War Crimes in Japan-Occupied Indonesia by Kevin J. Baird & Sangkot Marzuki

Author:Kevin J. Baird & Sangkot Marzuki [Baird, Kevin J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS027100 History / Military / World War Ii
ISBN: 9781612347332
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 2015-03-23T00:00:00+00:00

Lifting the Veil

The cynical golden rule in military cultures everywhere is “never volunteer.” It is based on the belief that commanders are less committed to one’s personal welfare than they are to their own advancement. This rule finds few better expressions than in the romusha program in occupied Indonesia. An examination of the recruitment or impressment of romusha is important to the Mochtar affair and requires some consideration.

Soekarno’s difficult position with the Japanese in the romusha context has been explained. The Japanese recognized his immense and loyal following. They exploited his charismatic nature to obtain the laborers they required. Soekarno came to be widely viewed, then and now, as the chief recruiter of romusha for the Japanese. He undertook the endeavor energetically, doing so in the firm belief he was both helping the Japanese to physically repel the colonialists and making goodwill deposits ensuring the emperor’s favorable decision on independence. The recruitment campaigns, and the consequences, were another heavy burden to bear in winning Indonesia Raya. Soekarno frequently traveled around Java during the war, cementing his alliances and loyalties among local leaders and imploring them to provide romusha to the Japanese. In September 1944 Soekarno and many other elites volunteered as romusha for one week to boost flagging recruitment numbers.14

Soekarno was frank about his leading role in recruiting romusha long after the war. In Soekarno: An Autobiography, he described a meeting with medical students during the war (stoked by a critic of Soekarno, Soetan Sjahrir). They angrily challenged Soekarno’s dealings with the Japanese, especially in delivering the romusha into their hands. He recounted his response to them as follows:

There are casualties in every war. A Commander-in-Chief’s job is to win the war even if it means losing a few battles on the way. If I must sacrifice thousands to save millions, I will. We are in a struggle for survival. As leader of this country, I cannot afford the luxury of sensitivity.

My lot is to keep the Japanese believing I am swaying the masses to their aid. Otherwise, they will remove me, and we are now on the brink of what we’ve been fighting for all our lives. At all costs I must stay in this position. Only I can keep the pressure on Japan and I can keep the lid on Indonesia—until the time is right.15

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