Pakan Baroe

The Other Death Railway

Amanda Farrell2005

The Railway Through The Jungle• When the Japanese decided that they wanted a railway

linking the two coasts of Sumatra, they got one• The question was, who would they use to build it? The

solution? Simple. Captured allied prisoners and Romushas• This began two years of tortuous living for 120,000 people.

Living in a total of 12 crude camps along the way they were to build a 215km line through the Sumatran jungle

The Labourers

POW’s• Mainly Dutch, also

included American, Australian, British and New Zealanders

• Around 5,100 enslaved

• Approximately 704 lost their lives

Romusha’s• Javanese who had

been promised good food and wages

• In reality they were treated worse than the POW’s

• Approximately 120,000 enslaved

• 80,000 died

The YearsIt took 2 years and four months for the railway to be completed – from April 1943 until 15th August 1945 – The day the Japanese surrendered

The Place• The Railway was built

through the dense, dangerous Sumatran jungle

• The Dutch had previously looked at building the track, but had decided against it – they decided it would be too hard, and that too many lives would be lost

The Reasons

The Japanese needed to have a way to transfer troops to the West Coast in case of invasion. They decided the most direct route was a railway linking with the existing line the Dutch had previously built

SurvivalThere were lots of things the prisoners had to contend with in order to survive. These included:

– Japanese Guards– Lack of food and malnutrition– Poor living conditions and shelter– Tropical diseases like beri beri, malaria,

dysentery and tropical ulcers – Animals

• Tigers• Snakes• Scorpions• Leeches

Liberation

On 15 August 1945 the Japanese capitulated. However, the last POW’s did not leave Pakan Baroe until November 25th, this being mainly due to nobody knowing the railway existed. The Romushas were left behind - their descendants are still there today

Aftermath

The track was never used after the end of the war, other than to transport prisoners to Pakan Baroe from the camps they had been in. Governments have refused to admit that this railway was ever built, and so these ex-POW’s have had no one to tell their stories to. Most Japanese guards did not receive sentencing for what occurred. The Javanese Romushas were forgotten.

‘100,000 people died during those years and all we can say is that it didn’t happen’

Today

• Little is known about the railway locally - people are not taught about history pre Indonesian Independence Day in schools. They do not think it is important

• The tracks are no longer there – they have been ripped up for scrap. There are some trains still remaining, but they have been pulled apart, are in the middle of the bush, or have had houses built around them.

Acknowledgements

- George W DuffySurvivor

- Henk HovingaAuthor

- Frans TaminiauChild of a Survivor