In this moving memoir a young man comes of age in an age of violence,
brutality, and war. Recounting his experiences during the Japanese
occupation of the Dutch East Indies, this account brings to life the
shocking day-to-day conditions in a Japanese labor camp and provides an
intimate look at the collapse of Dutch colonial rule.As a boy growing up
on the island of Java, John Stutterheim spent hours exploring his exotic
surroundings, taking walks with his younger brother and dachshund along
winding jungle roads. His father, a government accountant, would grumble
at the pro-German newspaper and from time to time entertain the family
with his singing. It was a fairly typical life for a colonial family in
the Dutch East Indies, and a peaceful and happy childhood for young
John. But at the age of 14 it would all be irrevocably shattered by the
Japanese invasion.With the surrender of Java in 1942, John's father was
taken prisoner. For over three years the family would not know if he
was alive or dead. Soon thereafter, John, his younger brother, and his
mother were imprisoned. A year later he and his brother were moved to a
forced labor camp for boys, where they toiled under the fierce sun while
disease and starvation slowly took their toll, all the while suspecting
they would soon be killed.Throughout all of these travails, John kept a
secret diary hidden in his handmade mattress, and his memories now offer
a unique perspective on an often overlooked episode of World War II.
What emerges is a compelling story of a young man caught up in the
machinations of a global war-struggling to survive in the face of
horrible brutality, struggling to care for his disease-wracked brother,
and struggling to put his family back together. It is a story that must
not be forgotten.
