Menteng Pulo Memorial Cemetery

6°13′20″S 106°50′22″E / 6.2223345°S 106.8394822°E / -6.2223345; 106.8394822TypeWar cemeteryOwned byNetherlands War Graves FoundationSize29,000 m²No. of gravesApproximately 4,300

Menteng Pulo Memorial Cemetery (Dutch: Ereveld Menteng Pulo; Indonesian: Makam Kehormatan Menteng Pulo) is a Dutch war cemetery at Jl. Menteng Pulo RT. 3 RW. 12, Menteng Dalam, Tebet, Jakarta in Indonesia. It is one of two Dutch war cemeteries in Jakarta, the other one is Ancol Memorial Cemetery [id] at Ancol. Menteng Pulo Memorial Cemetery was built to accommodate the victims of the war from the Japanese occupation during World War II. At present it is maintained by the Netherlands War Graves Foundation [nl], which is an organization that manages all Dutch war cemeteries in the world.^[1]

History

It was built on L-shaped waqif land provided by the Djakarta government at that time. Menteng Pulo Memorial Cemetery was designed on 7 December 1946 by the architect Hugo Anthonius van Oerle [nl], who served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the First Division of the Royal Netherlands Army. The laying of the first foundation was carried out by Lieutenant General Simon Spoor, who at that time was the highest ranking Dutch military leader in the Indonesian archipelago. There are about 4,300 graves of Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) members who were killed during the Indonesian War of Independence, and victims of the atrocities in Japanese-run internment camps during World War II. Not only ethnic Dutch, but also native Indonesian KNIL members were buried here. From 1946 to 1950, there were only 22 graves. However, since 1960, Menteng Pulo has become a tomb for bodies that have been moved from several regions in Indonesia such as Banjarmasin, Tarakan, Balikpapan, Manado, Makassar, Palembang, and Cililitan. The graves in this cemetery are arranged in eighteen blocks.^[2]

Besides the thousands of tombs of victims of the Second World War, at Ereveld Menteng Pulo there are several monuments that are characteristic. The two buildings are the Simultaan Church in which there are crosses from bearing rails taken from the Burmese stretch of the Thai–Burma Railway. The church is not only used for prayers, but also as a place of commemoration and ceremonies for all religions, as well as the Columbarium which stores ashes of 754 Dutch military personnel who died as prisoners of war.^[3]

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