Sunset Over Java

by Jacobus E. de Vries

SUNSET OVER JAVA is the story of a boy whose life was radically changed in the prison camps on Java during World War II. Not all of his family survived. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, he expected to be re-united with his family and to return home. Instead, he found that a violent Indonesia Revolution was taking hold. The murders of numerous camp survivors forced the evacuation of all Dutch civilians. As a result, he and his family experienced the sunset of their way of life on Java. His interrupted education and the patchwork of schooling in Holland and Washington, DC, resulted in poor grades and caused him to reject all thoughts of going to college. A stint in the US Army began his personal turnaround. With the help of family and new friends, good fortune, and determination to make up for lost years, he was surprised to find himself at Harvard at age 23.

207 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 16, 2016

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read several books about the women and children who were in Japanese concentration camps in Java and Sumatra during WWII,what amazes me every time I read a new book about them is still the Japanese refuse to apologize for their cruelties and they were more or equal to the Nazi’s. I have come to the conclusion that,given the chance,they would do it again. It’s unfortunate they were not as shamed before the world as the Germans were. Recommend the book.