Resistance against the Dutch and German Occupiers: Indonesian Students in Leiden
On the eve of World War II, Leiden was home to the largest Indonesian student community in the Netherlands. Many of these students joined the resistance against the German occupation, and later some fought for Indonesia’s independence.
PhD candidate Sander van der Horst (Leiden University and KITLV) explores the political history of Indonesian students in the Netherlands. According to him, some students were already building an underground network before the war, prompted by years of Dutch censorship and espionage. ‘When the first anti-colonial political party of Indonesia, the Indische Partij, was founded in 1913, its leaders were almost immediately sent forcibly to the Netherlands,’ Van der Horst explains. ‘That marked the starting point for anti-colonial resistance in the Netherlands.’
From Social Club to Anti-Colonial Organisation
The Indische Partij, along with liberation struggles in other nations such as Ireland and India, inspired Indonesian students who came to study in the Netherlands. Van der Horst notes: ‘In 1925, a social club for students was transformed into an anti-colonial organisation, the Perhimpunan Indonesia. From the 1920s onward, it bore the name “Indonesia” and fought for immediate independence.’
‘Subversive Thinking’
When mass uprisings broke out in Java and Sumatra in 1926 and 1927, the resistance was violently suppressed. The administration in the Dutch East Indies grew increasingly repressive and fascist. Meanwhile, Indonesian students in the Netherlands were viewed with suspicion.
‘The government was highly focused on what it deemed “subversive” thinking,’ Van der Horst explains. ‘In 1927, for instance, the four leaders of the Perhimpunan Indonesia were arrested. They were held for six months without trial but eventually managed to secure their release. Other Indonesian students in the Netherlands started operating more cautiously, especially during the 1930s, using pseudonyms, safe houses, and even going underground.’
First, Remove the Germans
This infrastructure proved valuable when Nazi Germany occupied the Netherlands in 1940. Many Indonesian students joined the resistance against the German occupiers, even though it placed them temporarily on the same side as the Dutch ‘oppressors.’ ‘After Japan invaded China in 1931, a group of Indonesian students became convinced that Japanese fascism might pose a greater threat than Dutch colonialism,’ Van der Horst explains. ‘The sentiment gradually shifted from anti-imperialist to anti-fascist, especially as Italian, German, and Spanish fascism in Europe presented an existential threat leading up to World War II.’
Ultimately, approximately 100 Indonesian students living in the Netherlands joined the resistance in Leiden against the Germans. ‘It was precisely because they were already adept in techniques like using safe houses and aliases that so many were prepared to act,’ Van der Horst says.
Limited Support
Many Indonesian students viewed resistance against the German occupation as the first step towards a greater goal: defeating fascism in both the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies and then achieving independence for the colony. Only a small minority of the Dutch population shared this goal; the vast majority rejected the idea of Indonesian independence.
‘In post-war propaganda, the emerging Indonesian freedom movement was framed by the Dutch government and pro-colonial media as a creation of Japan, with Sukarno even being compared to Mussert in Indonesia,’ Van der Horst explains. ‘This narrative resonated well in the Netherlands, where the prevailing sentiment was that Dutch imperialism should be reinstated in Indonesia. Only a small proportion of the Dutch population was receptive to the idea that the Indonesian liberation movement was legitimate, with some even participating in solidarity strikes.’
Forgotten Heroes
Meanwhile, Indonesia plunged into a bloody independence struggle, with many former Indonesian resistance members from Leiden participating. However, even the Indonesian government did not protect them. ‘Some died during the Madiun massacre of 1948, carried out by the Indonesian Republic’s army, or during the anti-communist genocide of 1965,’ Van der Horst recounts. Their premature deaths affected their presence in the collective memory, both in the Netherlands and Indonesia. ‘Due to their early demise, these individuals faded from memory, reinforced by the narrative of earlier historians that the resistance in the Netherlands was primarily organised by white men. Only in recent years has there been room for rehabilitation and a more inclusive view of resistance in the Netherlands.’
Sander van der Horst collaborated with Henna Goudzand to write about anti-colonial student resistance in Leiden in the recently published anthology Wereldsteden van de Lage Landen. Stadsgeschiedenis van Nederland en België. Leiden historians Ariadne Schmidt and Alicia Schrikker also contributed to the book with a chapter on Leiden’s Transvaal district.