26 December 1947

Christmas in a Detention Camp

From the diary of Poncke Princen, a Dutchman who was detained for deserting the Dutch army during the colonial war in Indonesia:
"Today was not as bad as expected. The Christian Men's Choir from Bandung, the vicar and the fathers did damn well and made the best of it. The Christmas tree had candles and I was chosen to light them... We had a normal biscuit and a coconut biscuit as well, cocoa milk, 2 boxes of tobacco, cigarette paper. The atmosphere was good, we laughed about the blunt characters in the choir. Well I don't feel like boasting any further, this is it..."

See also:

•  Poncke Princen papers (in Dutch)

Today in the Biographies Dutch Labour Movement