De tempel met de chrysanten

by Ineke van der Wal

Er zijn al veel verhalen gepubliceerd over mannen die tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog in Azië voor de Japanse bezetter dwangarbeid moesten verrichten. Dat er ook hele gezinnen — mannen, vrouwen en kinderen — naar Japan zijn vervoerd, is vrijwel onbekend. De Tempel met de Chrysanten beschrijft de ervaringen van vijf Nederlandse gezinnen die vanuit Nederlands-Indië werden gedeporteerd naar Japan. Daar werden ze gevangen gehouden in Tokio en later op het boerenland buiten Nagoya. Tweeëntwintig personen onder huisarrest, afgesloten van de buitenwereld. Pas decennia later komen ze erachter waarom zij gegijzeld werden door de Japanners. Een fascinerend verhaal over een stukje Tweede Wereldoorlog dat niet eerder is verteld.

Genres: Nonfiction

185 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Capie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating true family story of wartime courage, upheaval, sacrifice and hope. The translation is awkward but the author’s affectionate, lyrical writing still shines through. Thoroughly researched history of both cataclysmic world events and individual lives buffeted by the storm. The development and competition for advances of long distance telecommunications just before and during WWII is a central and intriguing theme of the story.

[Saskia (Smitie) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een stukje WWII geschiedenis die mij volledig onbekend was, namelijk een aantal gezinnen die als krijgsgevangenen naar Japan worden gebracht na de val van Indië. De mannen moeten werken voor de Japanners. De vrouwen en kinderen blijven opgesloten. De omstandigheden worden steeds zwaarder naar mate de oorlog voortduurt. Je merkt wel dat de schrijver een amateur is, waardoor de schrijfstijl soms wat opsommend is. Desondanks is het wel mooi dat Ineke de geschiedenis van haar grootmoeder via dit boek heeft gedeeld zodat het niet wordt vergeten.

[Persephone Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I read this in the original Dutch): This story is told with such love, the author warmly sharing the story of her family, a family staying together during the events of the second world war. I was very surprised that I was so engrossed by the book and really I couldn't put it down. I think what I enjoyed most was the lack of professional-journalistic aspects so usually present in a book of its genre. That said the Eindhoven family was highly educated and left behind a great deal of material themselves speaking directly about their lives. On another note, it was quite clear to me after reading this book, of which a large part describes colonial life, to assess some of the disdain for the Dutch by the Indonesians.

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandfather was one of the Dutch Prisoner’s of War that were brought over to Japan. He never really talked about it because
1) He was 4 when the war was happening and
2) His parents hated talking about the war and avoided mentioning it
A lot of my ancestors died in various concentration camps across Europe, but I always felt like I knew aspects of their story. I’ve read countless stories about the Holocaust, many of which take place in concentration camps or center around Jews hiding across Europe. They’re important, heartbreaking stories, but because I’ve read so many of them. I never felt like there was any mystery about what happened to most of my ancestors. The same can’t be said about my grandfather’s story. I always knew he spent a large portion of the war in Japan, but I never fully understood what that entailed. I’ve even visited the temple that he, along with the other POW were kept at, and I didn’t really know what had occurred there. I found this book super informative and I feel like I actually know what he wartime experience was like.

The book started off a bit slow. The author was explaining who everyone was and how everyone was related to each other. However, once I got past this section I was fully engaged and very interested in the story. I find it really hard to read non-fiction of any sort, so I read this fairly slow, but I was enjoying myself as I was reading. I learned so much about the Netherlands and, of course, about the Dutch POW. I thought the relationships between the POW and their captors was fascinating to read about. It was also quite odd to read about how the POW were mistreated while also knowing that, in some ways, they were very privileged compared to many other people that lived through the war.

I wish there was more literature available on this topic because I find it fascinating. It may be because I have a personal connection with it, but I think people’s personal stories about war are interesting and I look forward to reading more in the future.