THE NOURA VAN KEMMERS

The Winhern family trail 2

"May I see pictures of your ancestral family?"

"of course. Wait, Bang. Jordan got up from the sofa and headed for the black teak cabinet in the corner of the room. His hand pulled the drawer and pulled out a large album containing photos of the past.

"Gee...Incredible, really still neatly tucked away." I stared at the neatly arranged photo sheets in the big yellow album ivory. All the photos are black and white. Although it looks outdated but still clearly visible.

"The copy and some updated versions of the photo are on CD, Bang. Everything is stored neat."

My curiosity is growing. It feels out of my admiration for the neat storage of documents and photos this past time. Not everyone can save all the memories and history of the past very neatly.

I took a postcard sized photo. A photograph of a Dutch family consisting of a father, mother and her five children. Christmas tree background photo complete with decorations. Behind the photo is a letter with a straight letter. Depok, December 25, 1926.

"That's a picture of the Winhern family. That's Mr. Frans, Mrs Bertha and her five children" whispered Noura.

Aah, this beauty always surprises me. I didn't realize that she was close by my side, sitting spoiled on the shoulder of the sofa.

"Is this a picture of your ancestors?" I asked while showing the photo to Jordan.

"Yup. koq Brother can tell?"

"Nease guess. This photo was taken in 1926. That means they have lived here for a long time," I explained.

"Yes Bang. Maybe around 1910 or 1912, they lived here. Once Opa Frans worked in the VOC plantation company and then Opa decided to open his own plantation. The plantation land is widely found in the Bogor area, Cibinong also Tanggerang. You could say Opa Frans used to be a landlord."

" It used to be a lot of Dutch people who became landlords here?" my many.

I continued to open sheet by sheet photo albums. There are photos of houses, photos of Winhern family members, photos of activities they did at that time with the family as well as some photos of the plantation land.

"And all that remains are memories, hehehehe. All assets owned by the occupier both in the form of land, the company was taken over by the Indonesian government in 1965. All traces of the colonial had to be cleared at that time. In fact, not only all assets belong to the original Dutch people, but assets owned by the indo even those who were followers or pro Dutch at that time, he said, including land assets owned by the Dutch Depok."

The weather is getting dark. I glanced out the window. The rain had subsided, only a small drizzle remained.

"You want more coffee, Bang?" jordan asked as she held the cup of Cappuchino lattenya who had stayed a little.

"Later on. I still want to wonder."

"So after the events of Gedoran family your ancestors immediately returned to the Netherlands? I mean they're packing up and leaving Indonesia?"

"Yes Bang. Gedoran's events caused a deep trauma for the Opa Frans family. When Opa Frans and Oma Bertha reunited with their son, they immediately returned to the house that was already in a state of ravage. Then at the appeal of one who was considered to be reared by the community of businessmen and plantation owners owned by the Dutch people, Opa Frans family finally returned to the Netherland with several other Dutch families. Especially for the Dutch community of Depok, the Indonesian government at that time gave a choice, whether they remain pro-Dutch or return to be citizens of the Republic of Indonesia."

"Actually their lifestyle is only a dream, but their hearts and souls still return to Indonesia. More or less, so I have heard from Papa's explanation when interviewing one of the elders of the Dutch community Depok," Jordan explained.

***

"Opa Frans and Oma Bertha had five children. The first was Frankie who died first from being shot by Japanese soldiers. The second was Margaret, the only child of Opa Frans who was not a victim of the events of Gedoran. Margaret was married at that time and settled in Bandung. Then the third is Jacobus, the fourth, Rueben and the youngest Magda,"Jordan said while returning to show old photos of family members Frans Winhern.