The withuiden were worth their contempt, the Iraqis not: Jewish experiences in the Dutch East Indies during the Second World War and Japanese occupation, 1939-1945

European Jews and their experiences during the Second World War in Europe are a well-covered subject. However, their experiences in Asian colonies during the same period have been examined far less, especially their experiences in the Dutch East Indies. In this article, I examine the experiences of European Jews (including European refugees) just before and during the Japanese occupation in the Dutch East Indies. My goal is to challenge the conventional view that Japanese authorities blindly followed the demands of their German allies to single out Jews for worse treatment than that meted out to other Europeans. I base my analysis on ego documents, including eyewitness accounts and memoires, supplemented with newspaper articles. These sources allow me to sketch a multi-layered picture of the experiences of European Jews in the Dutch East Indies during the Second World War and during the Japanese occupation. In the end, I argue that the Japanese took rather random measures against Jews, rather than systematically persecuting them as their German allies wanted.