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The Pepper Trader: True Tales of the German East Asia Squadron And the Man Who Cast Them in Stone
Hidden high in the mountains of Java lies a graveyard surrounded by ancient trees and steeped in Hindu legend. In the middle of this sacred grove stands a tall memorial dedicated to "the brave men" of the German East Asia Squadron. The graves of ten U-boat sailors rest in the shadow of this mysterious white pillar. Who were these men? And why was a monument dedicated to their honour on the flank of a volcano in Indonesia? These were the questions Geoffrey Bennett asked himself when he chanced upon this remarkable site. He soon identified the man who built the memorial as Emil Helfferich, a young German entrepreneur who sailed to the Dutch East Indies in 1901 to make his fortune in pepper. Helfferich befriended the legendary Graf Spee and his sailors when they visited Java. He cheered their exploits in the early months of World War I - victory at Coronel, the swashbuckling raids of Emden, their daring trek on camelback - and he mourned their inevitable demise. Through the eyes of Helfferich, Bennett recounts tales of the tropics, the wider world and the unseen hand that guided the young man's life and loves. The Pepper Trader takes the reader on a romantic journey from Helfferich's village in Germany to the exotic East Indies and back again to his native land. A memorable cast of real characters, mystical creatures and the Queen of the South Sea accompany the reader on this fascinating voyage. This true story is a unique account of long-forgotten events from the last century - and how they continue to affect us today. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Geoffrey Bennett was born in Ottawa, Canada, and has lived in six Canadian cities as well as Denver, Houston, Paris, Jakarta, Singapore and Bangkok. A student of engineering at the Royal Military College of Canada and geophysics at the University of British Columbia, Mr. Bennett has worked as an exploration geophysicist for thirty years, half of that time in Jakarta, Indonesia. In addition to five papers on geophysics, he has written The Jakarta Hike & Bike Trail Guide as well as several articles on birding, Scouting, canoeing and mountaineering.
392 pages, Paperback
First published February 26, 2006
13 people want to read
About the author
Geoffrey Bennett
28 books1 followerCaptain Geoffrey Martin Bennett DSC, FRHS (1908–1983) was a British Royal Navy officer and author. He also wrote fiction as "Sea-lion".
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 6, 2025
A quasi-novel, semi-historical exploration that sheds light on a forgotten corner of Indonesian history, but whose exploration are inundated with orientalist language and leaving out additional history that still leaves gaps in our understanding about the true nature of the German Military Cemetery in Mount Pangrango, West Java.
The subject of this book, the aforementioned military cemetery, is a part of Indonesian history that has not been shed much light upon. As I conducted further search on the cemetery itself through Indonesian sources, it is a great shame that Indonesians themselves painted the story of the cemetery with ludicrous Nazi and Illuminati conspiracy theories, a reflection of just how far this country is from being able to appreciate history in its true reality.
Laying the story out through historical narration and novel diction, the writer Geoffrey Bennett shared the story of Emil Helferrich, the German businessman who made his trade in pepper and many other goods in the Dutch East Indies (modern day Indonesia), his brush with the First World War and the end of his saga in the colony after creating the monument for the German East Asia Squadron. Sandwiched between this narration is the historical recount of the battles and voyages of the German East Asia Squadron during the First World War, along with Bennett’s journey in Indonesia as he tried to bring this story into the limelight.
Even though unravelling Helferrich’s life and his connection to the East Indies indeed brought new insights into how non-Dutch Europeans immersed themselves in the colony and benefited from the abundance of its resources, Bennett’s decision to do so by peppering the world around Helferrich with much mystique, exoticism and genuine sense of otherness leaves much to be desired. Had he encountered Said’s Orientalism beforehand, he could have painted a much more truthful and nuanced narrative that would do both Helfferich and the East Indies justice. Helferrich’s story itself was cut out abruptly, albeit symbolically, when he left the East Indies in 1928. Readers are deprived from knowing about his life in Weimar Germany, his involvement with the National Socialists and his post-war imprisonment and goodwill visit to Indonesia.
Furthermore, Bennett could have done better service to history by taking the effort to unravel the story of the ten tombstones of German sailors killed during and after the Second World War. Even though he acknowledged that it would require a second book in order to do so, it is bewildering that he himself noticed that the sailors’ date of death is not connected at all to the German East Asia Squadron. In my own layman research efforts on the tombstones’ names, I am simply presented with Indonesian conspiracy theories about Nazis in Indonesia, and even its ludicrous connection to the Illuminatis. By inserting the sailor’s story in this book, or making an earnest effort to write a second one, Bennett could have improved our understanding about how a soldier in service of a country does not always adhere to the country’s ideology.
To anyone who is reading this book, it serves as a good eye opener to the hidden corners of Indonesia’s history, unexplored in political speeches or classroom teaching. Nevertheless, the reader must not take it as truth in of itself. A better understanding and appreciation of this story would come their way if they were to go through Helferrich’s own life memoir (five volumes in all) and other scholarly works about the story of the German East Asia Squadron.
Personally, I also implore researchers who are dedicated to nothing but the truth to endeavor and present us the story behind the ten names on the tombstones, and by doing so, creating one more path through which Indonesia can disentangle itself from the slaving chains of ignorance and indiscretion.
The subject of this book, the aforementioned military cemetery, is a part of Indonesian history that has not been shed much light upon. As I conducted further search on the cemetery itself through Indonesian sources, it is a great shame that Indonesians themselves painted the story of the cemetery with ludicrous Nazi and Illuminati conspiracy theories, a reflection of just how far this country is from being able to appreciate history in its true reality.
Laying the story out through historical narration and novel diction, the writer Geoffrey Bennett shared the story of Emil Helferrich, the German businessman who made his trade in pepper and many other goods in the Dutch East Indies (modern day Indonesia), his brush with the First World War and the end of his saga in the colony after creating the monument for the German East Asia Squadron. Sandwiched between this narration is the historical recount of the battles and voyages of the German East Asia Squadron during the First World War, along with Bennett’s journey in Indonesia as he tried to bring this story into the limelight.
Even though unravelling Helferrich’s life and his connection to the East Indies indeed brought new insights into how non-Dutch Europeans immersed themselves in the colony and benefited from the abundance of its resources, Bennett’s decision to do so by peppering the world around Helferrich with much mystique, exoticism and genuine sense of otherness leaves much to be desired. Had he encountered Said’s Orientalism beforehand, he could have painted a much more truthful and nuanced narrative that would do both Helfferich and the East Indies justice. Helferrich’s story itself was cut out abruptly, albeit symbolically, when he left the East Indies in 1928. Readers are deprived from knowing about his life in Weimar Germany, his involvement with the National Socialists and his post-war imprisonment and goodwill visit to Indonesia.
Furthermore, Bennett could have done better service to history by taking the effort to unravel the story of the ten tombstones of German sailors killed during and after the Second World War. Even though he acknowledged that it would require a second book in order to do so, it is bewildering that he himself noticed that the sailors’ date of death is not connected at all to the German East Asia Squadron. In my own layman research efforts on the tombstones’ names, I am simply presented with Indonesian conspiracy theories about Nazis in Indonesia, and even its ludicrous connection to the Illuminatis. By inserting the sailor’s story in this book, or making an earnest effort to write a second one, Bennett could have improved our understanding about how a soldier in service of a country does not always adhere to the country’s ideology.
To anyone who is reading this book, it serves as a good eye opener to the hidden corners of Indonesia’s history, unexplored in political speeches or classroom teaching. Nevertheless, the reader must not take it as truth in of itself. A better understanding and appreciation of this story would come their way if they were to go through Helferrich’s own life memoir (five volumes in all) and other scholarly works about the story of the German East Asia Squadron.
Personally, I also implore researchers who are dedicated to nothing but the truth to endeavor and present us the story behind the ten names on the tombstones, and by doing so, creating one more path through which Indonesia can disentangle itself from the slaving chains of ignorance and indiscretion.
February 2, 2025
This book is about a man named Emil Helfferich, a german, and how his story is connected with a graveyard on Gunung Pangrango in Java. The book further reveals details on how this connection is connected with the 1st world war.
This book actually connects with me on an enotional level because the mountain that the graveyard is on is actually the mountain i see everyday when i go to school, so reading about the history that i was unaware of made me look at that place in a different way, i'd argue that now the place is even more beautiful because i know the emotional connections of gunung pangrango.
The way the author wrote this is very descriptive and it didnt feel like i was reading a history book that was only filled with facts and dates but an actual story with the character of Emil Helfferich taking centre stage, as we go through his life, looking at his failures and successes and everything inbetween. This is my first time reading a history book but i can confindently say that the author treated the character of Emil not as just some past character, but as a human. Emil Helfferich and most of the other people within the book felt like people, they felt alive and im sure that must mean something.
In the "foreward" the author said that this book is the 1st book of a 2 book series, with the 1st book talking about Emil and his early life, his time as a pepper trader in the Indonesia or the East Indies, the country's name in the past, and how he helped the german community during the period of the 1st world war. The 2nd book deals with heavier topics pertaining to his time through world war 2, and as you all know, Germany's history was very dark during time.
That's all i can say, though. Over all, a good book.
This book actually connects with me on an enotional level because the mountain that the graveyard is on is actually the mountain i see everyday when i go to school, so reading about the history that i was unaware of made me look at that place in a different way, i'd argue that now the place is even more beautiful because i know the emotional connections of gunung pangrango.
The way the author wrote this is very descriptive and it didnt feel like i was reading a history book that was only filled with facts and dates but an actual story with the character of Emil Helfferich taking centre stage, as we go through his life, looking at his failures and successes and everything inbetween. This is my first time reading a history book but i can confindently say that the author treated the character of Emil not as just some past character, but as a human. Emil Helfferich and most of the other people within the book felt like people, they felt alive and im sure that must mean something.
In the "foreward" the author said that this book is the 1st book of a 2 book series, with the 1st book talking about Emil and his early life, his time as a pepper trader in the Indonesia or the East Indies, the country's name in the past, and how he helped the german community during the period of the 1st world war. The 2nd book deals with heavier topics pertaining to his time through world war 2, and as you all know, Germany's history was very dark during time.
That's all i can say, though. Over all, a good book.
September 1, 2009
hasil hunting buku Minggu 3 Mei 2009
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