Armando Siahaan

Raden Mas Soerachmen spent his youth hunting down traitors in Indonesia’s independence movement. (Photo: Armando Siahaan, JG)

Hero, Hunter, Soldier, Spy: Indonesia Independence Fighter Raden Mas Soerachman

Following the Proclamation of Independence by President Sukarno on Aug. 17, 1945, the Netherlands, ousted by Japan at the beginning of World War II, re-invaded the Indonesian archipelago and plunged the country into all-out war.

Aiming to weaken its opponents from within, the Dutch, who refused to recognize Indonesia’s newly claimed sovereignty, infiltrated cities held by the independence movement, calling on local collaborators to spy on their fellow countrymen.

It was the job of civilians like Raden Mas Soerachman to catch the traitors and hand them over to the military, he told the Jakarta Globe from his house in Kalibata, South Jakarta.

“You can tell a spy from their moves,” said the veteran, who was living in Yogyakarta during the turbulent period. “They usually hid out in huts, just like the terrorists nowadays do. So me and my friends, along with the military, would try to discover where their huts were, encircle them and tell them to come out.”

Once captured, the lucky ones were detained, while others were beaten or killed, he said. Women that were caught working with the Dutch sometimes received worse, he said.

“Wartime is cruel,” Soerachman said. “[The local spies] wanted to help the Dutch. These traitors wanted to destroy our country. They were our enemies.”

Soerachman may not have taken arms against the Dutch, but his contribution to his country was enough to earn him a Bintang Gerilya (Guerilla Star), the medal of honor bestowed upon those who fought during the war of independence from 1945 and 1949.

Wearing a dark brown safari uniform, the official attire for war veterans in Indonesia, Soerachman spoke of the accolade.

“The medal shows that I served the country during those four years of war,” he said proudly. “It is the highest medal of honor in this country.”

Now, retelling the history of the war has become an integral part of his life. For the past 12 years, Soerachman has been working for the Republic of Indonesia’s Legion of Veterans, the official organization of wartime veterans, and he currently heads its historical bureau.

Born in 1927, Soerachman’s role in the war began in late 1945, when he joined the Yogyakarta chapter of Ikatan Pelajar Indonesia (Indonesian Student Association). The nationwide organization had a military wing, which provided training for students volunteering for war purposes.

“I was trained by the military,” the gray-haired patriot said. “We ate rice with pebbles. We learned about weapons and war theories. We practiced shooting and war strategies. It was tough.”

In July 1947, in a battle known as the First Military Aggression, the Dutch launched an attack in Java and Sumatra, using warplanes, tanks and infantry, Soerachman said.

Both the military and the civilians were mobilized, he said. Many of the student soldiers, including Soerachman, were given a variety of non-combat roles.

One of them was to spread nationalistic and anti-Dutch propaganda through posters, billboards and leaflets.

“The point was to wear out the Dutch,” he said. “So that the Indonesians inside the city, who were not fighting in the physical war, were aware that their soldiers remained brave.”

Soerachman said the students also acted as secret messengers for the then leader of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono.

“Our task was to send secret information to the leaders in other places,” he said. “We’d pretend to be vegetable vendors, and hide the documents under the cart.”

But the non-combat nature of his duty didn’t mean that he was safe from life and death situations.

During one of the air strikes launched by the Dutch, Soerachman climbed a tall mango tree in front of his house, trying to gather information to report to the army about the attack.

Not long after, a group of patrolling Dutch soldiers investigated his neighborhood. A young local man was standing nearby in front of his house and was asked whether he was a spy. The young man answered, “Merdeka! [Independence!]”

He was shot on the spot.

Scrambling from the tree and running into his house, Soerachman was ready to greet the visiting soldiers with a samurai sword. “If they came in, I was ready to stab them,” he recalled. “They would’ve killed me anyway.”

Soerachman knew what would happen to the captured student spies. “They were tortured, beaten up and killed. Some were forced to drink the Dutch soldiers’ urine or eat their feces,” he said.

His father prevented him from attacking the soldiers with a sword, urging him to talk to the Dutch instead.

“One of the secret weapons for facing the Dutch was to talk in their own language,” said Soerachman, who was privileged enough to attend a Dutch school as a child.

The Dutch soldiers took him to a military jeep to be interrogated, asking him whether he was on an espionage mission. He spoke with them in their own language, and, unable to find any evidence, the soldiers released Soerachman — but not before one soldier kicked him.

“I would’ve died had they arrested me,” Soerachman said.

Enlisting in the civilian army was voluntary for students like Soerachman, who was influenced by Sutomo, more widely known as Bung Tomo.

He was the military leader who played a pivotal role in the Battle of Surabaya, which took place over October and November 1945 against the British, who had entered the war in favor of the Dutch. The battle began the four-year war to maintain the country’s newfound independence.

“Every day on RRI [state radio network], Bung Tomo broadcast speeches that lifted up the spirit of independence,” Soerachman said. “Every day I listened to him, and his words encouraged me to defend our country.” In December 1949, after going through rounds of negotiations, including the Linggarjati Negotiation, the Renville Agreement and the Round Table Conference in Bandung, Indonesia finally gained its sovereignty from the Dutch.

“There’s nothing good about being occupied by the Dutch,” said Soerachman, adding that he detested them for treating the locals as animals during the colonial period.

“Everything was controlled by them. We had to go through forced labor, they stole our gold and deprived us of a proper education — and we couldn’t do anything about it,” he said.

He transformed his status from an innocent civilian to become a guerilla fighter, risking his life for the country. It was a courageous act that gave him the country’s highest medal of honor. He is now working on a book on the history of Indonesian war veterans and as a consultant for the war movie trilogy “Merah Putih” (“Red and White”).

But beyond his hero status, Soerachman’s story is one that gives him a sense of personal victory.

“I am always grateful for what has happened,” he said.

“I played a part in giving independence to my country. I feel like I’ve accomplished everything that I want in life.”

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