Overview
Hans Goedkoop's grandfather, officer Rein van Langen, returns to the Dutch East Indies after the Japanese capitulation in 1945. The independent Republic of Indonesia has just been proclaimed there. Stunned by the chaos in the country, he and his troops prepare to restore Dutch power over the country, but many Indonesians are now really tired of any foreign authority. Merdeka - freedom! Months of horrific violence follow, known in the Netherlands as the Bersiap. Hans talks to eyewitnesses from different sides and to Dutch soldiers who served in the Tiger Brigade under the command of his grandfather. Will the Netherlands get its colony back?
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