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East Indies camp archives ( Indische kamparchieven ENG )

kampen East-Indies camps

Bolong in Bolong

Town:

Bolong

District:

South and southeast Celebes

Region:

Celebes

Location:

Bolong is situated at approximately 1,300 meters elevation in the Quarles mountain range in central Celebes (Sulawesi), about 250 kilometres north of Makassar.

function:

From 03 May 1945 to 26 August 1945 this location served as a civilian camp

Internees:

men

Number of internees:

625 (approximately)

Number of deceased:

25 (approximately)

Information:

Between 3 May and 3 June 1945, the men and boys who had been interned at camp Bodjo were transferred in several sets to a largely uncultivated area in the Quarles mountains, where they had to build their own accommodations. The completed camp consisted of 25 dwellings made of bamboo and atap (a dried native grass used for thatching). It was named after a nearby village, Bolong, which means "hole". The camp was not fenced because the surrounding jungle was so inhospitable as to make escape impossible. After a while, any regular provision of food and other needs stopped entirely and the prisoners were abandoned to their fate. Washing or bathing was impossible because of the intense cold. In the weeks after the Japanese capitulation, 25 of the internees died. Due to the terrible conditions in the camp, evacuation was initiated quickly. On 24, 25, and 26 August the camp was evacuated en masse to two school buildings in Parepare, a trip which took 9 hours by car.

Commendant:

Toda (mei-juli 1945); Mori (juli-augustus 1945)

Camp leaders:

ds. A. Bikker

Literature:

Valkenburg, R., Djoenkeng owari/Het appèl is afgelopen (Dordrecht 1977-2)
Stolk, T. en P. Seth Paul, Hoe het ons verging... op Zuidwest Celebes en omliggende eilanden (Emmen [1994]) Rooij, A. de, "De Congregatie en de oorlog. IV. De fraters van Makassar", Verleden en heden van de Congregatie der Fraters van Tilburg 1946) p. 30-40
Claassen, R. en J. van Grootheest, Getekend. Nederlanders in Japanse kampen (Den Haag 1995)
Baal, J. van, Ontglipt verleden. Verhaal van m?n jaren in een wereld die voorb?ging (Franeker 1986)
Koerts, H.J., Een Groninger in Japanse gevangenschap. Gedichten & gedachten van H.J. Koerts (Garrelsweer 1986)
Koerts, H.J., Eens vrienden, alt?d vrienden (Sekali sahabat, tetap sahabat). Herontmoeting met Zuid-Celebes (Garrelsweer 1989)