Penelehhistory.com: Surabaya (29/7)24) – A pair of beautiful eyes shed tears. Suddenly she cried at the right time when sharing a story about her mother, who has kept silent about Tanah Hindia (Oost Indische), especially Surabaya.
The owner of this pair of beautiful eyes is Rozemarijn Heijstek-Pinxt, who is tracing the history of her mother and grandparents, who once lived and eventually died in Surabaya. For Rozemarijn, coming to Surabaya is the first time. She is accompanied by her husband, Heijnstek and two children. Her ancestors were Otte Schuurmans. He was buried in the Peneleh European Cemetery.
Rozemarijn shed tears because she was touched by the memory of her mother, who was traumatized by the events in the Indies. According to Rozemarijn, the incident was so tense and scary that it forced her mother to leave Surabaya and chose to live in the Netherlands. Her mother doesn’t want to remember anything about Surabaya. She keeps silent and says nothing about Surabaya.
“I never asked why. I don’t want to make her sadder. This is what makes me curious about Surabaya. Now that I’m an adult, I can decide on my own. Finally I arrived in Surabaya and traced of my ancestors. His grave is here,” explained Rozemarijn who was at the Peneleh grave on Sunday morning (28/7/24)
With the help of cemetery workers, her ancestral graves were cleaned. His grave is on the east side of the cemetery area. After it looked clean from the dirt, Rozemarijn and her family put a bunch of flowers. She is happy to be able to find the graves of her ancestors.
Her ancestor, named Otte Schuurmans, during his life in Surabaya was an official in the Van Oranje railway transportation network and shipyard.
The Rozemarijn family is a family that primarily collects data about its ancestors in Surabaya. A collection, in the form of photographs and maps, have been successfully put together, worthy of being a book about a family’s journey from the Netherlands to Surabaya. But the family book is not published. Only for internal families.
“Maybe one day it will become public consumption,” said Rozemarijn.
Rozemarijn took the book as a guide in Surabaya. Armed with the family book, Rozemarijn was able to carry out tracing. She even managed to find a family descended from her grandmother, who was originally from Surabaya.
What’s even more interesting is that her two children, who were born in the Netherlands, were born in the same year and date as their siblings in Surabaya.
“They were born on the same days, dates and years,” explained Rozemarijn in surprise.
She also believes that someone’s presence on earth have been arranged and planned by God Almighty. So it is about the same dates, days and years of her children and sibling.
“My mother doesn’t want to remember Surabaya. But I find Surabaya like my home. I feel like I am with my ancestors in Surabaya,” said Rozemarijn.
The Peneleh Cemetery where her ancestors were buried becomes a bridge, connecting herself and her ancestors. She felt sad and happy at the same time.
“I’m happy,” said Rozemarijn briefly while wiping away tears.
The Basic Idea of Revitalizing the Peneleh Cemetery Comes True.
One of the basic ideas for the revitalization of Peneleh Cemetary, which involved two communities: Begandring Soerabaia (Indonesia) and TiMe Amsterdam (Netherlands), has come in reality before it is accomplished. The idea is that the Peneleh Cemetery is expected to be a bridge between two countries: Surabaya (Indonesia) and cities in the Netherlands.
It turns out that the idea is not just a daydream. Peneleh’s grave succeeded in knitting the ties of the Rozemarijn family who are far apart in the Netherlands and in Surabaya. That morning Rozemarijn and her husband, in person, witnessed the process of cleaning the grave of the famous photographer Ohannes Kurkdjian as part of the revitalization process, which is carried out jointly by the Netherlands and Surabaya.
On the same day, Sunday (28/7/24) Rozemarijn also cleaned the grave of her ancestor (Otto Schuurmans), while the Begandring Team and the Environmental Service (DLH) workers cleaned Kurkdjian’s grave.
It was a coincidence that Rozemarijn’s family met the Peneleh Surabaya Revitalization Team, who could finally break the spell in Surabaya, which has been a part of the lives of their ancestors and their mother. Now, the bridge connecting the Netherlands and Surabaya has been built. Rozemarijn and her family are witnesses. (Nanang)