Henriette

My grandmother (Oma in Dutch) Henriette van der Krogt was living on the island of Java, part of the Dutch East Indies when the Japanese came in and took over. This started a long struggle that resulted in her, her family and most everyone she knew being sent to concentration camps. Henriette was shipped to Kamp Ambarawa on the norther part of Java.

"Inside the camp we always thought the Americans would sooner or later come and liberate the island. We tried to stay positive and we would celebrate the little things like birthdays to help us pass the days. July 26 is my birthday and on that day I distinctly remember I received what was basically a decorated piece of bread. We all called it a cake. I will never forget that day."    

These sketches are the only accounts she
was able to bring back from the camp.
The words above are translated to
"Our new camp, his daily schedule"  

She went on to explain that every child in the camp had a special job. Henriette was a messenger, but she also had a forced job: grass cutter. Ambarawa was more of a work camp than a standard prison camp.

"As a messenger I remember I would wake up and in the morning and run to the head of the camp and start at the first of ten barracks. From there, I would run back stopping at each barrack  spreading the news. Unfortunately news travailed slow to the camp and there few messages to deliver, but when I did get a chance to run the news as we called it, I had to make sure the [Japanese] did not hear.  

I had another job too. This one was far less fun and it was forced. We all were to cut the grass outside the barracks with scissors or knives. Over time we figured out that we could attach a knife to the bottom of a stick with a piece of string and swing it like a reaper. This made a the process much easier. It was menial tasks such as that, that made life hard. We felt worthless."  

The job of messenger was clearly her most fond memory of the work camp. And that all came to a head on August 24, 1945

"I ran out of my barracks and I had no reason to try and hide the message from the [Japanese] because they told me to spread the news. I was to tell the prisoners to go into the field, the Japanese have called a meeting and have some information to share. 

This information was of course that the war had ended. We were free, or so we thought we were. The [Japanese] told us "Don't wonder to far from the camp, there are still people out their that want to kill you'"

This I belive is a sketch by the Japanese to make the camp
not look as bad as it really was. 

Unfortunately not everyone listened to the Japanese's warnings and some left the camp and did end up getting killed. Henriette and her family all "stayed put" at the camp and after three months a Military Convoy picked up the survivors her family included

"We were finally out of the camp and not one night too soon. Apparently the following night, the camp was shelled and totally destroyed. We were one day from death." 

According to my dad, he strongly believes that if the US had not dropped the bomb he would not be here today. He thinks the Japanese would have killed off the camp (before the shelling)

much like they did with many of the other's in the region and it was only a matter of time before Ambarawa was taken out.

Real photograph from the camp found online
(http://www.onzeplek.nl/forum/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=208)