Perkenier's House in Lautaka

Internees: old men, women and children
Number of internees: 40 (approximately)
Number of deceased: 10 (at least)
Information: Most of the “European” residents of Banda-Neira had left the island in the first months of 1942. Men of an age requiring them to take up National Service were nearly all inserted into KNIL companies on Ambon and Java, and a few on Celebes and Borneo, in January 1942, and were taken as prisoners of war there. The civil servants and their families were evacuated to Ambon or Java. The actually occupation of the Banda Islands by Japanese naval divisions happened on 19 April. From mid-July, the remaining “Europeans” were interned: 35 to 40 Bandanese women, children, and elderly and sick men of “European” background and similar were interned along with a number of lepers in a house, warehouses, and some outbuildings on the grounds of the Lautaka nutmeg plantation. The complex was surrounded with barbed wire and permanently guarded by Japanese military personnel. A number of internees were put to work growing vegetables for use by the Japanese military personnel on the island. The internees were told to set up camp gardens for their own food, and sometimes they were allowed to fish. Because of the presence of the lepers the Japanese avoided direct contact with the internees. Those who died of illness or exhaustion were buried close to the camp. The camp was there for the entire period of the occupation. It was ended by the arrival of an Australian naval squadron under the direction of the HMAS Hobart at the beginning of September 1945.
Commendant: Mansibo
Guards: Japanese military personnel