Several residents laid flowers at the Indies monument in Geldrop on Thursday. This happened on the date when World War II ended in the former Dutch East Indies in 1945.
The old colony was occupied by the Japanese during the war. Every year, several Indies memorials around the country commemorate the victims of the war in this part of the world. ‘We laid flowers together. It was a beautiful gathering. My father started commemorations at this place 25 years ago. It always touches me,’ responded Lody van den Berg, who organises a gathering in Geldrop every year.
Relocation
Until this year, Geldrop also hosted an official regional Indies commemoration. That commemoration has been moved to Eindhoven. According to the Eindhoven municipality, those involved and relatives of victims mainly live in Eindhoven and not Geldrop-Mierlo. Van den Berg questions this. ‘We have a large Indian community in Geldrop-Mierlo. I think the financial possibilities played a decisive role. Unfortunately, it went this way.’
The first regional commemoration is scheduled for Thursday evening. It will be at Vitalis Peppelrode on Theodor Fliednerstraat. Here there is an Indo-Moluccan Memorial.
Source-Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Chaitali Sengupta. She also gives online INBURGERING classes.
