Making Peace with Our Past
A movie about the atrocities of the Dutch troops led by Raymond Westerling in 1940s triggers a controversy in the Netherlands. This opens the door to a range of interpretations on that dark period of history.
Tempo
May 31, 2021
CONTROVERSY often arises after historical movies are shown, and the same is true for the De Oost, a new film directed by Jim Taihuttu. The movie portrays the actions of soldiers of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) in South Sulawesi under the leadership of Raymond Westerling.
From the Dutch perspective, the 1946- 1947 slaughter was a ‘police action’ to ‘wipe out rebels and terrorists&rs
...