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peasants were intimidated into handing over to the Japanese the fruits of their toil. The intelligensia was bludgeoned into lying to and deceiving the people, and the entire population itself was obliged to conform to Japanese military discipline; it was made to drill and carry out orders with soldier-like precision. The Japanese are gone but the little military knowledge they infused into us remains, especially in our youth.
The Dutch must accept the responsibility for what happened. After centuries of so-called „training”, on March 9, 1942 the Dutch handed over 70 million people to the Japanese in a condition of military unpreparedness and intellectual backwardness.
Indonesians lacked the wherewithal with which to stand up to Japanese might and oppression and fell easy victims to Japanese propaganda. Not trusting us, the Dutch deliberately refrained from giving us military training; bent on keeping us ignorant, the Dutch denied education to the masses. As they groaned under Japanese excesses our people began to take stock of the Dutch and the consequences of Dutch rule. With sharper insight they were able to perceive how ineffective and valueless the Dutch administration had been. From that moment Indonesians awakened to the true state of affairs and there was a sudden upsurge of nationalism far stronger and deeper than ever before. And that nationalism was heightened by Japanese propaganda directed towards Asiatism.
