, camp.41 As a 1928 government terrain was demarcated stated,themilitary report explicitly withbarbedwire from internment the to protect soldiersand convictlaborers camp from "extremist" internees' unwantedcontacts between propagandaand to prevent internees thosewho livedin themilitary administrative and and terrains.42 In themilitary the commander's a barracks, garrison office, campwerethesoldiers' a a radiostation, canteen, prison, a a a women's sick-ward, munitions kitchens, depot, and a smallexercise field.The original werebuiltin hastein quarter, camp facilities 1927, made of wood and covered with thatchedroof,in time for the arrival of In internees. 1934,however, Governor Generalde Jonge decided to make thecamp thefactthathe was frantically back on government semi-permanent, despite cutting
40 Ibid., 129-131. pp. 41Ibid., 132-133 and 144. pp. 42"Overzicht de Inwendigen van Politieken Toestand in der (1924-15 April1928)," Mededeelingen Regeering (Mei1928), 13. p.

ThePhantom World Digoel 107 of

expenditureselsewhere to cope with the financialcrisis caused by the Great to Digoelwas notknownto theinternees, Thoughhis 1932decision retain Depression. of learnedfrom renovation themilitary the camp thattheinternment camp had they establishment.43 as beenredefined thegovernment a semi-permanent by and later seveninfantry each housedfive Themilitary platoons, garrison originally men under a European or native sergeant.Their with sixteento twenty platoon the missionwas to maintain local quietand orderin Tanah Merah,to takeon guard duty periodicallyat Tanah Tinggi,and to patrol the entireDigoel region. Like also lived in the camp, in a separate else in theIndies,soldiers'families anywhere wives thusEuropeanand nativenon-commissioned officers, soldiers,their barrack; a and convictlaborersformed small world of theirown inside the and children, of the apartfrom rest Digoel.44 garrison, the smallbridgeovera creek, another camp and crossing Passingby themilitary itinto theinternment wide gravelroadled to and ranstraight camp,dividing through side the Once a personentered camp,thefirst two sections. buildingon theleft-hand were themainstreet Wilhelmina was a smallclinicfortheinternees, Hospital.Along on on C, A, Kampung situated the Kampungs B,and bordering thejungletothenorth, River. and side ofthestreet backedbytheDigoel left lines.To the livedseparately, In theearlyyearsinternees along ethnic segregated on the riverside, was kampungUdjung Sumatra,whose northend of the camp, were predominantly inhabitants Minangkabaus.Acehneseand Lampongerslived in and Javanese, Sundanese-gathered their Java-Madurese, Peoplesfrom separately. in most of themparticipants the 1926 revoltin Banten, own quarters.Bantenese, arose betweentheJavaneseand often formed another separategroup.Conflicts yet foundit ludicrousto see a Javaneseinternee-official Sumatrans Sumatrans. being witha parasol.Theyalso dismissedtheJavanese arts, internee followedby another dance(tandak), (shadowplay),and ketoprak Javanese wayang poems), (reciting tembang were returned as theater, feudal.As timewentby and as moreand moreinternees in becamelesspronounced residential ethnic differences however, patterns.45 home, side of the main locatedon the right-hand A congress congresgebouw, building, and as a gathering for was used as a theatre showingfilms place on festive street, and deeply demoralized becameapathetic when internees occasions.In lateryears, unusedand desolate. it due to their isolation, was left prolonged some with well built,made withwood and zink roofs, Houses were relatively his even decorated house from An internee walls and raisedfloors. Jepara plastered teachers The wood carving. schoolwas in Kampong whereinternee B, withfine taught toschoolchildren and Dutch.Salimdescribes "merry, singing in Indonesian listening of ballads"as he stoodin front theschool.46 Dutch, typical
43Salim,Vijftien Boven-Digoel, 133-134. Jaar pp. 45Salim,Vijftien Boven-Digoel, 225-226. Jaar pp. 46Ibid.,pp. 137-139.
44 Ibid., pp. 135-136.

108 TakashiShiraishi

was for administration in KampungB. It was headed by The mainoffice kampung and thenBoedisoetjitro had itsown policeforce, and namedtheROB, Gondojoewono and OrderGuards).TheROB worked withthe Rusten Orde Bewaarders (Quiet closely and itspoliceforce and was headed in itsearlyyearsby Soeprapto local government from Salatiga.47 A small mosque, built in 1928,was in KampungC. Shortly aftertheirarrival, and AhmadDasoeki,bothHadji Misbach'sproteges and former leaders Haroenrasjid of the Islamic Communistmualiminmovementin Solo, established a mosque to in forest build a mosque. and ComiteMasigit, opena section thenearby committee, Natar Zainoedin,Hadji Datoek Batoeah,Hadji AchmadHatib,and otherreligious leaders fromWest Sumatraand Bantenestablishedanotherassociation,Al Islam In and the Association Islamvereeniging) supported mosque committee. Marco's (Al was to Muslimsand the words,"theAIV [Al Islamvereeniging] an association unify committee." local government The CM [ComiteMasigit]became its executive then a contentious fundpartoftheproject, issueamongMuslims. The creating proposedto did moneyforbuildinga mosque. The Al majority not want to acceptgovernment was splitand subsequently dissolved.Buttheminority wentahead IslamAssociation and builta mosque.Theirleaderswere then anyway, subsidy, acceptedgovernment as Marcowrote became officials, appointed government contemptuously. Haroenrasjid to head, of themosque.Hadji Emed becamea tukang, workman, religious penghulu, as and swearin internees government of officials, AhmadDasoeki becamea member theROB.48 Not farfrom mosquewas a tennis the court that had Boedisoetjitro builtto showto Dutchofficials, no one used. Alongthemainstreet but wereseveralstores run visiting Chinese.The largestin thecamp was thatof Tan Toey and laterof Tan Tjo, but by therewere smallerstores, (stalls),and photo studiosowned by internees. warungs Englishwords were oftenused forsignboards-"Englishteacher,""Barbershop," and "Hairdresser," "Laundress."49 In theevening in hereand there front houses,enjoying of cool air people gathered and smokingklobot(cornhusk)-rolled Sounds of guitar,mandolin,and cigarettes. violinwereheard.Salim'shousewas in KampongB. It consisted a small sometimes of front verandahand a smallroomand a bedroominside.Therewas a rattan chairon the verandah,a small table with two stools in the room,and a sleeping couch witha red-white-blue, Dutchcolored net overhung mosquito in thebedroom. Drinking watercould be had from water-butt the butin thedryseasonone had to go to nearby, In theriverforbathing. theevening, Salimrecalls, read booksunderthelight a he of He boughtbooks at the auctionsdeparting civilianand military petroleumlamp.
47Ibid.,p. 139;Verslaggever BovenDigoel(I)," Persatoean Indonesia, BovenDigoel(Marco), "Riwajat November 1929, 33;TimPenyusun No. Pembuatan BukuSejarah Perintis Citra 15, Kemerdekaan, dan Perintis Kemerdekaan Perjuangan Digul, 75. Ex Seri Perjuangan p. 48Verslaggever BovenDigoel(Marco), BovenDigoel(IV),"Persatoean no. Indonesia, 36,January 1, "Riwajat 1930. 49 Salim,Vijftien Boven-Digoel,140. Jaar p.

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109

He from for Hatta'sarrival, Hattabrought with officers regularly. also benefited held ofbooks.50 cases himtoTanahMerahfifteen in likeanywhere A lelang, was occasionfor internees TanahMerah, auction, a great a else in theIndies.It was always held in theevening.After day's work,internees, in or terrain as dressedas elegantly theycould,wentto themilitary administrative to thearmedguard did On suchoccasionsthey notneed to showtheir passes groups. of at the entrance the military mingledwith camp. Theywere guests,and merrily werepassed around. Drinks and cigarettes wereserved.Cigars and soldiers. civilians niceand friendly.51 was TheGramophone played.And thehostwas alwaysvery The Another birthday. OranjeHouse greatoccasionwas theQueen Wilhelmina's were hung all over the and in thosedays herportraits was a symbolof theempire, in and business offices, the houses of practicallyevery Indies, in government verandah and in manyvillagesin thefront European,Chinese,and nativenotable, a in thevillageheadman.So wereherportraits Digoel. On herbirthday of (pendopo) to resident wentto thehouse oftheassistant earlyin themorning express delegation A in theircongratulations the name of all internees. soccermatchwas held in the and a and afternoon, in theevening procession people organized lantern orange-clad in to see a play. In Oranjefestivities Tanah wentto thecivilianclub,burgersocieteit, also thosewho refusedto workforthe government, Merahnota fewnaturalisten, the to with willing workfor government.52 together those participated the the established Internees manyassociations: opera club "Orient," musicand the Pasoendan,the Kebinangkitan troupe operagroup"Liberty," Sundanesetheatrical Moedo Matojo(led by a Solonese and wayang Langen troupe, Javanese orang ketoprak and MohamadJasin and internee), a kroncong groupheadedby SamsoedinKatjamata whichlastedto thefinaldays of Digoel,was Medan. The mostimportant from club, the Kunsten Sportvereeniging Digoel, Digoel Artsand SportsAssociation.It was establishedin 1928 under Winanta'sleadership;Abdul Xarim'sjazz band, Digoel to Concert, belonged thisclub.53 of on end ofthemainstreet, To thenorth bordering thejungle,wereremains the Sumatraon the riverside, and next to it, the KampungUdjung long-abandoned till whichwas keptwell-maintained thelastdays of thecamp.Those who graveyard werealso buriedthere. Marcoand Aliarcham, died in Tanah Tinggi, Many including of werevictims malaria.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(IV),"Persatoean BovenDigoel(Marco), 53 Ibid.,pp. 237-238; "Riwajat Verslaggever Citra Perintis BukuSejarah Pembuatan Kemerdekaan, Tim no. 1, Indonesia, 36,January 1930,; Penyusun Ex Kemerdekaan Perjuangan Digul, 84. Perintis danPerjuangan Seri p. 54Salim,Vijftien Boven-Digoel,142. Jaar p.

110 TakashiShiraishi

wereabandonedone by one in theearly1930s Thesequarters "reclaimed" nature. by and to declined from wheninternees started be released regularly thecamppopulation 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 Worldof Digoel The Phantom socialand family with was lifein Digoel,noteasy,butlife life So there nonetheless, and messiness. itsown smallhappiness Digoel,withitsown smallpalace,OranjePark, and lookedlikeanyother smalltownin the themilitary garrison, thenativequarters, It evena little Butlifein Digoelwas perverted. was this"perverted Indies, Buitenzorg. if as normalcy," we use RudolfMrizek's precisewords,whichcan be identified the of hallmark Digoel.56 To see how perverted was in Digoel,we onlyneed to think life aboutChalidSalim, our tourguide of Tanah Merah,who has left of powerful descriptions lifein Digoel Years Solitude. wellA whichat timesremind ofGarciaMarquez's OneHundred us of man whenhe was sentto Digoelin 1927, educatedintelligent in hismid-twenties Salim forbreeding workedforthe malariacontrol of anophelesservice, looking places one malarial from ditch another from to and one mosquitoes-dayin,day out,moving to for It not watertank another, fifteen years. was certainly whathe wantedto do in his because this life-he was and perhapswantedto be a journalist-buthe persevered in himself bothphysically was his way of keepinghis sanity Digoel and disciplining his No and mentally. doubthe was awarethathis cooperation might improve chance he to to be releasedfrom Digoel,butat thesame time, could notafford entertain any real hopes for release because that would make his life in Digoel even more werethere Digoel in ordernotto in Salimwas notan exception. Internees unbearable. Or they werethere suppresstheir to to homeone fine be there, return day. hope notto and to demonstrate themselves to be thereas the signthattheyhad notcapitulated had notgivenup something life that whichmadetheir meaningful. they but was Thispervertedness notjustpsychological, deeplyinstitutionalized. Salim the talksabouta setofcategories whichstructured internee in Digoel.It consisted life maincategories TanahMerah. in offour was de werkwilligers,willing-to-work. workedin manydifferent the The first They nurses in the as kampungchiefsand clerksin the local government office, jobs, workersforthe malariacontrolservice,clerksand coolies in the harbor hospital, in and warehouses,technicalworkers the power centerand the telephoneoffice, in the fields.All in thiscategory were government manual laborers employed.The theirwage being 40 centsa day, about f.10.50 lowliestpaid were fieldworkers, a in forwork from to seven thirty the morning one o'clock in the afternoon. month, workers Clerksand technical werebetter f.18.75 f.30, to salaryfrom paid, a monthly in office who obtained a month. and thebestpaid was a clerk thegovernment f.90 The
55 Ibid., p. 143. 56 See Mrazek, Sjahrir, 141. p.

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werewilling workforthegovernment, to of because they greatmajority theinternees was confirmed theirexpectation afterHillen's believed fromthe beginning-and to chances be releasedfrom their visit-thatitwould improve Digoel.57 who had less chanceof being releasedwas de of The second category internees store and warung theself-employed-fishermen, farmers, vegetable eigenwerkzoekenden, shoemakers, tailors, (stall) owners, barbers, bakers, privateteachers. photographers, untiltheycould ricea man per month, 18 were givenfoodrations, kilogram They the or was de steuntrekkers,relief-recipientsinvalidsThe supportthemselves. third people with serious chronicillness such as incurablemalaria and tuberculosis, and caused in mostcases by their and insanity neuroses longisolation, greatsolitude, homesickness. so refused the was Thefinal category denaturalisten, naturalists, calledbecausethey in from free foodrations natura and the toperform workfor government received any as them undesirable thelocalauthorities Since "extremists," thegovernment. regarded bothfabricated and their of conduct, werenatural targets spieswho weremany, they In to and and real,was regularly systematically reported thelocal government. the and arrested sent weresuddenly not ofthecamphistory, a fewnaturalists earlyyears in recalcitrants, TanahTinggi. to thesecond internment camp fortheonverzoenlijken, wereawareofit.As such had home,and they The naturalists no chancetobe returned above all those theirpresenceremindedthe restof internees, men of "principle," that an thattheyhad somehow "capitulated," acknowledgement willing-to-work, resentment.58 butmoreoften elicited sometimes admiration, is lowthe this the In Salim's explanation, category, lastcategory, onverzoenlijken, be influenced thefact his intothenaturalisten; account and assimilated by may keyed in thathe speaks mainlyof the internees Tanah Merah. If we add this category, similarto thatgivenby Hillen in his 1930 is however,his explanation remarkably intofivecategories: were classified to According Hillen,theDigoel internees report. 110 which included the employed, the willing-to-work, geemploieerden, total,who and teachers so on,and werepaid monthly workedas policemen, workers, telephone 380 dagloners, men and women,who worked forthe salary,and the day-laborers, 225 the naturalisten, in total,who mainlyin agriculture; naturalists, government, the to refused workand receivedfoodrations; recalcitrants, onverzoenlijken, seventy the 350 the in interned TanahTinggi; self-employed, menand women;and finally men, total.59 invalids, forty evolvedearly and bothbythegovernment theinternees, shared Thisclassification, man of the of in thehistory Digoel.Whenthecampwas stillunderconstruction, first withpowerswhichincluded, was invested Becking, Captain-administrator authority,
and to require to among others,the power to search internees, hold morningroll-calls,
57Ibid.,pp. 217-218. 58Ibid.,pp. 221-225.

in De in 1933, 463. See also OngkoD's statement 59"Rapport Hillen," Kwantes, Ontwikkeling: p. 1928-Aug. with translated an introduction Charles OutofExile, Soetan PKI by Sjahrir, pp. Sudyono, Sibar, 71-72; The 1949), 53-54. pp. Wolf, (New York: John Company, Jr. Day

112 TakashiShiraishi

a to corvielaborevery After each internee perform daywiththepay off.31.50 month. of the visit of the governor the Moluccas in July1927,however,this regimewas de changed,perhapsto keep "special measures"to a minimum, following Graeff's In morestrictly. a new regulation whichwas to stay tillthe end of the instruction camp, the interneeswere allowed to choose whetheror not to work for the each was of a and government; internee tobe givenallowance f.0.72 day innatura; only werepaid additional thosewillingto workforthegovernment a f.0.30 day in cash.60 to as thosewilling workand thenaturalists, well as theother The twocategories, two of and resulted this from auxiliary categories theself-employed theinvalids, directly regulation. The new regulation,however,was met with interneeresistance.Under the PKI centralleaders, a kampungcouncil (kampungraad) was leadership of former central in each kampung and as their theCRD. Centraal Raad Digoel body, organized councilrepresentatives or Digoel Central with Council,was formed thekampung by PKI as theformer chairman, chairman, Soemantri, former and a leaderofthe Sardjono, section thePKI, as theexecutive of head. Marcowrotein his report, which Semarang in was smuggledout in 1929and published thePNI organPersatoean in Indonesia late words: 1929and early1930,in these When controleur [controller] Monsjou replaced Captain Bekking[sic] as [administrator] November 1927], the CRD and the kampung [in gezaghebber onderstand councils demanded: 1. Give us sufficient [allowances];2. Give us worktools. sufficient Such were the people's demands. They can put Digoel in good order by themselves. is The only duty of the government to provide its begrooting[budget]; for health shouldbe thedokter For affairs [doctor]. [ourown] domestic responsible To we appointofficials. [our]schoolsthegovernment onlyprovidesubsidy. may At that and time onderstand peopleunderstood wantednottoreceive permanently, men[orang butwantedto liveas free merdeka]. was that Theirposition did of kind they notwanttobecomeworkers whatever boeroeh sadja]. [kaoem apa was always obstructed withinand withoutlike from [Their]good intention CD [Cooperatie PVD [Particuliere Dienst,Private Cooperatie Digoel], Veiligheids
SecurityService] and so on...61

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

Ifwe borrow AbdoelXarim's the councilsthuswanted words, CRD and thekampung tocreate"New Australia-NewAmerica," colony free a of in Digoel.62 notall But men, internees felt supportedthe CRD, as Marco reported. Many werkwilligen threatened

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chancesof release.R. M. Gondojoewono, afraidthatit might former jeopardizetheir thenestablished vigilante a PVD and of member thePKI central committee, group, withthegovernment.63 their calledfor cooperation the controller On May 1, 1928, Monsjoudecidedto destroy CRD and thekampung Marcoagainwrites: councils. on relying thegovernDigoel without People who could develop [memadjoekan] and mentpowerwerearrested are now in exilebecause ofslander[fitnahan] ... to who are prepared developDigoel whileleaningon thegovernment by people to old so [mendjilat] thattheyare soon returned their places powerand flattering bythegovernment.64 of As Marcosays,leadingmembers theCRD and thekampung councils, including were and Marco himself, Aliarcham, Dahlan, Boedisoetjitro, Sardjono,Soemantri, Tanah internment and sentto a temporary arrested camp,Gudang Arang,southof the for for Merah.It was notwell-located a camp,however, itwas floodedwhenever TanahMerah. from isolated rose.Norwas itsufficiently waterleveloftheDigoelRiver their resistance against the It was also possible for interneesto demonstrate of One day in March1929,thegovernor theMoluccas,Monsjou's there. government was on his way to Tanah Merah for an inspectiontour. When his ship boss, bankin a row,withtheir stoodon theriver its approachedGudangArang, internees It barebuttocks. him and greeted withtheir their backto theriver, pants, pulleddown to weretransferred after him.Shortly was too muchfor that, GudangAranginternees out TanahMerahand thuscomfortably of from kilometers river TanahTinggi, up forty sight.65 was broken. resistance of of Withthedestruction theCRD, thebackbone internee chiefs and soonthereafter kampung was administration" introduced "A normal village the leading cooperationists the local government: were appointedfrom by among for Hamid Soetan,Soehirman, Daris,and Soeprapto KampungsA, B, Gondojoewono, C, D, and E respectively. Gondojoewono's PVD, Private SecurityService, was into transformed theROD, Quiet and OrderGuards,and attachedto the kampung the and undersurveillance informed It naturalists, chiefs. placed internees, especially fortheirarrestand second of potential troublemakers, onverzoenlijken, government at internment TanahTinggi.66
was rebel of a Javanese Diponegoro, a 63Gondojoewono, descendent thenineteenth-century prince, 1923to from committee central a member theparty of of member theTernate, PKI, Moluccas, leading to in established 1924. According union and dockers' of chairman theseamen's and thefirst 1926, in in to Moessoand Alimin Communism Tjipinang he prison 1923. Ruth Tamin, converted Djamaloeddin Cornell 1965), 155,183,424,426, Communism Press, The (Ithaca: T. McVey, Rise Indonesian pp. University of and 461. 1, BovenDigoel(IV),"Persatoean Indonesia, BovenDigoel(Marco), January 1930. "Riwajat 64Verslaggever 65Salim, 269-270. Vijftien Boven-Digoel, Jaar pp. van "Overzicht de is from a 66Thephrase, normal villageadministration normaal [een dorpsbestuur] der in Toestand Politieken (1924-15 (Mei p. April1928)," Mededeelingen Regeering 1928), 15. Inwendigen

114 TakashiShiraishi

was how to the From the government perspective, whole point of the matter and "a administration" the in the enforce new regulation to introduce normal village In its eyes, those who offeredresistanceto its effort were internment camp. was how to createa space for FromMarco'sperspective, question the onverzoenlijken. life in was above all thosewho own free (hidoep their merdeka) Digoel,and their enemy with the government, flattered and slandered them. Eitherway, it, cooperated linewas drawnbetween thoseonverzoenlijken/principled the however, same dividing The constitution the category, of the and those werkwilligers/ass-lickers/slanderers. the recalcitrants-and second internment of camp forthiscategory onverzoenlijken, in Tanah Merah-was indispensableforintroducing in Tanah "normalcy" people for of Merah.As Digoel was instituted thepolitical its policing theIndiesand making so colonial ordernormal, was Tanah Tinggineeded forpolicingTanah Merahand its normal. making order the different filled lifein thetwo camps.In Tanah mentalities, therefore, Entirely Merahthosewilling-to-work formed great the wishedtobe Theydesperately majority. behavedand themorethey releasedfrom withthe Digoel.The better they cooperated thebetter chances knewthey had to return home.Their government, they expectations After were metby thegovernment. Hillen'svisit, thosewho contributed mostto the of in introduction normalcy TanahMerah, and Soeprapto Gondojoewono, Soeprodjo, who repentedhis among them,were released as early as 1931. Boedisoetjitro, in returned TanahMerahand replacedGondojoewono to incorrigibilityTanahTinggi, chief 1931.In a fewyears toowas allowedto return in as kampung he home.67 on The lifein TanahMerahin thepost-Hillen days thuscentered a tensemoment whenthelistofthenamesofthoseto be releasedwas put up on board in front the of office kampungadministration. thelistwas put up, manyinternees of As crowded aroundtheboard to read it.Occasionally jubilant a voicewas heard,but manymore wenthome disappointed, were "forgotten," thenwaitedforanother and feeling they tensemoment comein a fewmonths.68 to The internee in It mentality Tanah Tinggiwas different. was the place forthe or as Salim put it moreneutrally, thosewho were nekat, determined, onverzoenlijken and their ofreturning home stubborn, recalcitrant. suppressed principled, They hope in and persevered thehellishlifein ordernotto capitulate. Aside from food regular rations government the wereleft to Therewas no provided, they entirely themselves. In 70 and 45 kampungadministration. 1930 therewere 115 inhabitants, internees in members TanahTinggi. The houses,43 in total, Hillenwrote, werebuilt"in family each other, the forest, in surrounded places wherever theychose,separatefrom by The onlyroadthere was theone builtby thegovernment,short a badlykeptgardens." road leadingto TanahTinggi, entrance and sincetheinternees refused makeroads to on their wereevenno pathsto linkhouseswitheach other. official An sent own,there
See also Verslaggever BovenDigoel(Marco), BovenDigoel(IV),Persatoean Indonesia, 1, "Riwajat January 1930.Thestatements OngkoD and Nurut be found Sudyono, of in can PKI-Sibar, 68-69, 92-93; pp. 67WiroS. Miardjo's in statement be found Sudyono, can PKI-Sibar, 73. p. 68Salim,Vijftien Boven-Digoel, Jaar p. 254.

The Phantom Worldof Digoel

115

Tanah Merahstayedin a simpleguesthouse to keep his eyes on theinternees, from foodrations twicea week.69 himexcept received whenthey shunned butthey When Hillen visitedTanah Tinggi,he had an occasion to talk with Najoan, a of leader of theVSTP, railwayunion,and a member thePKI since its ISDV former Indies Social Democratic Association) (IndischeSociaal-Democratische Vereeniging, He wrote: days. "Lifeis really in The notorious quiethere[Hetis daarwel Najoan declared earnest: in Thismanhas lived in manyplaces in theArchipelago various wonen]." rustig it Now he finds "really the and has also visited Netherlands. quiet"in Tanah jobs and perhaps there are various Tinggi. This shows an abnormal psyche, .. . of they maybe, theresidents amongtheonverzoenlijkenWhatever psychopaths for to for do TanahTinggi notcomeintoconsideration themoment return thefree society.70 hostile No doubtHillenthought disappearedin thethick Najoan,who eventually at and in 1942in his fourth lastattempt escape,was crazy.Perhapshe thought jungle to had succumbed natureand were reducedto a thatNajoan and his fellowinmates Hillen in master TanahTinggi. was theundisputed nature Undoubtedly partofnature. could not possiblycreatea humanworld,a human musthave feltthattheinmates nature remained,in all its majesty,the only reality,there and that therefore unrealand to appearedtobe phantoms, overwhelming reality-compared whichthey appearedto Hillento be reducedto natural they Damped in TanahTinggi, ghostlike. human the humancharacter, specifically humanbeingswho lacked thespecifically fromtheirPapuan neighbors, not real naturalisten, verydifferent in short, reality, and innocence.But the were not. They kept their thoughwithouttheirfreedom worldofDigoel. in humanreality that phantom ghostlike weredividedintothree in The internees TanahTinggi "cliques"in themid-1930s. as see Aliarcham their to leader,an examplethey Therewerepeople who continued his manshouldbe like,longafter deathin 1931. shouldfollowforwhata communist who ran theirown was led by Sardjono,Ngadiman,and Winanta, Another group world.The third coursesin thisphantom cadretraining communist groupwas led by three Moscow returnees, Moskow," Waworoentoe,Daniel Kamoe, and "Hadji thatall the and Moscowtraining insisted who wereproudoftheir Clementi Wentoek, In in thanthosepublished Russiawerefakes. 1935thethree books other groupsmet, witha "convertie concluded a and after longdiscussion, [anti-Digoelanti-pendigoelan not mutualantagonisms, in internment convention]," essencethepledge,despitetheir in his recalcitrance 1937,and arguingthat"the But to capitulate. Sardjonorepented to goal justifiesthe means," his group asked forthe transfer Tanah Merah. The in Thus thereafter. remained Tanah Merahonly suitshortly Moscow hadjisfollowed in total-who somehowmanagedto ofAliarcham"-twenty-five those"truefollowers
69"Rapport De in 1933, 467-468. Hillen," Kwantes, Ontwikkeling: pp. 1928-Aug. 70 Ibid., 470. p. 71See in this The connection Arendt, Origins Totalitarianism, of p. 192.

116 TakashiShiraishi

survive until the camp closure in 1943, at which time they were evacuated to Australia.72 It shouldbe clearbynow whyDigoel withitsperverted was normalcy a metaphor was neededto create in fortheIndies.As we have seen,TanahTinggi normalcy Tanah in to Merah as Digoel was instituted establishnormalcy the Indies. Normalcywas the achievedin theIndiesand in Digoel,becauseofthisisomorphic structure, insertion of in thenwhatwas ofDigoel in theIndiesand that TanahTinggi Digoel.One wonders createdin Digoel was fundamentally in this normalcy the Indies if the normalcy TanahMerahwas normal whileTanahTinggi was for perverted, ifone can notsaythat one can not say eitherthat the Indies was normalwhile Digoel was abnormal, the abnormal.Instead,normalcyappeared in relativity: Indies appeared normal to Digoel,as Tanah Merahappearednormal comparedto Tanah Tinggi.It compared in of but was notjustisolation, isolation theheart thehostile, overwhelming, majestic to naturalhumanbeings naturethatthreatened reduceanyoneto a partof nature, in humancharacter, Tanah Tinggi, whereHillen thought devoid of the specifically of were theonlyform "human"existence. Comparedto Tanah Tinggi, psychopaths more morecivilized, morenormal, so was and and TanahMerahwas infinitely human, in order was constituted, thissense, to theIndiescompared Digoel.The Indiescolonial of on thephantom worldofDigoel,and there themostimportant meaning Digoel. lay of thatthisisomorphism theIndies/Digoeland It shouldnotbe surprising, then, withanother social mapping.We was accompanied isomorphic Digoel/TanahTinggi intothethree of wereclassified have seen thattheinternees categories werkwilligen, of and and naturalisten, onverzoenlijken thattheinsertion Tanah Tinggiin Digoel and in of thecreation normalcy Tanah Merahcomparedto thephantom world of Tanah on was made operative thebasis of thisclassification. have also seen that We Tinggi in thissetofcategories between stateand internees. the emerged Digoelinnegotiations In theIndiesoutsideDigoel,another ofcategories-cooperatists, set non-cooperatists, in and revolutionaries/extremists-evolved the same years,again in negotiations between the Indies politicalpolicingregimeand Indonesians,withoutwhich the of the of would nothavebeen insertion Digoelin theIndiesfor creation normalcy there as effective operative itwas. Thismeansthat can understand and as we above ground both cooperationist Indonesiannationalist and non-cooperationist, the in politics, Indiesonlyifwe also look at revolutionary howeverphantomunderground politics, Tanah Merahwithits werkwilligen like theywere,just as we can understand and naturalisten ifwe also lookat TanahTinggi and itsghostlike Life only onverzoenlijken. in in of Digoel was perverted a profoundly politicized way, and it is in themirror its where can see theperverted we normal order theIndiesreflected. in pervertedness Its ClosingYears WhenTjardavan Starkenborgh Stachouwer de as replaced Jonge governor general in 1936, and especially after Welter becameminister colonies 1937, of in so Digoel after
Miardja and Nurut,in Sudyono,PKI-Sibar, 74-76, 96-98. Wiro S. Miardja pp. and Nurut,as well as Ongko D., whose statement also included in Sudyono's book, survived in Tanah is Tinggiuntilits closure. 72 The statements Wiro S. of

Worldof Digoel The Phantom

117

It manyyearsonce again becamea majorissue in The Hague and Buitenzorg. was in because Digoel was partof Welter'spast-he participated the decisionto partly in late 1926whenhe was a member thecouncilof of createa mass internment camp whenitdiscussedHillen'sreport and he was itsvicepresident theNetherlands Indies, werechanging situations becausetheinternational in 1930-but moreimportantly fast, invasionbegunin China. and withtheNazis in powerin Germany Japanese military to was theearliest submitted Welter Thenoteon DigoelwhichPetrus Blumberger sign in interest thequestion. ofhisactive for his to Welter senta noteto Petrus In December 1938, Blumberger drafting letter from internees to decision releasetwenty of in support hisrecent thegovernor general, on Digoel as "a step further the way to abolish thisplace of exile except forthe wrote: He 'onverzoenlijken."' then this shouldbe madetoliquidate place ofexileas fast Thatin myviewtheeffort as possible. internment of That... I am ofopinionthattheestablishment a distinct camp measure... as shouldbe regarded permissible as an exceptional only over ThatI am ofopinionthattheNetherlands authority theIndiesderivesits and its in greatmoralprestige theworldfrom effective humaneadministrative the the I believethat] sooneritcan do without exceptional and [therefore methods the meansofa specialplace ofinternment, better. method thatDigoel shouldbe replacedwiththetraditional thussuggested Welter to withinternees be dispersedwidelyin in of internment thenot too distant future, becauseoftheir influence couldnothope to have anypolitical manyareaswherethey in Digoel should be abolished and differences thatthe internment camp linguistic of of "withtheexception that the'onverzoenlijken.'"'73 enthusiasm. without receivedhis suggestions The Indies government, however, methodwould not traditional for The prosecutor arguedthatthe general, instance, as workas effectively it used to because ofthespreadofMalay in theIndiesand the were placed withtheoutsideworldonce internees of increased possibilities contact of of The thecamp.74 retention Digoelwas decidedon at a meeting thecouncil outside half in Indiesin December oftheNetherlands 1938,though thefirst of1938,118 more in 1938, the werereleased, internees population Digoel to345byJuly reducing internee in 42 internees TanahTinggi.75 including in his a onceagainwrote note, In May 1940Welter expressing disappointment the of slowprogress Digoel'sliquidation.
De in 23 van van [Welter], dec. 1937," Kwantes, Ontwikkeling: 1933Aug. 73"Notitie de minister koloniien datedDecember 1937. 29, was a note, letter senttothegovernor general, 1942, 474-485.Basedon this pp. 9 vanStarkenborgh aan gouverneur-generaal 74"Procureur-generaal Marcella] Stachouwer], [H. [Tjarda De in nov.1938," Kwantes, Ontwikkeling: 1933-1942, 552-554. pp. Aug. De 75Kwantes, Ontwikkeling: 1933-1942, 552and 556. pp. Aug.

118 TakashiShiraishi

A departure was made in 1927 [from long established the internment practice] then.Thus was because hundredsof people had to be interned simultaneously the witha long born,perforce, camp in New Guinea.But it is in contravention to traditionand with the experiencesgained thereby, use the Boven Digoel normalin thesensethatthey concentration internment, camp againfor"normal" tookplace and will takeplace fornow and perhapspermanently. my In always view theold tradition shouldbe followed suchinternment.76 for Fourteenyears afterits establishment, of the foundersthus admittedthat one was a concentration noteven for"normal"internment, alone fora let Digoel camp, normallife.Yet it survived three for moreyears, until1943,two yearsafter most the ThatyeartheIndiesgovernment in partof theIndieswas occupiedby theJapanese. exile in Melbourne becamesufficiently worried about thepossibility theinternees of it so and beingliberated theJapanese, itdecidedto liquidate altogether to evacuate by all internees Australia. to Evacuation was carried by Ch. 0. van der Plas and the out campclosedin 1943. Thus thehistory theDigoel concentration of campcame to an end and withit the last remnant thepolitical of in theDutchfashioned theIndiesin the regime policing finalyearsoftheir rule.The post-revolt 1927to 1942can be understood in yearsfrom thissense as the age of Digoel, forthe normalcy the Indies in these yearswas in constituted on fundamentally the phantomworld of Digoel. Digoel and its camps functioned both to refract and to reflect normal,thatis Digoel by definition the demarcated boundaries the between normal abnormal, cooperative the the and the and the colonialorderand thepsychopathic recalcitrant, separating rational thereby fringe the and population,and in doing so it mirrored veryregimethatinstitutionalized was thuscontingent a complexapparatusof policing on it. Normalcy marginalized marked and partitioned and that colonial territories, subjects, signs.
76"Notitie de minister koloniein van in van De [Welter], 6, 1940, Kwantes, Ontwikkeling: 1933May Aug. 1942, 744-745. pp.