STUDIUM GENERALE AT SIN WASSENAAR: “KLEUTER IN EEN OORLOG”

Wassenaar Campus — War would surely negatively affect the whole life of the people who underwent it. The psychological scars of wars are usually felt more severely when the person caught in the conflict was underage. Mr. Jaap ter Marsch has personally experienced this kind of trauma almost his whole life. SIN Wassenaar welcomed Mr. Ter Marsch as the guest speaker to share his experience at our school, 12 October 2011.

At the beginning of the Second World War in Asia-Pacific, he was 2 when he and his mother were put in the Japanese camp in Cideng, Jakarta. He grew up in the overpopulated open-air prison with thousands of women and children. His father was detained in another camp which was established for men and had to work for the Japanese as forced labours.

During this studium generale, Mr. Ter Marsch told his stories, the sufferings in the camp, and how his family reunited after the war, and how the experience affected his life physically and emotionally, day by day haunted by the horror of the war. With the theme of “Kleuter in een oorlog” (“A toddler in a war”), he combined his lecture with original pictures and mementos of the past, and interspaced by discussions  with the students and teachers from 4 schools: Indonesian Schools in The Netherlands, SMAN 1 Bekasi, SMAN 1 Tarakan, and SMAN 1 Pinrang.

Mr. Ter Marsch concluded that we, and especially the younger generation, should prevent and end the war because the “war never retires” for those who involved in it.

This studium generale was organised in cooperation the the Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork, The Netherlands. It was very meaningful and important for our students and teachers.

Pictures Gallery