JEANNE
HELLING

In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became a dominant European power for almost 200 years. After ages of trade, the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony which was one of the most valuable colonies under European rule and contributed to Dutch global prominence in spice and cash crop trade in the 19th and early 20th century. The Dutch exploited the native population and implemented a strong colonial social order that was based on rigid racial and social structures. The population was roughly divided into four groups: Europeans, Easterners - such as Chinese and Japanese landowners -, Indo-Europeans (the Indische community) and the indigenous people. Each group had its own status, with associated rights and obligations. In the early 20th century, when nationalism globally arose, local intellectuals began developing the concept of ‘Indonesia’ as a nation state which set the stage for an independence movement. The Indo-European, or Indische, community thought differently about the Dutch rule than the local, Indonesian population. The latter rejected Dutch presence completely, while the Indische community stood open for collaboration with the Dutch. During the Second World War, the Japanese occupied the Dutch East Indies from 1942 until 1945. Both Dutch and Indo-European prisoners of war were imprisoned and tortured in Japanese internment camps, as well as in separate camps which existed for Dutch and Indo-European civilians. After the Second World War, on 17 August 1945, Soekarno declared Indonesian independence together with Mohammad Hatta. This resulted in a four-year guerrilla warfare for Indonesian independence against Dutch colonial rule in which Indonesian nationalists fought against the Dutch forces and pro-Dutch civilians. This was also the historical period known in Dutch history as ‘Politionele Acties’ (‘Police Actions’) in reference to the two major military offensives undertaken by the Netherlands on Java and Sumatra against the Republic of Indonesia. After four years of war, the Netherlands officially acknowledged Indonesia’s independence in 1949. Between 1945 and 1968, more than 300,000 of Indische civilians (Indo-Europeans) migrated from the former Dutch East Indies to the Netherlands.

This marriage contract belonged to my parents. Their names are Albert Helling and Soepinem (Annie) Matoredjo. Their paths crossed at Fortress Van Wijck, Gombong. My 17-year-old mother lived close by and worked in her aunt’s restaurant at the base, while my 24-year-old father, who was in the military, was stationed there with the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL in Dutch). Soon they fell in love, but it was destined that their relationship was not going to be easily accepted because in the Dutch East Indies there was a hierarchy between the Dutch, Indische (Indo-European), and Indonesian communities which were created by the Dutch colonial power structures. In this context, ‘European blood’ was privileged and considered as higher status. My mother was an indigenous Javanese woman while my father was Indisch, and this turned out to complicate their marriage plans. Until the age of 30, it was forbidden in the Dutch East Indies for men and women to marry without the father’s approval and blessings. My grandfather Oscar Helling did not want to give permission to his son because his future bride was Indonesian and thus of a lesser class status. In order to marry, my father had to forge his age on the marriage contract. Even though what my parents did was illegal, they were nevertheless declared husband and wife in 1949. After the wedding ceremony, my mother had to leave her family behind and was only reunited with them in the 70s. She never saw her father again. The newlywed couple moved along with the KNIL forces. First Surabaja, then Celebes and eventually they moved to the Indische community in Makassar where they lived with my father’s family. In both my father’s family as well as the Indische community my parents’ marriage was never fully accepted. After all, my mother was an indigenous woman and people greatly looked down upon her. A family member of my mother, who held a high position in the Indonesian Army, strongly advised them to leave the country, and my parents and their five children arrived in the Netherlands in 1958. It was becoming too dangerous for them to stay in the Dutch East Indies, as my parents did not want to give up their Dutch nationality. In order to grant my mother and her children a future filled with possibilities and chances, my parents were forced to leave everything behind. My father had to leave his motherland and apart from his family. My mother already lost her family from the moment she left Gombong with my father, but now her country, too.

- Jeanne

My parents divorced eventually. Yet, for me, this marriage contract symbolizes the traumatic past of my mother because of her Indonesian heritage. It also recalls the circumstances that forced my parents to falsify this document and demonstrates the ethnic hierarchy in the Dutch East Indies: the more European you looked, or the more European your name was, the better your status. My mother was looked down upon her whole adult life. After the Japanese left the Dutch East Indies in 1945, the resistance directly came into action and the conflict between the Indische and Indonesian community grew rapidly. On my mother’s family side there were people in the Indonesian army, while my father was in the KNIL-military. In addition to that, my parents endured a lot, mainly during politionele acties (Dutch for “police actions”). My mother left almost everything behind for my father and was never fully accepted or respected by her family-in-law. My father never offered my mother the support she truly needed. Indische men do not like to talk much. Once we arrived in the Netherlands, my parents were supported by the Dutch social care system and the Church. The Indische community had to live in contract pensions where people were not allowed to prepare their own food and rice dishes had to make way for cooked potatoes. They had to integrate as fast as possible. The Indische community is very modest, and my parents followed the cultural rules and kept silent about their displeasures. They did not want to be a burden to anyone, nor did they want to stand out. They tried to be invisible. A lot of people in the Indische community share this attitude and it held them back in a lot of ways. My parents’ life was not easy in the ‘new country’ (the Netherlands) with its cold climate and different culture. They tried to adapt to the new Dutch culture as best as they could, and they succeeded. My siblings and I ended up well with good careers. For 36 years, we have owned a successful family restaurant in Haarlem called ‘De lachende Javaan.’ We adapted well to the Dutch culture, but at what cost? I think we lost a part of our identity. Just like my mother, my siblings and I have been taught to be modest from an early age and to stay in the background. This affected both my personal and my professional life.

- Jeanne