After a broadcast of the NOS 8 o'clock News about our project Warlovechild, a short message appeared on the NOS website from someone called Louis Velleman. He introduced himself as a veteran with a child in Semarang, Indonesia, but he had not left any contact information. We really wanted to meet him because we had not spoken to many daddy soldiers yet. I left a reply  for him with the request to contact us.
Months had passed without any reaction when Annegriet decided to give about everyone with the name Velleman in the Netherlands a phonecall. To no avail. But one day later (was it coincidence or was it telepathy?) out of nothing Louis Velleman made himself known to us through an email! It appeared that he had migrated to Australia long ago and he found my post after a look at the NOS website. He gave us the contact details of his son Luwi, who was the first to be interviewed by us in Indonesia. Shortly after this meeting we traveled to Adelaide, Australia, where we talked to Louis Velleman himself. It was a strange sensation because the physical distance is too large to bridge for father and son while we ourselves had visited both of them as part of our project within two weeks.

Annegriet Wietsma and Jean Hellwig were traveling in Indonesia in October 2009 for the filming of the documentary Tuan Papa, that was broadcast on Dutch television on July 1, 2010. While they were looking for warlovechildren and soldiers' sweethearts in Java and Bali, they filmed each other to keep the audience posted about their production developments.

We already knew of the existence of Jecky because his wonderful story was one of the first to be published on this website (see the category "Warlovechildren in Indonesia ': A reunion after death). I had once met Jecky's brother Ketut and now it was time to visit Jecky himself to have him interviewed. To our big surprise, his mother appeared to be still alive! And so it happened that we yielded two interviews on our Bali trip.
The mother produced distant memories of the Dutch soldier with whom she was in love more than 60 years ago. And Jecky showed us how difficult life is for a Balinese with a foreign father: no inheritance and no rights to the use or possession of family land...

Annegriet Wietsma and Jean Hellwig were traveling in Indonesia in October 2009 for the filming of the documentary Tuan Papa, that was broadcast on Dutch television on July 1, 2010. While they were looking for warlovechildren and soldiers' sweethearts in Java and Bali, they filmed each other to keep the audience posted about their production developments.

In Jakarta we visited Edwina, a warlovechild. We got her address from her Dutch half sister Gerda in the Netherlands. We were received with open arms by Edwina and her daughter Dina and son-in-law John. In a three-hour interview Edwina told us her moving story and afterwards we talked more extensively with her daughter. The concluding saté tasted excellent.

Thank you Edwina for your beautiful contribution!

Annegriet Wietsma and Jean Hellwig were traveling in Indonesia in October 2009 for the filming of the documentary Tuan Papa, that was broadcast on Dutch television on July 1, 2010. While they were looking for warlovechildren and soldiers' sweethearts in Java and Bali, they filmed each other to keep the audience posted about their production developments.

My mother was an Indo-European woman. Her father was a Dutchman, her mother Indonesian, a real Javanese. They lived in Klaten, near Solo. My mother married an Indo-European man. Together they had three children: two daughters and a son. Suddenly, her husband disappeared. It was wartime, and at first my mother lived in great uncertainty. She was left alone with the children. Only later it turned out that her husband had gone to Holland. His story was that he had become ill and was transported to Holland. She received the divorce papers by mail.

Part 2 of the search by Annegriet Wietsma and Jean Hellwig in Indonesia.

Part two of the search is about Hennie and Eddy Tan. During our stay in Semarang (Central Java), we were at the celebration of the 80th birthday of a soldiers' sweetheart. There someone told us that she knew a brother and sister who were supposed to be warlovechildren. Further investigation proved that Eddy and Hennie were indeed born as a result of a love affair between a Dutch soldier and a Chinese-Indonesian women. An interview at home followed.

Annegriet Wietsma and Jean Hellwig were traveling in Indonesia in October 2009 for the filming of the documentary Tuan Papa, that was broadcast on Dutch television on July 1, 2010. While they were looking for warlovechildren and soldiers' sweethearts in Java and Bali, they filmed each other to keep the audience posted about their production developments.

Sunday, May 16th was the kick off of the Crossmedia Warlovechild project. Paul van der Gaag and Jos Palm interviewed Annegriet Wietsma and Stef Scagliola, both founders of Warlovechild. Also, military historian Wim Klinkert and jounalist Hilde Jansen contributed to the discussion. In the audience Jan Dennie told briefly about his personal experiences as a warlovechild. Music by Anne Montan and Patrick Lauwerends brought the broadcast into Indonesian spheres.
Afterwards producer Jean Hellwig showed a video impression of his search in Indonesia for warlovechildren together with Annegriet Wietsma.
Watch the video to get an impression of this special radio broadcast.

Here in Part 1 we followed a tip about a warlovechild who would live on the tea plantation in Pekalongan, three hours driving from Bandung in West Java. Unfortunately he had passed away, but to our surprise we found other important persons for our research and documentary: the mother, who unfortunately was not able to remember the name of her former Dutch lover, and her grandson who was sad not to know the name of his Dutch grandfather.

Annegriet Wietsma and Jean Hellwig were traveling in Indonesia in October 2009 for the filming of the documentary Tuan Papa, that was broadcast on Dutch television on July 1, 2010. While they were looking for warlovechildren and soldiers' sweethearts in Java and Bali, they filmed each other to keep the audience posted about their production developments.

A year ago, we invented the word "warlovechild” and it has become a concept to stay. The word is new, but the people it's all about have been there since long: children born out of love during wartime.

We received many positive reactions about the word. The warlovechildren themselves who have lived for years in the shadow of an unnamed taboo, appreciate the word underlining that they were born out of love, and not from violence or abuse. Love in times of war, this is what it's all about.

The term was easily translated from the Dutch word 'oorlogsliefdekind'. Hence we can now be found at www.oorlogsliefdekind.nl as well as at www.warlovechild.org. But what would the term be in Indonesian? A first translation could be "anak di masa percintaan perang '. But there is very little poetry in there. And a website address www.anakpercintaaandimasaperang.id seems not the easiest to type.

So who has a good idea? Reply! Who knows, we may make another great contest out of it!

Jean Hellwig