Mardiyem's Story: An Indonesian Comfort Woman

Mardiyem's Testimony: An Indonesian Survivor

Personal Information

  • Year of Birth: February 7, 1929
  • Place of Birth: Yogyakarta, Central Java

References

  • Interviewer: Koichi Kimura / Eka Hindrati
  • Place of Interview: Yogyakarta, Central Java; Salatiga, Central Java
  • Year of Interview: March 25, 1996; April 21, 2002
  • Recording Form: Cassette recorder
  • Editor of Interview: Koichi Kimura
  • Translator: Koichi Kimura
  • Photographer: Meicy Sitorus

Background Information (Provided by Akihisa Matsuno)

  • Indonesia was a Dutch colony called the Netherlands East Indies.
  • Japan invaded Indonesia in 1942 and occupied it for three and a half years to obtain petroleum for its war efforts against the Allies.
  • The Netherlands was a member of the Allies, leading to the internment of Dutch citizens in camps.
  • Japan promised Indonesian nationalists independence and mobilized Indonesians for war efforts under the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
  • Millions were recruited as romusha (forced laborers) and sent to various Japanese-occupied areas in Asia where many died.
  • The Japanese military established comfort stations with Korean, Indonesian, and Dutch women confined within them.
  • After the war, these women faced difficulties reintegrating into their communities due to patriarchal and religiously strict social norms and often lived in poverty and isolation.

Mardiyem's Account

  • Family Background: Descendant of a family that served the nobility, educated in the Kraton (royal palace) neighborhood of Yogyakarta.
  • Recruitment: At age 13, invited by a neighbor, Sus Lenci, to join a theatre troupe called Panca Surya, which performed on Kalimantan, with the promise of becoming a full-fledged artist.
  • Sus Lenci had registered Mardiyem to travel for work with a dentist named Shogenji, the mayor of Banjarmasin city, who was recruiting girls from Java.
  • Preparation for Departure: About five other girls and Mardiyem were examined by an Indonesian doctor.
  • Journey: At Tugu Station in Yogyakarta, they joined about 50 other girls and continued to Surabaya city, boarding a ship called Nichimaru for Kalimantan.
  • Arrival in Banjarmasin: After a week, the girls were divided into three groups:
    • First group: Sent to a Japanese restaurant.
    • Second group (about 16 people): Assigned to work at Panca Surya.
    • Third group (24 girls, including Mardiyem): Taken to Telawang and placed in a new building.
  • Forced into Sexual Slavery:
    • Soon after arriving in Terawang, the girls were taken to the Japanese army hospital in Ancasan village for another medical examination.
    • Upon returning to Terawang, they were forced to serve six men, resulting in bleeding.
    • Mardiyem, being only 13, realized that it was a Comfort Station (Ianjo).
    • The Comfort Women (Ianfu) dormitory manager, Chikada, a civilian employee of the Japanese Army, gave her medicine to recuperate.
    • She was forced to serve ten to fifteen Japanese men every day.
  • Pregnancy and Abortion:
    • Mardiyem became pregnant in 1943 but didn't realize it until the baby was five months old.
    • She was taken to Ulin Hospital and forced to have an abortion without anesthesia, causing a disability in her left leg due to torture inflicted about a month after the abortion.
    • Continued to be a “comfort woman” for three years.
  • Return to Yogyakarta:
    • After the Japanese army left, Mardiyem returned to Yogyakarta with her husband, whom she married in Banjarmasin.
    • Her husband had been a mercenary for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and was imprisoned by the Japanese army.