KOYAGI – On Saturday, dozens of relatives of former Dutch prisoners of war, who faced abuse and starvation during their time in one of Japan’s largest World War II prison camps, visited the site in Nagasaki to honor their family members’ memory.
This commemoration occurs in the same year Japan observes the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki—a devastating event witnessed by many of the Dutch POWs from their camp.
The names of these prisoners are inscribed on a monument at the Fukuoka POW Camp No. 2, the larger of two such war prisons in Nagasaki during the conflict. This monument, erected in 2015, benefitted from contributions by Japanese survivors of the Nagasaki bombing and their descendants, representing a symbol of reconciliation and peace.
A plea for peace
Andre Schram, a representative of the Dutch bereaved families, stated at the ceremony that the monument “carries a message that goes beyond remembrance. It’s a plea for peace.”
“It also stands as a symbol of reconciliation between those whose ancestors were once enemies,” added Schram.
Andre’s father, Johan Willem Schram, was a Dutch Navy sailor who endured forced labor and hardship in the No. 2 camp during the war’s final three years and survived the atomic bombing on Aug. 9, 1945—just a week before Japan’s surrender.
Andre Schram authored “Johan’s Story,” a detailed account concerning the Netherland’s colonial rule over the Dutch East Indies, their war with Japan, and the aftermath of WWII, based on his research. His father, while alive, was hesitant to discuss his experiences, still deeply affected by the trauma.
During the war, Japan held about 150,000 members of the Allied forces as prisoners in dozens of camps across Asia, including more than 30,000 in Japanese war prisons, according to the POW Research Network Japan.
In Japan, they were used as forced laborers at mines and factories to make up for labor shortage as Japanese men were drafted and deployed to battlefields across Asia.
Painful memories
The elder Schram was one of about 500 POWs at the No. 2 Camp in Nagasaki.
Most prisoners there were Dutch but there were also others, from the United States, Britain and Australia. None were directly killed as a result of the atomic blast but by the time the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, more than 70 had died of malnutrition, overwork and illnesses.
After the U.S. dropped the plutonium bomb on Nagasaki at 11:02 a.m. on Aug. 9, 1945, more than 70,000 people died by the end of the year as victims of the bombing.
The attack came only three days after the U.S. dropped a uranium bomb on Hiroshima, destroying the city and killing 140,000 others. Japan announced its surrender on Aug. 15, ending World War II and the country’s nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Saturday’s ceremony also underscored how the connection between the families of the “Dutch POWs who returned home with painful memories, and the descendants of atomic bombing survivors in Nagasaki is very symbolic,” said Kazuhiro Ihara, whose father was a survivor of the bombing and had also worked for reconciliation with the POWs.
“We have been organizing this event with the hope that it will be a step towards achieving a peaceful world,” he said, adding that the Dutch and Japanese “hope to further deepen our exchanges from now on.”
On Friday, Emperor Naruhito visited Nagasaki with his wife Empress Masako and their daughter Princess Aiko to pay tribute to the victims of the atomic bombing and meet with some of the survivors, stressing the importance of telling the tragedy of war and learning from history.
A huge orange fireball
When the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, prisoners at the No. 2 Camp, were about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the so-called hypocenter — the precise focus of the bomb.
They saw a huge orange fireball, purple smoke and the mushroom cloud rising from the direction of the city of Nagasaki. Windows at the camp were shattered, doors fell off and the ceiling of the camp’s clinic collapsed, injuring about 10 prisoners, historians say.
At the other camp, No. 14, which was closer to the blast, the brick buildings at the camp were destroyed, killing eight and injuring dozens.
In the days that followed, prisoners from the No. 2 camp provided rice and other assistance to their fellow prisoners from camp No. 14.
Schram’s father and the other POWs at the No. 2 camp were officially notified of Japan’s surrender on Aug. 18, and the U.S. B-29 delivered its first food drop for the Allied POWS on Aug. 26.
On Sept. 4, two days after the formal signing of the war’s end, the POWs who survived left the camp to return their homeland.
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