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Chairil Anwar on the Rawagede Massacre

The graves of Indonesian victims of the 1947 massacre by Dutch military troops are seen at Rawagede monument of independence in the town of Rawagede, West Java province. A Dutch court ruled on September 15 that the Netherlands was responsible for executions in the town of Rawagede, east of Jakarta, and that their families should be compensated. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)

“Kami yang kini terbaring antara Karawang – Bekasi Tidak bisa teriak 'Merdeka' dan angkat senjata lagi”



Chairil Anwar must have been smiling in his grave this week when widows of victims from the Rawagede Massacre finally won their case over the Dutch government.



A central figure of the literary movement Angkatan ’45, Chairil Anwar wrote the poem “Karawang-Bekasi” as a response to deliberate and merciless killings by the Dutch armed forces on December 9, 1947 in Rawagede, a village located between Karawang and Bekasi in West Java.



The Dutch forces were deployed to capture Lukas Kustario, an Indonesian independence fighter who previously attacked some of their weaponry and facilities. But when they arrived in Rawagede, the villagers would not reveal the Lukas Kustario’s hiding place. In response to this silence, the Dutch troops killed 431 young men, leaving behind windows and children in Rawagede, now called Balongsari. The Dutch later learned that the villagers had no knowledge of their target’s whereabouts, though presumably they would have stayed silent even they did.



Ten of the massacre’s survivors, widows who lost their husbands, took the Dutch state to trial on September 10, 2008, with hopes for compensation. Now, more than 60 years after the tragedy, the Dutch court ruled on Wednesday that the Netherlands was responsible for the executions. It ordered the Dutch government to compensate seven of the elderly widows (the other three died while waiting for a verdict).



But even before this week’s ruling, the people of Rawagede have tried to remember their loss. In 1996 they built a monument and cemetery in honor of the victims, and they hold a regular ceremony there to commemorate the tragedy. As part of the proceedings, they read “Karawang-Bekasi” to reinforce the story of this crime against humanity.



The poem, written just months after the 1947 massacre, demonstrates the power of poetry to depict historical events, and it has worked to preserved Chairil Anwar’s spirit. Because he was a central figure of the Angkatan ’45, Chairil Anwar was a voice during the nation’s struggle for independence, and his poems are still taught in schools today.




As a platform of expression, poetry liberated Chairil Anwar from suffering as he watched the Dutch murder and torture his countrymen. Pain is a recurring theme in most of his poems, and readers feel it when they read “Karawang-Bekasi.” The emotional words invite readers to remember those who died in the Rawagede Massacre — and to feel the ache of those who survived.



Over the years, critics have undermined the importance of poetry in everyday life and politics. The literary tool is often overlooked due to its soft character, and to some extent the criticism rings true; neither poetry nor the arts can claim responsibility for a nation’s rise to power.

Poetry may not win wars, and it cannot bring back the dead after a bloody massacre. But it can calm and soothe widows and their families. It can serve as a painful yet hopeful reminder of the crime.




People today face a risk of failing to understand our own human condition. Poems can, at the very least, shed light on our inner state and illuminate the condition of those around us. In this way, poetry has the power to guide us to a more sensible and perceptive world.

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