Annotation Source: Seoul Metropolitan Archives
ANNOTATION
In December 1941, Japan carried out a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and quickly advanced to occupy the regions of today’s Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Before being occupied by Japan, these areas were Dutch colonies called the Netherlands East Indies. Immediately after Japan occupied these areas, Dutch forces established an intelligence agency, Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS), to conduct intelligence operations for said regions. It is noteworthy that Japanese Forces controlled the former Netherlands East Indies throughout the war, with the exception of places such as Borneo Island, and that the Allied Forces arrived to take over Japan’s Regional Headquarters only after the Japanese Emperor announced Japan’s surrender.
For this reason, NEFIS’ “comfort women” related documents do not include interrogation reports of surrendered Japanese soldiers, which are common in similar reports from other regions. NEFIS collected and published various information regarding “comfort women” and comfort stations in these regions in the form of interrogation reports. The information was gathered from residents who were forced laborers and had escaped from Japanese military bases, or those who were rescued from the sea. These interrogation reports include a variety of information, such as the enemy’s strategy, political and economic conditions, propaganda, and psychological warfare. Information regarding “comfort women” and “comfort stations” is mostly found in the ‘General’ section.
This document is a Compilation of Interrogation Reports Nos. 366-378, 404-407, 410-417, dated October 28, 1944, containing the following information about “comfort women” and comfort stations that NEFIS gathered from locals in these various regions: (1) In 1943, in Magelang, central Java, a local person named Amat, recruited young girls and made them work as “comfort women” for the Japanese military and he supervised them; (2) In Solo, central Java in 1943, a Chinese person operated a “comfort station” out of a hotel called Russche for Japanese officers. Said Chinese person who had a license from the Military Police selected "comfort women" with help from the village chiefs (Assistant Wedanas). He lured local women by telling them they could earn daily wages. The women who went to work as “comfort women” never came back; (3) In Amboeloe village, in Djember of eastern Java, local women were recruited as “comfort women” who never came back to the village after they received health exams, which seem to have been exams for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Source: WAM Collection (FM_008)
#NEFIS #Java #Indonesia #recruitment
LESSON PLAN
Note to teachers:
1. The discussion questions below are designed based on the original document, not the annotation. Teachers are recommended to use the primary document in teaching, instead of the annotation. However, the annotation provides useful background information for teachers when they prepare for the lesson.
2. The scaffolded questions below are based on the cover page and "XIII. General - Prostitution" section on pages 18-19.
Explain the following words to your students before asking them to read the document:
- Assistant Wedanas: chief
- interrogate: ask questions of (someone, especially a suspect or a prisoner) closely, aggressively, or formally
- NEFIS: Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service
- Nos.: a short form of "numbers"
- prostitution: the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment
- prostitute: a person, in particular a woman, who engages in sexual activity for payment. It refers to the "comfort women" in the document.
Direct students to read the cover page. After reading, discuss the following questions:
1. What kind of document is this?
2. What are the physical characteristics of this document?
a. Is it handwritten or typed?
b. Are there any marks? Is so, what are they?
c. Any other physical features do you notice?
d. Does any of these physical characteristics interest you?
3. What's the title of the document? What can you infer from the title?
4. Who created it?
5. Who was the targeted audience?
6. When was it created?
7. What was the historical context in East and Southeast Asia during the time?
8. How important is this document? How do you know?
Direct students to read "XIII. General - Prostitution" section on pages 18-19.
9. Use Google Map to locate Java. How far is it from Japan?
10. What nationalities of people were involved in recruiting "comfort women?" How did they recurite? What might have happened to those girls that didn't come back?
Note to teachers: It is important to teach students that all the comfort stations were under supervision of the Japanese military, no matter who owned them. See "US-2 ATIS Research Report No. 120" for the detailed regulations of comfort stations by the Japanese military.
* This lesson plan was designed by Jing Williams, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education at University of South Dakota.