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Town:

Bangkinang

District:

Westcoast of Sumatra

Region:

Sumatra

Location:

Bangkinang is on the west coast of Sumatra, northeast of Padang and approximately 70 kilometres west of Pakanbaroe. The coordinates of the womens camp are: 0º 19.850' N 100º 59.815' E.

Information:

Bangkinang Reunion Foundation: wibosch@ziggo.nl
Remembrance Monument Women Camp Bangkinang: fltj@wxs.nl
Donations are welcome at bank account NL22 RABO 3628 6555 87

function:

From 18 October 1943 to 23 August 1945 this location served as a civilian camp

From 05 December 1943 to 23 August 1945 this location served as a civilian camp

Internees:

women and children

Number of internees:

2.219

Number of deceased:

113

Information:

On 18 and 19 October, the “European” women and children interned at the prison in Padang were taken to a new camp, west of Bangkinang. They were housed in five newly built bamboo and atap barracks, encircled by barbed wire and a fence. In 1944 and 1945 several times women and children from elsewhere were brought in, while groups of boys were moved from the women’s camp to the men’s camp. The men’s camp was in an abandoned rubber factory between the women’s camp and Bangkinang.

Commendant:

lt. Matzudawa; kpt. Hashimoto Hadejiro

Guards:

Native police personnel, heihos

Camp leaders:

mw. H.C.A. Holle-van Erp; mw. A. Huijsmans; mw. T.E.L. Hanedoes-Halfhide

Literature:

Bos, H. van den, Mannenkampen Padang en Bangkinang (Sumatra's Westkust), 1942-1945 (Zoetermeer 2006-2)
Ouden-Hille, M.H. den, Ik wou dat ik een vlinder was. Mijn jeugd op Sumatra. Van Fort de Kock tot Bangkinang (Franeker 1983)
Schuitemaker, B., Jeugd achter prikkeldraad. Een verzameling indrukken van mannen en vrouwen die als tieners de Japanse interneringskampen in Padang en Bangkinan hebben overleefd (Den Haag 1988)
Holle-van Erp, H.C.A., T.E.L. Hanedoes-Halfhide, A. Huijsmans, Report of the internment years at the camps in Padang and Bangkinang of women and children on Sumatra's West-Coast during the Japanese occupation of the Netherlands East Indies (07 April 1942-22 August 1945) (Zoetermeer [2007])
Holle-van Erp, H.C.A., T.E.L. Hanedoes-Halfhide, A. Huijsmans, Verslag van de interneringsjaren tijdens de Japanse bezetting van Nederlands-Indië, van ter Sumatra's Westkust geïnterneerde vrouwen en kinderen, in kampen te Padang en Bangkinang (7 april 1942-22 augustus 1945) ([1989] [Zoetermeer])
Bos, H. van den, Verslag van de interneringsjaren tijdens de Japanse bezetting van Nederlands-Indië, van ter Sumatra's Westkust geïnterneerde vrouwen en kinderen, in kampen te Padang en Bangkinang (7 april 1942-22 augustus 1945) ([1998] [Zoetermeer])
Horn-van Raalten, M. van, Zonsopgang en -ondergang in Padang en Bangkinang. Gedenkboek 1942-1945 [1997])
Kuyl, A., Opgeborgen bij de evenaar. Het leven in 4 Japanse burgerinterneringskampen voor mannen op Sumatra ('s-Gravenpolder 1984)
Heijmans-van Bruggen, M.P. en E. Broers (red.), Dagboeken geschreven in vrouwenkamp Bangkinang (Amsterdam 2003)
Spijker-Kesselaar, E.C., Bangkinang vrouwenkamp 1966)
Beudell, A.M., Children of war (New York 1976)

See also::

From 23 August 1945 to 11 November 1945 this location served as a ex-Japanese camp

Internees:

men, women, and children

Number of internees:

3.195

Information:

Two civilian internment camps were set up to the west of Bangkinang during the Japanese occupation: men and boys were housed in an abandoned rubber factory, women and children in a barracks camp. The Japanese surrender was announced in both camps on 22 August 1945, the Dutch and the British national anthem were sung, and the Dutch flag was hoisted. In the following days, the men could visit their families in the women’s camp. The camp gates were closed only at night, for safety reasons. The food was significantly better. The local population came to trade at the camp, and on 7 and 10 September there were food drops. An Allied commando team led by Major Jacobs arrived on 8 September to see how things were. A team of 12 doctors, led by Major B.L. Vaandrager, arrived from Pakanbaroe. On September 10th a RAPWI team landed, consisting of 3 British and 4 Dutch parachutists from the Insulinde Corps. Their leaders were the British Major C.P. Langley en 1st lieutenant F. Ledeboer. Langley took over command of the camp. On August 30th, 50 ex-internees - administrative officials and their families - were evacuated to Padang. Between 1 September and 11 November the rest of the ex-internees followed, some by truck via Pajakoemboeh and Fort De Kock to Padang, and some via the Pakanbaroe airfield to Medan, Palembang en Singapore. On September 16th the camp was visited by Lady Mountbatten, wife of the commander-in-chief of the British South East Asia Command (SEAC). She traveled across Java and Sumatra to size up the situation in the internment camps and hospitals.

Literature:

Bos, H. van den, Mannenkampen Padang en Bangkinang (Sumatra's Westkust), 1942-1945 (Zoetermeer 2006-2)
Holle-van Erp, H.C.A., T.E.L. Hanedoes-Halfhide, A. Huijsmans, Report of the internment years at the camps in Padang and Bangkinang of women and children on Sumatra's West-Coast during the Japanese occupation of the Netherlands East Indies (07 April 1942-22 August 1945) (Zoetermeer [2007])
Holle-van Erp, H.C.A., T.E.L. Hanedoes-Halfhide, A. Huijsmans, Verslag van de interneringsjaren tijdens de Japanse bezetting van Nederlands-Indië, van ter Sumatra's Westkust geïnterneerde vrouwen en kinderen, in kampen te Padang en Bangkinang (7 april 1942-22 augustus 1945) ([1989] [Zoetermeer])
Horn-van Raalten, M. van, Zonsopgang en -ondergang in Padang en Bangkinang. Gedenkboek 1942-1945 [1997])
Kuyl, A., Opgeborgen bij de evenaar. Het leven in 4 Japanse burgerinterneringskampen voor mannen op Sumatra ('s-Gravenpolder 1984) Gonzaga, M., "De Congregatie en de oorlog. I. Onze fraters van Padang", Verleden en heden van de Congregatie der Fraters van Tilburg 1946) p. 3-55

East Indies camp archives ( Indische kamparchieven ENG )