# 65 Years Ago - Loa Kulu Massacre



## syscom3 (Jul 29, 2010)

*The unimaginable cruelty that the Japanese were capable of just boggles my mind. When people complain about the "poor Japanese suffering from the atomic bombs", I just want to tell them about events like this and why I shed no tears over what happened at Hiroshima.*

In 1942, After surrendering to overwhelming numbers of Japanese troops, around one hundred members of the Netherlands East Indies Army were disarmed and for a while permitted restricted freedom in the town of Samarinda, in Borneo, where most of the soldiers lived with their families.

Early on the morning of July 30, 1945, all prisoners, including their families, were rounded up and taken before a Japanese officer who summarily sentenced them all to death. No reason was given as they were bundled into lorries and taken to Loa Kulu just outside the town. There they had their hands tied behind their backs and as the men and children watched, the women were systematically cut to pieces with swords and bayonets until they all died. The screaming children were then seized and hurled alive down a 600 foot deep mine shaft. The men captives, forced to kneel and witness the butchery of their wives and children, and suffering the most indescribable mental torture, were then lined up for execution by beheading. When the grisly ritual was over, the bloodied corpses and severed heads of the 144 men were then thrown down the mine shaft on top of their murdered wives and children. The horror of Loa Kulu was discovered by Australian troops who had earlier started a search for the missing Dutch soldiers.


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## Capt. Vick (Jul 30, 2010)

Good God...


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## RabidAlien (Jul 30, 2010)

Holy frikkin crap!  Little Man and Fat Boy were definitely needed.


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## lesofprimus (Jul 30, 2010)

Just one of the many horrific and unjustified crimes against humanity that the Japanese did... Thanks for reminding us of these horrors and war crimes sys....


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## timshatz (Jul 30, 2010)

Jeez....


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## Shinpachi (Jul 30, 2010)

No words.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jul 30, 2010)

Absolutely horrifying.

Not to take away from what the Germans did (they were absolutely the worst crimes imaginable), but I think that a lot of people forget that the Germans were not the only ones who did such horrible things. 

This only reminds us...

Thanks sys.


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## Gnomey (Jul 30, 2010)

Agreed Chris, and well said.

Certainly should never be forgotten.


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## Shinpachi (Jul 30, 2010)

And never repeat it.
Thanks syscom3 for your PM.


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## syscom3 (Jul 31, 2010)

Just for the record, I harbor no grudge or hatred toward Japan or Germany.

These events are long in the past, and the people who committed the crimes are long gone.

Remember the event. But don't blame people for historical incidents from the past they had nothing to do with .... the "sins of the fathers".


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Jul 31, 2010)

Well put Syscom.


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## RabidAlien (Jul 31, 2010)

I think most here would agree with you. Put the past behind, carry the lessons forward.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jul 31, 2010)

syscom3 said:


> Just for the record, I harbor no grudge or hatred toward Japan or Germany.
> 
> These events are long in the past, and the people who committed the crimes are long gone.
> 
> Remember the event. But don't blame people for historical incidents from the past they had nothing to do with .... the "sins of the fathers".



I certainly agree with you as well on this point.


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## Ferdinand Foch (Jul 31, 2010)

Amen to that Sys. We need to be able to move on at some point, but never forget. Hopefully, I'll be able to lecture about stuff like this if I become a teacher.


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