The Linguist's Family: Toraja in the Dutch East Indies, prisoners of wartime Japan, and the Republic of Indonesia

"...an exceptionally memorable and informative chronicle" The memoir serves as a reminder of the complex political, economic, and social forces that shaped the world during the mid-20th century. It is a deeply personal and emotionally charged account of one family’s experience during the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies during the Asia Pacific War and World War II. It also brings attention to the Dutch atrocities in Sulawesi in 1946-1947, which the Dutch public is still grappling with and serves as a much-needed spotlight on a critical aspect of history lived by this linguist's family.

In 1916, Peter’s parents moved to Tana Toraja, in the Dutch East Indies. Peter was born in 1927 and grew up in Tana Toraja. His father studied the language and unique culture of the Torajas, known for their elaborate funeral rituals, megaliths, carved boat-shaped houses, and rock-cliff graves. The first Sa’dan-Toraja dictionary took shape and was completed in 1940 with a team of local scholars.

When Peter was twelve, he moved to Bandung, Java for school. Many of the Indonesian students in Schepper’s classes were involved in the independence movement; among them was Amir Sjarifuddin.

Imperial Japan occupied the Indies in 1942, during World War II. The van der Veen family was confined to internment in camps run by the Japanese military. Peter survived six camps, including the Tjitjalengka railrway camp, but the family suffered irreparable losses. When the war was over, Peter and his family repatriated to the Netherlands. Peter’s father, Dr. van der Veen returned to the Netherlands in 1956.

Marjolein van der Veen, Peter’s daughter, joins him as researcher and co-author to tell this story of an atypical Dutch family who were supporters of Indonesian independence.