Tempo Dulu

This book is a diary of the events in Indonesia at the beginning of World War II as seen through the eyes of a nine-year-old Dutch girl. It describes events not much talked or studied about when dealing with WWII. There are many stories and studies that deal with the German concentration camps and the Holocaust in Europe. This is a story of the other concentration camps across the Far East and specifically the occupation by the Japanese of the Dutch East Indies. The author describes her experiences leading up to her incarceration in some of these concentration camps as well as her relationships with her family and friends. The period covered is between 1941 and 1945. It is a moving story, akin to The Diary of Anne Frank that took place in Holland, but in this case, the story is set in the Dutch East Indies. It is remarkable in its vivid description of the events and in the sharpness of her memories that took place some sixty years ago.