Thursday, May 21, 2009

Silenced Voices by Inez Hollander

This book must be read by all who have a connection to the former Dutch East Indies. It has opened the floodgates to dialogue for many of us who grew up with the memories of war, imprisonment, great loss, pain, displacement and survival. The survivors of war and their descendants must know their pain and their memories are shared. To compound it, our history textbooks has left us out including in Holland. It is like we never existed. When I say "we" I mean not only the Indo people, but the pure Dutch, the Chinese and all those caught between the waring factions in Indonesia during WWII and the dark bersiap period. It has been over 60 years and it is time for recognizition and honor which I believe Inez has been able to craft in this book. My review on Amazon.com states that the atrocities and raw details described in the book are a necessary evil to convey the weight and impact it had on the survivors and their descendants. We need to know. The world needs to know. The time has come.

Click on title to access web site. Also available on Amazon.com

1 comment:

Elizabeth said...

I ordered this book and am looking forward to reading it. I only wish I could get a copy of Uit Indie Geboren as well. My sister has the copy my parents had and Amazon says it is out of print.