The the most amazing experience when entering the Netherlands Field of Honour Menteng Pulo (Menteng Pulo Ereveld) is silence. Just beyond the door is the noisy bustle of Jalan Casablanca, but here among the white headstones silent, the sound of motorcycles and scooters has given way to birdsong.
Menteng Pulo aerial view | Photo by PH van der Grinten
Fields of Sacrifice, or war cemetery with rows of tombstones almost identical - slight differentiations indicating sex differences or religion - on a sea of grass cut close, are a fairly recent phenomenon. Given the fact that humanity has fought wars for thousands of years, the first officially supported war graves dates back only 100 years. It was in September 1914, during the early months of the First World War, the mobile unit of the British Red Cross commander, Fabian Ware, noted the absence of any mechanism for marking and registration of graves of those who fell in battle. He created an organization within the Red Cross for this purpose. Six months later, the work of Ware received official recognition when the unit became part of the British Army as the Graves Registration Commission. Just in time, it could be argued, as in October 1915, the Commission registered more than 31,000 graves of British and Imperial troops, and 50,000 in May of the following year.
Perhaps it is the brutal efficiency of technologies used in modern warfare, which revealed the need to record the number of victims. Losses of Russia Napoleon's campaign - to 422,000 from the countryside, a mere 10,000 back in France - pale in comparison to all of the two World Wars of the 20 e century. At the end of the First World War in November 1918, a total of over 9 million soldiers had been killed, while for the Second World War, the figure is 20.9 million - two-thirds, or 14.3 million , the allied side and 6.6 million on the side of the German / Japanese axis.
In 1917, the British recording Graves Commission was, by Royal Charter, transformed into the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). Its responsibilities are to commemorate those who died in the designated war years (World War I and II) while in the military service of the Commonwealth, or from causes attributable to service.
In total, the Commission is responsible for 1.7 million graves and memorials worldwide. The Commission also supports, in agreement with the relevant governments, more than 40,000 non-Commonwealth war graves and tombs more than 25,000 civilian and non-military war.
In Indonesia CWGC takes care of six gravesites with 2,605 identified and 657 unidentified graves. One of the cemeteries is located in Menteng Pulo, adjacent to the Netherlands Ereveld. The Netherlands Oorlogsgravenstichting-OGS (War Graves Foundation) has similar duties and responsibilities, but due to the neutrality of the Netherlands during World War I, and its small size, on a very small scale.
OGS holds 50,000 graves worldwide, of which 25,000 are located in Indonesia seven cemeteries on the island of Java. Originally, there were 22 Dutch war cemeteries spread throughout the archipelago. In the 1960s, however, at the request of the Indonesian government, the tombs on the outer islands were exhumed and buried in the seven cemeteries on Java. These cemeteries are: Menteng Pulo and Ancol in Jakarta; Candi in Semarang and Kalibanteng; Kembang Kuning in Surabaya; Leuwigajah in Cimahi; and Pandu in Bandung. The other 25,000 graves are spread over 50 countries on five continents.
The total number of Dutch victims during the Second World War was 180,000, of which only 50,000 have found a place in a war grave. The rest of 130,000 deaths at sea were namelessly buried in mass graves, cremated in concentration camps, or went missing.
The Ancol Field of Honour, containing over 2,000 tombs, is located on or near the place where those involved in the resistance against the Japanese were executed and buried in mass graves without no registration or the registration of their names.
Many Ancol graves and headstones are marked GEËXECUTEERD (Executed). In cases where the identity of the executed were known, but their remains could not be identified individually, a collective tomb ( VERZAMELGRAF ) was erected with their names on the headstone.
stelae differ according to religion and gender. For Muslims a __gVirt_NP_NN_NNPS <__ tapered slab with a conical top divided into three; Christians are buried under a cross, while a cross with rounded ends indicates a female Christian; Jewish tombstones are decorated with the Star of David; and Buddhist stone tiles are straight with a round top
Christian tombstones both male and female. | Photo by PH van der Grinten
Unlike the vast majority of public civil cemeteries where burial sites are rented for a limited time, the fields of honor are forever . A plaque on Ereveld Menteng Pulo says
the land on which the cemetery is located is a gift from the people of Indonesia for the place of perpetual rest of the sailors, soldiers and airmen are honored here .
This is very pleased that this small peaceful but sad corner of Jakarta produces strong emotions. Not only buried the parents, even the third generation affected emotionally, but casual visitors without any relationship are affected by its sheer size and the atmosphere authentic and solemn. Rows of white tombstones, with dates of death for four years, and too many "unknown" where a name should be made to understand how immensely wasteful war.
OGS has developed an excellent website with a searchable database of the names of dead people and burial cemetery. The database is accessible by https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl. CWGC operates a similar database on http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx.
In 2015, some 10,000 people have visited one or more of the seven CGO cemeteries.
0 Komentar