My paternal grandmother is still alive and still remembers the colonial era. At that time, she was still a teenager and often told me about the Dutch and Japanese soldiers when I was in junior high school; these are some that I still remember.

Grandma told me that most of the Dutch soldiers were kind, and girls or boys could play in their headquarters without any violence from the soldiers. Not all of them were, of course, but most of them liked children and teenagers and didn’t consider them enemies, so they treated them well. What Grandma remembers the most is that the Dutch soldiers used to give them Frisian Flag brand milk and cheese, which at that time was considered a luxury item. Their treatment was also friendly to Indonesians, and not all of them were mean.

“Frisian Flag” was once a popular instant milk brand in Indonesia, and I think that’s still happening today.

Most of the Dutch soldiers who were in Indonesia enjoyed their term of duty, so nobody was angry or gloomy, especially towards the Indonesians. Of course, we’re not talking about the treatment in which the Dutch were superior to the native Indonesians at that time, but in general, the Dutch soldiers weren’t bad, and they tended to be nice to Indonesians, except for the rebels, which I think makes sense.

From several chats or talks with friends who had been to the Netherlands, the response of the Dutch people to Indonesia was quite good; even for generations of military officers who had been to Indonesia, they treated them better when they heard someone coming from Indonesia. I heard this story from the father of a friend who had an undergraduate degree in the Netherlands in the 1980s. He had a neighbor who was an army major who had served in Indonesia, and he still remembers where he served and what the place was like. The officer still remembers the taste of Indonesian food and how much he loved it until then.

From there, I think it’s clear what the attitude of the Dutch soldiers toward Indonesians is. Of course, we’re not talking about the wartime period where they would be mean to the rebels, but in general, they respected Indonesians.

While the Japanese soldiers were crueler, their treatment was not as cruel as in China or Korea, but in general, they were more cruel than the Dutch soldiers.

As my grandmother recalled, the Japanese soldiers had crueler faces and looked tired, maybe because Indonesia was the last step for them to be able to win WWII, especially because both of their allies were at the edge of their heads and Japan’s first goal was to arm Indonesia with the frill of helping independence. At first, they were good, but over time, their true nature was revealed.

One of them is forced labor, or “rumosha,” initiated by Japan. The Japanese military coerced millions of Indonesians into forced labor to support their war effort. This includes working on infrastructure projects, such as railways and roads, as well as in factories and mines. The conditions were often harsh, with long working hours, little pay, and inadequate food and medical care. Because of this, there were a lot of victims among the Indonesian people during the four years the Japanese were in Indonesia. I’m not saying this kind of practice didn’t exist in the Dutch era, but Japan was more ruthless in its suppression of forced labor in Indonesia.

The Japanese army was also more ruthless in governing; they easily killed many people who disagreed with them. These acts targeted both Indonesian civilians and those who were involved in resistance movements against the Japanese occupation, and many innocent people were killed as a result of these actions. Apart from that, Indonesians also experience general repression and brutality as a way to maintain control over the Indonesian population, one of which is censorship and punishment even for minor offenses. This method reminds me of the Nazi era, when Germany occupied a country that was losing the war.

One of the things I remember the most is when the Japanese army set up “comfort stations,” and they would take Indonesian girls to be used as sex slaves. Thousands of women from Indonesia and other occupied territories were forcibly recruited and subjected to sexual slavery. These women endured physical and psychological abuse and were often treated as disposable commodities. There are lots of stories about this from the victims, who may be living less and less now because they are old or have died.

All of this was recognized by my grandmother, and the Japanese army treated Indonesians worse than the Dutch, even though they were only 4 years old in Indonesia. My grandmother still remembered (at that time) what the cruel Japanese looked like and how they treated Indonesians; it was quite different from how the Dutch still treated the Indonesians.

I don’t expect both to happen, but Japan did more damage than the Netherlands in just 4 years, so in this case, it’s obvious who is worse.