Nonja Peters, second edition, 2008
In this extensively researched publication, historian Dr Nonja Peters documents the experiences of Dutch children evacuated from the Netherlands East Indies to Fairbridge Farm School near Pinjarra, Western Australia, following the Second World War.
Drawing on oral histories, personal recollections, photographs and archival records, the book traces the children’s experiences of the Japanese occupation, internment and the violent upheaval accompanying Indonesian independence. It then examines their evacuation to Australia in 1945–1946 and their rehabilitation at Fairbridge, where they were given an opportunity to recover from the trauma of war.
Peters places these personal stories within the wider political and military history of Dutch-Australian relations and the Netherlands East Indies. She also explores the lasting effects of wartime experiences on the children’s identities, memories and sense of belonging.
The publication includes historical photographs, personal testimonies, artwork and an appendix listing evacuees who disembarked at Fremantle in January 1946.
The book makes an important contribution to understanding Australia’s role in providing refuge and rehabilitation to Dutch children displaced by war and decolonisation.
About the author
For Nonja Peters’ biography and an overview of her research, publications, exhibitions and international collaborations, see:
Dr Nonja Peters – Historian of Dutch-Australian migration, heritage and cultural identity
This book is reproduced here with permission.
Pictures of Fairbridge Farm School
