Opinion: ‘Municipality, also remember our anti-colonial past’ | Amsterdam
opinionExactly 73 years ago, the Netherlands recognized Indonesia’s independence in the Palace on Dam Square. It was one of many moments in Amsterdam’s anti-colonial history. On the eve of the commemoration year for slavery, historian Sander van der Horst advocates commemorating the city’s past as well.
Will he have noticed the image of enslaved Asian people on the rear facade of the Royal Palace? On December 27, 1949, Indonesian Vice President Mohammad Hatta (1902-1980) entered the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. The reason was the transfer of sovereignty to Indonesia, after the country had already gained independence four years earlier.
‘A great honor and true pleasure’ refers to Hatta’s symbolic moment. Afterwards, the carillon of the Palace left it Indonesia Raja sound, outside on the Dam was a frenzied Indonesian crowd. After 350 years of colonial oppression, racism and violence, the Netherlands recognized Indonesian independence (although Papua would still fall under Dutch rule until 1962).
Amsterdam was not an unknown place for Hatta. Already in the interwar period he lived in the Netherlands for a longer period of time and visited the capital to attend anti-colonial events. But he was not alone: in the loop of the twentieth century, Amsterdam saw countless forms of resistance and protest that are now largely forgotten. It is high time we recognized this resistance. But what resistance am I talking about? Allow me to make a brief historical detour.
Meeting in the RAI
In the loop of the interwar period, resistance to Dutch colonialism grew stronger. Hatta was a member of Perhimpoenan Indonesia, a student association that also had many members in Amsterdam. He was also one of the founders of the League against Imperialism, an alliance of which the Dutch section was founded in Amsterdam.
The League brought Indonesians, Chinese Indonesians, Surinamese (including writer and activist Anton de Kom) and the Dutch together in their fight against colonialism. They often touched each other in Amsterdam and got many people on their feet. For example, a conference in the RAI in 1932 attracted more than two thousand visitors.
German occupier
During the Second World War, the resistance in Amsterdam continued, only against the German occupiers. Members of the Perhimpoenan Indonesia kept Jewish children in hiding places outside the city. The Indonesian Evy Poetiray also helps children go into hiding, and works as a courier for, among others The parole. Nationally, one in eight Indonesians in the Netherlands resisted the Germans.
After World War II, the Netherlands invaded Indonesia. The Netherlands-Indonesian Association demanded an immediate end to this colonial war. The organization held mass meetings in the RAI and the Markthallen. No fewer than 20,000 attendees listen to the speeches of Indonesians like Putiray.
persistent myth
In the same period, anti-imperialists Otto and Hermina Huiswoud represented the interests of Surinamese in the Netherlands from the Vereniging Ons Suriname (VOS) on the Zeedijk. Until well into the 20th and early 21st centuries, political movements have been committed to putting issues such as slavery, (anti)colonialism and racism on the agenda.
Amsterdam therefore has a history of anti-colonial resistance. But why is this so important? First, this past puts an end to the underlying myth that colonialism was “something from far away.” Hatta, De Kom, Poetiray and the Huiswoud couple: they were people of flesh and blood. They achieve their plans in Amsterdam and multiple protests in locations we don’t know yet.
Second, their story shows that already during colonialism there was strong and sometimes widely shared criticism. Anyone who says that ‘you have to see colonialism in its time’ should bear in mind that these activists in Amsterdam listen to tens of thousands of people to mobilize.
Finally, this raises crucial questions about the city itself. What does it say about Amsterdam – as the former capital of an imperial empire – that our anti-colonial history could be marginalized for so long?
Memorial stone
Don’t get me wrong: there are already many initiatives underway. Since 1983, the 4 and 5 May Amsterdam-Southeast Committee has been commemorating Indonesian, Surinamese and Antillean resistance heroes. Last year it was for the first time on Anton de Komplein near the statue of De Kom in Southeast. And organizations such as The Black Archives and the Anton de Kom Foundation are campaigning successfully for the ideas of Huiswoud and De Kom, with the latest acquisition a memorial stone for De Kom in the Nieuwe Kerk.
In addition, there is the annual Decolonial Indies commemoration at Olympiaplein in Amsterdam South. And yes, on IJburg and in Osdorp there are street names that refer to anti-colonial figures. Although these meagers contrast with the still countless colonial references in Amsterdam, the Palace on Dam Square in the lead.
Monument discovered
Despite these initiatives, it is still not enough. A universal approach at city level – and with explicit political and financial support from the municipality – is lacking. Next year is the commemoration year for the Dutch slavery past. It will then be exactly 150 years ago that slavery was abolished in Suriname and the former Netherlands Antilles. connected, 2023 is the perfect opportunity to also commemorate our anti-colonial past.
Imagine the following. June next year will be an anti-colonial memorial month, with city-wide education programs, events and social media campaigns. On July 1 – traditionally the day on which the abolition of slavery is celebrated and commemorated – a monument will be unveiled in a prominent place in the city, possibly the Marineterrein. It is dedicated to all those who revolted in the Netherlands and the colonies.
New memory culture
Another important moment follows on August 17. That day in 1945 not only did Indonesia declare its independence from the Netherlands, but the Curaçao slave revolt of 1795, led by Tula, also took place. On the anti-colonial memorial day, the mayor can reflect on the centuries-long resistance to Dutch colonialism and the place that Amsterdam occupies at the new monument.
In this way, a new culture of remembrance can be set in motion, which will also teach Amsterdammers about the resistance in their city after 2023. All of this could be made possible by a variant of the recently announced slavery memorial fund, focusing on our anti-colonial past.
These plans reaching ambitious. But we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Just look at the initiatives I suspect. In addition, on July 1, 2021, Amsterdam took the lead Mayor Halsema apologized for the role of the municipality in the slavery past. She noted that a long consultation with relatives groups from Suriname, the Caribbean and Indonesia.
In contrast to the nationwide slavery excuses two things about the capital that are one thing: close cooperation brings about widely shared measures. This way it can also become acquainted with the anti-colonial history of our city. Hatta had probably found great honor and real pleasure.
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