The way in which the violence is remembered in the Netherlands and Indonesia is very much related to the nature of the war and the way in which information about war violence was handled at the time. The existence or absence of reporting, the wording used, and the way in which the knowl- edge was picked up and disseminated have determined how the violence is depicted in Indonesia and the Netherlands. The issue of information provi- sion is relevant and urgent, as evidenced by the discussions that have taken place in recent decades in the Netherlands and, to a much lesser degree, in Indonesia. Thus the question of how much violence took place during the revolution has everything to do with the way in which knowledge about that violence was disseminated and discussed at the time. This research analyses the way in which information about the war violence played a role in the justification, stimulation or restraining of that violence.
Beyond the Pale
Silence, information and deception in the Indonesian War of Independence
