Calvin School- the why and the consequences In the 1950s, education of children was the joint responsibility of the State and the local Municipality. The State provided the buildings, the teachers and the curriculum. The Municipal Councillors enforced truancy regulations , and managed requests for absences (because mum was sick Read more
This story is about how Little Groningen came to be. The name was coined by the farmer, Geard, who sold the land to the “G7” scouts, van der Laan and Pinkster. (The “G7” was a group of 7 families who had decided to emigrate to Tasmania and establish a building Read more
Pierre van der Eng Sydney had two Dutch hospitals during 1944-1946. Both were related to the presence in Australia of a growing number of people from colonial Indonesia during 1942-1945. Since March 1942, officials of the government the Netherlands East Indies left Indonesia for Australia before the Japanese occupation of Read more
A family’s journey from persecution to peace In 1939, the Nazi regime upended the life of my grandfather, a tax accountant in Vienna, Austria. He owned a large apartment in the city, but being born in Czechoslovakia made him a target, despite my grandmother Caroline Kleiner’s Catholic faith and blonde Read more
Republished with permission. Chapter two from the book: A Touch of Dutch. For the full pdf click here. See also: First contact between the Dutch and the Aboriginal People
Dutch Indonesian Association – Cairns In April 1995 a small group of Indische mensen’ (people born in Indonesia), such as Rob Elstak, Eric & Rob Marcus, Leo Vandersar, Jan Schmieman and Andreas Flach, came together in Cairns and founded the ‘Dutch Indonesian. Association – Melati’ (Jasmine). Andreas Flach became the Read more
Introduction Very few people in Indonesia, Australia and the Netherlands know that during WWII many Indonesians fought on the side of the Allies. And nobody there knows the estimate of 4 million deaths. Because both are not part of Indonesia’s official history and therefore its public memory. The article below Read more
Republished with permission. Author and contributor biographies of the book: A Touch of Dutch. For the full pdf of the book click here. Introduction chapters of the book: Touch of Dutch
The National Archives of Australia (NAA) has a very extensive archive in relation to the Netherlands . Their archives only contain documents from government sources. The DACC collects private collections and private stories so the combination is complementary. The following article is republished with permission. Chapter 38 of the book: Read more
Republished with permission. Chapter 37 of the book: A Touch of Dutch. For the full pdf of the book click here. Introduction chapters of the book: Touch of Dutch